Even as she sped through the sewers, Lucie did her best to avoid splashing. Even if their would-be spy's own splashing footsteps would cover hers, it was good to be careful.

The stench was as thick as she remembered it. Like shit and piss, mixed with the halfrotten remains of the rich folk's food, not to mention the rats. Prague may be a pretty and near majestic city on the outside, but delve just a bit beneath the surface, and it was the same as everywhere else.

Now was not the time to reminisce, however, nor to criticise her home town. If everything went as she expected it to, Aleksandra would currently be chasing their spy, and be approximately halfway towards where she aimed to cut him off. She continued straight ahead, ignoring the grates to the outside, and the other offsprings of the sewer system. Ahead, she knew, the tube she was currently in would open up into a perpendicular sewer tube, exactly the one where Aleksandra and their guest would come running through.

But, as fate would have it, nothing would be easy. It seemed that, in just the last six months, things had changed enough down here to hinder her. Ahead was a cave-in, the roof and walls had caved in, blocking thoroughfare for any ordinary person. Luckily for her, Lucie was far from ordinary. Stopping in front of the cave-in, she put a hand to the cold stone and sent a pulse of psychic energy through it, quietly asking for a "place where it was not". What it revealed was that there was an opening, just large enough for a person of average stature to go through. Lucie may be somewhat taller than the average, but she was still a woman and thus small in ways men were not.

She found the hole in short order and crawled through, then instinctively dove into the shadows, only for the splashing of feet through muck to reach her ears.

Sakra! She cursed. Finding the way into this place, and crawling through it, had taken too much time. She was about to start running out to intercept their 'target', when the sound of splashing reached its apex, and a shape entered her field of vision. Lucie, still hidden in the shadows, saw him approach at a rapid pace. He couldn't have avoided noticing the barricade that was the cave-in, so the fact that he didn't slow down to a stop as most would, spoke volumes. He knew of the small way through, and planned to use it to escape Aleksandra.

We can't have that, can we? Lucie thought with almost sinister glee. She made certain to make as little sound as physically possible, as she stepped out of her patch of shadows. To Filip, it would look like she just materialised, or stepped out of the solid rock surrounding them. There was just enough light to see the white of her teeth as she smiled, now standing directly in his way. "Good evening, I believe you have a few questions to answer."

~~The Creature~~

only go out at night, only go out at night...

Like a mantra those words poured through the creatures mind. If it could even be called a mind. It never knew what it was, or how it worked. Only that it, he, must only go out at night.

It's mother lover had stressed that. Night time was the only safe time.

It couldn't understand exactly what “safe” was. Or things like “he” and “she”. But it knew that people would try to stop it. And worse some part of it knew if it was caught it would lead back to the only person who cared about him. She fed him, she tended his body, she read to him, she was his whole world.

So he would only go out at night. Even then he knew that he could be seen so he was careful. But every day he was growing more and more interested in life, what it was, how it came to be, how all these people lived and died and communicated and dwelt together. They seemed happy, though he didn't know the word happy he could clearly see the emotion. He had also learned fear, disgust, and hate. People were so interesting.

Occasionally he caught fleeting memories of his past, he remembered being interesting once too. Now all he knew was loyalty and a constant state of confusion and desire to understand.

The city was dark this late at night, bright fire filled lanterns were hung sporadically around the streets of the wealthier districts to light the city. Here in the slums the lights were sickly and weak, only lighting a minimal space around them. Lots of business was usually conducted in the dark but it seemed less and less happened since he had been watching.

This was where he came from, he knew that, he felt at home here. But whenever anyone saw him they ran. If he was lucky. Sometimes they tried to beat him. He didn't like that part.

He shambled along at his awkward gait, trying to make his way unnoticed through the streets. At over six feet tall and broad as a bear he did tend to stand out. His weird rolling shuffling gait, as if his body was constantly stiff and off balance, did him no favors either. Not to mention that everyone was always watching for his passing. He did not go unnoticed but people no longer tried to stop him. Instead they slunk away in the shadows, cowered quietly in the dark, and ran away. Friends abandoned friends, it was every man for himself.

Then a strange scream rent the air, like a woman only unearthly and wild. He stopped and lifted his head looking around.

mother lover

It was the only thing in his mind now. Might that be her? Someone hurting her. He listened but the scream only came once. He didn't know what to do and his confusion increased. He didn't like the feeling...the only answer he could think of was to go home. She would come visit him with the dawn. Surely she would. She came every day. If she didn't come...if she didn't come...

He couldn't handle that thought. He had wanted to find another creature to study tonight, and he was hungry. He had all these plans but they vanished with this new thought. Now, now he had to get home. He would try to learn more about life the next night. He picked up his pace, his odd rolling gate and huge body making a strange sounding set of footsteps as he ran towards the forest, towards home.

~~Group B~~

The night was darkening rapidly and the moon had slipped behind a cloud while Johanna and Wes explored the old building. The horses outside whickered softly, feeling a change in the atmosphere of the night.

While Johanna and Wes worked inside the building, unraveling the habits and the dangers of the creature that dwelt there, another made her way swiftly along secret paths towards the building.

Neither Isabau or her mare needed the moonlight to follow the trail. Both had traveled this way so often now that they could find their way in the pure blackness of night if they had to. The forest was thick and the moonlight weak; it was almost pure black as they rode along. The second horse was less confident but because it was following the lead mare it remained quiet. Besides its load was easy, the body draped across it still as death.

Isabau pulled her mantle tighter about her to ward off the night's chill and squeezed her legs to urge the mare along a bit faster. Her irritation was palpable and the horse picked up on her annoyance. It picked up it's pace in response. Isabau cast a backwards glance at the body draped across the second horse.

Adam was bound, hand and foot, naked except for a coarse wool cloak. Isabau was more than annoyed. She was furious. She couldn't believe she made such a miscalculation. She should have known immediately when she sensed something wrong about Adam's health. Of course it was subtly “wrong”. Adam was a woman. Consequently completely unsuited to what she had planned. She needed a brilliant mind. A brilliant -male- mind. Adam would have to die of course, she would give 'him' to the creature and that would settle that. But what would she do now? Her plans, her studies, all was in tatters.

When she heard the sound of another horse where she was headed her mood darkened further. What were horses doing out here. She halted her own mount and slipped off, leaving the 2 horses and the unconscious Adam off the trail in a dark thicket.

Then she slipped quietly down the path she knew so well to see what she could see. The moon had obligingly hidden behind the clouds swathing the land in darkness and the chill in the air seemed to muffle sound even further.

Isabau lurked in the darkness watching. The two horses were unfamiliar to her which meant nothing. She hadn't been out in society for a very long time. She wouldn't recognize anyone's mounts anymore. The light in the mill was more disturbing. Someone was poking around in there, and it was not the building's “true”occupant.

She quietly walked up to the unknown stranger's waiting horses and untied them. With a quick smack on their rumps she sent the already nervous creatures off into the dark woods. Then as quickly as she could she slipped back into the near black woods to watch, hidden deep in the shadows and thick foliage of the trees.

~~Group C~~

Filip found himself confronted with the sort of situation he had hoped never to face. He was a student of humanity. After all he made is living knowing who to rob, and who to avoid. He was quick of foot and usually quick of tongue. But this woman he knew you could not con. He wasn't even certain

“Wha...what?” he asked trying to figure out how to escape. He wasn't even sure where the one who was following him went to. Maybe that one was just part of the trap. He could bolt but right now he knew instinctively that now was not the time to make his move. So he waited, hoping to stay alive long enough to figure out what it was she wanted.

Aleksandra charged through the sewers after her target - the young man who had decided it was a good idea to try to escape the two of them combined. She called out mockingly to him in English, hoping he would understand a little of it, “Come here little boy! I promise I won’t break too many bones if you don’t make me chase you through all of Prague’s sewers!” Sewage splashed up onto her legs as she stormed through it, coating them in a stench she’d rather not deal with.

She grumbled internally to herself. She could catch him if she wanted, but the little Bohemian princess had wanted to catch him herself and hopefully scare him enough to talk. As it was, she was a bit too close for that at the moment, only a couple of feet behind him - she could tell by the sound of his breathing that he knew he wouldn’t be able to evade her at this rate. She let off some speed, letting the little bastard think she was tiring. Now, if the little princess wou-

Something in the muck snagged at her boot, sending her sprawling in the filth of the sewers. She kicked violently at it, realizing after the offending object went sailing into the wall of the sewer that it was an abnormally large rat corpse. Disturbingly large. Nightmarishly large, in fact. She dragged herself up, chest, face, arms, hands, legs, all of it was completely covered in a reeking mixture of feces, urine, rotten food, and other… even less pleasant things. She would’ve retched at the truly horrific smell, but rage held her stomach under control - right up until she felt some of the putrescent mixture seeping through her clothes to… places.

She heaved reflexively, splattering the wall next to her with her breakfast and lunch. The little shit was getting away, but her stomach wasn’t letting her move for the precious few seconds it took to empty.

Wiping her mouth out of habit, her eyes widened as she realized what she’d just done - barely managing to repress another surge of vomit, she spat, clawing her gun out of its holster as she forced herself to move through the sludge in a fury induced charge.

She rounded the corner, haphazardly waving the pistol and her sword as she howled insults in his general direction, having forgotten to use English. “Ёб твою мать, собака!” She caught a glimpse of him, bringing her gun to bear and firing off a shot that grazed his shoulder and little else before he turned another corner with her hot on his heels.

As she pursued him around the final corner she saw up ahead the blockage in the wall, grinning savagely. Now she’d have him all to herself. “Иди сюда! Щас по ебалу получишь, сука блять!” She sped up, only noticing Lucie through the red haze when she was a couple meters away.

She looked her dead in the eye, growling, “Дайте мне его.” She dug through her pockets, pulling out a small vial, holding it maliciously as she advanced on him.

(Translations:
“Ёб твою мать, собака!” = “Fuck your mother, you dog!”
“Иди сюда! Щас по ебалу получишь, сука блять!” = "Come here! Now I’ll fucking kill you, bitch motherfucker!"
“Дайте мне его.” = “Give it to me.”)

Lucie stood stock still for the short time it took Aleksandra, to round the corner and stare at their quarry with murder in her eyes. What exactly she said, she couldn't determine. For while she was, she dare say, above average intelligence for women in current society, she had yet to learn the Russian language. That did not, however, mean that she did not understand the intent behind the words. Soaked through with things she'd rather not think about, uncleanly things smeared across her face and just about everything else, Aleksandra was not a pleasant sight, and it wasn't difficult to guess who she held accountable for her current state.

Amber eyes flicked towards Aleksandra, the faux deep voice of Lucie cutting through the silence, speaking in English. "We are not done with him," she said. "I can't let you have him until he has answered a few question. And even then, I wouldn't want to kill him. He could be useful later on."

Aleksandra, hopefully, dealt with she turned her attention to their captive, once more smiling at him. She reached out with a hand, running her gloved fingers across his cheek as she sent a pulse of her powers through him.

Even just standing there she seemed to look down at him despite being of the same height. Then, using the same deep voice, but reverting to speaking Czech, she spoke, "So first of all, who are you and why were you spying on us? And secondly, Filip," she smirked then, knowing full well the implications that would dawn on him, by having her know his name, "what exactly do you know about the men that have been kidnapped recently?" There was no need to mince words or try convoluted interrogation tactics to get the information out of him. One look at his face told her that her lurching forward and saying 'boo' would have him wet himself. The sheer weight of her presence and personality, and the looming danger of Aleksandra behind him, should ensure that he talked.

Lily walked around the lab examining the equipment. The room was completely empty of anything living or threats of any kind so she had sent Ren to see if he could track down a servant that might know something. The lab was both a wonder to behold and a disturbing example of what happens when intelligence and money meet madness. Dozens of shelves were packed with expensive and technical equipment of all kinds; Lily was actually a little jealous of how well stocked the Lady's lab was. Along one wall sat multiple autopsy tables, a sight one might expect to see in a medical professionals lab only these ones came fitted with restraints. One does not need to restrain the dead so the only logical conclusion was that Isabeau has been operating on the living. This suspicion was confirmed true after reviewing some of Isabeau's medical journals that had been left neatly stacked on a shelf. However what the journals revealed was more sinister than simply operating on the living. Isabeau had been studying how to return the dead back to life and her writings revealed she believed using the dissected organs and body-parts of other living beings was the way to do it. Each of her journals had numerous detailed sketches of human anatomy and notes that went beyond even Lily's medical knowledge. Some of the drawings were of actual people, men specifically, and although none of the faces were familiar to Lily it was safe to presume these were the Lady's victims and not just idle drawings. Each of the men's pictures came with notation on which body parts were perfect for her needs. With the exception of the heart and the brain the lady had collected enough parts from the other men to build a whole new human. Lillian's face bore a look of utter disgust as she realized her original interpretation of what was transpiring was incorrect. Isabeau was not simply trying to return the dead back to life, she was trying to make life from death. This was not about returning her husband to the world of the living this was about making herself a new husband all together, the perfect man for herself.

Lillian swiftly gathered the journals and stuffed them into an empty pouch as she ran out the door of the lab. Headed down the hall towards her was Ren with a rather frightened looking servant being forcefully moved along. Ren did not need to say why he brought this specific servant back as Lily was able to quickly deduce the reason why. Slung over one shoulder of the servant was a bulging bag, the contents of which were clear as the golden arm of a candelabra poked out of the hole on top.

“When the ship begins to sink the rats are the first to leave,” She said coldly. The other servants were afraid of their lady but it was only this one who seemed to be smart enough to leave. This not only mean he understood better than the other servants why their Lady was to be feared, but it also meant he knew now was the best time to abandon ship. “Where is Isabeau?” Lily could see Ren's grip on the other mans arm tighten as she asked. However it seemed as though even the intimidating presence of Adam's most trusted servant was not enough to sway the man into speaking quickly. While it was clear the man was a coward and could easily be forced to give up any information, Lily decided to take a different approach. Reaching into a pouch she pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to the servant, revealing it to be a promissory note. Lily watched the servants eyes dart around the page and widen when his eyes came to the amount the note was worth. Lillian smiled.

“I-I don't know specifically where she went... only that she goes to the forest sometimes.” Lillian's smiled faded as the man finished speaking and she began to put the paper back in her pouch “Wait! Isabeau has been killing men! I've helped her dispose of the bodies. The bodies were...they were cut up into small pieces... I think it was to help make them easier to dispose of” The man's face contorted in disgust as he was clearly remembering moving the desecrated corpses. “I think she has been trying to find the perfect man and has been killing off the ones she doesn't like.”The man's eyes seemed glued to the note “....I thought she would pick me.... thats all I know I swear.”

“You're half right. And you're lucky she didn't pick you,” Lilian said as she handed the note to the man who immediately took hold of it. However Lillian did not let go of the paper and instead held a firm grip that threatened to tear the note if either she or the servant pulled too hard. The servant looked to Lillian with desperation in his eyes. “One last question,” she asked.

“Y-yes?” The man responded, nervous he'd lose the money that was so close to being his if his answer displeased Lily.

“Which direction does Isabeau head when she goes to the forest?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lillian and Ren raced through the streets of Prague on the backs of horses procured from Lady Isabeau's stables. They cared little for the people they shared the streets with and forced people to desperately dive away from the speeding animals to avoid being trampled. The information they had received from the servant was enough for Lillian to narrow down the amount of forest they had to search from several hundred kilometers of wooded area to a few dozen square kilometers. While that was still an almost impossible amount of area for only two people to search with any kind of decent level of speed and thoroughness it was considerably more possible than the entire forest itself. As they rode Lillian informed Ren of what Isabeau was up to and what her intended plans for Adam most likely were. Lillian's words spurred Ren into pushing more speed from his horse and she was forced to do the same so she could maintain her lead and direct them both down the quickest paths to their destination. At this point it had been well over an hour since Adam had gone missing and Lily could only hope they made it to Isebeau before she could do anything to hurt him, or worse.

~Ren & Lily~

Ren rode in silence, privately he was extremely thankful Adam had taught him to ride, it was not common among the servant class. But then Adam was an uncommon “master.” That thought only spurred Ren on, pushing as hard as he dared. He owed Adam much and he would do everything he could to help. What Lily had suggested had seemed so far out of the realm of possibility that he was still in half-disbelief. Still, he had seen enough working with Adam not to dismiss the idea even as bizarre and revolting as it was.

They came upon the woods fast, but to Ren's viewpoint not fast enough. He had an underlying fear, one that Lily didn't know about. If Isabeau found out Adam was not exactly what she thought what would she do to him.

The darkness of the woods closed around them, he didn't even remember it getting late but the sun was all but gone and soon they were riding in blackness, forced to slow down or risk the horses stumbling. At least they had Isabau's well worn, if quite narrow, trail to follow. Ren fidgeted in his seat as he followed Lily, the silence, the darkness, the worry all making him as edgy as a bear with a bee up its backside. He fingered the sword slung over his shoulder absently, worrying about his master and what would happen if they didn't make it to him in time.

~Aleksandra & Lucie~

Filip's eyes darted from one woman to the other. In the back of his brain he couldn't believe that he was about to be killed. These two were deadly. He had no doubt. Just as he had no doubt they would kill him. He struggled to clear his mouth so he could speak, while at the same time desperately trying to come up with something to say.

“spying” he finally managed to get out. He swallowed and tried again. “I wasn't spying” he corrected. “Not many out since IT began wandering the streets. Just needed a bit of coin you know. Not spying.” He swallowed audibly again trying to force the fear out of his mind and voice. He knew he couldn't force it out completely but maybe he could disguise it. And for a moment he succeeded. Puzzlement replaced fear as he thought about what else the woman had asked.

Everyone knew of the the lady hiring people to kidnap pretty men. No one who had accepted the job had ever returned, and now no one would work for her. She had eventually stopped trying. These two women seemed comfortable enough here in the sewers, not like rushers for some money bag, yet they didn't know about the men.

“Some black lady hired several coves, you know the kind that don't ask many questions, to scoop up some folk off the street. She was some money bag, all fancy and the like But she paid well. Except the bitch said I was too ugly for the job.”

He didn't mention he was kinda glad of that now, the sting of the insult was still there.

He scrambled to find more to tell the women, if he kept talking that could buy time. His description wasn't great, but it did sound familiar. Wealthy woman with fair skin and dark hair. She was Slim, tall, cultured, arrogant, and superior, all that a rich woman was. “The coves she hired disappeared. She hasn't been around in awhile, no one has, not with the creature roaming the streets. If IT catches you that's the end. We all know that.”

He wasn't sure what else to say and was silent for a moment, but in the silence he heard a noise, and one that made his blood even colder than it already was.

The lumbering shuffle run on the stones above him.

“ITs here” he gulped in a voice that was so low it was hard to hear. The lumbering footsteps were heavy and somewhat off stride, like IT was running with a limp. He could even hear it speaking to itself, heavy raspy words that Filip was afraid to hear. “Mother. Lover. Mother. Lover.” In a low gutteral voice those words were repeated with long gaps between each, like it was struggling to think or remember or pronounce.

With a gasp of terror, the footsteps were almost directly above them now, Filip broke and ran blindly into the dark tunnel, slipping, skidding, even smacking into walls despite how well he knew the lay of the land down here. Everything replaced by fear of the thing above them even though there was no way it could get to them from where it was. Fear was a powerful thing.

~Creature~

mother. Lover. Those were the two words that played over and over in its mind as he ran. It tried to say them outloud, a mantra of sorts, but it could only manage to get the words out once in ever five tries or so. That didn't distract it or slow it from running though.

It's huge bulk was surprisingly agile when it wanted to be, after all he was crafted out of only the best materials. It built up speed as he ran through the alleys of Prague. It had prowled about the city enough times in it's expeditions to learn of life that it knew the quickest way to edge of the city. It saw nothing and no-one. Of course that was because they knew of the creature's presence and were well secreted. After the first few disappearances, mostly small animals, women and children, the folk of the poor districts, resigned to their fates and their lives, simply hid until it went away.

Running with a powerful but awkward gate, much like the rolling gate of a running bear, It charged on into the woods. It did not follow Isabeau's path, she never entered the forest from this direction, but there was a game trail that It knew well. It used it nearly every night, abandoned by the deer who once roamed here, It ran on in solitude, so used to always being alone it never even thought to look back.

Free of the city all that was left was a lonely but easy run back to It's nest in the mill. The scream earlier, and the uneasy feeling in his mind, wouldn't let It be until he found out She was safe. It's passage was not quiet, It was too big for that, but the soft ground muffled much and as It lumbered through the trees towards his home he sounded like nothing so much as a great bear charging through the undergrowth.

~Johanna, Wes, Isabeau, and Adam~

The disappearance of the horses went unnoticed by those inside the mill, at least for now. The things they had found were about as plain as can be, and yet there were still so many questions.

Meanwhile Adam was battling chaos. At least that's what his mind saw. Trapped by Isabeau, who had used her Talent to put his own into a dormant state, he now was trapped within his mind. Isabeau's Talent would not have affected most this way; but Adam was different. His Talent was always active pulling patterns out of seemingly random things. When it had been suppressed the randomness invaded. Adam's mind had become a swirling vortex of chaos. The part of his mind that was “sane” stood amid the chaos, struggling to force his Talent to wakefulness again. If he could only find the pattern in the chaos, before his mind fractured further, then he could work his way back into consciousness and hopefully awaken his Talent once more.

Aleksandra’s eyes widened as the sound of the beast overhead reverberated through the tunnels. Whatever it was - it was big, and probably not something she wanted to get to know very well. Her current filth drenched state all but forgotten, she paused to listen, getting a feel for just how massive the creature was. A sinking feeling welled up in her stomach as the lumbering footsteps thundered above. The normally reassuring weight of her sword and guns suddenly felt far, far too little. She thought of the powerful rifles that men insecure in their masculinity would take to go hunting game in Africa - how she wished she had one of those rifles now, to face whatever it was that lurked just above them.

However, judging by their the little man’s reaction, and his words just prior, this… thing, whatever it was, was almost certainly connected to the disappearances. She wasted no time in sprinting after him, catching him by the collar and tripping the man into the same filth she herself had gone sprawling into a moment before.

Before he could react she had dragged him back to Lucie, slamming him against the wall and snarling in his face, in what little Czech she knew, “Too ugly? Too bad. You take us up, help us hide. Then follow.” Turning to her compatriot she raised a sewage covered finger to silence any protest, speaking in English, “Before you say anything, this is our best lead, and this lead is as good as it’s going to get. Say what you want about the chance of us dying, we won’t get a better chance than this.” \

Whirling back around to Filip, she got in close to him, looking the man dead in the eye. “That thing might kill you. Maybe painful. I will kill you if don’t follow instructions. Definitely painful.”

Lucie remained silent as Filip spoke, smirking in that sinister fashion as he rambled on about not spying on them, and this "It", whatever it was. There was a certain sense of satisfaction in watching his eyes dart this way and that, obviously trying to look for ways out, hoping to escape them with his life. Lucie had no intentions of actually killing him, but that didn't mean she'd dispel the fear that currently made him talk so easily.

She would have dismissed his mention of this "It" thing, had it not been for their reason for being out here in the first place, and the mysterious disappearances. What he told them about the woman matched with their current information, too, so there was nothing new there. If anything, it told them that she wasn't all that mysterious, if people did know of her.

They were interrupted from the gentle tremors that went through the sewers. Something big was walking up above them, and whatever it was it spooked Filip. Spooked him enough that he threw all caution to the wind to escape, only to get tackled by Alexandra and pushed up against a wall.

She missed what her compatriot said, too busy tracking the sounds of the thing walking above them. She did, however, take notice when Alexandra reverted to English. She said nothing in response, smiling coquettishly. "I wouldn't dare disobey." She motioned for the other to lead the way. "Shall we?"

Filip's eyes darted from one woman to the other. In the back of his brain he couldn't believe that he was about to be killed. These two were deadly. He had no doubt. Just as he had no doubt they would kill him. He struggled to clear his mouth so he could speak, while at the same time desperately trying to come up with something to say.

“spying” he finally managed to get out. He swallowed and tried again. “I wasn't spying” he corrected. “Not many out since IT began wandering the streets. Just needed a bit of coin you know. Not spying.” He swallowed audibly again trying to force the fear out of his mind and voice. He knew he couldn't force it out completely but maybe he could disguise it. And for a moment he succeeded. Puzzlement replaced fear as he thought about what else the woman had asked.

Everyone knew of the the lady hiring people to kidnap pretty men. No one who had accepted the job had ever returned, and now no one would work for her. She had eventually stopped trying. These two women seemed comfortable enough here in the sewers, not like rushers for some money bag, yet they didn't know about the men.

“Some black lady hired several coves, you know the kind that don't ask many questions, to scoop up some folk off the street. She was some money bag, all fancy and the like But she paid well. Except the bitch said I was too ugly for the job.”

He didn't mention he was kinda glad of that now, the sting of the insult was still there.

He scrambled to find more to tell the women, if he kept talking that could buy time. His description wasn't great, but it did sound familiar. Wealthy woman with fair skin and dark hair. She was Slim, tall, cultured, arrogant, and superior, all that a rich woman was. “The coves she hired disappeared. She hasn't been around in awhile, no one has, not with the creature roaming the streets. If IT catches you that's the end. We all know that.”

He wasn't sure what else to say and was silent for a moment, but in the silence he heard a noise, and one that made his blood even colder than it already was.

The lumbering shuffle run on the stones above him.

“ITs here” he gulped in a voice that was so low it was hard to hear. The lumbering footsteps were heavy and somewhat off stride, like IT was running with a limp. He could even hear it speaking to itself, heavy raspy words that Filip was afraid to hear. “Mother. Lover. Mother. Lover.” In a low gutteral voice those words were repeated with long gaps between each, like it was struggling to think or remember or pronounce.

With a gasp of terror, the footsteps were almost directly above them now, Filip broke and ran blindly into the dark tunnel, slipping, skidding, even smacking into walls despite how well he knew the lay of the land down here. Everything replaced by fear of the thing above them even though there was no way it could get to them from where it was. Fear was a powerful thing.

Aleksandra’s eyes widened as the sound of the beast overhead reverberated through the tunnels. Whatever it was - it was big, and probably not something she wanted to get to know very well. Her current filth drenched state all but forgotten, she paused to listen, getting a feel for just how massive the creature was. A sinking feeling welled up in her stomach as the lumbering footsteps thundered above. The normally reassuring weight of her sword and guns suddenly felt far, far too little. She thought of the powerful rifles that men insecure in their masculinity would take to go hunting game in Africa - how she wished she had one of those rifles now, to face whatever it was that lurked just above them.

However, judging by their the little man’s reaction, and his words just prior, this… thing, whatever it was, was almost certainly connected to the disappearances. She wasted no time in sprinting after him, catching him by the collar and tripping the man into the same filth she herself had gone sprawling into a moment before.

Before he could react she had dragged him back to Lucie, slamming him against the wall and snarling in his face, in what little Czech she knew, “Too ugly? Too bad. You take us up, help us hide. Then follow.” Turning to her compatriot she raised a sewage covered finger to silence any protest, speaking in English, “Before you say anything, this is our best lead, and this lead is as good as it’s going to get. Say what you want about the chance of us dying, we won’t get a better chance than this.” \

Whirling back around to Filip, she got in close to him, looking the man dead in the eye. “That thing might kill you. Maybe painful. I will kill you if don’t follow instructions. Definitely painful.”

Lucie remained silent as Filip spoke, smirking in that sinister fashion as he rambled on about not spying on them, and this "It", whatever it was. There was a certain sense of satisfaction in watching his eyes dart this way and that, obviously trying to look for ways out, hoping to escape them with his life. Lucie had no intentions of actually killing him, but that didn't mean she'd dispel the fear that currently made him talk so easily.

She would have dismissed his mention of this "It" thing, had it not been for their reason for being out here in the first place, and the mysterious disappearances. What he told them about the woman matched with their current information, too, so there was nothing new there. If anything, it told them that she wasn't all that mysterious, if people did know of her.

They were interrupted from the gentle tremors that went through the sewers. Something big was walking up above them, and whatever it was it spooked Filip. Spooked him enough that he threw all caution to the wind to escape, only to get tackled by Alexandra and pushed up against a wall.

She missed what her compatriot said, too busy tracking the sounds of the thing walking above them. She did, however, take notice when Alexandra reverted to English. She said nothing in response, smiling coquettishly. "I wouldn't dare disobey." She motioned for the other to lead the way. "Shall we?"

***** New Post Begins here: old info copied for easy reference******

Filip’s heart was racing, eyes wide and slightly unfocused. All signs of fear and it was plain it was not his two captors who had him afraid. He was as superstitious as any of the lower class citizens of Prague and when he was confronted head on with the object of his superstitions he had no recourse except fear. Despite his bravado and despite his original confidence in himself and his prowess these two were forcing him to face what he feared above all and he hadn’t the will to do so.

Aleksandra threatened him with death, painful death but still death. What was above was beyond death and though he claimed to be a christian now the roots of the folk superstitions of the land were still strong. He had even dreamed about a lake two nights ago. He should have known Death was near.

Aleksandra sighed at Filip’s reluctance. It would seem this situation would require some more physical persuasion. “Right then…” she muttered to herself in Russian, grabbing hold of the man’s arm and dragging him along behind her. Speaking down to the man in her broken Czech, she once again threatened him. “I know way out of sewer, street rat. You want to avoid monster? Help hide, else I use you as monster snack.” She grinned sadistically at him, “I am sure that death it offers is truly horrifying. So if you want to avoid that…” she let the sentence hang in the air, continuing to drag the man along behind her.

Contrary to Filip, Lucie followed with casual ease. If the prospect of meeting whatever was above frightened her, she didn’t show it. She constantly kept watch on Filip, however, her silence and oddly amicable expression was as much a source of calmness among them, as it was potentially terrifying. What manner of person could smile when they were to be confronted with something other people saw as a monster or demon?

“You shouldn’t be so hard on him,” Lucie said to Aleksandra, speaking Czech for the benefit of their captive. “He’s been a willing help so far—” she turned her head to smile too kindly at Filip “—I’m sure he’ll continue to guide us if we treat him with a little kindness.”

The vision of the lake from his dream sparkled in his mind's eye. He knew now there was no escape. He would die. He was still filled with a nameless fear and it was enhanced with the light of certain knowledge. He would rise as undead to spread disease and terror through the city streets; that’s what happened when flesh eaters killed you. And as confident as these two were he had no delusions that they could stand against the creature above.

Maybe he could find a way to kill himself ahead of time. He grasped onto that hope. He closed his eyes when he spoke, still trembling, trying to buy time once more. Not time to escape but time to die safely. His first thought was to provoke the crazy one into killing him; it seemed like something he should be able to accomplish if he could only clear his mind enough to figure out what needed doing. He caught Lucie’s words and nodded once, terror still evident on his face.

“It doesn’t come down here,” he said almost absently and completely truthfully, his mind was elsewhere trying to combat fear so he could think clearly. “It doesn’t go up or down.”

His tone shifted, growing more belligerent and he shifted in Aleksandra’s hold. His desperate plan was the only thing he could come up with, fear had overwritten logic.

“Come on you kravo zasrana” he snarled trying to put as much hate into his tone as he could. “Nedomrd!” He hurled insults as he tried to push ahead of Aleksandra, so he would be the one leading. “You wanna stay down here and have a shit throwing contest with a monkey? Move!”

He wasn’t only trying to goad Aleksandra. It was clear they were determined to leave the sewers and if they were to do that they needed to get above ground, and then up a building, before It passed by. He tried to catch a sound of the creature but he couldn’t hear it over the noise the three of them were making.

The creature, for Its part, couldn’t have cared one tiny rat's hind end about the people in the city now. It’s only goal was reaching the forest. It had even stopped being “stealthy”. Though that was something of a misnomer as it was never exactly stealthy; it was just much more dramatically noisy now.

The streets through which it ran were empty, devoid of life...human and other. Everything was well hidden as the thudding footsteps could be heard echoing through the strangely empty streets. Its seven foot frame and premium body ensured speed and his footsteps were already in the distance by the time the trio emerged from the sewers. Much to Filip’s relief; short lived relief when he realized what his panic might have cost him.

Lucie glanced at Filip out the corner of her eye, her expression neutral and thoroughly unimpressed. Her gaze flicked up to Aleksandra for a moment, catching her eyes, then said. “If you cooperate, you won’t be harmed. Not by us, not by whatever the thing above us is. Work with us, and you’ll go free.” She once more flicked her gaze at Aleksandra, her look one that brooked no argument.

Filip looked from one to the other then towards the entrance. He hadn't a clue how he had tangled himself up so much and he couldn't figure a new way out of this mess. His hope of escape seemed snarled beyond anything he had every imagined and he had no faith in the promises of safety dangled in front of him. Firstly he didn't trust either of the two who had cornered him; they were unquestionably dangerous but it was a known danger. Not the supernatural danger posed by The Creature.

He seemed to have little choice in the matter and pushed onward, trying to race the creature to where the tunnels met the surface. He made an abrupt turn, taking him down another sewer he knew would reach the surface in short order.

The weak moonlight filtered down ahead of them and he knew that over time the denizens of the sewer had placed a pile of stone blocks under the opening creating a rubble pile that served as a sort of ladder; this opening was used to dump the garbage from above so the smell was extremely foul, and the “ladder” was slick with rotted food and worse. It was, however, the quickest way to the surface.

He sprang up the carefully placed stone blocks, his footing sure despite the disgusting slime that coated everything; he had spent too long in these sewer tunnels to be bothered too much by the scummer that was everywhere. He grabbed the lip of the opening to the surface streets and without even looking back he pulled himself through into the fresh night air. He assumed the other two would follow; and if they didn't that was one less problem.

The silence in the city above was disturbing. There should have been at least some noise, but there was nothing. This meant the creature was near. He cast about wildly looking for someplace, anyplace, to climb. Up or down. Those were the two places the creature never went...the roofs and the sewers were the safest places. An older wall nearby caught his eye, the stonework was crumbling enough to provide good hand holds and without waiting he began to climb, seeking safety from the creature on the rooftops.

Flip had no way of knowing this but The Creature had already passed this way, in fact it wasn't all that far ahead of them, but moving fast as it could. Simple minded and a single thought drove it; if the trio wanted to follow it they would have to be fast before it vanished out of sight all together.

Aleksandra raised an eyebrow at Filip’s attempt to goad her - she knew exactly what he was trying. Make her trip into a pool of the most putrid filth imaginable? That was a near death sentence. Intentionally begin saying the stupidest and most baiting things he could after making it clear he feared whatever was on the surface more than her?

It was laughable.

She simply increased her pace, dragging him behind her once more - maybe she would use him as bait for the monster if the need arose. Meeting the creature seemed to be what he feared above all, so she figured she might as well oblige him.

Immediately, as he scrambled up the ladder, she followed right behind him, securing a vicelike grip around the his clothes once more. She waited with her captive for the third member of their merry little band to join them. In the meantime, she scanned the streets intently for anything out of place or potential vantage points that offered ideal concealment if necessary.

Lucie was the last to crawl up onto the street, the putrid stench of rotted food, and probably worse, stuck to her like it did the others. Once they were done, she would spend the next three hours in a hot bath.

Senses honed over years of training and practice allowed her to take in the surroundings within the first second of getting up. And there was nothing, which was the problem. No sound, no sign of rats or nighttime birds scurrying about. She couldn’t even hear anything beyond her own quiet breathing and the rustling of Filip and Aleksandra as they both climbed a nearby wall, the latter holding onto the other like a metal cuff.

“It’s not here,” she murmured, loud enough for the other two to hear. A few steps brought her into the shadow of the very same wall her companions stood upon, hiding herself from view. “So either he’s yet to come here, or he’s past this place. Eitherway, it’s close.” Her eyes fell to the ground, a hand already on it to keep her steady in her crouch. “I’ll find out.”

And with that, she sent out a pulse: An inquiry. ’Not human, come by’.

It was a simple question, asking for anything that had come by that wasn’t human, not entirely at least. As predicted, the first impression she got were that of innumerable insects, birds, rats, stray cats and a few dogs. But there was one… Something that wasn’t entirely human, yet still was. Her throat bobbed, the only sign of any sort of unease. Whatever this was, there was both something human and inhuman about it. What’s more, she would only have gotten the response had it already passed.

“It’s past here.” She gazed up at Fillip. “You know where it’s headed? Lead the way. My promise from earlier still stands.”

Filip was perplexed. How in the name of the secret hells did he know the creature had gone by? The atmosphere was definitely a clue that it was near. Surely these two knew that...knew what the silence meant. They were wise to the ways of these dark and uncertain streets obviously. But he was done in, drained out. He just shrugged and scrambled down as best he could. He knew where the monster headed but where it was going...he hadn't a clue in the world. These two could beat him, torture him, kill him. Whatever. It wasn't going to help. The Creature might be just around the corner too. He had no faith in the declaration that it had passed.

Dragging his captor along with him, at a much reduced pace this time, he followed alley to street and street over the river and to the city's edge. It wasn't far in the grand scheme of things but the silence that permeated the area they walked made it seem much longer. The silence moved with them, keeping them trapped in its bubble and it was this that Filip trusted to mean the creature was moving ahead of them. If it had not yet passed by they would either have been caught or be surrounded by those going about their normal nocturnal business; dangerous true but far less danger than The Creature brought with it.

It didn't help that the moon alternated between shining out creating long bizarre shadows and hiding behind clouds plunging the area into grim darkness. There were no guards here, no one to note their passing, and in these not-quite-slums there was no wall or structure separating city from the wilderness around. They emerged from the city not a quarter mile from where Johanna had entered the forest earlier that very same day. A cleared swath of land long since harvested of any resource usable by the local peasantry was all that separated them from the wall of vegetation looming in the distance, the boundary of the wild lands.

The atmosphere was eerie enough but when they reached the edge of the city the dark forest looming beyond the wide clearing was enough to bring Filip to an instant halt, his legs just refused to move. Love, money, threats, promises, he would not go further unless they dragged him. Which they very well could.

“There” said Filip his voice far weaker than he expected it to be and yet still loud in the strange silence. “You can just make out the trail it takes. No one is stupid enough to follow it; that would be death. In fact almost no one has been in the forest since The Creature; even the hunters won't use this area. Not that there's anything left to hunt. ”

He was right, even in the rum light they could see what must have been an old deer track now widened to the width of a pregnant cow. It was used, clearly not on a daily basis but often enough to be clear. Branches were broken along the path, to a height of just over seven feet, creating an arched pathway that was quickly swallowed up in the thick darkness of the forest at night. Even here there was no noise. That was the first impression anyway. But if one listened hard in the unnatural silence they could hear the distant sounds of something big moving through the growth, an occasional crunching of branches signaling its passing.

Lucie stood quietly, straining her senses. She could hear something moving from afar, something big. Whatever it was, it wasn’t hurried. Right ahead of them, this creature waited. The first true step towards unveiling the mystery behind the kidnappings.

Filip had done as asked. He had led them to this Creature, and although it was still a ways off, they were close enough that they could easily track it. His end of the bargain had been upheld, so now it was their turn. So Lucie turned towards Filip and drew a dagger from her belt.

He visibly flinched at the sight of the glinting steel, but didn’t run. He had known it would come to this, known that tonight would end like this. So when Lucie reached out for him, he steeled himself as best he could, awaiting the inevitable… only to find the dagger pressed into his hand, his fingers reflexively closing around the handle. His eyes opened, confusion written in every facet of his expression as he took in the, admittedly, very well crafted dagger. Lucie only smiled, those amber orbs twinkling. “A promise is a promise. You are free to go—with a little payment.” She grabbed him by the shoulder and gently pushed him back towards Prague proper.

As Filip left, his gait staggering from equal parts relief and adrenaline leaving his body, Lucie turned towards the forest, though eyeing Aleksandra warily. “Don’t touch him,” she muttered in English, an warning undertone to the words. “Our target is ahead of us—in there. So, shall we?” She motioned towards the forest, as if in invitation.

With one hand gripping the reins of her horse and the other firmly grasping one of her specimen pistols, Lily carefully followed the trail Isabeau had left, the light from the moon providing barely enough illumination to even see the path. Lily was tempted to pull a lantern out of one of her pouches but she had no idea how close they were to their destination and any unnatural light would give warning of her and Ren's approach.

After a time that felt agonizingly long but was in reality only ten minutes, Lily and Ren exited the dense part of the forest and entered a small clearing, in the middle of which sat a dilapidated mill. Without the thick branches to obscure most of the light Lily was able to use the moon light to take a decent look at her surroundings. Ren pulled his horse up along side her and waited, though from the look in his eye and the grip on his sword it was clear waiting was the last thing on his mind. Lily was unsure if proceeding to the mill was the right course of action. Isabeau, though insane, was extremely intelligent and even if she doubted she was being followed it seemed unlikely she would trap herself in a building without being sure she was safe. “I am not much in a fight,” Lily said, looking to her side at Ren “so I doubt I will be more than a target to be protected should events turn violent. Go, rescue our friend, and if possible capture Isabeau alive. I will remain here should she try to escape. I may not be a fighter but at the very least I can give chase.” Ren nodded and with a light kick of his heels spurred his horse towards the mill. Though Lily preferred brains over brawn it was not entirely truthful that she could not handle herself in a fight, however it seemed like a reasonable excuse as to why she and Ren should split up.

Lily waited to make sure Ren was not going to look back at her, though she doubted he would as his mind was clearly focused on the safe return of Adam. Tucking one of her pistols into her belt Lily slumped forward and took a firm grip on the horn of the saddle. She then closed her eyes and allowed the rest of her body to go limp. Even without her consciously keeping herself in the saddle she remained on the horse. Confident her body would not fall off -barring of course the horse doing something unpredictable- she took a deep breath and willed her mind out of her body. When she opened her eyes she was looking at the slumped form of her own body. Carefully slipping an invisible hand into one of her pouches she retrieved her second pistol. She then slid off the back of the horse to the ground and quickly made her way back into the forest. Under normal circumstances a floating gun would cause alarm, however in the darkness and with so many branches around Lily felt confident the seemingly possessed gun would remain unseen. Once in the forest she stepped off the trail and began searching for signs Isabeau might have taken a different path. She was not searching for long before, to her surprise, she found not another path but instead Isabeau herself. Along with two horses and Adam slung across the back of one. They were all hidden by the dark and the forest and had she not been specifically looking Lily was sure she would have never found them.

It seemed Isabeau was aware she was being followed, though why she didn't simply leave the path and head elsewhere was a mystery to Lily. Perhaps she was hoping Lily and Ren would find the buildign empty and simply leave. Carefully moving forward Lily noticed that Isabeau was starring intently at something. Upon inspection she found that the Lady was starring at Lily's body, still slumped on the horse. From their current position it looked as though Lily had decided to take a nap in the middle of the forest on her horse. Lily smiled to herself, glad her plan had worked. Not wanting to give Iseabau a chance to work out what was going on she pressed her pistol against the back of the Lady's head. “Good evening, my Lady.” As Lillian spoke Iseabeau's breathing stopped. “I'm not interested in killing you, but if you do anything other than cooperate then you will die knowing what its like to have 50 needles puncture your brain with explosive force.” Though Lily preferred brains over brawn it would be a mistake to assume she could not handle herself in a fight.

Filip didn't hesitate and he didn't look back. He had a chance to breathe and he took it, fleeing back into the city as soon as Lucie released him. He knew he had escaped death from multiple sides this night. He found a top of the line pump he knew and fenced the dagger for coin, purchased enough food so he wouldn't have to surface for several days, and headed down to his squat in the sewers to hide from the rest of the world until he would be forced to surface once more.

The Creature had the intelligence to be stealthy, well as stealthy as a seven and a half foot tall, four foot wide behemoth can be. Even with those limitations it could likely have lost Lucie and Aleksandra in the darkness of the woods that it knew so well. However it was very naive, never even suspecting it might be followed. It was easy for the two women to trail the creature and it never even thought to look back.

***

Deep within the forest, in the clearing all thought long forgotten, two horses shifted impatiently. Johanna and Wes were taking their time in the mill, studying the lair of the creature in its absence, putting together pieces of a gory puzzle. More than one pile of human remains were found, along with animal remains. Some were eaten, some were simply discarded like trash, there seemed to be no logic to it. The unsettled sounds of their horses, impatient and growing nervous, finally drew the two out of the building. In silence they mounted their uneasy animals and headed back the way they came, following the forest path in the gloom, lit only occasionally by moonlight, as they worked their way back to the city and eventually back to House Ianus and Johanna's lab.

***

Isabeau breathed a little easier after the Johanna and Wes passed her, a scant few feet away. The darkness had hid her completely, but she hadn't been sure, alert and ready to attack if she needed to. She wasn't by nature a violent woman, but she was a mother and wife...ready to defend her creation if need be.

She only had a few brief moments, time enough to check on Adam and note his, her, still unconscious state. That was good, easier that way. Isabeau's fury had not abated when she looked on her captive, Adam had ruined everything and Isabeau was left struggling to salvage what she could out of her plan. All her work hinged on her plans, the truth of The Panacea, even immortality were pending on this plan and Adam had thrown everything out.

She was still agitated, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to unsnarl the wreck of her great experiment, when she heard horse hooves. Again. The presence of so many others near her secret was disturbing to say the least. She pulled the horses further into the thicket and darkness, and crouched low once more.

She watched in disbelief that bordered on fury as the two riders rode up. Adam's personal body servant and the wench who had accompanied them. She couldn't even fathom such loyalty in a servant and the woman should have been long kicked out of the house. How had this happened? Her own people would have to pay for this, they were clearly slacking in their jobs. She would remove all of them if she had to. But for now she had to wait. She watched the manservant head off into the mill, he would likely explore it as the other two had done and finding nothing living he'd be on his way. But the woman seemed almost to fall asleep in her saddle.

Something prickled at the edge of Isabeau's psychic senses and called them to full wakefulness. This woman was trouble, of the psychic kind. A member of the society it was to be expected that she had some latent Talent at least, but Isabeau suddenly wished she had taken the time to learn more.

When the voice spoke behind her Isabeau knew. She had known such Talents existed and it was a simple matter to put two and two together. She kept calm however and her voice carried none of the stress she was feeling. A feathery tendril of her talent was reaching out as she spoke, apparently she could not affect Lily the same as other Talented people, or more likely Lily's ability to split her body and spirit somehow shielded her. But Isabeau was skilled at healing, or destroying, body, spirit, and Talent. She just had to keep the other woman talking till she found out what she had to work against.

“A little too devoted to be just a friend of the Master or I should say Mistress of the society aren't you? Are you her lover? Her sister? No matter. What is it you want?”

In the silence of the night, the unnatural silence that followed the Creature wherever it went, one could hear the distinct footsteps of it's odd rolling gait. The cool night air wrapped around it, rustling through the leaves as the breeze carried the scent of the thing onward, warning all those who lived by the nose that it was coming. The silence rolled ahead and behind it like a wave in the forest. A wave that swamped the clearing where the tense encounter between Isabeau and her pursuers was underway.

Isabeau hid her smirk as she heard the first edges of the deafening silence roll into the clearing. She knew what it meant. Things would unravel fast now and she would have to be ready to move. She had no idea that the creature itself was being swiftly followed and bring even further trouble with it.

The horse that Lily's body was on, and Ren's riderless mount, both sensed the oncoming Creature as well. The scent confused and frightened the poor animals, unlike Isabeau's horses they weren't used to it. The tossed their heads in confusion bordering on fear.

Lily was confused by Isabeau's comment, unsure why she was surprised Lily would come after Adam. She was equally confused by Isabeau's sudden choice to refer to Adam as a female.

"I am not sure as to what you are referring. However I will say this, Adam will be leaving with us, as will you. Whether you leave here alive or dead depends on your c-" Lily stopped speaking mid word. All of a sudden she felt the urge to return to her physical form. It was as if some force was gently yet insistently tugging upon her spirit. It was immediately clear that Isabeau was attempting to influence Lily somehow with her talent, a talent she knew nothing about. Lily found herself regretting not probing Adam about Isabeau, and once again made a mental note to speak with him on the matter regarding not studying fellow members. Isabeau was clearly using her talent -what ever that was- on Lily, and the effect was subtle yet severe. The gentle tugging mixed with Lily's own fear of being away from her physical form for too long and created within her mind a desperate need to return to the safety of her body. It started as a small tugging but quickly grew to the point her own paranoia dwarfed what ever Isabeau was trying to do.

Lily's eyes raised to look at her physical form, still within sight and still upon the horse. She looked back to Isabeau who seemed much calmer all of a sudden, though it was difficult to tell in the light. Lily once again looked over to her own body and noticed her horse seemed to be distressed for some reason. A quick glance over to where Ren left his horse showed his horse was also becoming distressed. Something was upsetting the horses, and Isabeau's sudden calmness was proof enough she was responsible somehow. Without knowing exactly what her talent was capable of the sky was the limit with what Isabeau could do.

The sudden shift in the horses temperament caused more panic within Lily's mind as she began to imagine all the terrible things that could happen should the horse her body rested on decide to take off or buck. She knew Isabeau was doing something and that there was more than likely no danger, however the logic did not calm her. She needed to return to her body and she needed to do so as soon as possible.

Lily pulled back the hammer of her pistol, hopping the action would cause Isabeau to stop what ever she was doing. It did not, and it really would have made no difference as Lily's own mind had turned against her. She needed a plan and she needed one quickly. Seeing her threat through seemed the most obvious option however despite how serious she attempted to sound while saying it she had no desire to kill another human being. The next obvious choice was to simply wound Isabeau and then immediately return to her physical form. Once back in her body she could retrieve her second pistol and go after Isabeau again after yelling to Ren who would already have been alerted by the gun shot.

The gun shot.

Lily's eyes darted between her own horse, Ren's, and the one which carried Adam. Though her pistol did not fire using black powder it still made an extremely loud sound that would most likely echo in the clearing. The horses were already agitated, if she fired her gun they would most likely take off at full sprint. Lily could return to her body and calm her own horse but the horse that carried Adam would be long gone by the time she calmed her horse and returned to Isabeau's hiding spot. The chances of finding Adam in the woods at night before a wild animal did were highly unlikely.

She could call out to Ren, but in her current state of mind that option did not conclude in a preferable outcome fast enough. A million ideas flew through her head from the unhelpful to the absurd. She was quickly becoming more panicked and her desperation to return to her body was reaching its' peek. She began to scan the area, taking in all the information she could to see if there was anything she could use to her advantage, or perhaps some detail she missed that might save her.

-- The type of trees around -- the slope of the mill's roof -- the style of Isabeau's dress -- The forest was oddly silent -- The feminine nature of Adam's naked form -- Isabeau's horses were calm -- There were exactly 42 fireflies in the clearing -- Odd sound in the distance -- The colour of the mill's siding -- Isabeau referring to Adam as a female -- Faint disturbing smell carried on the wind -- Fresh hoof prints leading away from the mill --

-- The feminine nature of Adam's naked form -- Isabeau referring to Adam as a female --

-- Isabeau's horses were calm --

Everything clicked into place.

Adam was in reality a women, and Isabeau's horses were calm in the face of what ever was frightening the other horses. They would not run. Lily lowered her pistol to point it at Isabeau's right thigh and fired. The silence in the forest was broken by as the air pressure in her pistol was released creating an ear piercing bang as the gun fired fifty needles into Isabeau's flesh.

As soon as she fired Lily willed herself back to her body. The pistol her spirit like form had been holding fell to the forest floor. Lily awoke in her physical form in time to rein in her horse who as predicted was panicked by the shot and sprinting at full speed away from the source of the sound. She calmed her horse down just as it was about to pass the mill and pulled her second pistol out.Taking a deep breath she yelled out to Ren.

"Ren! She is out here! Hurry! She has Adam with her!" Lily made to give chase but when she realized Ren's horse, also scared by the gun shot, had long since disappeared into the forest she stopped. At least one of them needed to be on horseback and Lily believed Ren to be the better rider. Acting quickly she led the horse so it stood outside the front door of the mill and quickly dismounted. She immediately took off running at full speed, heading straight for where Isabeau was hiding. The various pouches and the instruments within clanged against each other, filling the clearing with a sound reminiscent of the brass section of an orchestra falling down a flight of stairs. As she ran she heard a voice call out to her though the loud clanging of the items in her pouches obscured the voice too greatly. Assuming it to be Ren, Lily did not slow down and continued as fast as her legs would carry her to the hiding spot of her prey.

Lily exited the clearing and crashed through some buses, pistol raised at the ready.

"With this newfound information, I think it's best for us to return to House Ianus." Johanna said, turning to face Wes.

"Pardon me... Are you going to take that arm with you?" He interjected, gesturing with a pointed finger at the limb that was tucked securely under her own arm.

"Why yes of course. It's evidence. I believe that I will be able to identify the victim from further examination, whether it's female or male, a villager, or a nobleman." She returned with poignancy. While she knew that each member of House Ianus had a particular Talent, she had only met Wesley that day. It left her wondering what exactly the man was capable of. As for herself, after stepping foot inside of the mill, a wretched headache grew on her, and her stomach had knotted. She felt worried that if they lingered much longer, she might fall into a spell.

"Well," Wes began, regarding her with great contemplation, he uttered a sigh of reluctance and nodded, "I suppose it would do no harm. After all, they are dead."

So with that, Wesley and Johanna exited the mill. However, they were left in a perplexing situation. Their horses were gone. With a pallid face, Johanna turned to gaze at Wes, accusation in her eyes burned brighter than the weak light of the moon.

"Mr. Craven, have you forgot to tie our horses?" She asked, and then turned her eyes away from him to scan the darkness.

"Nonsense, I know I tied my mare up right and good. Here, let me give them a call." The blond American shook his head. Then, placing two of his fingers in his mouth, he gave a sharp whistle. A moment of silence passed between Johanna and Wesley before the soft clip-clop of horse hooves could be heard.

"I have to say, I'm rather impressed." Johanna said, offering him a smile full of relief.

"Any good creature can be called back if they leave their masters. They must've gone looking for some grass." With that, Wesley strode towards the horses, and gathered their reins in his hand. They mounted their horses, and left the way they came. Little time had passed, but they had not traveled far, yet unbeknownst to them, the duo had lost the trail, so they did not hear nor see Lady Isabeau approaching the general direction of the mill, nor did they hear the sound of hoofbeat upon the dirt-clod path by Ren and Lily. Rather abruptly, Johanna reined in her steed and called out to Wes, several feet ahead of her.

"Mr. Craven!" She hissed. "This isn't the way we came."

"Oh come now, are you suggesting that I've done and got us lost? I used to be a swell hunter back in the States now, have some faith in me, ok?" Wes said, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"I refuse to place faith in a person that has us lost. Listen, we ought to head back, and find the path again. The light of the moon is playing tricks with your eyes." She urged.

"I know we're going the right way, why just look at that tree over yonder. Don't you see how the moss grows on that side there? Moss always grows on the north side of a tree, and we need to head east. So by my reckoning, we have to go-"

BANG!

"What was that?!" Johanna inquired as she struggled to rein in her steed, the sound had startled him enough to cause him to rear up and threatened to unseat her. From under her arm, the hacked limb fell to the ground, and she continued on with her struggle of settling down the massive bay stallion.

"Gunshot. Sounds like it came from the mill."

"What if someone came back? We should go at once and look! What if it's the beast?" At the idea of the beast returning to its lair, Johanna wheeled her horse about, and sped him back the way they came.

"Miss Johanna! Wait!" He cried out, struggling with his own horse still. "Blast that woman. C'mon now, hiyaaah!" He dug his knees into his horse's ribs, and pulled hard on the bridle. With his unruly mount finally under control, Wes geared his horse after Johanna.

~

Riding headlong at a breakneck pace, the two broke onto the fringes of the mill where they could see a familiar figure of a woman bolting through the clearin, and off into the underbrush. If she recalled correctly, the woman on foot Lillian McClellen. "Lillian!"

"It is I, Johanna, and Wesley of the House. " She called after her fellow house-mate, this time she slowed her horse to cautionary walk, her head swiveled around as she sought for where Lily had broken through the underbrush. She didn't like the fact that Lily was out here all by herself at the mill, seemingly, hadn't she been charged with investigating Lady Isabeau? Something in the air didn't feel right... It felt as if they were being watched from the shadows. Was it the beast that called this mill-house home? Had the creature finally come home to roost?

Gripping the horn of his saddle, Wesley dismounted from his steed. Originally, as he noticed the horses when they first arrived on sight of the mill earlier this evening, the horses were not in such a frantic state as they were in now. Johanna, and his horse were having a hard time being controlled. With the unruly bay mare under control to a degree, he led her promptly over to a tree, where he had tethered her before, and drew out his M1878s. Taking note of the light on in the mill, as he recalled extinguishing the lights before they left, or at least he thought he had; Wesley began moving towards the mill house, where he then nudged the door open with the toe of his boot. His thumbs pulled back the hammer on both revolvers as he peered inside.

It was then that Lily broke through the clearing, perhaps responding to hearing her voice called aloud. Squeezing her thighs gently, she urged her horse onward, and it was there, under the weakened light of the moon, that she could discern the gleam of metal in Lily's hand, as well as a peculiar look on her face. It reminded her of a man on the hunt. "Lillian, are you alright? What in the blazing devils is going on here?" Johanna inquired, near enough to the woman to drop her voice to a low tone. "Pray tell me that you are not alone by yourself out here? Mr. Craven and I were returning to the House when we heard a gunshot fired from this direction." Here she nodded her head at the carbine which Lily carried.

Lucie beckoned for Aleksandra to follow her, not trusting that her voice wouldn’t be carried towards their quarry, and alert it of their presence. They were close, she knew. Her Talent wasn’t even necessary to figure it out. The forest was as quiet as a tomb, save their own near-inaudible footsteps and breathing. More than once she silently thanked Aleksandra for knowing how to move quietly.

As they moved, Lucie once again procured a piece of cloth to cover the reflective surfaces on her daggers, making certain that no one would notice her because the moon light reflected. To some of less skilled thieves of Prague, doing such a thing might be viewed as superfluous. But Lucie, having been trained by the best masters money could buy, had had such seemingly trivial things drilled into her. And they had served her well in the past, as she was sure they would this time.

Forward they continued silence, and unmoving critters surrounding them on all sides. Where was this Creature leading them? Where were they headed?

Aleksandra was hardly one with the shadows like her current partner seemed to be trying to accomplish, but she was more than capable of staying quiet on her feet, if not with the same catlike grace. Any potentially reflective objects of hers were well concealed under her now filthy coat, save for her two revolvers, both of which had instead been transferred to her pockets for easy access.

Did she think her guns would drop the monster the same as a man? No, she was no fool. But all the same, should the beast turn and come after them instead she would prefer to go down fighting.

All the same, she thumbed the hammers on the twin weapons. It wasn’t much, but the reassuring feeling of cold steel helped to calm her nerves. Worst case scenario, she would save a bullet for herself.

The monster, which they were now close enough to see, seemed not to have taken notice of them, and was instead tearing its way towards what looked like the outline of an old cabin or shack of some kind. Aleksandra paused, moving to the side a little to shelter behind a tree, Lucie doing much the same on the other side of the road, and watched hesitantly. Almost subconsciously, she began to draw her weapons - not to fire, but as a precaution.

The building in front of them turned out to be a mill upon closer inspection. Not that such a thing was outside of the ordinary, but why did this Creature want to go to the mill? It was no miller, of that they could be certain. So why?

They were given no time to consider, as the still air was torn by the loud bang of a gun going off. And it was close. Lucie froze momentarily, then turned to their left and a little behind. In the next few seconds a lot of things happened. First was the creature in front of them. Like Lucie it stopped and turned, only it didn’t stay where it was, but bolted towards where the gunshot came from, no longer silent but trampling the underbrush and smaller trees.

Ahead of them, further ahead than the creature itself had been, came a woman running. Lucie couldn’t immediately remember her name, but recognised her from the House. Behind her came a duo of horse riders, also House members. All were headed for the mill.

They had been charged with tracking the creature, and they had. But some things weren’t adding up. She knew for certain that the others ahead of them—the very same people that had been at their meeting this morning—had been given other tasks. Investigating a Lady Isabeau and a mysterious case of butchered animals, she knew. So why were they here?

Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she looked to Aleksandra, motioning for her to follow. She then started moving towards the others at the mill, keeping to the shadows at all times. Within a minute, she and Aleksandra had made it to the trees bordering the mill, and stepped out into the moonlight.

They were, as of yet, still behind the others, unnoticed, so she spent the next few seconds wiping the makeup from her face. Going from an androgynous man to her highly attractive self once more. It seemed a disguise was no longer necessary.

“Would someone tell me,” she suddenly said while barely a handful of metres away and with Aleksandra standing silently behind her, “what in the blazes is going on?”

Ren was already moving swiftly, in response to Lily's call, when Wes poked his head into the mill. The manservant barely had time to halt his half-run and he very nearly collided with the other man. He recognized the face, the name eluded him at the moment and was quite unimportant anyway.

It was Lily's words...”she's out here...she has Adam with her” that were the only important thing.

Ren muttered a quick apology and “she's outside” as the only explanation as he shoved past the man. Things had changed fast in the clearing and he took in the others that had appeared apparently from nowhere since the clearing had basically been empty a few moments ago.

“She has Master Adam” he called to the others as he ran forward in Lily's wake, unslinging Adam's sword as he did so. He could use it fairly well, Adam had taught him, though he had nowhere near the skill Adam had. It was, however his only weapon.

The rapidly evolving chaos in the clearing was nothing with the devolving chaos in Adam's mind. He lived with his Talent perpetually in use, it was the only way he could corral the unending amount of information he gathered and it was the only way he could stay sane; to keep everything in its own pattern. When Isabeau suppressed his talent the patterns began to shift, overlap, bleed into one another in nonsensical ways, and soon descend into full chaos. He stood at the center of a veritable maelstrom of information and he knew he was lost. In the past when this had happened he had managed to find a lifeline to the real world and he searched for one now knowing it was his only chance to save his sanity.

It was the sound of the gunshot that managed to penetrate the chaos. A sound he knew had to be from the real world; his mind didn't store sounds like that. Latching onto it he followed the thread of reality through the chaos. He felt his Talent struggle to wake, whatever had been holding it back had faded, and he soon began to feel the real world pressing on his consciousness.

With an effort he forced himself awake to take in his surroundings. He was tied, but not well and his feet were completely free. He was slung across the back of the horse as if he were a deer carcas. Ahead of him was Isabeau and Lily. Around him was a dark forest. He sensed more than saw others, or maybe he heard them, it didn't matter, he knew some of the others he had talked to this very morning were also here. It didn't exactly make sense but he would sort that out after he got free.

The pain of the shot, of the tiny needles in her flesh, shocked Isabeau. It was enough to give her pause for a moment but in that same moment Lily's projection vanished and Isabeau knew she had scant seconds to prepare. She had no idea how her ability would affect Lily, or any member of the society for that matter. She hadn't the time to do proper research either. It was all a gamble. The crashing sound behind her though made her smile, a cold smile that betrayed how little emotion she had left.

The odds were about to shift in her favor; she knew the creature was returning. She had no idea why he had returned so early but her relief that he was home was almost palpable. She quickly numbed the pain in her leg, she would have to pull the needles out later for now she blocked off the nerves to allow her to be unhindered by the pain they caused. A whisper of sound, not the ungainly crashing but a softer sound behind her alerted her.

She whirled to find Adam regarding her calmly with his, her, piebald eyes. Isabeau's plans were falling apart at the seams due to Adam and her expression grew cold and tinged with fury. She grabbed her sword she kept on her horse and without any warning lunged at Adam, intending to spear him through one of his freakish eyes.

Adam saw the change in Isabeau and knew instantly what she planned; his Talent back in full force he opened his mind to accept every bit of information he could gather, following the patterns as they took on brilliance and form within his mind.

He moved as Isabeau did, rolling lithely off the back of the horse and dropping to the ground a second before Isabeau struck. He timed it perfectly and she didn't have time to pull back, her strike piercing her horse's side.

He felt a momentary pang of sorrow for the beast; it didn't deserve any of this, but right now his life was more important.

The horse panicked and the shrill whiny of pain drew all eyes to it and away from Lily who was making an obscene amount of noise as she crashed through the brush. The horse was flailing about, hooves flying and shrill sounds of pain filling the air. Adam moved with the creature, seeming to sense each movement before it happened and dancing just out of the way of flying hooves, but keeping the crazed animal between himself and Isabeau.

The horse's panicked actions put all around it in danger, and sparked fear in the other three horses nearby. The horses Johanna and Wes rode, already spooked, panicked as well. Johanna was thrown as tethers snapped and the two horses bolted once more. This time they did not stop, fear propelling them on in the darkness. A second shrill shrieking noise rent the air, a sign that one of the pair of escaping horses had met some painful fate.

Isabeau's horse reacted too, rearing and knocking it's mistress to the ground before taking off into the woods, rapid hoof-beats being overshadowed by the sound of a bear running through the forest towards them.

At least that is what it reminded Adam of. The creature broke through the thick growth into the moonlight and Adam was startled by the ghastly appearance of the Creature. Even though he had known what to expect he still hadn't been prepared. The hesitation cost him dearly as the injured horse managed to catch him on the shoulder with a flailing hoof.

Adam rolled with the blow bleeding off much of the force but it still hurt. His hands were still bound and he needed to get someplace away from the dense undergrowth. He was also naked but that was a minor issue, a problem he would solve later. And apparently explain to a whole bunch of new people. Another problem to solve later.

Isabeau was pulled off the ground as if she weighed nothing, which to her savior she might as well have been a feather. The Creature was far stronger than any human, created to be perfect in every respect.

Those nearby heard what seemed genuine affection in a very raspy gravely voice as the Creature pulled Isabeau close.

“Mother hurt?” it asked as it carefully set her back on her feet.

“They tried to kill me!” said Isabeau with vehemence pointing to Adam and Lily “They hurt me. Protect me!”
The creature turned and saw Adam running towards Lily, it didn't question and didn't wonder. It's mother, its lover, its creator had been harmed. It would protect her at all costs. It crossed the distance towards Adam and Lily leaving Isabeau standing safely behind him. The flailing horse had long cleared the area, panicked and in pain and bleeding it had taken off leaving the way clear.

Isabeau hesitated, contemplating trying to use her Talent to help her creation. It was her husband after all, and her child. There were too many now though, the noise wouldn't have failed to attract anyone who was nearby as well. She had to get away, if she could she would return for her creation. She scooped up her sword from the ground where it had fallen and took off in the opposite direction, heading towards the same footpath the creature had come up just a few minutes ago.

It didn't take a special Talent to figure out the Creature was going to try and kill them, Adam knew that. He grabbed Lily with his bound hands, spun her around, and propelled her back towards the mill building with the Creature hot on their heels.

In a cold logical part of his mind he was deeply impressed. What Isabeau had done was beyond all understanding of how living and dead bodies worked. She had created something truly amazing. But so unnatural that he didn't think such a creation would every have a place in the natural pattern of the world. Part of him wanted to try and save it. Could it be calmed? Did it have an ability to form logical thought? Another part was pretty sure that trying to save it would result in the death of more than just himself. He just didn't have enough understanding of what she had done to create it to risk others trying to calm it down. And it was clearly totally devoted to Isabeau.

All this passed his mind as he and Lily led the creature towards the others who had gathered. He almost laughed... in the moonlight the old mill looked like some gothic haunted house, the metal structures outside could have been found in a torture chamber, and the creature behind them a walking dead nightmare. This could have been a scene from some London penny dreadful...impossibly ludicrous. But also impossibly real.

He saw Aleksandra and Lucie standing to the side and knew automatically they were the best people for the job. Lucie could track the fleeing woman easily enough and Aleksandra would know right away if Isabeau was trying to use any psychic talent and stop her. He wasn't sure how Isabeau's Talent would work on the two women but he knew Isabeau didn't know either; it was at least a more level playing field.

“Don't let her get away” he shouted in the direction of the two women. He did not specify they must take her alive, he wasn't feeling very charitable at the moment despite Isabeau's brilliance, something that he usually had a soft spot for. He didn't have time to explain further, no one did. He hoped everyone would adapt quickly.

Ren was relieved when he saw Adam leap onto the road. That relief faded quickly when he realized his master's hands were still bound, he was naked and everyone clearly could notice he was not a he. He didn't even have time to speak however before he spotted the Creature behind Adam.

Ren wasn't normally a superstitious man, Adam had helped him with that issue long ago, but now all his young superstitions came rushing back and he found himself rooted in shock bordering on terror. A patchwork of human parts, bigger than a bear, bigger than any human, living and breathing dead flesh.

Adam saw his friend's shock and could understand it but he had no time to deal with anything now except trying to protect the others...not that they couldn't protect themselves but this thing was too big for a gun to take down, not to mention he wasn't sure it was alive so it might not be able to be killed. As far as he could tell they either had to talk it down, or take it apart. He had managed to free his hands and grabbed his sword from Ren.

“Get out of here” he whispered quietly to the man, hoping to save him embarrassment and let him avoid this battle. This was not his battle anyway. Blade in hand he faced the Creature studying it. The pain in his shoulder was fairly intense, that was bad. It seemed entirely focused on him however, that was at least good. Even Lily didn't seem to have it's attention anymore.

“If anyone has any brilliant plans as to what to do next” he said without looking around at the others “now would be a good time to put them into action.”

Lily stood a few feet from Adam, starring at the beast before her. She was no stranger to oddities, deformities, gruesomeness, or gore. But the creature was something else entirely and even Lily found herself petrified with fear. Shakily she raised her pistol to bare on the creature that was several times her size in hopes that perhaps her simple weapon could assist in bringing down the foe. Lily, however, very much doubted that had she a proper pistol it would do much good. Besides that, her forte was using her brain, and all though her primitive urges told her she needed to attack the beast or run away, she knew survival hinged on a calm mind and a good idea.

Taking some small comfort in the fact that the monster's attention had been focused upon Adam, Lily put her pistol away and focused all her energy into thinking of a solution. She pulled every thought that seemed relevant to the issue at hand to the forefront of her consciousness and created a massive web of thoughts and ideas all to answer one question. How do bring down the beast.

Lily was no stranger to the resurrection of the dead. She had experimented in the idea for several months a few years ago. She made several small successes involving a twitching frog and a blinking pig head. However she had ended her experiments do to a mix of moral apprehension and a basic lacking of the kind of mind required to tackle such a topic. Regardless, the small research she did gave her enough insight to come up with several possibilities as to how Isabeau created her beast. Based on the equipment Lily saw at Isabeau's home she was able to narrow down most of these, and the natural laws and plain logic narrowed down more. The few theories that were left standing gave little insight however into a method to kill the creature.

Lily's next line of thought involved taking in the capabilities and talents of those left in the field and attempting to formulate a strategy. This yielded poor results as she barely knew everyone's name let alone their talents or areas of expertise. Based on the garb, stances, and tools carried by some she was able to make guesses as to what roles each could fill but it was not the time for guesses, even well founded ones.

Idea after idea flew through her head and all were quickly dismissed. In Lily's mind she had spent several minutes on the task but in reality had been barely 5 seconds. In those 5 seconds though the creature had begun to charge at Adam. Lily frantically scoured her mind for even the most desperate of ideas. Her mind settled on a book with a familiar topic and a creature who feared fire, which at first seemed the most useless of thoughts, however; As this thought passed through her mind Lily took notice of the stitches that held the monstrosity together like a quilt that had been patched far too many times. Though many things could be said about the stitching, its gruesome appearance, the quality of the thread, the clear expertise of the person who had done the stitching. There was only one fact of the creatures tenuous method of attachment that Lily cared about, which was that thread was flammable, and how much could the creature do when that which held it together was burned away.

Acting quickly Lily tackled Adam out of the way of the charging beast. The two of them hit the ground just barely out of range of the monster's assault. Scrambling to her feet, Lily pulled out the lantern she kept with her and with a powerful twist and snap ripped the oil reservoir out of it. As the beast turned Lily unscrewed the wick from the top of the reservoir and threw the reservoir as strong as she could at the beast. Luckily the monster's size and alarmingly close proximity made it easy to hit her target. The Reservoir impacted the monster's chest and spilled an acceptable amount of oil all over the creature. The reservoir landed on the ground between the bests legs and the contents continued to drain into the grass, filling the air with the stinging smell of lantern oil. Knowing the beast would move to attack and step out of the pool of oil forming at its feet, Lily leaped forward to stand before it. The creature seemed surprised at this maneuver, though it was hard to tell what emotion the beasts patchwork face was attempting to show. It's confusion barely lasted a second and it raised both hands into the air in great fists like a gorilla, clearly intent on slamming them down upon Lily which would no doubt crush her pathetically. The monster's moment of confusion and raising of limbs gave lily just enough time to pull a lighter from one of her pouches light it, mercifully in one strike, and toss it at the beasts chest. Instantly fire bust into being as the lighters flame made contact with the oil. The creature seemed to forget about its attack and screamed out, either from pain, surprise, or anger, was unclear. The lighter continued on its journey as it fell to the ground, causing more flames to burst into being under the beast. It was at this point Lily regretted standing as close as she was as the oil had spread much farther than she thought in such a short time, in fact the puddle was both under the beast, and under her. The flames that burst out from under her caused her to scream out in surprise and pain. The flames quietly set her dress a lite. Lily made to move away from the beast and extinguish her own fire, however before she could the flames that now clung to her dress had quickly made their way to her pouches. There was a sudden explosion as the fires made their way into a pouch filled with the sorts of things one would normally make a point to keep away from fires. The explosion was not that large but it was enough to send Lily flying backward several feet into the wall of the mill. The wood planks resisted the flying woman and she fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her and her head spinning and unable to focus. The fires on her dress had found the pouches filled with notebooks and hungerly ate them to grow much larger. The fire on Lily's body also began to spread through the grass and up the planks of the mill's exterior.

Lily's head spun and she found it difficult to focus, but thankfully she was coherent enough to still remember her current burning situation. Using the wall of the mill as support she stood up and retrieved a knife from an unburnt pouch. She cut away the pouches that were aflame and cut through the top layer of her dress and kicked it away. Though the fire had began to burn through the second layer, that part of her dress was thankfully not on fire. The remains of her discarded dress were now a massive fireball.

Lily looked to the beast to see if her attempts to harm it had been in vain. Everything around her was blurred, however the trashing glowing orange form a rather large individual revealed that Lily's plan had worked. The beast was burning, and even if it's skin survived the fire the stitches would not, and the creature would fall to bits.

Lily stumbled backwards away from the fires and managed to get a few steps before falling back to the ground. As she hit the ground everything went black. Before her mind plunged into darkness, Lily couldn't help but wonder if basing her plan off a 50 year old work of fiction was the sort of brilliant idea Adam was hopping for.

"Would someone tell me, what in the blazes is going on?" The voice that belonged to fellow House member Lucie, drew Johanna's attention towards the women whom they had followed to the mill. For once, a half-hearted smile split her face in two. Certainly, an odd situation to be smiling in, but she found herself wondering the same.

"As far as we know, we pursued the case of a rabid bear terrorizing the area. However, we had just collected our belongings and was in the midst of making our way back to the manor when we heard a gunshot coming from this general direction. We are just at a loss as you are yourselves. We never expected to find, well... this." Here she gestured to the unfolding scenario before her. To the naked, and obvious feminine form that belonged to the Master of the House, and to the strange and unfathomable situation unfolding between Lady Isabeau and the grotesque creature that carried her.

Truly, in all her life’s experience, Johanna Roheisia Valerivicus had witnessed some rather inexplicable events. But this… the scene of chaos unraveling before her, claimed first place in all of those areas. At the sudden sound of a gunshot, her mount reared up, and sent her toppling from the saddle, wherein she landed hard on her forearm. The immediate pain that spread like fire all the way up to her head blinded her. White-hot needles raced from the wrist, and traveled straight to her eyes where they pulsated. Incapacitated, Johanna lay in a slump of grey-green fabric, doubled over as she struggled to withhold a cry.

However, Wesley, who had witnessed Johanna fall, turned his attention to the arrival of a strange, and peculiar being. Perhaps the old Navajo would call this creature before him, a true skinwalker, for this being who seemed entirely composed of different human body parts captivated his attention wholly. Astonished he watched in fascination at the work of Lily, the woman who was familiar, yet not known to him, set the beast alight in flammable oil from her lantern, and then proceeded to set him ablaze. Everything occurred in flashes around him, he could have sworn that before all of this, he had seen Adam Ware with his own eyes standing, naked, albeit with a womanly figure, and a woman that he had never met either, speaking with the creature.

Instinctively, Wesley turned his attention back to the creature as it seemed that whatever the red-haired woman had set out to do, ought to be finished. Beside him, only feet away, he heard the raspy voice of Johanna, thick with pain. “Shoot it Mr. Craven!” She hissed, now managing to push herself into a seated position, her injured arm held tight against her dress. Both horses had fled, and as she had heard off in the distance, one of them had suffered a fate most unfortunate. He reacted immediately, and lifted again the Colt M1878’s from their holster’s at his side, and with great haste, checked the barrels of the pistols to ensure they had bullets lodged in the chamber, which he discovered there were three.

His unofficial training living in the New Mexico territory, and living on the outskirts of Santa Fe, had given him plenty of skill and expertise with quick-draws, and loading these types of pistols with ease. Even when he had set off towards South Dakota, his natural skill in firearms had come with ease, and at a time like this, it did not fail him then. Slowing his breathing, he made damn sure to keep both eyes open as he lifted the pistols up. Both thumbs cocked the carbines, while his forefingers moved to the trigger. His eyes settled on the wailing figure of the hideous beast before him. There, he aimed for the head with both pistols trained dead center, and pulled the trigger.

Johanna's was not of as much help has Lucie had hoped, as it explained very little that was not already known. If nothing else it serve to convey the extent of the jobs they have been given. Everyone, from Ren the butler Lily, were present, and everyone of them had been sent out with different tasks complete. That they all all ended up at this exact spot, spoke volumes of the truth behind the matter. Evidently the creature Lucie and Aleksandra had been tailing was one centerpiece in this entire debacle.

There wasn't a lot of time to analyse everything that she knew, because at that moment the Creature from before broke through the treeline and Adam shouted - no, ordered - that a 'she' was not allowed to get away. Whoever it was mattered little to the former crime princess. The head of the house Ianus had given an order and so it fell to Lucie to obey and do as she had been told, much as had been her life before she had faked her own demise and the subsequent disposal of her corpse. If there was anything that her previous life had taught her, it was that obedience had its place even in the lives of those who prefer to be masters of their own fate, and at this moment she had no qualms with do you know being obedient.

By now the situation had already started to deteriorate, however. The red headed woman off their ensemble - Lily, their resident Professor of natural sciences - had thought up the brilliant plan that was confronting the thing charging them, preparing something or other involving oil. Ren, meanwhile, seemed shocked into immobility simply stood with a gun in his hands. Johanna had turned her attention away from Lucie and Aleksandra and was shouting at Wesley to shoot it.

It was bedlam, but the demise of this creature was only one of two objectives. Someone was fleeing, and Adam did not want them to get away, and so it was up to Lucie. She turned to Aleksandra, took her revolver out of it holster and handed it to her. "You'll have more uses of this here than I will. I will go after her."

With that, she crossed her mind out to the forest around her enquiring about a single thing: Humans. It came to her, not as pictures, but as raw knowledge. It wasn't that she could see or feel the humans that will currently present in the forest in around them, so much as it was that she simply knew how many there were, and where they currently stood. She knows that behind her were Wesley, Johanna, Adam, Lily and Ren, with Aleksandra standing beside her. Some distance off, however, she Knew that someone was running in the opposite direction of where they were. This would be Lucie's quarry, and she took off into the night, almost immediately dancing into the shadows of the trees, heading straight for where see and Alexandra have passed only mere minutes ago.

She was confident, no matter who it was she was chasing, she would be able to catch up to them. Already she had been among the best of the underground world, and so the chances of someone, comparatively random, being able to out from her was almost laughable. Soon she was within range of a thrown dagger. No it was only a matter of finding the right moment to strike.

Aleksandra, for her part, was caught flatfooted by the unfolding calamity before her. Much as with Lucie, the hasty attempt at explanation by her fellow Ianus member did little to help. She noted however, with keen interest, the presence of everybody who had departed from the manor earlier that day on their separate missions - as well as the unexpectedly feminine figure of the Master of the House, though any inquiry into that could certainly wait until after their painful deaths were no longer an imminent possibility.

The flare of oil catching fire blinded her for a moment as she struggled to reorient herself back towards the looming threat, fumbling for her revolvers as the creature continued to burn. She had an inkling that she knew the line of thought behind the tactic, though she had little optimism that the flames would do little more than char the beast. Unlike works of fiction, the stitching holding the beast together would have to be of far greater complexity than provided by the kind of thread one might hold a wound closed with. Deeper under the skin, in the muscle, the real meat of the thing, there was a connection, and it mattered little how much they burned the exterior, it was difficult to kill something already dead.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Lucie sprinting off into the foliage, presumably chasing after this “She” who could not be allowed to escape. That was one loose end tied up - she had full confidence in her erstwhile companion’s ability to track down the fleeing woman, but the same could not be said for the outlook with the gigantic creature still wreaking havoc.

She raised the pistol in her right hand, firing off three shots at the creature’s center of mass, all three rounds embedding themselves solidly in the thing’s undead flesh - but the grim satisfaction she normally would have felt at landing a hit never came, instead a sinking feeling filled her with dread as she realized that, just as fire would likely do little to the thing, a bullet would do no more - unless by some miracle she could shut off whatever malevolent, eldritch heart beat inside the abomination’s chest, or at the very least immobilize it.

A metaphorical lightbulb lit up in her mind as she finished the thought - maybe they couldn’t kill it easily, but the creature was made of human parts, surely it had at least some of the same weaknesses? Her mind flashed to the Greek mythology of times long past - the mighty Zeus himself was laid low when Typhon tore out his tendons, perhaps the same might apply here? After all, the thing could hardly chase them down if it couldn’t walk, and just shooting it in the chest wasn’t likely to do much.

Over the din of the struggle, she yelled out to the others, “Aim for the tendons! Maybe we can’t kill it outright, but it’s not as much of a threat if it can’t walk!” She herself took aim, emptying one revolver, two of three shots missing by a hair, but the third embedding itself with a sickening noise in the thing’s calf - without missing a beat she switched to the second, firing slowly but steadily at the thing, doing her best to keep her breathing even.

The revolver clicked as the hammer fell on an empty cylinder, half of her shots having found their marks - though to what effect she knew not, but over the deafening echo of the flurry of shots she heard something far more bone chilling - the beast had turned towards her.

Aleksandra gulped, quickly signing the cross across her chest before throwing her guns back into their holster and bolting for it, screaming desperately in Russian at the others in the clearing, having forgotten to attempt Czech or any other languages. “Shoot it, for God’s sake! Shoot it before it rips my tendons out!”

Nearly stumbling over her feet, she drew her sword as she ran, silently muttering a stream of alternating prayers and curses under her breath. Normally, she might try to climb a tree, but with how things were going tonight, she expected that doing so would lead to the unpleasant discovery that the thing could also rip down trees if it so desired. And, while falling to her death was a more appealing option than getting caught, falling and breaking a leg only to be at the mercy of the thing as it took its time with her…

She contemplated trying to load one round into her gun, just in case she needed to speed things along, but put the thought out of her mind - better to focus on running.