//CLOSED Here the voices echo

Creaking and cracking, echoed through the Crypts as the unseen had become restless and full of life. The smell of decaying flesh, some new some old, filled the darkening night air with a thick aroma that could be picked up from yards, perhaps even a kilometer away. The rank deceased tossed and turned within their tombs, causing the ground to shift and shake within the stature of growing death. One by one Death has taken his children and placed them in neat little piles to sort for later, as he moved onto his next prey taking their delightful spirit to the underworld with him. In those cold clammy hands of Death comes a spiritual surrender of forgiveness on which life has brought thus far. Causing harm to only yourself as you would pass the concrete and stone gate, dotted with grim colored and featured gargoyles. The night had given an eerie tale, a spectacle of darkness and instilment of the soul. If one was to have no soul, then the very barriers of the mind and body would become infiltrated, forcing some kind of demonic pleasure into the body, for the moment replacing the soul. Ill will creatures lay in darkness here, forgetting all that could have mattered in the yester years of days gone by. Here they lay in darkness, here they wait for Death, here they are to stay.

With broken mismatched Crypts and torn, turned over, and disturbed underground caskets. Above ground tombs spotted the area with what seemed to be royalty of faded colors and statues that would cause the wind to slip between, like satin through clammy fingers. Breaking stones and over-growing vines found themselves constricting over the past, holding onto the darkness which made them so vibrant and exfoliated in a night such as tonight. The faded touches of blood, fear, even self-regret would feel the spirits that stayed lodged in this standing structure of history, contempt of all the secrets it would wish to unfold. Taking the moons light, only to tear it down to basic molecules and force the ever-lasting darkness under the canopy’s of Willow trees. Here in the day time, one could find darkness only illuminating under these canopy’s, in this vile place of death and lack of forgiveness. For those who tread here, do not tread lightly. Aware that they are dead, aware that they are cursed, or doomed as many re-call. They are aware of you. Toying, conjecturing and forcing their visions into your sight, making sure that darkness that had taken them, will soon take you as well.

Here laid the death of many brave soldiers, kings and queens buried amongst the common as the years grew on and those who did not know, would forget all but the words written on fading stones. Broken tombs and cracked head stones, made it barely impossible to read anything from any one of these crypts. History will begin to repeat itself as the night grew into the darker hours, as the clock would hit three the ghostly bells would ring off, high off in the distance seeming like church bells. Yet no church would ring their bells this late into the night. Here laid a gruesome mystery of tales in the dark. In the past mothers told children stories to keep children away from graves and various other things. The stories of the Gorgers’ where if children did not eat all that was given to them (During Depression Ages) then Gorgers would come and snatch them from their very beds. With not but a silent scream in the night they would be gone missing from parents grasp making suffering the consequence on a guilty mind. Children so easily disturbed and misplaced among story tellers and fortune readers, magic made everything for these young bright eyed students of life.

Yet here they laid, beside mothers or fathers. Or perhaps buried by themselves for the town could not pin-point the parents of these children. Here lost souls cry in the night, looming over forgotten pasts and broken hearts that died many years ago. But here they lay, suffering with those of ill-will and cruel tendencies. Here laid Nymphs and Siren’s with their deathly song will capture the soul and tear them down into the underworld with them, causing fright and panic to take over the heart. This way they would cause death and they would have someone with them that they may suffer with for the yearning of end of ghastly days. Broken hearts and the victims of crime, the passionate murderers and soul-swept killer artists crumbled into a single pile. Here they lay, side by side causing nothing but grief and despair to those who enter past those stony gates, those who dare tread in their land that they have protected so dearly, for so long..

Here the accursed and trained, here the broken and innocent lay to find their secret hiding place. A soft garden of death and dying roses, flowers of forgotten love and memories. Here Merisa-Anne sat on top of a Crypt, how she got there was any one’s good guess. The soft voice echoed through the night, a hum, a song, a lullaby from a life before her amnesia kicked in. She thought of a mother when this hum found her voice, like a deep creaking echo of trees, the voice collapsed into the night almost like a dream. White dress flowing almost ghostly in the faint fog of the moon, so softly in the wind as it hung down the side of the aging, crumbling crypt. For here the night had grown young once more, with souls of new and old collimating into the yards and finding themselves as lost as the soul next to them that searched for the reason why. Here Merisa would smile from cheek to cheek, the joy of life spurring those eyes. Like in death itself, everyone has a side of them which is cold to the touch and fore-brooding to the humanity in itself. Merisa was no different than any other mortal or immortal on this planet.

She cared yes, of these people no. She was curious of the pain, of the torture, of the life that could have been. That should have been, to correct ones’ thoughts. Merisa-Anne felt responsible for the dying breaths of children and mothers, taken too early to have fully enjoyed anything than the squabbling of spouses, children and siblings. Here the responsibility fell onto her shoulders, like a leather bag drenched in water. Merisa would sit for hours, pondering on the yester years, pondering on what she could do now to help the situations and perhaps ease the pain of passing on from this life to the next. But as the souls’ moved, sensing something alive watching them, they would not dare interact with someone as dead as they were. That is correct, Merisa was counted dead by those who were dead. Finding herself always in the vacuum of helping the dead, or for-going the stretch of fixing what they dead have forgotten. She had slowly grown into this group as like life was not in the mismatched hues of blue and green.

She had come to accept this, and found herself singing to these ghostly paradox’s. Finding herself dropping a few tears from those mismatched hues as the song moved on and continued through the soul. ‘’In the dark night, you shall see. There will be no light, but only your heart to see.’’ Her song turned back into a hum, the words of remembrance scaring the daylights out of her soul as she let her mind race as to figure out where these thoughts had stolen from, whose memories was she stealing this time. Her eyes would fill with tears ‘’Stop it! Stop letting me steal your memories! I have none of my own!’’ Her voice was like a cold deathly echo through the Crypts and Tombstones. Hues of blue and green grew large as the voice had scared even herself from the stance of quiet inhibition. Once more, silent breath fell on children and mothers, soldiers and killers that stared back at her through the white-washed eyes of wandering.

What would plague a man to be up in the late hours of the night, wandering aimlessly in barely anything but his cargo pants and a T shirt that flapped in the wind? A man whose eyes were glazed over with deep condensation, unblinking as he moved freely through the wind as it carried him around the courtyard. What was a man without his hopes and dreams locked away inside of his soul? What was a man who wandered aimlessly through life, carrying on like there were no worries or toils of man that could ever lay a burden on such a hapless soul? What was a man who could not even contemplate the moral of his actions from before and henceforth, unable to remorse or grieve for the ones lost or the ones who will become lost? An empty shell. That is all a man would ever be.

Blinking, he would come to in the middle of the night. Turning his head around in circles, he would look around with uncontrollable fear and confusion in his eyes. Where am I? Who am I? What the hell is going on here? These words were lost on the strange young man who stood there in thin clothing, the night air laying jagged daggers into his exposed flesh.

But as he slowly snapped back into reality, the memories of a few years past would creep back along into his skull... as if they were locked away with a key. It was a strange feeling, having his memories return to him, but the feeling was never lost on him. The want of more. The want of the rest of his life back. The memories that would never return to him. Such thoughts were always so meaningless to contemplate. But as Riley 2.0 set back in, he could feel himself become whole again. All those empty sections of his mind became full with life and his brain began to buzz with all sorts of questions, comments, and statements.

Raising a hand to his forehead, he would massage his temple and let a shallow sigh escape his lips. It happened again. This time, it lasted much longer than before. Slowly focusing his mind, he tried to remember where he was. It was getting close to his time to goto bed when he heard a loud buzzing noise in his ears... then he woke up here. Checking the watch on his cellphone, which he had luckily packed away in his jeans, he deduced the time to be about 45 minutes past his last memory. "Perfect..." He was out in the cold in nothing but a t shirt, pants, and shoes. In his delirious state, he managed to tie his laces into... perfect bows. Perfect indeed, or something more was at play. The doctors told him that he would have lapses in memory, but it was a good thing. They said it was his brain sorting through the mental trauma and it was leading him one step closer towards his goal of getting back all of his memories.

All of his memories...

Kicking the soft dirt, he would rub his boot into the soft dewy grass.

Taking a glance at his surroundings, he judged he had traveled pretty damn far from the castle's front gate. It would take him at least 30 minutes to trek it back up there, perfect. Just freaking perfect. Oh well, at least he didn't lose his other hand. Or something a bit more important than that.

But before he could take a step towards the grounds, he heard a blood curling scream.

‘’Stop it! Stop letting me steal your memories! I have none of my own!’’

Stopping dead in his tracks, he tilted on the balls of his feet towards the given direction of the noise. Given the direction and noise volume it was close by, but he shuddered at the fact when he noticed where it came from. "The cemetery..." whose idea was it to put a damn cemetery near the freaking castl- wait, nevermind. He knew better than to ask questions about this place.

Ignoring the fact that he was barely armed and practically naked, he stormed off towards the direction of the noise. Whoever it was sounded so damn familiar. Her blood curling scream kicked his feet into motion, pounding heavily on the soft grass as he made his way towards the cemetery. "Someone better be bleeding, dying, or already dead. Otherwise they are going to wish they be."


--------------

Arriving a few minutes after the scream, he was huffing lightly at the gates. Cold sweat was already pouring down the sides of his cheeks as his body crawled at the site of the gate. Upon examination, he noticed that the hinges were used recently...as the metal grindings were exposed from the rust. But from that, he couldn't tell if it was used today or a couple of weeks ago. Deciding to take a chance at the front door, he would reach for the latch and take a pull. The huge gate would creek in resilience, but slowly open with a few quick tugs from Riley's grasp. "Its open..." Funny thing, if it wasn't then he didn't get the right to say 'oh well time to go home'. If it was only as simple as that.

Stepping through the gate, he immediately smelled the rotting stench of corpses and decaying fruit. The initial shock caused him to rebell a few steps backwards, but immediately he pressed those fears down and push himself towards the gate. Covering his nose and breathing through his mouth, he would take the first few steps into the eerie abode. "Fucking... weird..." He would say aloud, to no one in particular. His soft footsteps would begin to trodden into the grounds of the cemetery. Eyes would see broken down tombstones and the fading colors of the trees. One way or another, he had just taken a step into another world. Although he was not a spiritual man, he could feel the presences here swarming all around him. He kept his eyes low and his mouth shut as he listened quietly to the quiet noises of the earth. He didn't initially see the woman who screamed earlier from the front gate, but the cemetery was vast and provided alot of spots to hide.

Keeping his eyes peeled, be began to search the grounds for the noise, even though he would rather turn high tail and book it the hell out of this place.

Panting gently and breathing softly it sat waiting in an unmarked crypt on the eastern side of the graveyard, a lone building that was devoid of a name. Maybe once it was an important person, or perhaps a brave warrior. Now it was the home of refuse, and scraps. Bones dragged in form graves, thew woods, and a few lost villagers. It feasted on what he wanted and left what it didn't to rot on the floor of its liar. But tonight was different, tonight something in the the cemetery was calling to it, making its devious hungry mind wake. Something had crossed into its domain that didn't belong.

It moved to stand and stretch, bones creaked and cracked. And a thick mist rolled out of its very being smoke rising from its body like a flame, but no scent to give it away. Just death and decay. Claws reached out and retracted as the beast raised back up after shaking the dust from its bones. Something had tread on ground it wasn't invited into, something had broken into its sanctuary and was now going to fall victim to its hunger. It would stalk out of the defiled crypt and move through the growing gloom.

A thick fog would gently roll off of the beast and onto the cemetery floor, covering the ground as the creature moved, and slowly growing outwards to fill the entire premises. Not far, and not high at first. Just deep enough to consume a trespassers foot and make them have to think twice as they moved because the fog veiled the ground under their feet as they moved. But not exiting the confines of the low stone wall or even passing through the wrought iron gate the seemingly closed it self at the caress of darkness around it.

Words of whisper floated through the gentle breeze, the coming fog that grew along the grounds of the cemetery sent an uneasy feeling through the pits of ones’ soul. The late night did not help the exceeding extremity of feeling unsafe, frightened to the core of the next big evil lurking in the grounds of the cemetery. What Grave Keeper could be wandering, with their light held low, searching to and fro for a soul that is still found in it’s fleshy home. The trees would wrack and creak as the wind grew slightly stronger, forcing leaves to rustle through the touches of cold wind. Breaking the silence with a soft whistle, the sound of disturbance in peaceful grants of the cemetery, where one should find peace and solace, had turned into darkness that no man would be able to keep his eyes from. The tainted soul that hungers for questions of why and how, or whom came to the surface.

Moons wane burst through cracks of clouds, shining stars twinkling with an essence unknown. This caught the woman’s eye as the cemetery began to lighten up, reflections from tombstones that lay scattered in neat rows along the yard. From where she sat, she could see most of the cemetery, given blind spots behind Crypts and trees and other large objects that scattered along the cemetery. Pale skin reflected the touch of moons shine as they reached out to grip the edge of the crypt she sat upon, feet swinging gently and bouncing against the stone softly. Then the wrenching sound of metal scraping against metal echoed through the quiet cemetery, shooting her eyes off in the direction of the main gates. The sound was course and caused a shudder to creep down her spine, like one when nails were dragged down a chalkboard. The new sound, provoked her mind to run through thoughts of demise and given cautions.

The voices that had calmed her now rose in a hurry as they whispered tales of another soul entering their land, another trespasser as they had called her. The phantom grueling moans and echoes through the cracks of Crypts and Graves alike, causing goose bumps to rise to the skin as eyes stayed peeled for an inclination of where this atrocity was happening, or who it could be. Or even, what it could be. The fog rolled in, thick and unseen until the moments where it would cover anything that stood only a foot high. The moon fell back behind the graying clouds as the cold mist returned to chill the bones, the darkness once more taking over the cemetery as the fog grew.

To forget of many things, sounds of voices and cemetery’s that seemed out of place in the landscape of the Castle sight. A soft hum once again came from the woman’s lips, taking a moments grace to breathe in deeply before the hum would continue. The soothing touch of good grace that came from the broken tender lips, set the woman into a gentle surrender accepting things around her once again in light of the eve. Things had gone wrong enough in the short amount of time she had found herself being placed in this school. ‘’And torturous nights continue long and hard, as broken days fall apart at lovers’ fingertips. Here we find the dead, are more alive than any one soul that walks the earth in a broken fleshy mold.’’ These words she knew she spoke to herself, but found comfort in it’s decaying happiness. There was something strange afoot and there was a mind that sat high on the Crypt pondering of the essence of the Grave Keeper.

The shiver that ran up her spine, sent thoughts through her mind running a million miles an hour as she moved along the grounds, finding little things that she should worry herself with. Like why was there something coming into the graveyard, and why was this fog raising up against the Crypt. Her lack of respect and honor for the Crypt itself by climbing on it, but even more-so now that the fog was rolling in and she did not want to par-take the chance of falling into a hole, or worse, an open grave. Some things people can take, but this was not one of them for the woman. Open graves, sounds of cracking branches under feet. These were things that could drive her back into the thoughts of torture and remembrance. Once more closing the mismatched hues, hands collapsing against the temples of her head, rubbing gently in circles as the thoughts ran free again. Sights of people screaming and running from some thing terrifying filled her mind, but she pointed that to the scary movie she had watched on the trip over here, and the ROUS that had attacked her party when they were travelling out of the dungeons.

‘’Riley…’’ These words escaped her lips through the soft hums that created a lush and calming atmosphere around herself, calming the mind as she thought of the poor boy who she had so hurriedly left on the banks of the river. The heart would sink as she though of the boy, then her rude intrusion with the Dark One, some good fortune would come to her yet as her fingers moved from the temples and ran along the edge of her chain and around the circle of the ring that hung from that chain.




[ROUS - Rodents Of Unusual Size (TM'd by Princess Bride)]

The old wounds that sipped themselves around his body from nights before had disappeared. Old scars remember such memories of pain, but it was once again lost on the sight of Riley. After his run in with the ROUS (lululululululuz) he had enough time to recover, so his body was at full strength. Nevertheless, he was not doing fairly good on the armory department. Usually running a skim bare assortment of tools, weapons, and knives... he was now wandering around naked in the field of death and decay. Talk about being caught with your pants down... but he highly doubted he needed a full armament to go find the girl who screamed. Although the the voice in his head said 'She prob jumped at her own shadow, whoever she is...' was covered up by the fact that his common sense was saying 'nothing appears as it seems here in Caislin Hallows'. Before taking a step further into the slowly billowing mist, he gave himself a quick checkover for tools and supplies.

Reaching into his right pocket, he found an old chewing gum wrapper, a lighter, and small metallic object that he was rather thankful to have. He could feel the cold hard nuzzle that rested against the palm in his hand. A pea shooter, but a shooter nonetheless. In his other pocket, he would feel around and noticed immediately several cool feeling objects plus an mp3 player he carried around for special occasions. With headphones attached to the mp3 player, his 'armament' was slim pickings at best. Luckily he kept a small switch blade that rested clipped onto his belt, but overall he was pretty naked out here in the wild. "Well at least I have a knife..." he would say to no one in particular.

Even though he was looking for the origin of the voice, he had time to examine the tombstones and read their names to himself. Many of these names didn't make much sense to him at all, but he might of recognized one or two last names that might have originated as the founders as the school. Nevertheless, these names were lost on him as he wandered aimlessly through the stones. Once you are dead, thats it. There was no coming back. There was no God, no afterlife, no chance in hell. All ya had was what was in front of you, so you had to make the best of it. To give up was to give up your chance for existence in this realm of life. But to accept the fact that death was always around the corner was the way to face these truths with a smirk on his face. Without it, he would live in fear...inept and unable to function.

Just because you lost your memories doesn't make you a lame animal.

With a step onto the soft, mushy, earth he heard something like nails scraping into stone. Instantly it made him freeze in place. Other than himself, there should be only one person out there. It caused his skin to crawl, his inability to know who was out there and who wasn't. The darkness. The uncertainty. He hated himself for traveling alone into a place such as this. "Stupid stupid... stupid." He would say to himself. If he gets killed over this, he was going to haunt this stupid chick's grave if she made it out of here already and he doesn't. Frustration and curiosity began to build up, bubbling over as he screamed out to the cemetery.

"HEY, WHO THE HELL SCREAMED?"

He of course was referring to the screamer, but whoever else was there would also come to see the noise. He stood there, out in the open, but in reality he closed his eyes and kept his ears low to the ground once again. Although he was setting himself up for an ambush, there was plenty of cover nearby and multiple ways of escaping. Huffing his voice, he listened for the sound of footsteps... a call back. A sharp intake of breath. Or the growl of a creature in waiting. A simple sound would give him the information he so desired. The need to know what was out there. Instant gratification, but at what cost?

Darkening sights of grounds disappeared behind clouds of mist and fog, causing sight to be as useless as a flashlight in the sunlight. A cloud of fog would gather and lift up above the tombstones then recede once gain behind the rocks, hiding your feet as you would walk through the cemetery. Hooting of owls in the distance, gave time a certain hour as it was beginning too come to morning hours, the owls hoots would be long and drawn out. Some small birds, off in the distance would tweet and sing for a moment before silence fell over everything once again. Like an eerie cloak of darkness, the sight of the forest’s edge along the cemetery fence started to disappear behind the fog that rose to cover almost everything, like capturing ants in a glass jar.

As the mist curled along the poles of the Crypt, the woman’s head tilted and arched searching the grounds for the reason of the fog that rolled in. Curious now of why the dark cemetery was turning into the stages of a scary movie. Eyes shifted quickly to and fro as the body crawled onto hands and knees on the roof of the crypt, teetering off the edge of the cold stone tower. Her visions of these people started to fade and quickly silence fell upon the cemetery as she scooted to the edge of the Crypt and pushed herself off from it. Landing with a thud, falling to her knees as she landed a soft groan would escape her lips. ‘’What the hell…’’ She waved off the fog for a moment to see that she had landed in an awkward hole that had been there hidden beneath the fog.

‘’Fuck…My ankle…’’ She sat in the fog, rubbing at her ankle for release of pressure as mismatched eyes searched up the side of the crypt, taking into notice the cracks and chipped holes in the side of it. She wondered how old it was for it to have this much damage to it, seeing as it didn’t look like anyone ever came in here, it had to have been environmental. As she stared at the cold block of rock, the sound of people rose back up into the air and her head spun, looking left and right for an inclination on who or what it was. ‘’Hello?’’ The sound of heavy foot prints sent shivers down her spine as mismatched eyes searched the fog for what was making these sounds.

Then she heard it, the creaking sound of metal grinding against metal sending shockwaves through the graveyard. In silence she waited, then the sound of a man’s voice yelling in the near distance made her jump up from the spot in the fog she was stuck into. The ring of the voice sent a shudder through her spine, causing her to stop in her tracks and crane her neck around to see that the sound of the voice was coming from the gate at the front of the cemetery. Her heart beat like horses over dried land, thousands of them at once. The shock of hearing someone else in the graveyard with her questioned her sly ways of moving from place to place.

The voice was recognized but not fully, she had heard that voice somewhere before but could not pin point it down to any one in particular just yet. Taking a moment before stepping out onto the path, arms wrapping around the middle of the woman as she stared around for sight of what sounded to be a young man. The feeling of her heart being in her mouth, the sound of another person in the cemetery brought back terrible visions that flooded her sight. Pale figures dotted her sight, warning her to run away and leave this forsaken land while she still could. Bringing the woman to her wits end as she listen to the voice as she repeated it over in her head.

‘’Hello!’’ Right then she knew it was a mistake, taking a deep breath as she moved towards the sound of the voice. Sounds of cracking branches and heavy footsteps along the ground made her walk slower, taking caution in where she stepped and how she stepped. A moment passed and the sounds of extra footsteps stopped finally, the woman quickly took this moment into grasp and started dashing for the entrance of the graveyard. As she ran to the gate, she heard once more, the creaking wretched sound of metal against metal then a loud clanging sound as the gates shut once again. She had trouble opening them the first time, who knows if she could manage it open once again.

‘’Hello?!’’ Her voice snapped into the high pitch nervous sound that she had only done once before this very same night with a young man who called himself Riley. Who she referred to as a lost sheep. Scared now as the sounds of extra footsteps resumed behind her, at the same spot where she had last heard them. The heart beat once again, like cracks of thunder in a lightning storm. Her arms once more wrapping around the center of her body holding tight to her arms as thumbs ran down the tattoos along the skin. ‘’Pray to the Gods and Goddess that I make it out of here alive…With their bless-‘’ Her sentence cut short as her steps stopped, behind her the extra footsteps had stopped as well.

Then she saw it the dark shadow that loomed through the foggy mist of the Cemetery. Her heart was in her throat once again as she quickly stumbled then dodged behind a tombstone that would cover her body provocatively. Eyes peeled open as she watched the form as it came through the mist, the dark shape turning into a man piece by piece as the mist gave way to the walking figure. As the person came through the mist, her heart fell from her throat as she recognized the face through the mist almost instantly. She had seen this man before, and had a tale to tell children as a moral scary story for the future because of this man. A smile crept along the protruding lips as she stood from the grave, yet hid behind it still, hands resting on top of the cold stone, nails tapping gently against its surface as she awaited his sight.

‘’Riley…’’ Her voice was soft as the winds touch as the notes fell against him in the foggy mist. ‘’Riley…’’ She repeated again as the smile on her lips never faded. As the thought’s roamed through her mind of the young man that stood before her, his cocky attitude and his defiant manners. These things that most boys had and used on a daily basis turned the woman from questioning his composition, to accepting his lost behavior. Finger tips raised and fell against brown locks as the body turned and leaned against the tombstone before her. Taking a deep breath as the cold shot through the system, veins freezing with the touch of cold stone.

Footsteps. That was the first thing he heard. Sounds of broken branches and rushing of feet. It was sort of hard to discern from the rapidness of the footsteps, but he thought he heard more than one. Maybe two. It would seem that every time a set of footsteps would stop, another collection of steps would follow. But from what he could tell, it would seem like the second set of footsteps seemed much more closer together. IT would seem like the second set of steps were from a child, or something with more than two legs. It was hard to tell, due to the fact that each set of steps would stop abruptly with the second, almost instantaneously, but but overall it was hard to tell due to all the noises being heard in the fog.

He saw silhouettes. He heard echos of voices. But all of these notions would be lost in the endless fog. But all of these added up to the confusion that continued to fly around his form as the noises and voices floated across his senses. The cold breeze clung to his skin as the fear began to grow underneath his eyes. The unknowing. The uncertainty. The feeling of the loss and hopelessness of himself and the void around him began to swell across his light and soul.

But in that darkness, a blink of hope echoed across his consciousness as the cries of the damned began to swarm around his vision.

‘’Riley…’’ A voice would echo through the darkness.

Immediately Riley would tilt on the balls of his feet to see the silhouette of a female that he met before. Someone covered in the shit storm in the deepest part of the castle. Someone that gave him a warm hand when he got himself fucked up beyond all recognition. When SHTF (when shit hit the fan) she was at least around to laugh it off with him.

"Merisa?"

And then, common sense kicked in.

"What the hell you doing out here alone at night?" He would rush towards her, his fear and abrasions fading away in the night. The fog dampening his thin shirt, sending chills throughout his body. Coming to a stop a few feet in front of her, he hit himself in the head and sighed deeply. "Ya know, the damsel in distress routine is getting old." Although he really didn't have a reason to be out there, he didn't have to. Before he could get another word off, he heard the scrapping noise once again. Gritting his teeth, he turned towards her and said. "How about... we get out of here, before we find another rat cousin from the incredible hulk?"

Sarthas was irritated, in fact the man was borderline angry. He had spent the entire night searching for his most recent and extremely unusual client without success. That perhaps combined with the fact that his recent wounds, though treated in his usual efficient manor were bothering him, made the creature a thing not to be trifled with. Pausing a moment in the shadow of a young pine the dark man leaned against the rough bark as his mind wandered over the events of the past few days. It all began with his meeting with Ailis and then there were those giant mutant rats, ending with Merisa. The thought of the woman made the man smile ever so slightly in amusement. She had a gift for finding things about people that no one should know. The soft flickering flame of her searching light was almost soothing...almost. That was only the first day, and he had to admit that it seemed things would only get more and more unusual as time progressed. Not that he minded, in fact he welcomed the challenge, its just that he was seeing things that before Caislin Hallows he didn't even believe in. Oh well, its not like he wasn't used to the darker side of things.

Amazingly although his clothing had been ripped to shreds in his encounter in the sewers, he had somehow managed to sew them back together again. Although if anyone were to examine them at all it would be obvious that they had been torn several times. Though Sarthas was efficient he wasn't creative in a artistic manor and he did nothing to hide the stitches themselves. The cloak had been torn and ripped in several places, even going so far as to reach the edge along its base from the claws of the rat creatures as he twisted and turned in the darkness. Unlike the rest of his clothing he didn't bother to patch it up, leaving it jagged and torn. After all, its only job was to keep the weather off and a few holes here and there hardly mattered in his mind. The effect was to give the man an even more sinister look, although that wasn't his intention. How people perceived him had never mattered before.

The night was very old and the man was considering returning to his deathtrap of a room for an hour of sleep when something caught his ear. Cocking an eyebrow he turned his gaze in the direction of the sound, the sound of a woman's voice. Not just any woman, a very familiar woman's voice. His eyes set upon a scene from some nightmare. His scouting had taken him to the edge of a graveyard surrounded by an aged stone wall. Numerous ancient tombstones and crypts littered the grounds and the earth itself was blanketed in a thick white fog. Strangely enough the fog did not leave the confines of the graveyard, even the old rusted iron gate at the entrance somehow kept it locked within. From his angle and place among the trees he could not see the source of the voice, but Sarthas didn't need to. Another voice answered, this one male and also familiar. That awful smile twisted pale lips as he caught the silhouette of a young man standing in the fog. “Well, well, well...what have we here.” He whispered to the cold night air around him.

Moving quickly and deathly silent he made his way to the gate at the entrance. The thing itself was closed and a quick examination revealed that it would most likely scream bloody murder if he attempted to open it. Shrugging the annoyance away, he gripped the gate and immediately jerked his hand free as if he had burned it. The man's usual sinister smile vanished. The iron was cold, which was to be expected but what wasn't expected was the feeling of the warmth of life draining out of him through that touch. It was much more than simple cold, it was almost as if death itself were living in that iron. Carefully he reached out and gently brushed the steel, testing it. Once more he felt the unsettling feeling of having one's life pulled away only this time much fainter with the lighter touch. Narrowing his eyes, Sarthas quickly moved from the gate to the stone wall attempting to scale it. Once again, the deathly chill pulled the warmth from his body the second he touched the stone forcing him to abandon his climb. His ears caught the exchange of a few words, but the sound seemed distorted and distant as if it were coming from another room.

Sarthas began to pace back and forth like a caged animal, from the gate, back along both sides of the wall then returning once more. As far as he could tell, the wall surrounded the entire graveyard without a single break. It seemed there was no way in. The dark man's smile returned once more. At least for any sane person.

The echo of night creatures wavered amongst them, as a smile broke out on the woman’s lips poking at the sides of her face. Fingertips coiled around the words of the deceased on the tombstone she pressed onto. Tracing the name as it ran through her mind of who he was, why he had died on that particular day of Nineteen Forty Nine, as it said on the tombstone, two nights before his twenty first birthday. Mismatched eyes, suited the crooked smile as the head tilted up to let her eyes land against the vision of Riley. The head tilted and her smile did not fade as simple words escaped under her breath. ‘’Did I scare the knight in shining armor? Or should I say shit-stained armor?’’ A soft giggle escaped her lips, as the head shook only slightly. Her hands rose up from the cold stone, and pressed over the smile as echoes of giggles escaped from the form.

The heavy set of fog, dampened everything it could touch, setting a cold blanket over the surrounding cemetery. As the woman started to come out from behind the tombstones, a cold summers breeze blew past at an astounding rate for a gust from no where. Making trees wave and rustle their leaves in the dance of the wind, causing the fog to only grow stronger as it was a surprise on the winds touch. Usual fog would drift and fade, where this fog hung like a tight blanket around cold shoulders. This time she knew better, she kept her mind concentrated on the dead and sounds behind them both, other than taking Riley's memories again, sinking into that mind that doesn't even know his own mind, she knew better this time. A simple soft sigh escaped her lips, as ridiculous words escaped his.. ‘’Come now, if we weren’t Damsel’s in distress, how else would we keep ourselves busy?’’

Her head would shake as sounds of footprints echoed through her mind, not sure if they were the ones that kept pace with her, or something new. But sounds echoing through her mind, like screams of death burst into thought as the fine mist gave in so her sight could at least see Riley clearly. Sticking her hand out, she went to shake his hand. ‘’It’s nice to see you are still alive old adventuring partner.’’ Her sight was drawn to the front gate, that hung so nearly out of sight, covered in the thick fog that rolled through the cemetery. The body shook with shakes and shivers as they crawled along the bones, like worms over the rotting corpses that rest in the night.

Fingertips raised, and stroked against the cold metal of the ring and chain hanging around her neck, thoughts of death and darkness filled the mind once again as sounds of footsteps found her ears. The eerie echo of footsteps and soft sounds filled her ears as eyes went wide, searching for a source of the sound. ‘’If you like I can lead you back to the gate,seem you really need to rest, this is… My sanctuary so to say…’’ She stepped from the tombstone, an arm moving and wrapping around the body of herself, as the other still sat raised, resting on the other as fingers wrapped into the chain and ring, slipping her finger into the ring the cold comfort of it soothing the presence of fog and cold chill surrounding her.

‘’What are you doing out so late anyways? You were quite more torn up than I, I’m quite surprised to not find you resting in the Hallow. ‘’ Her voice was soft as she moved towards Riley, her eyes staring past him though, off in the distance at the front iron gates. Her heart grew weary of the situation as the sounds of footsteps were not hers nor Riley’s. This was concerning, but one of the few things that didn’t bother her about the events of the day. This would be a walk in the park compared to the last twenty four hours of her time spent in Caislin Hallows. What a strange school it had become indeed, from men of darkness, to boys of lost memories. And a strange partial cat creature she had seen earlier that day. The time in Caislin Hallows was becoming one strange ride, but a comforting time with at least beautiful remnants and comforts to offer.

Shadows played along the corners of her eyes, scaring her into thinking that perhaps there was something else here. Something sinister that did not like the company in the cemetery it was given this fateful early morning. For a moments questioning eyes darting from tomb to tomb, to the gates behind Riley’s form. ‘’Things that go bump in the night…’’

Scratching his head, he would motion towards his body with a light sigh. "Well I happen to heal a bit quicker than expected. Only a few bruised ribs. You can thank pain killers and some strange red vial I drank." He wouldn't go into details, but late the next morning after the incident... he was given several pain killers and a red vial of some strange liquid. He was told it would give him a 'speedy recovery' and 'to save it when he needed it the most.' Although he was rather reluctant, he drank a portion of the vial. Over the next few hours, he could feel the pain receding in his ribs and toe. Before nightfall, he saw that the sores in his body had pushed themselves to small spots instead of large blue prints over his body.

Lucky. Strange, yet lucky. He had never heard of that kind of medicine before.

Even so, he felt the strong attraction towards a particular person. He managed to suppress it, but it was always there. Like a lingering thought he could never complete. But once he saw that person, he felt that he belonged with that person.

Shaking his head inadvertently, the feeling went away into the night.

He chuckled to her comment about shit stains and the like, but in his daze he didn't have the appropriate come back he was looking for. But for the damsels, he had a small quip he could use. "Well I am not superman, so go easy on me when I am still recovering." Smiling, he tilted his head towards the gate where the fog was receding across the mist. Although he was more relaxed, now that he found the woman making all the ruckus, but he still felt 'insecure' about the surroundings. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks, but he felt like he was being watched. The strands of hair on his neck standing as the cool shivers raced across his spine.

All of these notions screamed 'BAD BAD BAD, GO GO GO' but he suppressed them with intolerance.

‘’If you like I can lead you back to the gate,seem you really need to rest, this is… My sanctuary so to say…’ The calm female would reply, obviously in her element. Turning his head around, he merely shrugged and sighed deeply. "I can't believe you would find this... homey..." Given the fact that he felt more at home rolled in the dirt with soot and grime, he really couldn't say more than that. "...but to each his own." Leaning back, he would pop a few bones in his body and let a loud echoing sigh escape his lips.

But before he could comment on her ability to play in the cemetery alone at night, he could hear... something off in the distance. Maybe foot steps. Maybe a twig snap. Something, or some one is out there. His eyes would glaze over, popping out as he searched frantically for the noise. A grind. A snap. A twitch. Something. Turning towards the female before him, he would listen to hear her say ‘’Things that go bump in the night…’’ So he wasn't the only one feeling the chills across his spine.

Turning towards the gate, he decided it was best to ... "Hey, how about we make like a baby and head out?" Bad time for antics, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself. When people cowered in fear and desperation, combat highs brought an addiction of insanity and addiction. It was already pumping through Riley's veins, before he even stepped through the gate way. "Tell ya what, we can come back later when I do not feel like we are being watched." Grasping a hand around his pants pockets, he allowed the fingers to play along the warm barrel underneath his pants. 6 shots. 6 tiny shots is all he had. Best make em count.

"I ain't taking no for an answer..." His eyes showed resilience, his foots slowly carrying him towards the gate.

The unnatural fog had thickened to a near suffocating blanket as it rose from the ground to surround all those inside the graveyard. It wasn't long before it made it near impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction but this did not deter the source of it all. The creature paced slowly in a wide circle around its prey, keeping just beyond the edge of visibility in the thick fog. A deep feral growl welled up from its depths, quiet yet in the silence that weighted heavy in the graveyard it was impossible to miss. Thick white tendrils of smoke twisted from its large body to join and blend with the fog around it, and white colorless eyes that screamed of a hunger that no living thing could possess pierced the shroud with little effort. Pausing in front of its two victims between the gate and them, it dug its three inch razor steel like claws into the earth, crouching. Again a growl, this time exposing row upon row of needle-like teeth, louder and more forceful as if the thing were savoring the idea of its next meal.

Suddenly there was a loud snap, shattering the heavy tense silence in the air. It was followed by the tale tell sound of cracking wood. A large branch as thick as a man's leg fell from what seemed open sky, plunging through the fog directly toward the crouching beast. Reacting with speed not of this world, the creature managed to scurry out from under the falling death as it slammed down hard on the ground and stone with a loud boom. As it struck the earth the fog around it was forced away for a moment giving a clear imagine of the surrounding area.

The tree limb had fallen and rolled slightly to its side, crushing several tombstones as it went before coming to rest against a large crypt. The other end landed on top of the stone wall, creating a bridge of sorts. The fog beast was now completely visible for a few seconds and it didn't look at all happy. Ignoring the new renovations to its home it turned its attention back toward the two trespassers, letting out an ear shattering roar that seemed to suck the very warmth from any living thing to hear it. Not wasting another second it lept toward the male, as he was the closest. But even as it left the ground a dark figure that had seemed only part of the branch moments before, shot out like a spear of shadow. The two collided mid-air, the shadow's momentum forcing the beast off to the side as the thick fog rolled back in, hungry to devour the open air the tree limb had created.

Sarthas was on fire, his entire body felt as if it were burning and yet freezing all at once. When he had struck the creature in the air, he hadn't expected to experience the same feeling he had felt touching the gate. Only this was much, much worse. It felt as if he was dieing very quickly as he rolled with the beast, fighting off its teeth and claws. He had buried both of his foot-long daggers into the things back but apparently it hadn't noticed yet. Instead it was interested in snapping its vice like jaws over his head. The dark man immediately realized that he wasn't going to last long if he remained in contact with the thing. With one powerful thrust of his legs he kicked off of the things back, ripping the blades free and rolled away, disappearing into the fog.

Or so he thought, apparently not only did this creature not care about physical wounds but it didn't seem to be daunted by the fog at all. Even before he had come out of his roll it was on him, teeth snapping for his neck. Somehow, he managed to dodge that death snap only to be struck with its knife like claws. Sarthas was fast, anyone that had ever seen the man in combat could not deny this, in fact may had sworn that he was not human at all. This beast however, had true otherworldly speed. There was nothing he could do to avoid that paw as it ripped its way through his freshly sewn clothing into the freshly sewn flesh of his chest. The dark man suppressed the blinding pain as he went with the blow, using its momentum to carry him back and away. Turning the fall into a controlled roll he plowed right into Merisa. Managing to stagger to his feet, his shook his head to clear the blood haze as the creature did not follow, choosing instead to remain invisible in the fog.

Blood poured from his new wound and his body was still screaming from the creatures deathlike touch. Turning to the woman he had crashed into only moments before, he managed his usual disturbing smile. “Miss me?”

Mismatched hues laid against Riley’s face for a moment before he spoke in what seemed to be soft whispers. She had not seen this side of him yet, physically or in her mind, which did not surprise her very much as he was a hard one to read from the get go. As sounds of cracking was heard in the distance, the tone of his voice set off the alarm within her. Head tilting for a moment before a hand would reach out to touch the cold damp fog, rolling it through her fingers. ‘’Well, at least you have the ability to keep yourself in one piece. I let myself worry when I had left you on that bank. I cannot lie, thoughts of death had rolled through my mind, sad to say that.’’ Her voice was kept to a soft whispering hum as she spoke in rhythm. Pacing around Riley’s figure, taking this silent moment to listen to what may very well be his last words.

‘’No you are not Superman… And it is not me you should be asking to take it easy…’’ The decaying smile stretched across the broken lips as she turned from the man, once again standing before him. Arms crossing, finding their way to holding together once more as his voice was not the confident young man she had spoke to earlier that eve. ‘’For your foolish attempt at funny lines, you should open thou’s ears to listen to what others say.’’

Her head shook with a disappointment before she turned to face him once more, there was heat growing from her face, she could feel this, not sure if it was heat from rushing around and blood filling her cheeks, or the eyes changing color once again, but either way a hand lifted up in a casual manner and covered the green eyes. Memories could not betray her this time, she knew every time she stepped into a grave yard the green eye would start to turn white first. ‘’ I told you, this is my sanctuary, I will not be leaving just because you are frightened of things that go bump in the night. Does it ever cross your mind that perhaps what hunt the flesh of humans, won’t touch those of the passing dead?’’ Her heart skipped a beat, the pain seared into body making her shudder from the touch of pain that rushed through her body. ‘’So you will be taking no as an answer for once.’’

Quickly, hands came upon Riley’s body, taking his shoulders into grip and spinning him to face the gate. Hands still upon his shoulders, she was starting to push him towards the fog covered gate. At that moment she froze in step, quickly removing her hands from Riley as even though she told herself to stay away, again she had come into contact with the man and received thoughts of deceiving and an actual happy memory from this man this time. Removing her hands quickly eyes would stare over his shoulder at this white creature of the cemetery. This would push a great smile across her lips, as she did not care what change occurred, one eye had turned completely white, the other was a complete half way mark as it waited for silence. The sight of the beast only made the girl smile as some questions were finally answered. ‘’Grave Keeper, Oh Grave Keeper, may your darkness be blessed with many screams in the night.’’

Sounds of cracking and large thuds came from the distance in front of them, causing her to jump at the sudden sound as she stared in awe at the Grave Keepers form. The crashing had produced the open area where the Grave Keeper had appeared, but she did not take notice until it started to cover things back up that a large tree branch had been tossed around like a rag doll. For a moment thought teased at the mind, but the only sustenance was that of the Grave Keeper before her. With a crooked smile upon her lips, she then saw the dark shadow appearing in front of the white wolf Grave Keeper as it came lunging towards Riley. In this moment, hands laid upon his broken soul once again to push him out of the way and keep him from harm this time. As she pushed him from harm, then turned to go back to the white wolf, was ran into with some force as it would knock her on her bottom. With a soft groan, echoing through the tombstones as the body waivered in pain. Eyes cracked open to see what exactly had ran into her.

Sarthas, of course it was the Dark Spirit. With newly acquired white soled eyes she stared into the face she had seen before, a soft smile pressed against her lips as the head shook with amazement. ‘’Shadow Soul.’’ Her smile faded as visions flickered in the corners of her eyes, staring for a moment at the Shadow Sarthas blankly as she pushed the thoughts from her mind. ''Miss Me?'' Was all she heard come from her dark shadow friend, this pushing the corners of her smile wider. ‘’What a dark surprise.’’ Her smile faded before pulling herself from the jumble of bodies Sarthas had created, pulling herself from the ground as a soft sigh would barely become audible.

‘’I hope you did not hurt the Grave Keeper, or he shall just come right back with a furious anger.’’ Fog began over taking once again as a pale hand reached out, to help the other up from their tumble upon the ground. The fog was getting thick again, quickly eyes dashed across the ground looking for Riley. They would think she was being sarcastic, but as Sarthas sat there bleeding, she knew it was only a mere mortal flesh wounding and would heal when applied with the right medicine. And to be a dark shadow, would not be smart if he did not know some kind of wicked Enchantress or Sorceress. ''Careful Dark Shadow, you are torn from the claws of the Keeper, take ease in your steps my friend.'' She was no woman of magic, no conjurer of spells, no herb medic. All she could do was stand there in disappointment of herself for not being able to do anything but, what seemed, to cause trouble. Even in her own sanctuary she was not safe from the death that awaited around the corner. It seemed as though Caislin Hallow, was as alive as any one person that walked inside of it. And somehow, she had upset that being and not was being punished for her unlawful doings.

‘’Come now, let’s get you two out of here before The Grave Keeper decides to come back to a complete dinner and dessert.’’ Her eyes stared between the two men as her arms crossed, one raised to play against the usually cold metal that hung around her neck, yet not it was melting hot against the fingertips. Every time she touched it, it grew hot and burned the fingers when she touched it. Confused on this matter, her eyes set through the fog looking for the gate once again, naturally the fog had come back twice as thick as a draft was a stronger point for fog to be consumed into. Looking for the iron gate from which most had come walking through, rather then jumping over by means of earth trees.

the beast rolled in the dark and growled harshly as it was forced to retreat.. the beast it had tried to keep outside had come crashing down on it, and now wounded it. A dried blood like ichor coursed out of wounds on its back and the stench of death would grew deeper and assault the nostrils of the three now in its hunter grounds... the three it wasn't going to let go.

Long claws scratched over a tombstone as it sharpened then by chipping at them, bone claws covered in Sarthas's blood and dirt seemed to exude a foul ichor of their own now. A black coating dripped and burned at the grass and leaves under its wretched half dead feet. And the beast would quickly and silently as it could move to be away form Sartha's, but still in between the escape and those that wanted it. The fog would lessen as the beast made its location known however. It was a blatant threat for them to come closer to it. To move against it. Revitalized from the essence of the dark one that crashed into it the beast was feeling stronger, and faster than it had in many long cold nights of hunting.

Another growl as the beast took a threatening step forward towards the group. The dead girl helping them would be punished. But the means the beast was thinking of , digging up her grave to break her bones, was not one it could manage. She was more alive then the beast knew. But it didn't care to learn its hatred seethed towards Sarthas and the beast was looking menacingly towards him. One taste of his essence wasn't enough and the monster knew it was going to have more.

The next action the monster took however was not likely that which was expected. It would hunched down and then fast like lightning pounce out towards its intended victim, Riley. Strength existed in numbers, and the beast already knew that the dark clothed one was tough to handle in close. But this boy with him perhaps it could crush him and then while they others were trying to save him the beast would be able to show them that it was thinking in manners uncommon for animals.


(Please continue to auto the beast. I will try, but cannot post fast enough to always catch my turn. Thank you Sarthas for not waiting.)

With life or death situations, Riley was not a beginner to such a lifestyle. Having starting his 'rebirth' with a near death experience, his first ordinance to life... besides the fact that he had to piss every 3 hours like clockwork, was the fact that life was short. Compared to the eons and eons of the lifetime of the universe, his mere existence on this plane of earth. This specific time. This tiny moment in life, is not even worth a partial grain of sand. But from the times of history of how man came to being, of how their species evolved from nothingness into the lands of bipedalism... tidbits of history are noted by their significance towards their known universe. Does Riley want to be known as some spec of sand, or something greater than that. Something more than prick thinking he had the balls to do something with his life?

Hell, he just wanted to survive the night.

But before the monstrous collision, he had to listen to the girl complain about his company. "Are you... serious?" He wasn't one for paranoia, but with all the noise going on around them... "Isn't this the time to get the hell out of here? I mean, why not come back during the middle of the day when there is a nice set of sunlight and not the feeling that some random Zombie brigade is going to pop out and eat your brains?" Seriously, what the hell was it with people who came to cemeteries during the middle of the night? They were just as vacant during the day as they were at 3am. He was surprised that she could even read the tombstones littering the grounds nearby, but luckily the moon was full and bright. If it wasn't for this damn fog...

He felt hands... cold hands pressing towards his grasp.

Instantly he recoiled and pushed those hands of Merisa away from his body. He was not one to be touched so easily. Hell, he didn't even let his doctor's touch him without washing his hands... twice. "Damn it, this is twice you have been in an F'd up situation and you aren't heeding my advice. I am not some simple boy scout here!" He was getting irritated, but if the woman wanted to be raped, eaten, and skull fucked by whatever was out there... it was her problem. Slowly tuning down his aggressive meter, he merely shrugged her off if she continued to push him away. "Alright Merisa, you win. Ive got other shit I need to be dealing with anyways. Give me a poke tomorrow if you didn't get savaged by zombies..." Slowly turning towards the gate, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the growl of the beast that loomed over them.

"Okay... maybe not zombies..." He would quietly say to no one in particular...

Then the branch would crash into the earth.

In slow motion, he heard the thundering footsteps of the creature of the night. Listening softly, he would hear Merisa say ‘’Grave Keeper, Oh Grave Keeper, may your darkness be blessed with many screams in the night.’’ . "Are you fucking mental?" He would reply, but not before the fog's grace would part themselves... as the creature of the night would storm into view. "OH FUC-" His hand was already drawing the tiny 22LR revolver he kept his pocket. Single handed, no time to aim. All he had a chance was for one... maybe two shots. He would be dead before he hit the ground. No time for a knife pull. He saw the creatures fangs as his body began to shift towards the creature. Please... make it quick

And with a dark flash, the creature shifted sideways from Riley's view as it slammed itself back into the mist. It wasn't until his mind fully registered the movement that it was human. Dark clothing. A glint of metal. The creature would crash into stone, but not before another flash would kick back towards their direction. With a quick sidestep, he managed to dodge the dark figure that made his way back into the arena. But not without slamming himself into the girl nearby with a sickening thud.

Taking a few steps back, his mind was on auto pilot as he saw his worst nightmare come true. Out... alone... in the darkness, he was met face to face again with the man who thought it was fun to pull out a shiny stick in his office. Gritting his teeth, it dawned on Riley seconds later that the dark figure was the one that stopped the creature from slicing itself into Riley's clean chest. Shaking his head momentarily, his mind's mental gears slowly began to turn. Training from before kicking in as it absorbed the worries and the fear of death from his body. The pact. The pact that was singed into his skin. Death... was only what you made of it. Focus on the here and now, worry about the rest later.

As Merisa and Sarthas exchanged their words, Riley was already formulating a plan in his mind. Riley already knew the creature was aiming for him and would return with a counter blow. From the wounds received by Sarthas, it would seem that the creature was at least a formidable opponent for a man much stronger and faster than himself. But what Riley lacked in inhuman speed and swiftness came quick and mental perception of his surroundings. The ability to assess the situation, take it apart, and come to a resolution was a gift he acquired through his time with blackwater. Fast thinking. The one way to live in a fast tracked world.

As time seemed to slow down for Riley, his eyes would draw blank as his mind would immediately assess the situation:

1.)The creature was quad-draped, able to be wounded, and similar to that of a wolf/fox like creature. Lightening fast, and by the wounds on Sarthas's shirt, seems that the grinding noises he heard were razor sharp claws.
2.) Tools: Sarthas, close range. Merisa, unknown. Riley, 22LR, small blade, lighter, mp3 player. Could make a distraction, but not enough time.
3.) Surroundings: Tombstones do not stop creature during a hurtle attack. Too fast, will jump over obstacles.
4.) Unable to outrun or outmaneuver easily.
5.) Riley was the target. And by the second turn, Riley will continue to be the target.

With these facts in mind, there was only one solution that Riley could surmise. There was no running. No escape. But there was a chance in hell... only if Sarthas was faster on his mental acceptance to Riley's plan.

Listening for the growls in the mist, he would aim his firearm down the site and immediately start talking as fast as possible. "The bitch is coming back for me. We can't outrun. Stand and fight. I will fire a bead of six shots towards my the creature's eye, my left. Sarthas, use that opening to counter." No way in hell 22LR will take down a beast of any size, especially if he wanted to live to tell the tale. Still, this plan had a slim shot at best of working. Of course, he was assuming the creature had 'eyes' but by the blood he saw from Sarthas's blades, he had to make a few assumptions. Regardless, the creature would be more focused on Riley than a quick recovery attack from Sarthas. Always a loop hole. Always a snowball's chance in hell. Always near the brink of death.

Another growl would be heard as Riley drew the quick blade from his pocket. Crossing the blade underneath his arm, he provided a CQC stance for close range combat. A 22LR had a range of maybe 5 yards for a 2 inch spread, max. No matter how much math he put into it, it had to be fired close range. Besides, bullets were worth their weight in gold at this point. If one shot were to miss, he was good as dead.

The thundering footsteps would be heard in the mist, approaching the boy who stood there with his arm drawn... weapon gaze down the barrel. If the beast was remotely of this plane of existence, then the real killing blow will be between it's neck. But at what cost? "COME ON MOTHER FUCKER!!!" He would scream. Hopefully it would not be his last.

The creature would thunder into view, shoulders lowered... coming in for a charge. The creature was planning on using it's momentum to carry Riley out of view so that it could savage him in the fog. Using the fog as cover to pick them off one by one. Using the tombstones to it's advantage.

With the 22LR balanced on his left hand, the knife on his right, he crossed the left over the right as he balanced the shot. Once more, time slowed into mere moments of breath. Concentration was key. The bead on the creature was dead centered.

10 yards, it came into view....
9 yards...
8 yards...
7 yards...
6 yards...

Just as soon as it was measured towards 5, Riley let off 3 shots in rapid succession. Intentionally aiming low so that the second or third round would hit on target as planned, the right eye... or where it should be.

But as the creature thundered forward, regardless of recoil, Riley did not stop the attack. The 22LR would drop from his left, regardless if the shots landed or not, and immediately would turn the knife towards the creature. At 2 yards, the creature had used his momentum to leap up to come down with a lunging claw strike, throwing off Riley's initial predictions with a charging blow. Nevertheless, Riley's body was fine tuned towards such reflexes. As the last shot was placed on the creature, Riley had already put himself in a low pouncing position. But his angle was not towards the left or right, but towards the center of the creature. Almost as if he was going to catch the creature and stop it mid tracks.

But with the creature lunging forward with its RIGHT CLAW, Riley would merely push forward with his feet and bring the knife forward. Riley's head would dive under the first blow of the creature, skimming the hair with it's razor sharp claws by mere inches. But being this low to the ground only offered one move for a counter attack. Using Riley's collision force and the creature's momentum, Riley would bring the knife upward towards the creature's right sided neck.... attempting to plunge a 6 inch blade deep into it's throat. Regardless of what the hell it was, he meant for it to stagger the creature. He knew it was a killing blow, but even then it came with a cost.

With the creature at the very least stunned, it provided a chance for Sarthas to attack. But such a moment would have to come seconds later... as the momentum of the creature smacked Riley head on and sent them rocketing into the mist. Loud thundering crashes would be heard as the creature, with Riley tucked away at the neck, being slammed into several crumbling structures before coming to a complete stop just a few feet into the mist. Riley's form would be underneath the creature, but if the creature was moving or not... was not upto him to decide.

(OOC Note: Although the creature is auto-able, my character is not. Any attacks towards my character must be made with 'attempts' next to it as per t1 rules. For example, I have attempted to stab the demon in the neck. Nevertheless, it is upto the person in charge of the creature to decide it the blow lands or not. Similar to the shots fired. Nevertheless, I will allow my character to be 'rag dolled' around until the creature comes to a complete stop. But any actions towards my character involving objects other than earth in the collision path must be attempted.)

Merisa's response was interesting, he half expected her to throw something at him or attempt to strike at him to force him away, that's how people usually reacted to him. Then again, they usually died before they could respond much anyway. The sound of renewed growls in the fogy air along with Riley's words pulled the man back to the more pressing situation at hand. He flashed Riley a toothy, rather sinister looking smile before answering. “Sounds fun.” Was all he would respond with at first. Blood flowed freely from his chest, it was clear he was hemorrhaging. From his estimate he had maybe three minutes until he blacked out from loss of the life giving fluid. But instead of panicking or worrying over his near imminent death he only continued to smile, lifting his weapons as he readied his body for what was to come. “Don't die.” he added with a rather amused tone as if the man's life was merely an after-thought. But even as the words left his lips Sarthas was already moving.

He was dieing, and not doing it slowly yet the killing machine was now in full tilt. Instead of slowing him, his wounds seemed to spur him to new heights unimagined before. Flashing past Riley's right hand side, halting just ahead of him, he heard the man scream his challenge to the creature that sought to add a few more bones to the graveyard. “COME ON MOTHER FUCKER!” He had to admit, the man had spirit. Apparently the creature was hell bent on eating Riley this evening. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't care, but then these weren't normal circumstances at all. Normal did not involve giant dogs with needle-like teeth and razor sharp claws that spouted fog and sucked the life out of people it touched. Oh well, never a dull moment. Besides, he had a job to do and if there was one thing Sarthas never did, it was fail a job. Clenching his teeth to fight away the blinding pain that throbbed through his body he waited in silence.

It wasn't a long wait. The creature appeared charging though the fog, closing with blinding speed not of this earth. Closer it came, screaming toward its would be victim. The sound of the low caliber gunshots blasted into the dark man's mind like the tick of a clock.

One....his left blade dropped and he inverted his grip so its point was aiming directly out to his left.

Two...his right blade came up, once more inverting his grip, but keeping the point towards the fog shrouded earth.

Three...there was a loud hiss as if steam were escaping a kettle as the bullet hit its mark, blinding the right eye yet not slowing its charge in the slightest. A second before impact, it jerked up suddenly, screaming in pain like a banshee and then came down hard, its right paw meant to lacerate the thing that dared injure it in such a way. But Riley was ready for it and the young man got inside the creatures guard. When the blade came in it had no where to go, for Sarthas had done his part as well.

The moment the creature had come into range the shadow of a man swept in, his left blade burring itself into the front shoulder of the beast. As it sped past him to strike at Riley, Sarthas used the momentum and the leverage of the blade to swing himself up on the creatures back. His right knife came in at the right side of beasts neck exactly at the same moment that Riley struck at its left. Both blades were buried to the hilt and the creature screamed in pain once again, only this time adding with it a disgusting gurgling sound as it choked on its own viscus blood. A second later the creature impacted Riley hard enough to send all three of the combatants a short distance into the creatures white camouflage. Suddenly the fog around Merisa began to twist and churn as if alive. Whispers of voices long dead filled the air as small child like silhouettes flickered in and out of existence in a circle around the strongest pull to the realm of the living, Merisa.

The beast tried to roar again, what came out was a strange wet cough instead, as if the thing were human. Apparently it wasn't quite ready to die so 'easily' though as it came down hard with its front legs toward Riley to try and pin him to the ground under it's weight. Its maw opened wide, the clear thick liquid of it's own blood pouring from its mouth to drip upon the rich soil below it. There was no time wasted, there was not a moments hesitation as seething hatred bled from its single good eye. It lunged forward, the edges of the blades cutting back into its neck and lodging into its collar bone. In those jaws came aiming for Riley's neck, as close as it was with how fast it was, it would be near impossible to mount an effective defense.

Sarthas was near death, he could taste her cold embrace reaching out for him as the touch of the creature combined with the severe loss of blood sealed his fate. He felt the thing jerk back and he knew its intentions. Time froze, the world around him suddenly came into crystal clear focus. Was this it, was he finally going to die the death he had secretly longed for for so many endless years? Was he at last going to fail? “Like hell!” The words were hissed through clenched teeth. What he did was not possible, no human could have done what he did, no human could have reacted with such blinding speed and yet he did. Call it a final act of defiance to a world that created a monster. Call it fate, or divine intervention, whatever had made it possible, the result was clear. With the last ounce of strength remaining to the dieing man he tore the blade from the things shoulder and shot his arm forward and then back in.

The creature's jaws did not meet with soft flesh, instead...it found steel. Steel in the form of a sharp blade being driven into the roof of its mouth, while the hilt rested against its bottom jaw, locking it open. “Chew on this.” He hissed again before tearing his arm out of its mouth, the fangs ripping long lines into the already cooling flesh of a dead man. The creature bucked sending Sarthas tumbling from its back. He rolled several times before at last coming to rest against an old tombstone with a name long lost to the pages of history. His face was visible for any who cared to look, that same awful smile plastered on his lips even in death. As if he were mocking god, defiant to the end.

The creature rolled to the side, off and away from Riley. It used its front paws to claw and rip at its own face, trying desperately to tear the blade from its mouth, still unable to die, its essence bound to this world by some powerful magic. The small ghostly children encircled Merisa completely, becoming more visible yet no less transparent. They interlocked their hands, their undying eyes staring into the woman's soul as they began to move around her in a circle. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. Words screamed into her mind, not spoken yet no less heard, musical and dark with childish voices.

“Ring around the Rosy.”

The beast began tearing chucks of flesh from its face in desperation.

“Pocket full of posies ”

The creature withered in agony screaming in what could only be a woman's voice as it tore chucks of its maw off..

“Ashes....ashes....”

The children paused, tears of blood pouring from their eyes.

“We all fall down.”

With these final words the image of hundreds of children's bodies piled in ditches blasted into the mind of any living thing in the graveyard. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, so thick you could choke on it. The image would be so vivid that anyone experiencing it would feel as if they were actually there. But as suddenly as it had begun, it ended and the beast at last lay still. The children vanished, all but one. A girl with blond hair and blue piercing eyes stared at Merisa in Silence, lifting her hand she pointed at something that hung around her neck. A ring that burned like the fires of hell itself...she spoke a single word a word that only Merisa could hear and then she was gone. The ring cooled in the cold of the night air while the fog slowly lifted. It seemed that the night had at last come to an end and the first rays of the morning light shattered the horizon far in the distance. Hours had passed in the span of minutes.

Foggy darkness surrounded them, not only physically, but for Merisa mentally as well. Watching the movements of the men seemed inexplicable with the tortures of beastly screams within the night. Tortured souls that ventured from their graves to find the lasting point of death in new life. Deranged words that came from Riley’s mouth only set her in a more foul mood than she already was. In taking the fact that yes, this was the second time their paths had to cross, and as they crossed there was yet again another creature of the night taking toll on the souls that entered it’s lair. Merisa was starting to think that it was Riley, something about him that brought these creatures attention out from their deep slumber. Then again, the last episode could very well be blamed on her with all the racket she had made in that tunnel system. But once more, if that damn custodian Thomas had been doing his duties then none of that would of occurred and they would have moved on from each others paths without a second though.

‘’Mentally deranged perhaps, but I’d rather be deranged than lost in my own mind.’’ Her would hurt herself as she spoke them. Never was she so cruel to a human being in her life, but something in this man made her want to fight back with every ounce of wit and strength within her. But as she was lost in the dawning of her own aptitude, the roaring of the beast snapping her back into the reality again. The creature lunged, and went for Riley but as they had briefed themselves on she had to suspect that they were prepared for the strength of the beast. She started to become wise to the creatures weakness and why it was gaining so much strength within such a short amount of time.

The battle of thee strengths went on, as Merisa stood on the sideline as usual feeling useless and in the way. She was no weapons master, she was no daring fighter, she was no sneaky ninja. She was only a mere child of the grave. Even with the powers of the dead, there was nothing they could do against this giant creature that struck with such strength. But as she thought, there came the answer. It was powered by the dead. It was taking souls to feed its strength. Merisa had found something she could actually help in. With these thoughts she quickly bowed her head and in the Romanian tongue she had used all of her life, started speaking the lullaby that her Grand-Mother had taught her in their cities graveyard. In a soft whisper she had started,[1st] ‘’Souls de la păstrat souls de la pierdut. Bring tu însuţi la valuri care se sparg de ţărm la spre meci art.hot. evil that slay al tău copii. A lua în puternic şi retrieve aceia cine eşti pierdut cu său embrace.’’ With this she had hoped would set free a few strong souls that the creature inhabited, that this would help the creature become vulnerable to touches of steel.

It’s white coat, the glare of death in its eye. This was no Grave Keeper after all, this was a creature from Hades himself. A dog of hell otherwise known. The heart was giving weak to the sight of death before her, true that Sarthas had placed the same feeling within her, but with the dog of hell, it was stronger it was needing to feed to keep the wisp of death within itself. Actions from the two men, caused the creature to howl like a deathly cry of help as blood began to ooze from its sores and gashes. The sight of the creature almost becoming too much for the woman to bear sight upon. The actions of brave men fighting to keep themselves alive surprisingly will-lifting to the creatures that surrounded them. The sight of Sarthas going in for his part of the kill, from her point blinded from the large creature that seemed now to jump over Riley, his actions also blinded from her stance.

Then she felt it. Small hands touching hers, gripping them with a deathly grip. Her heart would sink as the voices of children filled her mind, and pushed the thoughts of reality out once again. The sight of children surrounding her, as only one stood beside her with her hand clenched tightly into her own. The touch of death a warm and welcoming surprise to the woman as these actions progressed with the men as they fought the creature from hell. ‘’Ring around the Rosie’’ These words would come from her lost in what would seem to be a spell from first glance. ‘’Pockets full of posies’’ Mismatches hues widened as the faces of children came into view, the sight of decaying skin from the children, missing portions of their face and bodies as they danced in a circle surrounding her.

The deed had been done, the creature had laid strewn out with gashes of deathly blows surrounding it’s body from head to belly. The sight of the creature tearing itself apart, only to become closer to door of Hades as sounds of children’s song filled the atmosphere. The sight of Riley, laid upon the ground set the woman into a different stance. She knew he was quite alright, perhaps a few bruised ribs and other bones, but basically alright to be well later in the day. The ghostly hand that held her tight, would not let go as she found Sarthas laid out on the ground in a limp set of being. She went to move forward but once again was held back from helping him, because of this young ghostly child she could not move. The child pulled, and Merisa turned to face the young girl, and as she turned, her jaw had dropped. The vision of this child was disheartening, as she wore the same dress that Merisa had worn many years ago, with the markings of what would have been a chain around her neck. The blood ran cold through her veins as the chain around her neck had heated up and burned the skin it laid against.

Finally they child had let go of her hand, with a smile on the ghostly lips as the child pointed away and towards the two that had laid injured on the ground. Quickly she moved, over to Riley she did not lay hands on him, only searched him over for deep wounds that would affect his being. Finding none she spoke quickly. ‘’Riley, you seem fine, can you walk?’’ Not waiting for an answer, the sinister grin from the corner of her eye was caught. And again this ghostly child pulled on her hand, forcing her from Riley. Standing quickly, with the ghostly child in tow she hurried over towards her dark shadow and kneeled down beside him. She had not had any trouble with touching this man before only that he moved to quickly to even lay eyes upon at times.

‘’Sarthas…Sarthas…Dark Shadow…’’ Her hands laid against his shoulder as she shook him gently and forced him onto his back. The wounds on his chest looked deep and devastating as blood had covered his clothing in a dense heap. The ring had burned cold around her neck, and she found this almost disturbing as the sounds of whispers came to her ear. Now knowing that she must take action, hands clambered quickly to remove the chain from around her neck and wrapped into her fingers. Finding one of Sarthas blades lain close, she lifted it and cut open her hand, squeezing the ring within the palm of her hand. The comforting words of the ghostly child had gone, as the word that she spoke was her last act on this plane. Searching around herself for this ghostly child she could not find a single sight of clue as to where she might have gone. Only disappeared from the fog like so many others had gone in the night.

In a moments time as the blood soaked chain and ring alike, she laid her hand gently across his chest. ‘’Sarthas you need to get up, you haven’t found your light yet!’’ Almost angry with the sight of him giving up, laid out like some sort of rag doll in this night. As the fog had lifted, the suns morning rays were warm against her back as sounds of birds once again twittering and moving in the deep of the forest that surrounded the three. Once more, she found the use of her native tongue coming into use for this moment and with a quick motion, she snatched the ring from it’s chain and raised Sarthas’ hand within her own. Placing the ring on his fore-finger and holding his hand tightly in hers. And again she hushed a lullaby to the man, the dark shadow. ‘’Death shall nu a lua tu. Death shall nu a păstra tu. Al tău lumină is liniştit pierdut. Nu permission măreţ pînă la art.hot. lumină has been a întemeia’’ The blood from her open wound, swirled around the ring, hoping to the gods and goddess’s that this ghostly girl was right. That there was still a chance, with this she crouched over, her head leaned against her hands that surrounded his, again humming the old tune that had brought curiosity into his mind the first time. Hopefully now will bring remembrance to them both as she hummed her gentle lullaby.




[1st - Souls of the lost, souls of the forgotten. Bring yourself from the creature of evil, allow the treasures of light to heal the suffering of planes unknown.]
[2nd- Death shall not take you, death cannot take you. For you have not found your light, you don't have permission to die until you have found that light.]

It all happened in a matter of seconds. His decisive blow. Sarthas killing strike. Blades upon blades slashing at this creature from hell. It was wonder that any of them would survive such a decisive battle. Nevertheless, it was Riley who would crawl away with minor bruises and bumps once again. With the creature writhing in pain from all the blows, the minds of the children would blow across his mind... causing a searing sense of pain and torment across his eyes. Although Riley was not damaged physically, he was being wrecked mentally. The dead corpses of the children would be flung into his mind, the decay... the death. The destruction. Whatever brought upon such a deed would be burned into his mind for years to come. It would cause him to wake up in cold sweats and cry out in mental agony. But before they could seep themselves deep into his soul...

An image of a little girl would pop into his mind.

A little girl would slowly pick up the flowers and hand him a handful of daisies and lillies. It was a girl from his childhood. A little girl that always looked upto him for help and inspiration. The father who played house. The brother who would kiss her boo-boos and make them better. An innocent girl always with a smile on her face. A child who always took in the words from her brother without a care in the world, taking them into heart and making them her own. A sister... who would never flourish into a true woman. A female who would never look down upon him. 'Brother....'

‘’Riley, you seem fine, can you walk?’’

Groaning loudly, he would shake the images from his mind. Once again, he was given a piece to the puzzle. A key to his initial existence. A reason for why his prosthetic arm burned with hatred and agony. "Yeah.. I am good..." coughing up random bits of dust and dirt, Riley rolled away from the creature that slowly exhausted itself on the ground nearby. Dark scuttles of blood layered parts of his chest and neck... but for the most part he had come out alive. Alive and well. "First time for anything..." He would slowly rise, patting the dust and grime off of his chest.

Pushing his memories behind him, he saw that Merisa was cooing the downed warrior. Now noticing the rather fatal wounds, he would let a deep sigh escape his lips. "Shit, ya done fucked up big time..." Ignoring Merisa if she had any words to say, he would bend over and start to take his shirt off. "We can try to stop the bleeding but..." Seeing the massive blood loss across the battlefield, Riley knew the man had little chance in surviving. Still, he could not help himself from at least trying the same old routine.... even if he has only seen this once or twice. "Shit man...thanks..." But before he could lay his slightly bloodied T shirt on the dying man, Merisa had other plans in mind.

With soft whispers and cries of her own, Riley decided it was best to step back and allow the couple to hold onto death's embrace together. It was not his place, and if it was Sarthas wish... he would not stop them so. Taking a step back, he turned towards the creature... making sure it was dead. Writhing in pain, he would watch it slowly cede into the darkness from which it came. The gurgled growls slipping into gargled breaths of air. With every chance it took at life, it's rich blood would slip it away closer to death. Staring at the creature, he would watch it slowly slip away into the darkness from which it came. Eyes glaring at the monster they defeated, but internally kicking himself at the cost.

But mercy... after all that pain and torment. Mercy brought the handgun from the ground towards the creature's temple. With precision, he aimed the gun at the creature. Slowly pulling back the trigger, he would let the remaining three rounds fly into the head of the creature before him. Three rounds knocking on hell's doorstep. Each shot firing into the silence. Each shot leaving gaping holes in the fabric of reality, shattering the essence of the silence granted by the garbles of the creature before them. With the final round, he would hear the creature groan in final remorse. Coughing up it's last sputtled breath. Slowly... it would sink into an abyss of death. The life completely drained from the creature, the struggles against life no more.

Staring at the creature, he would let a loud deep breath exhale from his lips, turning to face the dying comrade in arms. Falling silent, he would wait patiently for his comrade's demise. That was all he could do. That's all he could give.

Sarthas stood over his blood spattered torn body, staring down at that familiar smile. It was strange, looking at one self from the outside. It was as if he were not himself at all, but simply a copy. A rather amused copy in point of fact. He mirrored the smile plastered on the corpse at his feet and glanced over at the woman grasping his hand as if she were preying for his soul. Her lips moved, but he could not hear any words, in fact he could hear nothing at all. It was as if everything had gone silent and perhaps it had. After all, this was death right? Glancing from Merisa back to Riley he watched as the young man put the remaining rounds into the creature's head, showing a measure of mercy that was alien to the man. When Riley turned back to scene of Sarthas dead body it almost looked as though he were morning. But that was ridiculous, come to think of it...

He looked to the woman kneeling over his body, then back to Riley once again. Didn't they realize the uselessness of such a feeling. Didn't they realize that his death could only help them and probably saved countless others from suffering as well? Its not like he saved them because he liked them, or even that he wanted too. He saved them because that is what he was told to do. That was his task, a job nothing more. It was emotions like these that the dark twisted man simply could not understand. “What the hell?” The sound of his own voice in the absolute silence startled the man and he snapped his head around quickly to make sure he was indeed the only dead thing around here. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye he turned to face the corpse of the creature that had been the cause of his demise. An old woman stood over the mangled remains, her eyes downcast in what looked like sorrow. He was certain she had not been there before, but before he could approach her or utter a single word she turned to him.

Her face was aged, tired with many deep lines, but it was not this that drew the man's attention, it was what happened next. Opening her mouth wider than should have been possible in a silent scream, the old woman bent over backwards. The sound of bones snapping filled the silence as her hands touched the soft earth. Her chest jutted upward in a very unnatural curve higher and higher until her body littearly bent in two with a final loud snap. Cocking an eyebrow his smile faded slightly. What had been an old woman, turned to face him, its face upside down with that scream plastered on its features. But it did not stop there, the head twisted completely around, the popping and crackling of cartilage played along his eardrums like the beat of insanity. The woman stared at him, horror on her face before turning away and skittering off on hands and feet, vanishing into the inky depths of one of the many crypts that littered the graveyard. “Sucks to be you.” He spoke to himself out loud, as if hearing his own voice was comforting in a strange way. Shouldn't he be suffering in eternal torment or some such religious crap. At least it would give him something to do.

Dismissing what to most would have been a very disturbing site for the moment, he looked back at his dead body then toward the darkness that the creature of a woman had disappeared into and shrugged, “When in Rome...”. Reaching out with his hand he attempted to slap Riley on the back, but of course his hand only passed right through the man. This only brought that awful smile back in full once more as it looked as if he had stabbed the man with his arm. It was obvious that they could not see or hear him. “Nice knowing you, lets hope for your sake we never meet again.” Pulling his hand out he turned to the woman knelt over his corpse. Walking up beside her he bent down and whispered into her ear. “Why don't you keep that ring, its always brought me luck.” With the most ridiculous smile to have ever dawned a ghost's lips he turned back toward the crypt and set off in its direction.

He only made it a few feet however before he felt the cold grasp of small fingers curl around his right wrist. Instantly the man reacted, turning to meet this new threat his left arm raised to strike a killing blow to any living thing. When he saw what held him however, he slowly lowered his hand. A little girl with bright blue eyes and long blond hair smiled up at him. Sarthas scowled and jerked his hand away hard enough to send the child tumbling to the ground. Turning his attention back toward the crypt he began his decent into darkness once more but he had only made it a single step before once again he felt the fingers on his arm. Glancing down at the annoying thing, Sarthas tried to jerk his hand away again, but this time the girl managed to hold on as she was dragged into him with ha hard thump. The man's scowl only deepened and he twisted his wrist, breaking her grip. Lifting his now free arm into the air, he brought the back of his hand hard against her cheek. The slapping sound and the feeling of the impact were strangely real.

The child fell to the earth clutching at her face, but again she struggled to her feet, this time her legs wobbling barely able to hold her weight. Her little hand cupped her now tear stained cheek as a large large purple spot began to form. Reaching forward with her free hand she tried to get a hold of his wrist but Sarthas would have nothing of it. He quickly smacked it away, then kicked her hard the the stomach. The small child collapsed in pain, curling into a ball. It was strange, but these ghosts were so real he almost believed they were alive. Everything from the realistic injury's on the child's face to the cracking of bones and the popping of cartilage from the old woman. Watching the child a moment to be sure she wasn't getting back up again he turned and slowly made his way to the entrance of the crypt. But the second he reached the stairs he felt the familiar sensation of little fingers on his ankle.

There on the ground behind him was the child, unable to stand with the pain, she had apparently crawled over to him in a desperate attempt to reach him. This was getting ridiculous. Turning to face her he gripped her little dress with one hand, the sound of ripping fabric filled the air as he lifted her small body with one arm so that she was even with his face. “What.....do....you....want.” The man emphasized each word and his voice was filled with so much bitterness that it would have sent most people running for cover. The child didn't answer, it only looked at him with those ocean blue eyes filled with fresh tears. Sighing in complete exasperation the dark man dropped her to the dirt. “Look kid, you don't want to go where I'm going I promise you that, so why don't be a good little ghost and go play with a dead dog or something.”

With these final words he turned to continue for the forth time only to feel those fingers on his ankle again. Whipping around the man was fuming, it was clear he was at the end of his patients.”WHAT!” But before he could decide how he was going to mutilate the child, the girl turned and pointed at his lifeless corpse. Sarthas eyed the child a moment, then looked to his corpse, then back at the child realization of what she was trying to say finally sinking in. “You have got to be kidding me...” The girl flashed the most darling smile that the man had ever seen, when he hinted that he understood, her eyes glistening with the earlier tears. “No...no....forget it.” The man seethed in anger. The child somehow managed to gain its footing, holding her stomach with tinder fingers, she pulled at his pants leg. “Fine..” The man reached down and grabbed the child's arm, setting off toward his body once more. She couldn't possibly keep up with the pain so instead she let herself be dragged over the damp soft graveyard earth.

Dumping the child unceremoniously at their destination Sarthas eyed the most annoying little girl he had ever met. “Now what?” Beaten and battered, her clothes stained with the rich earth, the child struggled to its feet once more and caught the dark man's hand before kneeling at the side of his previous body. Placing her small hand on the corpse's ripped and torn chest she looked up at him with a desperate pleading in her eyes. Now Sarthas had never really cared about anything. Not even his own life and he certainly didn't care about some random ghost of a little girl, but as he looked at the child even as much of a monster as he was he couldn't help but feel just a little guilty. Was he seriously considering this? Shrugging as if he were tossing aside the weight of his guilt he managed his usual ridiculous smile. “I don't suppose I actually finished the job. But you better not be here when I get back.” The child only smiled with her bruised discolored face, a sad smile that hinted that she knew far more of this man's future than he could possibly understand.

“Well get on with it then...I don't have all day.”

Sarthas opened his eyes, life flooding back into what had been only a corpse moments before. He lay there, staring up with the most amusing smile on his face. It wasn't until feeling had returned to his hands that he felt the ring on his finger along with the wet warmth of blood. Understanding at last flashed through his mind as he realized who the child had been. His smile turned to a scowl and he spat up some blood as he spoke to the world of the living once again. “I hate kids....”

As small hands clung unto Sarthas, the humming tune continued on as the hands she held came with a touch of cold. The cold moved through her veins like a weary antidote that would only disrupt instead of heal. As she felt the cold come within the man, the lifeless look upon his face. She felt a side of remorse for the dark shadow as she sat lifelessly at his corpse. Riley’s voice echoed through her mind before finding herself playing in the mass of blood that collected within her hand.

Then shots were fired, scaring her into screaming for the first time since she had come from the dungeons. Jumping at this sound, her head craned back towards Riley. He was showing this creature mercy, this creature who had threatened their lives and had taken one in succession. ‘’What the hell Riley! What the bloody hell! [1]Cum dare tu manifestare milă , tu eşti growing slab !!’’ She wasn't so upset about the noise, but that he had let this creature die, something that did not deserve to die peacefully. Her voice etched with the pain of seeing one man die, and another turning from what he had been this entire time. Her heart grew weak with hate and loathing as she turned from Riley. Only to cover her face with bloodied hands and let silent tears fall across her cheeks.

Once again the chill of death came upon her, this time not from touching Sarthas’ corpse that laid so lifelessly against the cold cemetery ground. How ironic it was that they had come to a cemetery to die. Finding herself lost in her mind, the feeling of it scaring every strength she had left within her as sights of pale faces began surrounding her once again. Voices in the night, screams in the morning, Caislin Hallow was a place best for only the strong willed. Merisa had found herself lost on this, no hope left to come to. The blood that streamed down her hand, against the dirty face as the body would once more drop to their knees.

In quick succession hands would curl, and dig into the ground beneath her. The feeling of death not leaving her as it did once before. The touch of hands along her back would force her to become on guard once more. Turning around quickly to find she was only staring at Riley’s back once again. Riley’s words that he had spoken, ran through her like ice along the rivers touch only staring at his back for what seemed to be hours as she tried to figure out why this man was so displaced in his tune of sadness. Mismatched hues only found themselves on a lost cause as they turned back to the corpse that laid before her.

As she stared into the darkness, the blood matted clothing, the ring she had returned against his will. The hand that dripped blood against the less than innocent ground, would be covered with hands that faded in and out like lights in a bad switch. The touch of the dead was most welcoming in this time of hate and lost memories. [2]‘’Cum dare tu a lua nişte unul cine has nu a întemeia lor lumină.’’ With the touch of small hands surrounding her dripping hand, forcing them away with a quick shake and subtle push. [3]‘’ Copii a permite energie de meu mînă pentru tu ai a lua de la al tău parte.’’

With these words, the memories had flushed back into her mind at a million miles an hour, flowing through as they had done so many times before. With these words, she had found why they had been following her for so long through this cemetery, that they had been transgressing their memories, their fates from her mind. But alas with the final push from one dead woman to the dead children, it had been the final straw. Lost on herself as these thoughts came rushing back, lost in the moment as she found her sights set on Riley. [4]‘’ Tu a lua al tău memorie spate , fiindcă tu vei fehreir durere.’’ As these wicked words had left her lips, she found herself becoming what she promised herself she never would. As quickly as she said them, she regretted them. An in the moments rush, she had returned to Sarthas’ side and held his hand within her blood stain palms. Returning to her humming as she found this was comfort in her dying memories.

Then the touch of warmth had returned to the hand she held, and a voice returned that she thought would never be heard again. Lifting her head from the hands she rested it upon, catching that grimacing look upon his face. She couldn’t help but smile before she found herself releasing his hand before she could become in trouble for anything more from these two men. [5]‘’ Art.hot. tînăr fată a salva tu!’’ She was relieved that out of anything that had happened that with the graces of the dead, this had returned to being normal, well as normal as things get in Caislin Hallow. ‘’You gave us- quite a scare Sarthas.’’ She spoke softly as she returned the chain to around her neck in a quick motions, returning hands onto her dress, wrapping the left bleeding one in the dress.






1.- How dare you show pity, you are growing weak.
2- How dare you take someone who has not found their light.
3- Children let go of my hand, for you have betrayed your own kind.
4 – I hope you get your memories back, because I know you will suffer
5 - The young girl saved you!

Out from the darkness a mist crept slowly across the earthen ground, it was move slowly as if it were curiously surveying without a sound. The presence of which only started to materialize as she suddenly realized that they were attacking the hell hounds, that were her spirit guides. The problem was they were on hallowed ground, if anything more she would done something more profound. Slowly appearing at the entrance gates, she would abide by there and wait if she did not then it was going to be too late.

The shadows of the beam glistened upon her making her appear not what she seemed; she would appear different in the nights light luckily she had not drunk of her potion tonight. A soften gaze appeared on her face, though was she to be trusted no one would knew yet they would soon learn of the beast of which she was and how the tables would turn.

The scent was something that was not missed the blood running into the earth was more or less signaling a hit. She was not the only one that lurked in the shadows deep, that might want to take a chance on making the wounded its feast. A decision had to be made quick at hand, which is why she finally called up on the young man.

The young man who drunk of a potion made by a queen, the same young man who would not become her ghoul of a type and deliver the man wounded before the nights last ring. In the young man’s mind he would hear her call, soft and welcoming she was a master of disguise after all. The words were simple as was the request.

“Bring the wounded man to me at the gate, I make this not a quest. A task you cannot say no to you will have to abid.For my blood is in your veins, and I have the power to chose if you live or die.”

The power she bestowed was something that he would not be able to fight, even if he did his own body would abide, if he had to drag the man out to the pearly gates. She would still be standing there at any rate. Dressed in a elegant flowing gown, appearing of reality something that almost might deserve a crown.
Soften whispers could be heard in his head..

“ If the young girl stops you shoot her till she is dead…”

He just plainly ignored the girl that yelled in a random language that he did not have the slightest clue in what inclination it may hold. It reminded him a mix of Latin with something else, but it was much older. All that he could understand that it was negative and it was directed towards him. Fun. Fantastic. Blame him because the crazy hell hound was his freaking idea. Maybe he should go next door and ask for the two ogres to come out to play. Have a freaking tea party. Fucking A. But whatever, if she didn't have to guts to say it in a language he understood, then she was worth nothing more than a crazed Mexican chick he met in Texas a few times. Racism or not, its within the same context of this situation.

"You wouldn't understand..." The creature didn't exist because it was inherently evil. It was hungry, like a tiger stalking it's prey. Even if it is an unworldly being, he had to accept the fact that it was just a creature who needed to feed. If the creature was attacking a deer or a rabbit, would he step in the way to stop it? Comparing humans to common wildlife might seem like an uneasy answer, but that's how he looked at things. But given a cute girl and a cute rabbit about to be run over by a car, he would obviously chose the cute girl to save over the rabbit. But it doesn't stop him from questioning the rationale between the circle of life.

Ejecting the spare shells from his 22LR pistol, he replaced the shells with the speed strip he had in his pocket. No sense having an empty weapon that doesn't work. Hell, maybe the crazy wolf.. thing had friends that wanted to play. Although he doubt that he could take on another one with the same trick. Especially since Sarthas had bought the farm...

Turning his head just in time, he watched the man kick back alive and spit out some blood. "What the fuck..." Tilting his head curiously, he watched the girl practically explode with happiness. He could see the the kittens of joy exploding from her head. Although he could not hide the smirk that escaped his lips. "Welcome back. Seems like that you might breathe until another day afterall..." Chuckling, he started to examine Sarthas's body to see how they could carry him to safety. "We can try to rig up a stretcher with a series of..."

And immediately, he would hear a tiny voice inside of his head. It was cute. Subtle. Angelic. For some reason or another, it was warm and thrilling. It was as if he had a gaping hole inside of his chest. “Bring the wounded man to me at the gate, I make this not a quest. A task you cannot say no to you will have to abid.For my blood is in your veins, and I have the power to chose if you live or die.” The voice was so sweet as syrup, but as deadly as a snake. For some reason, it was the voice of truth. His conscious. His desires, and it was the calls that need to be fulfilled.

"I've got to take Sarthas to the gate." With glazed eyes, Riley checked the small caliber pistol. It was full. 6 rounds to boot, ready to go.

Raising the handgun, he would give her a soft smile as he asked her politely. "Could you please step away from the dying man? I have to take him to the gate before he dies." Although pure logic would be to NOT move the man, as it could easily tear the wound open and cause internal hemorrhaging... which would lead to a rather crazy death. But his normal voice of reason was replaced with the silent call from his queen. A beautiful creature that he had yet to meet.

Pulling back the hammer on the tiny revolver, he aimed it unceremoniously at the girl. Even though he looked glazed over and confused, the fire deep within his eyes showed no hesitation to pull the trigger. The command floating deep within his mind as it waxed and waned with each breath he took 'Shoot her dead if she resists...'

Sarthas tried to sit up but instead found that his body was unwilling to follow his instructions. The terrible gash on his chest was still very real and though the bleeding had at last slowed, it wasn't because it was healing. It was instead because he was running out of that blood. The man, should have been dead. In point of fact he had already died, yet that girl had brought him back...at least for a moment. It was only a matter of time before he died yet again and this time he was certain that it would be a final parting. Lifting his arm, he stared at his palm in curiosity. It felt like it was weighed down with led. Never in all his life had he felt so....helpless. He certainly wasn't happy about being here. Still, a job was a job, but he had spent the entire night looking for that woman without success. The chances of him finding her now in his current state were pretty much non existent. Sarthas turned his head, eying the woman and the chain that hung around her neck.

It was she after all that was responsible for bringing him back. If she hadn't acted as go between for heaven and hell grounding not only his spirit but calling to a child from his dark and twisted past through the ring, he wouldn't be here right now. Most people would have been appreciative, Sarthas....was irritated. Still, he was here for however much longer his dieing body could support him, which if the numbness that was slowly spreading was any indication wasn't long at all. “Scare? You flatter me, look at me I'm blushing.” The man's words were unusually quiet but no less dripping with his usual sarcastic undertones as he was quite obviously referring to the blood splattered mess of his body.

Shifting his attention a moment, he lifted his head and glanced around looking for his weapons. Letting his arm drop, his right hand fell upon the blade Merisa had used only a short while ago. The feeling of its hilt was strangely comforting, like the re-acquaintance of old friends. Turning his heavy head once more, he caught the glint of steel on his opposite side. He tried to make his left arm obey his commands but it wouldn't heed him at all. The numbness had completely consumed it. Frowning in irritation the man lifted his shoulder and tried to throw his useless limb at the blade. He succeeded in moving it about half an inch. Glaring at the arm that had been torn by the beasts fangs as if it were its fault, he paused a moment to consider how he would accomplish this mundane yet very daunting task.

Before he could solve his problem however, Riley's voice suddenly changed to a more...mellow tone. Glancing in the man's direction he caught his words. “I've got to take Sarthas to the gate.” The dark man's eyes narrowed. Even as fucked up as he was, he knew something was amiss here. And then there was the raised gun. After taking quick stock of his situation he realized that there was basically nothing he could do at this point other than be slightly annoying if Riley had decided he was going to kill him. That didn't seem like Riley at all, although it was something he would have done. Never leave an enemy alive, its just bad business. What made the man cock an eyebrow however, was the fact that the weapon was not pointed at him, but at the woman next to him. Playing over the man's words in his mind once again he tried to make sense of it all, but nothing added up. If Riley meant to kill him, than why moved him at all. And why threaten the woman who had certainly been his companion up until this point. The man tilted his head to the side, trying to see out the front gate from his current possition but unfortunately a headstone was directly in his way.

Looking back to the man with the gun, Sarthas decided the best thing to do in this situation was wait. After all, its not like he was going anywhere on his own. It was pretty clear that no amount of medical aid would save him at this point. Even if they got him on an operating table and started a blood transfusion within the next five minutes his chances at survival were roughly three percent. So he might as well enjoy the show, maybe someone would get killed, or maybe he would be tortured in his last moments. That would be entertaining. Keeping a tight grip on the single blade in his hand, he waited patiently.

The numbness continued to spread like a virus destroying the life in his body as it went. Despite the fact that he was armed, he was quite possibly the most harmless thing in the graveyard. In his current state he doubted he could even lift that arm again, much less stab anyone with the knife. He only held on to it because it didn't seem right to die without some kind of weapon. With this thought in mind, he flashed a bloodstained toothy grin at the man with a gun. If your going to go...go with a smile.

The sound of Riley’s voice was driven out of her head with the whispers of children rising up once again. Surrounding her mind, in an essence unknown, protection she had come to call them over the dark hours of the night. Glistening morning rays, touched against dew dropped grass blades, seeming to make things glow with a gentle innocence. Blood covered hands rested against soft silken material as with red tainted face, would force a crimson smile ‘’Dark Shadow… How delightfully evil you can be…’’ Her hand would move over from the material it clung dearly to, like a young child in the early years. ‘’May I have this back?’’ She had drawn out Riley’s voice, the sound of his bitterness for that animal lost anything she had ever thought of the man. Now he had become what he had set out to be, a cold-hearted man who would kill for the pleasure of death.

Bloody hands swept their gentle way across the back and front of Sarthas’ hand, taking a moment to run her finger over the ring she had placed on him, trying to keep the essence within his dark patchy soul alive. As sarcastic as the man could be, she found that within the darkness, there was a light. Or that light would have never come on, he would have died and not came back for the final time in his dreary life. She was quiet for a moment, but without hesitation she gently pulled the ring off, ‘’We may need this again Dark Shadow…’’ Her smile faded as clicking of metal against metal collided into each other, causing her bones to wrack with this sound of illegitimate weapons being pulled back to the surface.

As the woman raised her head, allowing gently locks to stick against her cheeks to the blood that had been pressed on them. Turning her head slowly to see Sarthas’ face change from the grimacing evil look, to this smile that she had only seen a few times before. Something was wrong here in this center as she concentrated on his eyes, looking in their reflection for the evil that had pulled Riley under. ‘’You must be a jester dear Riley, the white knight who had saved me again and again. Pointing such a contraption at the back of my head.’’ She would only sit there, shaking her head before finding herself touching the white satin dress that surrounded her. ‘’That or you must have finally snapped into the loathsome creature that you can never fill their shoes.’’

As she spoke these words in wicked tune, her hand would cover over the wound against Sarthas’ chest. ‘’As I know I must stay to protect the weakness forming within you, I really do not see the point in being shot. Especially since you are dying, and as it may be, there is something here that does not want me in this midst of this…But the evil will find.. I’m just another vision amongst the dead.’’ As she hushed, the tune of old would return to faltering lips as hands fell directly through Sarthas’ physical embodiment. ‘’As the dead rise, and as they fall. I’ll drift away in the midst of planes.’’ With that said, she turned in spot facing the demon that held Riley so tight. ‘’Only so far will you drive the light away, and only so far will it recede. But I shan’t let you tear this soul from this being. ‘’ She dangled the metal chain, and the daring ring that hung around her physically fading embodiment.

‘’As I said, this was my Sanctuary, and now you have brought demons that are to be locked in the pits of hell. You have defiled this great haven with touches of negating evil.’’ Scornfully she spoke, as the drifting form found it’s self crouched beside the dying shadow man once again, taking only sight with her of the battle within. ‘’The witch returns, and this time for vengeance. I will be no blood sacrifice for something so mundane. Sarthas, just remember what I have, you can contact me if you truly find a need to. I wish I was stronger to be your protector in this moment. Only say that you won’t let the witch trick you in this life time as well…’’ Mismatched hues, now white and blue, found themselves resting on the oddly struck face of Riley, the way he spoke was not the same and in this she found some comfort. ‘’Dear white knight, come back to the world of the living.. Or shoot those who are already in death’s arms, this power… Is too much.’’

Merisa found herself inbetween two very lost and easily manipulated souls. And one creature off in the distance that had been the puppet master this entire time. As she could not find herself becoming the hero of today, that this witch that had hidden their mongrel face in the darkness would only come to rise to the surface only in blood shed and death. Finding herself in a silent hate for the consequences of her travels. Never can she go anywhere without causing a set trait of death, pain and loss of emotions, perhaps more in time. ''Just take them...Riley and Sarthas both... Just don't hurt them... They are good lost sheep...'' The last words that would escape her lips, perhaps for the final time in Caislin Hallow.

Merisa, try as she may be, was unable to tame the quiet stir within Riley that now pumped through his veins. What Merisa failed to understand that such a contract made between vampiress and ghoul was a bound made by old magic. Magic formed in the times of man where many philosophers and magicians could not even begin to comprehend. With its old, unyielding power brought it strength. Even as Merisa pushed her words into Riley's mind, the spell would only grow stronger and resist the urges by slipping Riley's finger through the trigger guard. Whatever Merisa was doing was only making it worse. Much worse.

But with these motions, it caused Riley to snap internally for a few moments. This helped prevent Riley from pulling the trigger and breach himself towards common sense. How the hell was Riley going to carry Sarthas to the gate alone while carrying the gun at the same time? Time was of the essence, as the darkness was only increasing around Sarthas soul. Whatever brought him back was only a temporary measure. It was only a matter of time before he would reach his final death where her embrace will be everlasting. This was something that needed to be undone.

These kinds of thoughts... were not of his own. It confused him. These mental monologues. Who were they. Why were they there. Why did he need to move Sarthas towards the gate. Towards what purpose did he have. But questioning these thoughts only brought a coldness that spread across his body, chilling him to the bone. For a moment, Riley would start to shiver externally... resisting the call of the lady that beckoned him forth. His whole body would look as though it was going to convulsions, wanting to abolish the sickening blood that ran through his veins. But this only lasted for a second. A meager second. Like stated before, this was old magic. Something that could not be bent, shaped, or transformed without the power of an old sorcerer or another vampire.

Their resistance, including his own, was futile.

But with his resistance brought knowledge. Information that helped him regain control of his rationale. Enough power to push away the voices temporarily and coincide with the demands that she was making. Instead of fully becoming her little pet, he managed to take hold of a small piece of his mentality. This grew across his body... calling from within to give him strength. Slowly, but surely, the gun would divert it's gaze from Merisa's body. This was only a temporary measure, as the ultimate goal was to get Sarthas to his master.

His glazed over expression loosened as Riley merely put away the pistol into his pocket. Slowing stepping towards Sarthas crumpled body, he would lean forward and rest his hands nearby... opening his arms towards the man who was going to fade away into the night without a seconds glance. "Gonna have to trust me on this one Merisa..." The images of vampires blood flashed through his mind. The miracle. The cure... "Its either he gets help or dies here. I know you may not believe me, but trust me." Reaching into his pocket, he tossed her the gun towards the ground nearby. The metal clattering against the dirt. "If Sarthas dies tonite, you can pull the trigger on me. I won't stop you." He didn't have time to explain. It was just something that he didn't really understand either, but he just... knew it would work. It made sense. Not because she was making him feel this way, but something from before made this all work.

"Please..." And with that, he would attempt to scoup his arms around Sarthas... groaning deeply to lift the man and carry his crumpled body to the gate, if he allowed him so. "Sarthas, best not try to stab the man that may save your life. I owe you... and I plan to repay you in full." Riley would externally leave himself defenseless through the entire procedure, straining and carefully walking the man (if allowed) in order to not reopen the wounds that had slowly clotted. Even though Riley looked lithe for his build, the blood flowing from within gave him an unnatural strength. Sarthas would feel like picking up a small child in comparison.

What happened next was rather disappointing...no one died. It point of fact it almost seemed like both Riley and Merisa were intent on keeping him alive. Not that he had anything against being alive, its just that....well people usually didn't offer their assistance so freely. Then again, it was rather difficult for people to offer assistance to the man who was usually murdering them. No matter, Riley now had a hold of him and was slowly dragging his limp body toward the front entrance. He didn't really expect to live much longer, the numbness that devoured his life had progressed past his legs up to his waist and was now quickly working its way in from his fingertips. His hand remained rigidly fixed with a death grip on the blade he carried through it all, as if simply holding the thing could stay off death's hand. As Riley's words struck the man about stabbing him, he couldn't help but widen his smile a bit. It was short lived however as the man's final words confused him once more. Why did Riley think he owed Sarthas anything. It didn't make any sense to the twisted man.

Pondering over this rather complex social oddity as Riley dragged him along, the earthen tone of his eyes fell upon the woman who was yet another paradox. His thoughts trailed to her most recent words. It seemed as though she had been talking to a third entity, someone that he could not see or hear. Asking them to spare both Riley and himself. Was she preying? Or was the puppeteer that she was referring too something more real and perhaps a bit more substantial than a religious entity. Riley's actions did seem very odd and his attitude had shifted almost instantaneously. Was Riley being controlled by this mysterious puppet master and if so, was he also being manipulated by its invisible strings? The thought was unsettling to say the least and his smile completely vanished from his pale lips. And then there had been the fact that the woman, or ghost, or whatever she was had sunk her hands right through his chest. It was a very disconcerting feeling, almost as if she were touching him in a place that should never be touched. When those hands were removed, something left with them. He could not place what had happened or why it had only that it was very important. Of no less importance was the fact that she kept the ring. It was never his to begin with and it had already chosen to remain with Merisa the moment she took it from that tree. Apparently that child would not vanish from his dark and twisted past. "Very well then..." He whispered in answer to her earlier words, keeping Merisa's eyes locked with his own a moment.

The hood had fallen from his head when Riley had lifted him from the cold cemetery earth and his short matted brown hair fluttered slightly in the morning breeze. The sun was rising beyond the ancient graveyard, its all consuming light rushing over the landscape toward the battered companions as Riley at last reached the entrance gate. The numbness continued to creep over his body, consuming and devouring what little life remained to the dieing monster of a man. Sarthas tore his eyes from Merisa and for the first time in his life, watched the sunrise with a sense of curiosity. It seemed more than the simple changing of the guard it had been in the past. It was a beginning and an ending and though it was his ending, it really made no difference to him. What did make a difference and irritated him, was the fact that though he had been brought back it seemed he would die without finishing his final task. Completing that job was all that mattered to him, that was all he cared about. It was what he had been trained to do, like a whipped dog taught to fetch and even now dieing as he was he could not help but fight to bring the stick back to his master. The tiniest hint of a smile traced his deathly pale lips and he spoke to the cool morning air for only the second time in long minutes. “I do hope that you intend to pay me for my work Ailis." He was most certainly speaking to himself as the creature that had brought the man here had been impossible to find. Still he continued, his voice quiet and with a hint of amusement. “Just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I won't collect.”

If only the man knew the truth, if only he could see behind him beyond Riley and what awaited him in the fading morning's darkness. If only he could comprehend why Celest had brought him back and why his path had led them to this single moment in his life. His path, Riley's path, Merisa's path, Ailis and all those who had come to the cross roads of Caislin Hallows had come for a reason. Some lives had been dark, some had been light. Some had been rocky and twisted others had been smooth and straight but whatever their past had been one thing bound them to this strange old castle....and that was the future. For you see fate had brought them here for a reason and even if they were unaware of it themselves, things were about to change.