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Glaring at the press as they began to load the generators back up into their vans and take them off to the hospital, Liam let out a sigh of relief once they were out of sight, letting go of his tough facade. Liam wasn't exactly big on the idea of violence, he generally relied on putting some weight behind his words in order to get anything done. He glanced over his shoulder suddenly at the hand on his back, half-expecting one of them to have stuck around and noticed it was just a facade, but as his eyes settled on Amelia's face, he gave a half-smile.

He had encountered her from time to time, she'd given him one of his first internships in the states. Giving her a nod in thanks, he watched as she moved off before sighing. Grabbing his bag, he carefully pulled out his camera, setting it up to overlook the meeting as he sat beside it, pulling out his notepad to take notes throughout the meeting. As the two men approached the pedestal, Liam reached up, setting his camera to begin recording.

Glancing down to his pad from time to time, he'd jot down a few notes. He didn't jot down many for the Reverend's words. Liam wasn't religious, and he certainly didn't take any of the disasters which had been happening as any proof of some divine entity or some-such, he just didn't buy into the whole 'end-of-the-world' thing anyway. Glancing to the woman as she approached the sheriff, he raised an eyebrow as the Sheriff clarified what he'd been told, jotting that down. When the questions were offered, he took on his best journalistic candor and stood, holding up a hand.

"Does the town have a contingency plan, should all the events occurring turn out to be nothing major?" It was a fairly different question to many of the others asked, and there were other voices louder than his own, but it was the answer he focused on. Liam figured that it would just be a bad few weeks, nothing terribly major. But then again, he didn't even notice the woman standing behind the press barricade with her skin falling off. That might've changed his mind a bit.

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Although Elizabeth was 'unconscious', she could still sort of sense the world around her, hearing the doctors and nurses as they were trying to help her, eventually she no longer felt the pain of her wounds and then the background noise of the hospital got quieter and quieter until there was nothing. Then her breathing started to slow down, becoming quieter and quieter until it stopped as well, it felt like she was in a black emptiness; a void. Where was she? Was she dead? Was this the afterlife, if it was, it hadn't been what she expected, not that she really speculated what life was like after death, but this isn't what she would have pictured.

Slowly she started to hear the sounds of the hospital come back, felt the doctor examining her healed wound and then her eyes shot open, gasping for air that she had been deprived of for quite a bit of time, a little dazed as she tried to remember where she was. “Where...am I?” She spoke to Amy in shallow breaths, struggling to sit up as she took off the oxygen mask that felt more like a hindrance to her currently than a benefit.

Though still slightly confused, Elizabeth took notice that she no longer felt any pain from her injuries, looking over them with her hands, the palms sliding over the smooth skin, “What? I'm healed? But how?” She asked herself as she continued to stare at her arm, turning it over to see if there were any cuts left only to find none, well that sure was a mystery. Then something drew hear attention to Amy, hearing her heartbeat, it slowly getting louder, almost calling to her until she shook her head, placing a hand on it, she had no idea what was going on, perhaps she wasn't really awake and was just experiencing a vivid dream whilst unconscious or maybe they put her under to treat her, she didn't have a clue, hopefully though she could sort it out quickly.

---

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The sheriff looked at the crowd of townsfolk surrounding him with their questions, and the few who were just waiting for his answers. A young man was standing right in front of him, his question was the first one Zachary heard.

“What are you going to do about the supernatural that's plaguing us?”

"The Reverend will be able to answer that question far better than I," Zachary said, gesturing vaguely towards Reverend Adder.

A reporter then caught his attention, his hand calmly shooting up. Unlike the rest of the mob acting like vultures fighting over a corpse, he seemed to possess some calm. The sheriff let out an internal sigh of relief, but he knew that he wouldn't be easy. This guy probably wants something for the paper, or maybe TV news network, he realized. "Does the town have a contingency plan, should all the events occurring turn out to be nothing major?"

"Currently, there is not a lot that we can do. We are working on restoring power so we need you all to be patient while we try to remedy the situation. Since we still have no true confirmation on what is going on here in town, so we ask that everyone be back in their homes by 7 pm every night just as a precaution. We do intend to enforce this curfew." he said to the reporter. "We are very fortunate that the hospital is running fine, and that no issues have arisen at the prison."

He looked into the crowd, avoiding a few questions from the nuttier people there. Each one was weirder than the last, and probably inspired by some B-list horror film. They were rather lucky they didn't have any corn fields to worry about, otherwise, he would have expected some of the kids to get wise and run off in there to play. He really didn't need to deal with Children of the Corn parodies.

"Was the mayor murdered by demons?"

"Is this town cursed?"

"Is it true that this town was built on an Indian burial ground?"

However, there was someone shambling forward behind the crowd, just beyond the press barricade. The figure looked familiar, his jaw dropped when he saw Vivian Adder walking towards everyone. Her body looked like it was falling apart, skin peeling off and huge boils appearing. Sure, he remembered seeing her with what seemed to be a bad case of acne--but nothing like this. There was only one appropriate response.

"What the fuck?!" he yelled, reaching for his gun.

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The Town Meeting had turned into frightened and inane questions, with nothing useful coming out of it for her. She started walking away from the crowd, only to pause as someone who didn't belong arrived. Clearly someone didn't keep an eye on the clock. They showed up late to the party I guess. She started walking towards the figure, but she saw what it truly looked like, and she tensed up. It wasn't normal, to say the least.

Most would have fixated on the peeling skin, on the large, erupting boils, on the extreme burns. It was certainly something that caught the eye, with muscle tendons and bones being there for all to see. A different detail, however, caught Katsumi's eye. Her eyes were black, empty depths.

Demon Possession, huh? Looks like an exorcism is in order, Katsumi realized, grimacing a bit. It wasn't an ideal situation. She preferred to handle these type of matters away from people--away from innocents. But it couldn't have been avoided. As far as she was aware, this demon was about to blow the town off of the map.

It was time to get busy.

Pulling out a small vial of holy water and an iron knife, weaponry designed for demon fighting, she started towards the demon, the crowd behind her started to freak out at the sight of the girl. She heard people shouting out, something along the lines of The Reverend's Daughter.

"Dōkō-kai o torimodoshimasu!" Katsumi commanded, opening the vile and expertly flinging some of the holy water towards Vivian. It missed, falling flat in front of her. Katsumi tossed the vile aside, grabbing yet another one. She always made sure to carry a good deal on her.

"Don't film this!" Katsumi shouted, rolling her eyes at the press crew, as she tossed more holy water towards the demon. "Get the hell out of here! It's a demon! Anata wa shinitaidesu ka?" The water fell short again, and Katsumi bit down on her lip fiercely.

Today was just not her day.

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The Reverend stood calmly, his hands folded. His eyes scanned the crowd, and he was a bit crestfallen to see his daughter missing. As much as they had their differences, he had assumed that she'd have the good sense to go attend a meeting about the end of the world. It wasn't something petty or silly, such as a meeting on a color scheme for houses--no, this was life and death.

He sighed a bit. Despite being in her twenties, she still acted like a rebellious teenager, causing trouble for attention.

“What are you going to do about the supernatural that's plaguing us?” A scrawny kid asked. The Reverend glanced at him, noting how malnourished he appeared. He doubted the kid would be able to win in a fight against a toothpick. Had it not been severely inappropriate, he would have shaken his head. However, from what he could see, a snobbish professor was doing that for him.

"The Reverend will be able to answer that question far better than I."

Bowing his head, Lysander stepped forward slightly, before leveling his vision with the child. "To answer your question, let us turn to Exodus 22:18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," the Reverend answered grimly. "It is the will of the Lord that the end of time is upon us and our stories are already written, set in stone. This plague is commanded by our Heavenly Father, and we shall not oppose him."

The Reverend paused, seeing the confused faces at his apparent contradiction. "Yet there are those forces here that are not of the Lord, and we shall strike them down. You have nothing to fear, for God's plan is eternal and unchanging. We will follow as he commands."

Lysander nodded, taking a step back. He was aware that more faces of confusion were darting out of the crowd. A few years prior and he would have been one of them, rolling her eyes and mocking the faith. A reporter asked the next question, clearly addressed to the sheriff, and so the Reverend remained back, content to simply listen. He caught a woman grinning a hit from the corner of his eye, an unnatural silver sheen in hers. He shivered, reminded of an old fable of the Islamic tradition.

The questions returned to the usual sort of paranoia, and the Reverend continued to pull verses from his Bible, happily plodding along through the conflict and the chaos. He hardly noticed a sharp gasp sound from the crowd, as all eyes were drawn towards the very back. There, a woman was cursing and shrieking as she threw water at some strange creature, some poor person clothed in peeling and destroyed skin.

"What the fuck?!" the sheriff yelped, grabbing his weapon.

The Reverend's eyes widened, recognizing the silver hair. His eyes watered, and he stumbled off the stage, tripping over himself. Scrapping himself up off of the ground, he ran forward in a daze, making his way towards the back of the crowd. There, he was able to better see what was going on. His daughter--his Vivian--stood there, looking like a zombie more than his sweet girl. Her eyes were as black as the darkness and he wept.

"Get the hell out of here! It's a demon! Anata wa shinitaidesu ka?"

Tears continued to cascade down the Reverend's face as he crumbled to the ground. He knew it to be true. He had finally lost her--his Vivian, as far as he was aware, had died long ago.

"Vivian, forgive me...forgive me..." the Reverend whispered hoarsely. There was nothing to be done. It was the will of God for his daughter to be possessed. He could not change her fate. He was powerless.

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"No takers?" Vivian pouted. "Did I mention all deals are sealed with a kiss?"

The press crew seemed to shift a bit, before swiveling their cameras to face her. Momentarily posing with a duck face, she waved and grinned, closing her eyes and letting the fresh air hit her face. That was, of course, when she heard a vial clatter to the ground, accompanied by swearing and cursing in Japanese.

"Dōkō-kai o torimodoshimasu!" A tiny girl with a brown bob pulled out another vial, desperately flicking the contents towards Vivian. It didn't take her long to realize exactly what was going on. Her nostrils flared, rather thankful when it didn't touch her.

It would have hurt like a bitch.

"You're rather cute for a hunter," Vivian commented, gradually strolling towards her. "Doing this to impress daddy, hmm? Running off to join the circus clearly didn't do that, hmm, sweetheart?"

Cracking her neck, Vivian glanced down at the iron blade and the continued flasks of holy water. It had a tendency to get messy--but it wasn't as if she cared about killing a few more humans than she expected for the day. However, another gift presented itself. The Reverend had made his way through the crowd and collapsed near her, sobbing about his failures as a parent.

"Vivvie isn't home anymore, daddy dear," Vivian taunted. "Someone killed her~! And I know what you're thinking, but I always take good care of my meatsuits. It wasn't me, honest."

The demon approached the preacher, staring into his eyes. Grinning, Vivian grabbed her pocket knife. Tilting her head, she forced the Reverend's neck back, watching as he vaguely pleaded for mercy, tears welling in his eyes. With one smooth stroke, she slit his throat, and kicked him to the ground.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned!" Vivian cackled, before returning her attention to the pesky hunter. "Don't worry, haven't forgotten about you yet, dear!"

Pulling out her gun, Vivian clicked the safety off, and aimed it at the hunter. Firing into a crowd, she kept shooting until the gun was out of bullets, hitting the hunter twice in the left outer thigh. Shrugging a bit, she tossed the gun away, surprised to see that no one else had been struck by a bullet.

"You got that all on camera, right, dear?" Vivian asked, waving over at Liam, as if the pair of them were best friends. "Helloooooo, world! My name isn't Vivian Adder and I'd like to welcome you to hell! It doesn't matter who you pray to--you'll be dead soon enough, just like the dear old reverend here."

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: @BlueSky44 @Morose

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His brow furrowed as he observed the chaos quickly unfolding around him; the screaming of civilians, the blood of a holy man spilt by his own creation, the attack of a hunter that was quickly and easily dismissed by the demon before him, both labels he had discovered through the screams and vocalizations of the rushing masses surrounding him, all in terror, terror caused by a singular being in an advanced state of decomposition. She looked to have once been in her early teens, albeit now she appeared to have been a centuries rotting corpse given the visibility of various bones and other sub-dermal physical formations. She also appeared to be rightfully distracted, allowing him time to consider his course of action. Retreat, attack, or confrontation. Many people considered adrenaline infused situations to be capable of two responses, a duality between Flight, or fight. In his experience, these were the most common responses, but far from the only options available.

He stood calmly, buttoning his jacket and puffing slowly on his pipe as he further contemplated his choices. If anyone in the crowd was currently capable of mediocre forms of observation, they would have noticed the peculiarity of a middle aged man standing calmly in the calamity surrounding him. Producing a fine tip, black permanent marker from his inner jacket pockets, he began to carefully inscribe familiar symbols onto his palm, ten in total on each hand. One would be drawn at the base of each finger, and then below the one completed, as well as two on the base of each palm. After finishing the twenty-six symbols, he removed his knife from his pocket, ejecting the blade and creating small and semi-deep incisions above each symbol, allowing blood to stream onto them. He had never been a superstitious man, but in his line of work it was rare for someone not to develop a belief in one form or another.

He stepped forward, towards the demon, walking with purpose, the blade hidden in his bloodied hands. He had made his decision, if he died then so be it, but he would not allow himself to fall in line with the degeneracy and cowardice of his surroundings. Many a year ago, he had been taught that his heritage and biology required a sacrifice, a refusal to ignore the ability of his ancestors. Every man in his family tree had been a warrior of extensive capability, as well as a scholar. He came from a line of men that contributed both to knowledge, and to war, something he knew he would one day have no option but to rise himself to. His ancestors were the men that created and fueled the once powerful Roman empire, a force that once had conquered the entirety of Southern Europe and influenced the advancement of culture and war through the world over. In his blood were the ingredients that made men become gods, that immortalized men and set their names in stone to be remembered until the ends of humanity. And he would not, not ever, fall among the ranks of those that disgraced their incestrial heritage.

His pipe remained in his mouth as a look of stone fell over his face, standing palms away from the demon before him, who was now only a few meters away from him, likely to become aware of his presence in seconds, the following moments would define, and discern his survival.

x

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Danica stood there rubbing her eyes for a moment before pulling out her phone and turning on the video camera to it. Turning it towards the crowd she got what she hoped would be some live action shots of the person she swore had returned from the grave, John Moses. Holding the phone out in front of her as she followed the man through the crowd but tried to keep a bit of distance as she spoke.

"Okay, well if i have made it to day two, what you are now watching it from day one. I have had one hell of a day. It started out with a hike in the woods, images are posted for your perusing. Yeah, that camp sight was totally screwed over. Then I ended up running into some woman that had been attacked. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with all the freaks coming out of the wood work I am surprised I haven't run across someone that was skinned and their ribs spread like the Vikings used to do. Anyways, got the hospital. Where all hell was breaking loose. One group of crazies after another. And now I swear I just spotted John Moses. I hope I got his face in the video but things are moving so quickly here I am not sure right now. I will have to review the tape before I post it. If I do, please look! Let me know and post a comment below. This is Danica Graves, at the end of the world. See you shortly - Here or in Hell," she said before stopping the video camera flipping it over to still shot.

Looking around she lost the man she was trailing and let out a frustrated huff. She kept looking around, her free hand pressing on her stomach. The cramps where still there but they were not near as bad as they were when she was inside the ER. The fact they were getting weaker made her perk a brow. Turning she looked over her shoulder and started to walk back to the ER. She wanted to check on something, and see how Elizabeth was doing in the mean time. Stepping inside the ER, it was nice to see that the lights were back on. She followed the path she had taken to get out but got a little turned around; that was until she saw Amy shove someone outside of the room and she stepped over to see what was going on.

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Dr. Chang rubbed her temples; working in an ER was never easy and she avoided it for a reason. It was one thing to have a patient brought in, knowing what could happen and being prepared with the stats of whether or not they would survive. It was planned out, like working on a car. She was the mechanic and the patient was the vehicle. She went in, did what could be done, changed out a transmission as it were, and sent out a bill. That was it. There was nothing else that could be done. Even if they did flat line, death in the OR was very different than death in the ER.

The ER bought a level of connection that one could avoid in the OR. Her patient, Elizabeth, had been fine it seemed. Suddenly she had flat lined and everything went to hell. Didn't matter what she did, there was not bringing her back and it perplexed her. Death just didn't happen for no reason. There was always a reason. In the OR you usually knew the reason, here in the ER, it was a different story and it was vexing to Amy. Looking at the woman there was no reason she should have died yet something was prickling at the doctors gut. She didn't know why the woman had died, but something told her that it wasn't just something in her system that was in any medical book. Granted, it didn't matter what her gut told her, it wasn't telling her how to help the woman.

Turning she got to work on taking off her gloves and getting ready for another patient when the lights of the hospital came back on and it caused her to breath a sigh of relief. At least something was going right. Turning she went to pull the sheet over the dead woman; about the same time she spoke. Amy jumped back against the wall and screamed. Holy gorhamit!" she bellowed as the dead rose from the grave. What was this? Something out of the book of Revelations? Or a really bad remake of Ghostbusters?

She stood there frozen, had she missed something? Was her pulse still there just too weak to have been detected by a simple touch? No, that couldn't have been it. A first year medical student could easily tell the difference between someone who was alive and someone that was dead. It got a little complicated when the body was out in the cold and suffered from hypothermia, but the woman hadn't been on ice. She was supposed to be rolled down to the morgue and put on ice for sure, but she wasn't yet. No, she was sitting there and talking.

Hearing another pip in Amy growled under her breath. "Oh for fucks sake, get out you moron," Amy snapped before shoving the wide eyed believer out of her way and out behind the curtain to the room. Turning she looked back over at Elizabeth. "Swear to god, you start craving brains and I am shoving a scalpel through your eye socket before you can say Romero."

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Elizabeth’s mind soon calmed down, enough anyways to remember that she had been attacked in the woods by two different people and then was helped to the hospital by Danica and then by doctor and nurses of said hospital. She glanced over at one of the nurses who had a look of shock on her face as she stared at Elizabeth and then when she made a comment, asking if she was Jesus, her face gave off a perplexed look, “Am I Jesus? What are you talking about?” She had no idea what happened when she ‘blacked out’ and she didn’t really have an idea what was going on now, but obviously it was something strange if, what felt like everyone, was staring at her, like she came back from the dead or something.

Whilst she was still trying to figure out what was going on, her senses began to pick up on certain things once more, such as Amy’s heartbeat as well as the medical staffs’ and some people just outside the ER. Her nostrils flared slightly as she smelt blood from open wounds that were being treated as well as blood bags and medical waste that had blood on them, like a pleasant fragrance to her, all these senses calling to her, like a soft whisper, just on the cusp of being heard.

She was broken from her highly focused concentration of what her senses were picking up when Amy addressed her, what felt like a threat and Elizabeth was even more confused by that now, “What are you talking about? Why would I be craving brains? What is going on? All I remember is feeling weak before and then I passed out...I think, then I wake up and my injuries are gone and people are looking at me like I just rose from the dead or something.” Elizabeth responded slightly heated, unbeknownst to her that she had actually died and felt like she had just held her breath for a long time before it eventually forced her to wake up.

“And could you do something about these lights? They're rather brighter than I’d prefer.” Elizabeth added, squinting slightly as she used her hand to shade her eyes, the florescent bulbs feeling incredibly bright to Elizabeth, though they were the same brightness as before the power went out.

Something strange was going on here, it didn’t make sense to Elizabeth why she was healed now, why she was being gawked at and why her senses were suddenly much sharper than before, she knew she shouldn’t be able to hear Amy’s heartbeat as well as others, at least not without her ear being directly on their chest or with a stethoscope, but she could hear them clearly as if she did one of those two things. Not to mention smelling blood as if it was directly under her nose and sure, those things could be smelt in a hospital, but not so far away and most people usually found it unpleasant, but not to her, it currently was a pleasant aroma that wanted to draw her to it’s source and that was equally confusing; perhaps she’d get some answers from Amy after she figured out what was initially going on.

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The Sheriff's exclamation is what got Liam's attention initially. Turning around, his eyes widened at the sight of Vivian, taking a half-step back as he stared at her in shock. His mind started going into overdrive, trying to piece together what he was looking at. The peeling skin, the overall grotesque nature of the woman's body, and most importantly - the black eyes. Trawling through his mind, he couldn't quite come up with anything, but he did recall his vision from before, the black eyes, they were the same - but this wasn't the same woman, he could tell that, even with her skin falling off.

The Japanese woman came up, tossing vials of water, at first Liam was confused, but then it dawned on him. The combination of everything brought back up something he'd read across a fair few books, though he'd always been skeptical about it - she was a demon. And if that were the case, the woman had to be throwing holy water, why was she carrying holy water? Liam figured that this would be a question better saved for later, and his thoughts were quickly distracted by the sound of gunfire as he jumped suddenly, watching as the hunter took a pair of shots to the leg.

Liam froze again, shock filling him for a moment as he still struggled to take it all in - he struggled even more as he saw the Reverend approach, saw him drop to his knees, and saw his throat slit. Some of the other journalists were filming, trying to get something of a story, that couldn't be further from Liam's mind, even as he gathered his wits again, he wasn't trying to film a snuff film, this was something that could stay off the air. Besides, these days - people needed a little less fear in their lives.

Then the black eyes focused on him, and the woman waved in his direction before speaking. For a moment he panicked, his mind went into overdrive over things he could use to fight her. Holy water was the obvious one, the hunter had tried to use it and missed - he could see she had more vials, but if he tried to get it he figured the demon wouldn't exactly just let him. Didn't salt do something? No, that just kept them away, and he didn't have any on him. He resigned himself to the fact he didn't have anything he could use to fight. Evidently, some others did though.

Liam's attention was drawn then to two other figures, and older male, puffing on a pipe and approaching, a knife in hand and bleeding palms, he seemed intent on engaging the demon, and Liam figured she would focus on him. If not him, there was the other man who'd asked a question, he sounded like he was speaking in tongues, but he seemed intent on whatever he was doing, this day was only getting stranger. Hoping that the demon's focus was taken by the others, Liam hurried to the hunter, kneeling over her and looking down at her wound. He didn't have anything he could use to help her wound, so he looked up to her. "I-i'll get help for you soon!" He insisted, reaching out to snatch a pair of holy water vials.

Liam didn't have a clue what he was doing, he was certain at this point it was adrenaline driving his actions more than anything, but he figured he had to do something, he couldn't have just joined the many bystanders running away, he had to help at least those few willing to stick around and fight. Moving closer to the demon from behind, he took a deep breath and opened the vials, getting close enough to thrust his hands out and send the water flying from the vials toward her, staggering back quickly afterward, god, he hoped that'd do it.

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: Too Many People to List off

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Shit, shit, shit! Zach thought to himself when he saw Vivian Adder show up. His exclamation out loud clearly drew a lot of attention from the citizens. He didn't know what to do, there were too many people around, so if he started shooting, a lot more people would get hurt than he would have liked. A young Japanese woman who had been walking away from the crowd was the first to truly react to Vivian. Jumping into action and pulling out a knife, one that looked a little weird to him. He saw her toss vials of water at Vivian, but she kept missing. He didn't know what was going on, and everyone else was jumping in it seemed like. The Reverend, he started to cry, I would too if I ever had a kid like this he thought to himself and Zach was starting to tear up at the thought.

Vivian walked over to her father, a knife in hand. Zachary started moving towards her, pulling his gun, but it was too late. Vivian had killed her father. It was clear that whoever or whatever this thing was, it was no longer Vivian Adder. I should have known something was up. I should have known she wasn't herself. Maybe I could have prevented this, maybe innocent people wouldn't be dying. He kept moving forward, as Vivian shot the Japanese girl in the leg. The reporter who had asked the last question walked over to the girl, saying something to her and grabbing a few vials of water. Zachary finally realized why he hadn't done anything yet, it was a strange being, someone from another realm or something. It's a demon, so that has to be holy water then, I think. He raised his gun towards the shell of Vivian, and he watched as the reporter went around behind her with the vials.

---

Location: Town Center
Interacting With: Demon, Liam Matthews

Well, look at the mess you've gotten yourself into know Kat.

All hell had to be breaking loose. She thought that maybe the sheriff would be the first one to her rescue, but no. It was the priest and the reporter, of all people. She watched in sadness when the Reverend's throat was slit and he crumpled to the ground. Then the demon turned towards her.

"Don't worry, haven't forgotten about you yet, dear!" she said, and pulled out her gun.

The next thing that Katsumi knew, her leg was bursting in pain. She knelt on the ground, with her left leg on the ground. She was trying not to scream out. When she looked up, she saw the reporter from the diner coming towards her.

"I-i'll get help for you soon!" he said as he grabbed a few of her vials that were now on the ground.

She nodded slightly to him, and realized that this was going to end badly. No matter what she did, people were going to die, and the priest proved that. The sheriff was on his feet, and had his gun raised. A lot of good that will do. That will just piss her off, then again, so will holy water. Well, we are screwed, like really screwed.

She saw her knife, and quickly snatched it up. This can do damage to her, unlike normal bullets. Maybe the witch can get rid of the demon if we distract her for long enough. She took aim at the demon, limping to be on the side onto her right leg. Taking aim, she looked right at the demon, ignoring the pain in her leg.

"Tetsu no meinu o tabemasu!" she cried out, throwing the knife at her.

This time, her shot didn't miss.

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Vivian's nostrils flared, as an almost searing presence approached her. A low chuckle came up from her throat, as she faced a tanned man with a beard. She rolled her eyes, noticing how one of his seemed almost more prominent than the other. Humans, they were always flawed creatures. Any devotion towards them hardly made sense to her. They were cruel, coming up with far worse tortures than her kind could ever develop. They were the real monsters--all demons had to do was give them a tiny push and the humans would take off running, creating horrors that no demon had ever dreamed of.

This one soul in particular, however, caused her to smirk in frustration. He was close enough for her to make out the symbols on his hands: the seals of the lesser key of Solomon. "This takes me back," Vivian said wistfully, spinning a bit on her heels. "Awfully outdated method, though...And poorly applied. You should have gone for the trap, mate. Much more effective."

Vivian cracked her neck once more, a devilish smile playing on her lips. Raising her hand, she ignored her pocket knife, opting for something that would show off her powers a little more. Too many people were coming up to challenge her for her liking. Massacres were never supposed to take this long.

She raised her hand slowly upward, causing the professor to rise into the air as well. With a wink, she flicked her wrist, sending him flying into the statue. Fortunately for the professor, Lady Luck seemed to be on his side, as while his head did indeed crack open and his vision blurred, he wasn't dead. And even better, the demon's attention span was short, quickly shifting to the next moving target.

This time, it was the sullen teenager she turned to face. She heard the Latin words, and began to choke, billowing smoke coming from her mouth. It was darker than night, continuing to rise higher and higher. Her body writhed as she began to scream, desperately attempting to keep the smoke in...

...Until the boy stopped. The smoke returned inside of her and Vivian rose, boiling with rage. "What, were you too stupid to finish the bloody spell, hmm?" Vivian seethed. Clenching her fist, she did the demon equivalent of force choking, cackling maniacally. Of course, once more, her pleasure was cut short by burning pain. Spinning around and releasing Daniyal, Vivian faced the reporter, her black pupils taking on a slight reddish tint.

"Your friend is dead, you know," Vivian taunted, inching towards the reporter. The seals and the incantation, while incomplete, had began to take a toll on her. The holy water hardly helped. Making her way towards Liam, she was seeing red, and she grabbed the reporter by his neck, laughing into his face. "I can smell your fear...You'll die just like her. All alone."

She screeched in pain once more as the knife entered her. Her strength sapped from her and she dropped to the ground, staring directly into the eyes of the sheriff. Her skin, already wretched and horrified, began to melt, dripping onto the pavement. Muscle and bone were the next to go, with each part that touched the dreaded iron blade burning or melting away. Screaming in pain, Vivian's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her voice turning deep and inhuman.

"We are legion, for we are many!" Vivian said, almost too calmly. Utterly surrounded, Vivian glanced around, searching for a soul to escape to. If this meat suit was going to be toast, so be it. There'd be other humans to possess--other humans to kill.

No one in Altsoba was safe. No one.

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Danica, journalist extraordinaire or well blogger for bitches, stepped into the room as the doctor threatened to put a blade right through the eye of the woman she had helped into the hospital. Her brows furrowing a little as she got a quizzical look on her face. "Whoa doc, I thought hospitals were supposed to put people back together, not dismember them," she said quickly before grabbing her mid section and grunting a little bit.

"Yeah, well where do you think we get the spare parts from?" Amy quipped without evening thinking before turning her attention back to living dead girl. "You were dead," she stated flatly before her head cocked back to Danica and nodded a bit. "She was dead. You know, that whole no pulse, heart has stopped beating, temperature was dripping below the mercury, let's call the funeral home because flowers and caskets need to be picked out. Open the gates of heaven because they have a new arrival. Call a priest for last rights. D. E. A. D.," she said as she pulled out her cell phone and started thumbing through it as she took a step back from her patient.

"Um.. Doc if that is true, then you still need a priest but might need it for an exorcism instead," Danica spouted off as she took a step closer to Elizabeth.

"What do you think I am googling? If her head starts spinning and she starts spitting out pea soup I quit," Dr. Chang said as she continued to look at her phone.

"Well, she ain't dead doc...," Danica started before grunting again and perking a brow, taking a slow step back and grumbling under her breath. "Are you?"

Amy looked up from her phone and motioned towards where Elizabeth had been injured when she was brought in. She didn't bother saying anything else to the two as she kept scrolling through her phone. It was more than clear that the girl was healed, as if the wound had been washed away like make up after a bad horror flick scene, as if it has been nothing but liquid latex and red colored corn syrup but Amy knew that hadn't been the case, she had seen the wound. She had touched the torn flesh and the ripped skin. There had been a massive series of lacerations there, now the skin was as smooth and pure as if it was on a new born child. Taking a deep breath she looked up again as she slipped her phone into her pocket.

"So, any cravings for brains, or blood, or just even a really rare steak? I need to know if I need to go to the morgue, the blood bank, or just the cafeteria for your evening meal."

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Elizabeth was glad when Danica had returned, at least she’d perhaps have someone on her side and not be stared at by every person around her, which she noticed some people were still staring at her as the stumbled a little to do their work, obviously too entranced with Elizabeth who had been dead moments earlier and was now sitting up and talking as if she had only been sleeping or passed out.

“I was...dead?” She asked aloud to Amy, a perplexed look hitting her face, just trying to understand what was going on. She was guessing this wasn’t some sort of joke or prank, if so it was the most elaborate and long played out one she ever experienced; this certainly was a confusing day, all she had wanted to do was go for a small run, got attacked twice, was fortunate enough to have found some help and now she’s hearing that she died, well it certainly would be a good story to tell people if things ever settled down.

“Well maybe it just took some time for my heart to start up again, I saw a medical story like that, maybe that’s just what happened with me.” Elizabeth added, though she knew it was rare and not the most sound relying on what she saw on television, but it was the only logical thing she could think of. Elizabeth noticed when Danica began to grunt and take a step back, ready to ask if she was okay when she heard the woman speak under her breath, though it sounded like she had said it aloud, at least it seemed that way to Elizabeth when her heightened hearing picked up her words, “Am I what?” She asked, noticing Danica’s pain had returned, then added, “Hey are you alright?” Not connecting that Danica’s pain was indicating something about her.

She returned her attention to Amy again for a moment when she started to speak, asking her about any cravings and then that silent whisper of her senses called once more, wanting the blood that could be smelt, not that the small craving was driving her, but it was almost saying, ‘It's not necessary to have this now, but wouldn’t it be nice if you did?’ Her stomach responding to the silent voice with a low growl, “Yeah, some blood would be great, the best quality you have if that’s alright.” She partially joked with a small chuckle, though if the opportunity to drink blood was available, she’d do it, no doubt that would get even more people staring at her.

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: Demon

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Her leg was killing her, and the demon was lying on the ground. The reporter and the sheriff were both still standing nearby. The black eyes were pointed at the sheriff. Maybe she won't move and I can do something about this thing. Hopefully it won't attack me again, but the one guy didn't exactly do much against her, just hurt it. The guy gave me an idea though. She steadied herself on her good leg, and looked right at the demon.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus..." she started saying, and the demon looked into her eyes, and started to rise. "Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica..." It was on its feet now, and it started lashing out, heading towards the crowd. Smoke was starting to pour out of her mouth and eyes. "Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te...cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare..."

Now the demon attacked a man who was standing nearby, sending him flying. I hope he isn't hurt too badly, she thought quickly. "Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis..." the demon looked at her and attacked her, trying to kill her, Katsumi's arm had a cut on it now. "Humiliare sub potenti manu Dei; contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine...quem inferi tremunt...Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos." she said, finishing the exorcism quickly, and tossing the thing away from her.

It started thrashing about on the ground. Cracking sounds could be heard, and then the body looked at her. Its eyes were clear, and Katsumi knew that she was looking into the eyes of the true Vivian Adder. She started coughing up blood, and was having trouble breathing.

"Anata no itami wa sugu ni shūryō suru koto ga dekimasu" Katsumi whispered softly, watching helplessly as the girl laid there dying. Her own leg finally gave out, and soon she too was lying on the ground, her arm and leg were both throbbing immensely.

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: @Morose

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He watched the demon turn to him, seeing in her confidence the near futility of his act. While it was clearly not enough to do irreparable damage, he knew through the soft strain in her decomposing face that it was taking it's toll, and through her archetype style monologue that a "trap," would have proven more efficient. He also acknowledged her comment regarding it's lack of modern effect, making an immediate mental note to reach out to every contact in his arsenal for an onslaught of contemporary anti-demonic symbology. He was also intent on reaching out to the younger Pacific women to require any knowledge she could give.

As her hand lifted, he felt the gravity around him shift, and watched himself rise into the air. Once again defying the common reaction of men, instead of frantically attempting to resist the uncontrollable forces moving him, he made calm eye contact with the demon before him, and taking a slow draw from the pipe still resting in his mouth, letting it out to resemble a beacon. He then felt the force of her propulsion, all seemingly in a time slower than common, his eyes maintaining contact with hers before he felt his body smash into the ground.

The next dozen seconds passed in a slow, fuzzy blur. For a moment he saw nothing but darkness, then the concrete he instinctively pushed himself from and the blood that was steadily flowing down to it. Rolling himself over onto his elbows and back, he began to grasp his bearings as the scene unfolded slowly before him. Smoke poured from the demon's mouth like a chimney as the pacific woman chanted before her, and Joel began to move, slowly and like a drunk. His knife had somehow remained in his hand as he staggered towards the downed demon, before he reached her and fell onto her with his blade aiming for her spine. Deep crimson feel from the wound on his skull, and was the last thing he saw before his eyes shut, regardless of his resistance.

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The second that Liam saw Vivian turn toward him, his heart began to race, a sinking feeling filled his stomach. He'd hoped that the holy water would've had more of an effect, that it might've stopped or at the very least slowed her down, but it only seemed to piss her off more. He backed up slowly, but he was stunned by fear, and it wasn't long before he felt her hand around his neck, gasping around her grip as it tightened about his neck. Reaching up, he grasped her hand, pulling at her fingers as she hissed in his face.

When she screeched, Liam thought he was dead, he had no idea what had happened until her grip loosened and she let him go. Stumbling back, he tripped over his own feet and fell back onto his ass, watching her in awe and terror as she began to melt, as the skin, muscle and everything began to pool at the ground. He was half convinced he was dreaming, he stared at the knife which had finished her off, he didn't understand any of it. Liam had been a skeptic, convinced all of this was fake, just a result of climate change or something, but this was all so different, this was a nightmare.

He got to his feet again and took a few more steps back, looking down at the demon as she lay dying on the ground, shock still on his face as he looked between the others present, those who had made an effort to try and fight her. He didn't know any of them, but they'd all had that same instinct to do something. He needed to take a moment, he needed to speak to at least one of them, they all seemed to have some idea of what had happened, after all.

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Vivian's eyes latched onto the witch's. Figuring that the witch would have some moderate protective items with them, Vivian willingly began to leave the vessel. Black smoke poured out at an extreme rate, rushing towards the naive and practically defenseless boy. She could hear, in the background, the startled cries and panic as bystanders finally realized it was time to run like hell. Had she not been turned into a chimney, she would have sneered at them, and cursed them all.

However, the Latin words quickly caught her attention. The smoke stream stopped, and rather than going into Daniyal, they began to rise upwards. Vivian began to choke, desperately trying to redirect it back inside of a vessel--and instead, she found herself compelled to stand. Gasping and shaking, made more of bone and muscle now than actual human flesh, a river of blood cascaded down from her, marring the concrete. With as much concentration as she could, the demon began to lash out, attacking anything she could get her hands on. Trying in vain to kill the hunter, she instead tossed a second man aside, and now began to heard a second chanting.

For Lucifer's sake.... Vivian thought desperately, unable to do so much as scream. Somehow, she managed to latch onto the hunter, the two of them entering a bitter brawl. Attempting every trick in the book, Vivian found herself powerless, only succeeding in collapsing on the ground by the statue of old Isaac Stevens. And then, in a matter of moments, everything went dark. The demon had been expelled, leaving the hollow shell on the ground, hardly long for this world.

"Help me..." the real Vivian Adder -- the human girl -- croaked, mere moments before the professor fell on her with his knife.

The world then went dark for her too.

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About half of the press have remained. Some of them were scared witless and took off in a desperate attempt to escape, rueing the day that they agreed to give live coverage of the apocalypse. Those that remain are nervously pressing forward, having filmed the entire brawl. The bolder of them push their way through, standing practically on top of Vivian and the professor, reeling off the daily propaganda.

"I'm Kathy Simons, live from Altsoba, where the apocalypse truly has begun. This young girl was possessed by a demon and in a frenzy, began firing shots into the crowd! A valiant team assembled themselves quickly to stop her, lead by this exotic young woman right here!" an older woman with horrible make-up began, shoving a microphone in Katsumi's face. "Tell our viewers at home what happened! We're dying to know each and every detail!"

Kathy, unbeknownst to her, had stepped on Vivian's arm. It seems chivalry -- and respect for the dead -- is no more. But on the bright side, by some miracle, the power has been restored. A few bars of signal seem to come through, as well. Huzzah?

@Witch Cat @BlueSky44 @hagroden @Pundii : The press are hounding all of you, demanding to know each and every detail about you. They're asking questions about where you came from, how you learned to deal with demons, and whether or not the world truly is ending. If you answer a question, expect an onslaught of at least fifty more. And if you refuse to answer, well, they'll come up with answers for you. It's not the best situation to be in, but you notice most of the citizens either slipping off to Jake's for a late lunch or heading home. Maybe, if you're lucky, you can blend in with the crowd.

@Lady Amalthea : For once, Amy's luck isn't what's going bad. The hospital gets a flurry of calls, as service and power have been restored. They report the general events of the Town Meeting: the shootings, the deaths, and the head injuries. With so few people left in town, Amy's asked to assist with the ambulances. I suppose that's what happens when everyone flees town from the apocalypse, am I right?

@Sohtem @Lady Amalthea : Danica's cramps are going to be incredibly severe, and each moment she so much as looks at Elizabeth, it'll only get worse. Imagine labor - and multiply that by ten. That's somewhere around the appropriate pain level. Elizabeth's teeth start to ache as well. If anyone looks in her mouth or if she feels them with her tongue, she'll notice something rather alarming. They look like this. Fangs. Fun, right?

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Jade had been hanging on the side, watching the meeting as the entire fiasco went down. It wasn't really her type of thing -- the apocalypse -- but she had been asked to serve as back-up. Her gun and her badge were with her, as always, but she couldn't have been more bored. Each invocation by the reverend was aptly met with a pristine eye roll. There couldn't have been anything more ridiculous. The entire world was just getting shittier. That didn't mean it was some sort of biblical apocalypse, otherwise, she was fairly certain Trump was the antichrist.

At the sound of shots, though, Jade's attention snapped to the source. A zombie-like figure was shuffling around, firing a gun. Jade glanced up at the sheriff, only to find him stunned, and then rushing towards the shooter.

"Bloody hell, ain't anyone gonna deal with civilians?" Jade cursed. She then spent the entire fiasco shepherding the confused and terrified citizens away from the Town Center and into the nearby shops. Some of them she ushered to go home, and as the violence increased, they began to cooperate all the more. It did help, of course, that she had a gun and a badge of her own.

With the chaos subsided, Jade walked over towards the main group, nodding at the sheriff. With her phone, she put in the call for several ambulances, and then slipped the phone back into her pocket. A faint pounding in her head began to kick in, but she brushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to slip into melancholy and despair.

"Piss off, you lot!" Jade directed, walking over to the press who had swarmed the fallen reverend. "Don't you have fear mongering to do somewhere else, hmm?" She shoved her badge in their face, and when that didn't work, her elbow.

Fortunately, after seeing all of the death and violence, this bunch of press wasn't too hard to deal with. Glancing over at the other group crowded around the fallen girl, Jade considered whether or not to go play guard-dog with that body as well. The bodies would all be collected in the end-- and she trusted that Zachary wouldn't be too incompetent with that.

"Oi, you lot!" Jade called out, her accent strong. "Don't mess with the evidence, yeah?"

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Brighton hadn't attended the Town Meeting. Despite devoting his life work to studying human culture and interaction, he couldn't detest people possibly any more than he did. They were grimy and needy, constantly complaining and then sitting around, doing nothing to rectify it. So many of them gorged themselves to death and then judged others for doing the same. He couldn't stand it--it sickened him, being around other human beings.

Rather than surrounding himself with those he hated, Brighton instead holed himself up in the backroom of his dusty little shop. He inherited his home from his parents, and with anthropologists hardly making any funds, he hadn't been able to escape the cesspool that is a small town. Busying himself with his books proved to be a far more enjoyable pastime. He had found an exquisite copy of the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and currently was leafing through it. Hardly anyone ever dared to venture inside of the tiny shop, and so, he enjoyed relative quiet and peace.

Of course, when the lights turned back on, Howard grinned devilishly. He tossed aside the cheap flashlight he had been using, and ventured towards the front of the shop, buttoning his blazer as he did. Pushing gently on the seldom used door, he glanced out into the streets, watching as a mad mob rushed from the Town Center.

Raising an eyebrow, he chuckled to himself. "Was the Reverend's speech that awful?" he mused, before retreating back inside of his store. He had some more reading to do.

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: Jade Cornish, Various Police Officers

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Well, that was interesting, he thought as he holstered his gun. There was nothing he could do now. Unless you count the wave of reporters practically swarming them. They weren't even paying attention to the bodies that were lying on the ground. Seriously? I know Vivian did try to kill us after all, but still. Is there no respect for the dead anymore? He saw Jade Cornish yelling at people and elbowing them out of the way. There were a few of his officers standing around, most of them were newbies and didn't know what they were doing.

"Hey, clear out this lot, we need to get these bodies out of here!" he yelled out to them, hoping that they could at least follow instructions.

Several of them scrambled about, eventually forming small little barriers around the bodies of the Reverend and his daughter. He looked over at Jade, the girl who he knew could be a little stuck up and demanding, and walked over to her.

"Alright Jade, the best I could do was have my guys surround the bodies. The press won't let us do more than that, and for that I apologize."

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Location: Town Center
Interacting With: Joel Shcroeder @hagroden, Reporters, Anyone who will listen

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He did NOT just do that! He did NOT just do that! That girl was freed from the demon, and he freaking MURDERED her! What the heck! She seemed like a nice person and all, but he freaking didn't even give her a chance to survive. His knife wouldn't have done anything to the demon anyway. It was a standard pocket knife, and anyone with brains would know that doesn't work against demons.

"Anata wa watashi o karakatte iru yō ni motte kimashita. Anata wa chōdo sore o shimasendeshita! Anata ga kanojo o koroshimashita! Naze anata wa baka to iu kotodarou! Ima, anata wa mojidōri anata no te ni chi o motte iru shimashita. Watashi wa, sukunakutomo kanojo o hozon shiyou to shimashita, watashi wa kanojo ni chansu o ataetaga, iya, anata wa kanojo o korosu ikanakereba narimasendeshita!" she blurted out at the man who had attacked with the knife, before realizing she was speaking Japanese.

The reporters swarmed her, and since she was barely able to sit up, she couldn't do anything about it. These people have got to SHUT UP! I already have a big enough headache without them standing there. Maybe I should try to stand up again. ugh I'm so dizzy. Katsumi tried to stand up, but soon fell back onto the ground. She looked around, and there wasn't really anyone around being useful.

"Hey, sorry to bother everyone, but could someone get me a doctor. I have two bullets in my leg and a slash on my arm. If anyone could be useful I would really appreciate it." she said, shoving cameras and microphones out of her face, and looking around for help.

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