@Amithea@Gentlemanvaultboy@DriveEMOut

As she lied soaking in the relaxing heat of the waters, Claudia's mind began to wander. She pondered upon their bizarre predicament, how four strangers just ended up out of the blue at this austere but oh so elegant estate in the forest. Much of it didn't add up honestly. All that Claudia could vaguely remember was...actually...she couldn't remember much at all of how she got here, nor who or what had brought her. Her brow furrowed. This was all to strange for her to take in. The last few days, they were nothing but white noise in her mind, a blank space.

She sighed leaning her head back against the warm tiles closing her eyes. She was hoping the others might join her, especially that cute little girl.

Ah, she forgot to ask of her name.

"This ain't right bruv. I don't think we should be here." One eye faintly glowed as he looked around. "Nothing peculiar other than you sorry blokes." He said, nervous. "Still, this isn't right." He looked through a dufflebag he had hidden behind a tree and took out a Stryker Crossbow, as well as a quiver to go on his hip. "If anyone else wants to be ready for anything, take a weapon from my bag." He strode to the house's doors, and kicked them in. "Alright. You all have fun wasting time. I'm looking in this place."
@Rusalka@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea

The baron looked at the nearest pumpkin and reassuringly pat it on the noggin. "Don't you listen to him. You are a bigger help than you know." He cupped his hands around the makeshift face and stared intently into its flickering eyes. "Always remember how special you are."

The pumpkin seemed like it felt better about itself as The Baron grabbed the entire bag of weapons and followed after his new friend with a spring in his step. "Trick or Treat?" He called out from behind Jack as he kicked the door in. He waited for an answer, but all he got was his own voice echoing back from the nearly empty hall. He grinned as he swept his way into the house past Jack. "Trick then."

He walked forward a bit until he spotted the young women from before wandering the entrance hall. "Young lady? Done with your trance so soon?" He called. "Detective Jack, our mutual friend back there, has invited us all to arm ourselves for protection." He said, opening the duffel bag while moving and beginning to rummage around. "Lets see what we have here...Desert Eagle. Serrated knife. Hunting rifle. Claymore mine! Bear traps. Nunchucks? Bat with nails in. Hatchet. Candlestick." These all clattered to the floor to the floor in a trail behind him as he casually discarded them over his shoulder. Halfway there he pulled out a glowing, smiling jack-o-lantern. "Naughty thing, how did you get in there?" he said, placing it carefully on a hallway table. "Oooo, Walther PPK." He said, drawing the tiny firearm and aiming it at a mirror on the wall. "Very Double O Seven." He placed it on the table beside the lantern. "You know what, half the fun is digging through yourself. Here." He handed off the entire bag over to her on his way passed.

@DriveEMOut@Amithea

@Gentlemanvaultboy@DriveEMOut@Rusalka
'No thanks.' She whipped a small paper fan out from one of her pockets. 'I should be fine with this, I think...' She looked him in the eye before continuing down the hall, driven by her growing curiosity.

@Amithea@Gentlemanvaultboy@DriveEMOut

It had only been a few minutes, but Claudia was already starting to get pruny. Perhaps another time she thought. As she stepped out into the hall in only a soft silk robe, she noticed the girl and the two fine chaps approaching from down the hallway...brandishing weapons? By the gods...it was the Inquisition all over again. ~"Mind me asking, dearies, but what in Hecate's name are you doing?"~ She inquired crossing her arms with a quizical look to the three.

"Right now?" The Baron replied. "Arms dealing! Can I interest you in a..."he reached back into the bag, rummaging around inside and withdrawing something new, "Cat-of-nine-tails? Really?" He looked over the wicked lash quizzically before opening up the bag and taking a good look inside. "Either Jack has some interesting hobbies or what I did outside has had a very interesting effect on this bag."

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea@DriveEMOut

Claudia rose an eyebrow suggestively at the whip, a daring smirk curling her lips, not to mention a slight blushing of her cheeks. She couldn't help but laugh at the man's mention of Jackie boy having some...interesting hobbies. ~"Oh really now?"~ A playful smirk, she took the lash from the man, twirling it about while sauntering up to the young detective.

~"Hehe, I wonder what other naughty little toys are in that bag of yours, you cheeky thing."~ <3 Teasing, she gave a light slap of the whip on his rump before setting it down and turning to the others. ~"Well now, glad to see you three were having fun. I was getting lonely in that bath all by myself."~ Claudia feigned a pouting lip before smirking, mainly towards the girl.

~"Maybe next time, one of you wouldn't mind keeping me company"~ A suggestive wink added. ~"Now then, would anyone care to tell me the real reason you're all up in arms?"~

"First off, I don't put the damn weapons in." He said, his face red. "And don't you dare touch me, you pervy prick! Second off, we're in arms because we're trying to find whoever took us here, and they could be hostile. Frankly, you're being quite an idiot by not arming yourself." He said, indignant after what Claudia had done. He fumed and walked down the hall, passing everyone else. He walked around the corner and disappeared from sight.
@Rusalka@Amithea@Gentlemanvaultboy

@DriveEMOut@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea

~"Aww, poor thing."~ Said Claudia with a hint of genuine concern. ~"I hope I didn't embarrass him too much."~ She decided to see if Jack was alright, walking down the halls and around the corner. She had realized her robe was slipping a bit, but the woman made no effort to correct it.

As soon as her eyes laid upon the young detective, she smiled warmly, carefully approaching him as she noted of his vehement hostility. ~"Sorry, dear."~ She said sincere. ~"I didn't mean to mortify you in front of everyone, though, I can't pass up the opportunity to toy with a charming man such as yourself."~

Though men weren't really her...preferred glass of wine. They were still fun to tease however. Claudia's robe slipped a bit more, giving quite the generous peek of her ample bosom.

"Awfully friendly woman, isn't she?" The Baron said, watching Claudia disappear around the corner, leaving his alone with the girl from the conservatory. "Got the right idea too. Better to buddy up in this type of situation. After all, our mysterious host could be lurking around any corner. In fact..." he let his eyes stray conspiratorially to the unopened door set into the wall of the foyer. He lifted his finger to his lips and began to slowly creep over to it, weapon bag under one arm and umbrella raised. "I think..." he continued, punctuating his sentence with every sidelong step,"...they might...be closer..." he rested his hand heavily on the doorknob, raising the umbrella higher, "....than...we...think! HAHA!"

He wrenched the door open and brought the umbrella down inside the opening, beating on the numerous inhabitants hiding in the shadowy space with great vigor. They fell, one by one, before the furious might of his blows. Which wasn't surprising, because they were coats.

The Baron slowly ceased his rampage against fashion as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He peaked his way around the doorway to check on his buddy. "I've discovered a closet." He said brightly, slipping the point of his umbrella umbrella under the collar of one of the stately Victorian style coats that now lay scattered and crumpled across the narrow floor. He lifted it up to examine. "My size." he said after a moment. He then spotted something else amid the pile and fished that out. It was a long white evening gown, the type a sociable debutante would wear to impress all her friends at the ball. He swept the dress out of the hanger on umbrella tip, holding it at length between himself and the girl, overlaying the dress on top of her and closing one eye. "Yours too, if I'm not mistaken. And I rarely am when it comes to costuming. Hmmmmm." He replaced the dress onto the closet floor then, almost as an afterthought, took the bag of weapons and threw it in roughly among the clothes. A few pineapple grenades bounced out and rolled into the hallway as he piled coats on top of it and shut the door. "There. Now we know where it is in case we need it."

@Amithea

@Gentlemanvaultboy
'Ok. But we'd better catch up with the other two. If whoever brought us here really is hostile, we're better off together. It may also be safer to keep moving.' She locked the door, just in case. 'You ready?' Without waiting too long for a response, she grabbed his hand and continued walking. If she was afraid, she didn't want to show it.
She glanced all around, taking in her surroundings and trying to figure out where to go next.

But what she didn't notice was the way the hallway was steadily getting darker.

@Rusalka
"Bugger off, you old hag." Jack said, stubborn, but then cleared his throat. "It's a'ight." His crossbow was still slung across his shoulder. As the hallway got darker, his eye glowed again. "Oh, shit. There's something nearby." He unslung the crossbow. "This is why you sorry blokes need weapons. I don't think you can handle a fight with what I'm looking for without one."

@DriveEMOut

Old hag?! Why, how dare he insult her so tactlessly! Claudia had half a mind to back hand the surly bastard, when suddenly...she could sense it. Darkness, gradually it began to engulf the corridor, as though a living creature, ravenous its appetite was as light was devoured and only shadows remained.

Claudia realized they were in danger, but did she honestly need a weapon?

~"Stand back, boy."~ She said, her tone graven as she slipped off her robe, revealing upon her back the ancient sigil of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Suddenly, her eyes shifted from those of a human to something more...feral and feline. She groaned in pain falling on all fours, her hands and feet shaping into...what appeared to be paws, all while a black fur engulfed her nude figure.

When it was all over, there stood before Jack no longer a beautiful woman...but a lithe female panther.

"Actually, there might be Oh well okay never mind I guess we're going." He said as he was lead down the hall. "I'm Samuel, by the way. So rude of me not to at least introduce myself, but this is all just so exiting. Sam Wayne, but my friends call me Baron HalloWHOA!"

The panther came into view as they rounded the corner, and The Baron was momentarily taken aback. But then he squinted his eyes at the crumpled robe laying about the things feet. "Miss Claudia?" He asked. He nodded, mostly to himself. "I've seen this movie."

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea

Upon hearing her name spoken, the black panther gave a low, audible growl as she stalked towards the man and the girl. Her tail swayed back and forth slowly her coat of fur shimmering in the dim light of the candelabras. She slipped beside the man, nuzzling the girl's leg with a gentle pur.

@Rusalka@Gentlemanvaultboy
'Woah. Um. Ok.' Serene looked down at Claudia's panther-form, surprised. 'I wasn't expecting that...' She turned to the Baron. 'Did you-?'

Zakk approached the mansion cautiously, his ears flicking as they morphed back into his head and his fangs turned back into teeth. Rubbing the back of his neck, he raised his head and sniffed the air, a whole barrage of scents knocking into him. He picked out a few that smelled 'unique' but that he still didn't recognise. Clothes surprisingly not torn from his previous transformation, he trotted up to the doorframe and took a glance inside to see a panther?

@Amithea @Rusalka @Gentlemanvaultboy @DriveEMout

@Rusalka@Gentlemanvaultboy
'Woah. Um. Ok.' Serene looked down at Claudia's panther-form, surprised. 'I wasn't expecting that...' She turned to the Baron. 'Did you-?'

"Honestly, no." He said, shaking his head. "I've just accepted that the world is so fundamentally mysterious that I can't dismiss the evidence of my senses. For example," he said, "Panther, plus discarded robe at panthers feet, plus no evidence of violence, plus Mr. Jack generally non-hostile posture towards it, plus Miss Claudia's disappearance, plus," he took a big sniff of the air, "the panthers fur is slightly damp and smells of chamomile. Someone who doesn't comprehend how suffused the world is with mystery would see all this and over-complicate things looking for a solution they can bare instead of just accepting the event that they've observed. In this case, that Miss Claudia is now a panther."

"Once you've accepted the impossible whatever you've experienced, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

@Amithea@WeepingHollows

Claudia nuzzled the girl's leg some more, as though she wanted to be petted, purring softly and popping her gently with her tail. She still wasn't giving up charming that cute little thing into her arms...and perhaps her bed.

She growled suddenly, bounding off as a familiar scent caught her nose, a musk of sorts that alerted to a beastly and ever present danger. Twas the scent of a male Claudia followef through the hall before confronting the man in torn clothing.

She snarled at him, letting loose a vicious roar ready to pounce. He was a man, but not human, no. Claudia could recognize the animalistic urge within his eyes.

@Rusalka @Amithea

He watched the panther suddenly appear and raised his hackles, allowing his fangs to show and meaning to make a growl yet so sound came out. He had lost that ability a long time ago. Bingo. Stepping a little further inside the house, he crouched down and prepared to attack.