---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

Rita threw a sharp elbow into Penny's stomach, forcing the blonde girl to let go of Rita's collar. The mousy girl scurried up behind Lynette, the wild curiosity in her eyes shifting into slight confusion and disappointment as she saw the contents of the chest. Books. It was just books. Rita liked books, but after all of the weirdness of the day she had been expecting something a bit more intense. She glanced at the book Lynette was reading. It was gibberish. Gobbledygook. So much for finding any answers.

She ruffled her hair in frustration. She was used to being left in the dark, but they didn't mean she was okay with it--and when Sharon and Britney began to talk in their cryptic, exclusive talk about Glints and whatevers Rita started to feel her frustration boil into full blown anger. It was clear that Britney had been hiding things from them. Rita had been afraid to confront the other girl earlier. She knew that Britney's folks had influence, not to mention that the other woman towered over her. However, she abhorred it when someone kept her out of a secret. A more patient person might have tact and wait for the right moment to strike, but Rita could not wait for answers any longer.

Once the girls had started talking, Penny had shrugged off Rita’s blow so that she could, as per usual, force herself into the conversation. If there was going to be a confrontation where they called Britney out on her bullshit, she wasn’t going to miss it. Already, she had began to pop off along another rant, shouting at Britney as she had done with Sharon just moments ago, when Rita stepped in front of her.

“... seriously, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Claire. You can't keep us in the dark forever. Like, you…”

“How do I get you to shut your stupid mouth for one minute?” said Rita, glaring at Penny. Her sleeves were pulled down to her wrist and her hand was shoved into her pocket, keeping her sigil from being seen. Caught off guard by the quiet girl suddenly growing a spine, Penny took a step back.

“That’ll work,” said Penny, and then blinked confusedly. It felt like her head had been messed with again, only this time it hadn’t been Billy. She looked over at him and saw that he had a look of mild befuddlement on his face. Before she could recover from the momentary shock, Rita had already turned towards Britney.

“What are the things she is talking about?” said Rita, pointing at Sharon. She was so heated that she didn’t even realize she had done so with her left hand. The lines on her fingers glowed ever so slightly before she folded her arms over her chest, inadvertently hiding the lines once again. “And why do you know about all of this? Why haven’t you told us? Seriously, aren’t you trying to help us?

Rita had been shouting by the time she had finished grilling Britney. Taking a deep breath, she did not break her eye contact with Britney even as an uncomfortable silence began to fill the room. From behind her, she could hear Billy mutter, “Shit. I forgot she could talk.”

---

Hillview High
_{@He Who Walks Behind}

---

"But of course," Paige said in response to the blonde girl's question, smiling and turning, ready to head down the corridor. She had been about to make some other cynical comment about their current situation, but was interrupted by Nate, who seemingly reacted to something that wasn't there. She had been facing that same way, with as clear a view as you could get with this light level, but hadn't seen anything besides the usual creepy, dark hallways. She frowned and looked at Nate, worrying if he was okay. Frankly, she didn't what was worse - something causing him to hallucinate, or a genuine threat that was present here in the school. Either way, though Paige didn't speak up, she was happy about the agreement not to go that way.

When they got to the room, Paige saw how eager Sharon was to avoid entering it, and how roughly she was treated by Claire. Of course, she didn't like Sharon, but it was obvious that whatever was in that room was major shit. Sharon seemed pretty traumatised by it, and Paige didn't feel like she deserved such callous treatment. She'd have intervened, but, as usual, she was at the back of the group, and it was over quickly. Realising that the contents of the room were a much bigger priority (because of shock factor if nothing else), Paige made a mental note to bring it up with Claire later.

The room, of course, was horrifying. Dozens of people dead, countless more watched for even the slightest sign of supernatural power - the same power which several people in their group possessed. Paige's thoughts immediately went to something Sharon had said at the farmhouse.

'...he took the abhorrent Awakened out of the picture...'

Paige supposed she should have expected something like this.

Her picture wasn't on the wall, which was a relief. Clearly, Mr. Reid was a little behind, at least a few weeks. That, or she'd had the good fortune of evading his awareness so far, which seemed unlikely, given the incredible diligence the rest of the pictures must have required to be so comprehensive. Still, this was deeply unsettling.

But things got worse. Paige had been scanning the wall, still not finding her picture but not having quite checked it all, when Rita opened the chest behind her. And now people were demanding a confession from Britney. Paige, of course, was very eager to learn what was going on with Britney, but she was also very eager not to die, and aware that the group was making a lot of noise. This in mind, she opened the door to the corridor and walked out, checking in both directions. If she found nothing that seemed dangerous, she would simply start leaning against the wall to one side of the door, keeping watch for anything that might be trying to corner them in the room.

---

@Surtr Inc @Prosaic @He Who Walks Behind @Atrophy @FernStone @Ciaran
The Reid Farmhouse - Main House --> Hillview High - Mason Square

---

Jasmine kept quiet for several reasons after her initial attempt at trying to talk it out with Sharon. For one, she really still didn't know much of what was going on and was having a hard time following everything. There was so much information to process at such a quick rate, and with people that she didn't know besides a very few amount of them, so she felt like she'd only be holding back the conversation at that point. The second reason she stopped was because Grant quickly corrected her after she had translated for him, as due to her decent but still rough understanding of ASL she ended up technically translating what he said correctly, but not accurately. This embarrassed her a bit, though for all she knew no one knew about her blunder anyway, but either way she was not exactly enthusiastic about trying to quickly translate for him again while things were heated.

However, the third reason she stayed silent was due to her growing anger with Sharon. Her smug responses, abrasive attitude, and complete lack of responsibility and empathy for murdering one of their group members quickly began to grate on Jasmine's nerves (honestly, she'd thought pleasantries had gone out the window the second they'd all been attacked, so she hadn't bothered introducing herself and all the dozen or so people there), especially since she'd already been through so much for a town she had no reason to defend in a conflict she wasn't even supposed to be involved in. And when Sharon began to shout at Paige for basically calling her out on it, Jasmine was absolutely ready to come to the silver-haired girl's aid, but Penny surprisingly enough had been calm enough to help in separating the hostile personalities in the room and shutting down the conflict. Jasmine did her best to hold her tongue, and after a moment or so of internally trying to calm herself down she realized it was for the best she hadn't exploded. Grant was still there and vulnerable, if Sharon snapped then he would just be put in danger. It was frustrating, but keeping her thoughts to herself was the best option at the moment.

It was eventually decided by the group for everyone to investigate Hillview High School, that would be where everyone would find the answers they were all looking for. The Dwyer Siblings were more than ready to move on, and though a creepy abandoned school was the last place anyone wanted to be when dealing with the supernatural, they didn't have much of a choice in whether or not they were going. Even if they wanted out, leaving the group would just be a death sentence, as evidenced by the fact that giant mutated monsters could show up at any time to kill off stragglers. At the last moments of the conversation however, Jasmine could sense remorse coming from Sharon, and while it softened the tension she felt it didn't make her change her opinion of the girl. They would all just have to wait and see just how Sharon would react from here on out.

...

The school ended up being about as creepy as expected. Everyone made their comments as they noticed everything that was off and wrong within the school, but still Jasmine kept silent. Time had passed and she had been able to digest everything a little better now, but she could still feel herself on the edge of feeling overwhelmed again. She glanced over at Grant every once in awhile, and every time he looked incredibly uneasy as they walked the halls and took in the disturbing scenery. But...something about it felt off to her. He didn't just look to be creeped out by what he saw, he instead almost seemed personally upset by it all.

And that's because he was. The moment they approached the school, Grant immediately began to feel inexplicably anxious for reasons he didn't understand. The town at times always seemed familiar, like as if he'd been there before in a dream, or perhaps even another life. But here? There was a familiarity that sent chills down his spine and rocketed his heart up into his throat. He didn't like it one bit, as he felt so anxious that he was nearly shaking. He was usually able to control his appearance and how he came across to others, but he just couldn't do so here. He honestly felt like he shouldn't be there...yet, he was almost entirely sure the answers he was looking for would be found there. If he could just keep it together, maybe, just maybe...

That plan more or less fell apart once they entered the room with the photographs. It was exactly what he'd been looking for, but the amount of absolute terror he felt within himself had grown to immense proportions as he took it all in. Photos of people in town who were marked to be killed, and even worse, marked as hunted down, all stared back at him. Though his powers didn't activate, he felt the world around him go silent as he stared at all the faces on the walls. His breathing was shallow and his forehead was beginning to brew with sweat as his eyes frantically scanned the pictures, desperately searching to see if he had been marked as well. But with so many to look at, could he possibly even find himself? Especially in his panicked state?

Jasmine, though not nearly as terrified as her brother, was still rather disturbed by what she saw and from the explanations that Sharon had given. The room was essentially a giant hit list then...shit, had this been why so many people disappeared or died in Farmer Hill? From what she could understand, whoever was deemed a threat would simply be killed, and then have the murder covered up in some way. Sharon did say that a lot of people in town already knew what was going on, that would make it way too easy to cover each and every death up as something more benign than what was actually going on. The thought alone was enough to make Jasmine feel sick to her stomach.

"This is so fucked up..." Jasmine muttered in disgust, finally breaking her silence as she slowly shined her newly-acquired flashlight (courtesy of Britney) over the many photos on the wall. "One guy killed all of these people? And for what? What's even worth guarding in this town if everyone's a threat or expendable anyway?" She wasn't expecting an answer, Sharon was obviously content to keep the biggest secrets to herself, and as Britney was slowly being revealed to know much more than she'd let on, it seemed she was the same way as well. She felt like she maybe should've felt betrayed by Britney due to this revelation, but then again, she hardly knew her. She didn't know who she could really trust in the first place anyway, besides her brother and Aliana. Though she nonetheless could feel anger beginning to bubble up once again at the idea of someone supposedly on her side using and betraying her.

Speaking of Grant, she noticed now just how freaked out he had become, and worriedly put a hand on his shoulder and began to ask if he was alright, but before she could even get the sentence out he quickly shook his head, almost impatient as he tried to communicate for her to stop.

"Focus," Grant roughly signed, his hands still quivering, "I'll explain later. Just listen for now."

His awareness of the world around him had returned once Jasmine touched him, thankfully bringing him out of the terrifying stupor he'd fallen into. And as he mentally returned he could hear the conversations going on around him, and they sounded important as all hell. He could deal with his problems later, right now the current discussion was key to finding the truth and failing to be a part of it could prove fatal. He couldn't talk, but Jasmine could. He would try to sign his thoughts if necessary, but right now the conversation needed to stay fluid, and only Jasmine on her own could help to keep it going. Interrupting with his drawn out and stiff translations could end up ruining it, and he just couldn't afford for that to happen.

Though still concerned about his well-being, Jasmine still hesitantly nodded and brought her attention back to the discussion at hand. Fortunately, she caught something that interested her, not to say that none of what was happening was interesting, but there was something in particular that Sharon had said that no one else had questioned her on yet.

"...I don't know what this stuff about Watchers and Leagues are," Jasmine slowly said after the others said their piece, her eyes shifting from Britney to Sharon as she talked, "But if we're being watched I don't know if the double agent here should tell us all the details. I wanna know what you're talking about with that stuff, but if talking about it now puts us in danger then we're gonna need to find a better time and place. This all feels so much bigger than us...we need to be careful how we do this." She paused, fidgeting with her bangs with one hand as she glanced at the crossed-out photos around her of people who had been "eliminated".

"You said you did the only thing needed to stop all of this," she addressed Sharon as she lowered her hand back down to her side, though it was notably clenched into a half-fist, "But your dad did all of this, and he's...gone." The implication alone should've sufficed, but she couldn't help herself but to continue. "Were you involved in his death? Did you....do it, yourself? You see the murders, you see everything he's done, and you decide to do what you have to to stop him."

---

'Pandora's Box' had turned out to contain a collection of books from some place called... Glint? Taking a glance at the contents as a few of the others approached to inspect the discovery, he found the text was in a foreign language which could have been just as much a mess as Chinese for all he knew. Then, it occured to him - some it looked like it was Mandarin, yet the same time other languages had been thrown into the mix - letters and symbols which reminded him of Arabic, Hindi and whatever else came from that side of the world.

Further perplexing him, it became clear that Britney and Sharon knew way more than what they'd let on, especially in the former's case. She'd known about their abstractions and about all the other crazy shit that had happened so far, now Sharon had spilled both their guts out with more of the cryptic cult-talk. "Who's they?" Nate blurted aloud, "The voices in your head?" For a chance, he felt less like joking around on this one. "Seriously, what the fuck. You've been leading us along and telling us little pieces at a time, what are the Watchers and League that bug-girl here just let slip about?"

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

The atmosphere in the room had completely turned against Britney as more and more spoke out against her. Not a soul spoke in her defense, and those that remained silent were having doubts. As if everyone had questions they wanted answers. Though, the most hesitant was Justin, whom, while he wanted answers, he also knew that "they are watching" had some undertones he couldn't ignore. Sharon merely looked at Jasmine, before just ignoring everything she said. She didn't owe anyone here a dime.

Despite that Britney would really prefer not to, she was compelled to answer Rita's questions. She just sighed, and flatly spoke. Devoid of emotion, even though she would loved to have just gotten all of this off her chest. "I am trying to help you all. It's just that all of this is so crazy that I doubt we'd even be a group if I told you everything off the bat. So, I've been trying to give you all bits and pieces, bracing you all for the truth." That was the first of her explanation, as she spoke honestly.

"The fact of the matter is; I'm an agent of a group called the Watchers, whom are also under a group known as the League of Luminescence. The Watchers have been maintaining control of the town using subterfuge for God knows how long, and keeping information about either the Apparitions, or the Glutton from getting out. It's from them I learned about the world unknown..." She trailed off.

"As for how I even got involved with them? I was just born into it. My parents and their parents are from another universe known as Glint - where the League came from. We've been helping the Watchers maintain power by, of course, having a heavy hand in the businesses and politics of Farmer Hill. The Watchers also manipulated the previous generation of Awakened..." She somberly sighed.

"... To kill each other. So they can have one powerful agent loyal to the League. Which is what the Watchers want to repeat. They want you all dead so I can-" Before she could continue Paige caught their attention, and told them all to come outside.



Which is what they did, they all piled out into the hallway, and faced Scott Reese. Standing tall with a blade in one hand, and... Dexter Quinto. Held around the neck, and the mere sight drove Claire to rage. Dexter cried as Scott clenched his neck, nearly caving in his throat, and raised him up into the air in front of him, blade cocked.

"NO!" Claire rushed forward in an attempt to save him, but Scott stabbed Dexter through the stomach, and disemboweled him completely. She stood there, with a hand in the air. Shaking, gasping for air... feeling sick to her stomach. Her aura flickered on and off... before it turned completely red. "... I'LL KILL YOU!" She charged Scott with her fist cocked back, and threw a punch at him, but he caught the punch... but wasn't able to ignore the sheer impact of the blow. It made him stumble backwards, which gave Claire some time to come in with another blow to his ribs.

However, Scott punched Claire full force and sent her flying, and she slammed square into the wall. Everyone else watched, but some of the group prepared. Justin exploded into flames, while Lynette ran to the nearest walls to get started on glyphs, Hagan was ready to jump in himself despite having no near abstraction.

Britney raised a hand in the air, and she shed a tear for Dexter's untimely death... but, she couldn't stop now. Vines came down her air as she shouted, "Okay, guys, this is it! We can't let him get away!" She ordered, "Everyone else, get out of here if you don't want nothing to do with this."

---

Hillview High - Mason Square

---

It wasn't everyday that Madeline got to explore an abandoned school. So when the group had decided to investigate the ruined Hillview High, she couldn't help but be a bit excited. Upon arrival, she grabbed one of the flashlights and shone it on the building before following behind the others. The first thing to note was the strange graffiti lining the walls inside. Maddie tried to think of where she had seen something like that as she read the obsessive messages. "Man, this is starting to feel like a horror game..." she muttered, a shiver going down her spine. Yet a part of her thought it was still cool.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nate had supposedly saw a figure in the halls, it dissapearing when the others had looked in it's direction. A sure sign that they shouldn't keep their guard down for a second there. Eventually they made it to Room 108, but Maddie wanted to look around the school a bit longer. So making sure she didn't stray too far from the room, she walked around the place. Unfortunately there was nothing else but more graffiti on the walls, a dissapointment for Madeline. So she walked back into Room 108 in time for her to catch part of a conversation.

Apparently the leader of the group, Britney, knew something that they didn't. While she listened to the conversation, Maddie looked around at the wall of victims - along with the possible ones - until one caught her eye, in a bad way. She then grabbed the photo of a familiar girl with black hair cut into a messy pixie cut.

Name: SAMANTHA LEVINE

Abstraction: ILLUSION MANIPULATION

Threat Level: LOW

ELIMINATED


"No- Nonononono, fuck!!!" Madeline nearly yelled when she read the note stuck next to the photo. Sam, her sister, an awakened? She had always though the accident that took her away from her and her brother wasn't coincidence, but to think that someone had actually planned Sam's demise was terrible. Running a hand through her hair, Maddie stuffed the photo into her jacket pocket - the same pocket that held her hunting knife - and looked over the wall of photos again to see if her brother was there as well. She looked back to the others as Britney confessed to being a an agent of some group that wants them dead so she could be a loyal agent to "The League of Luminescence". 'More like the Los Illuminados.' Maddie thought, shaking her head.

Then the girl with crutches, Paige, had told everyone to head outside. The sight there was one Madeline didn't want to believe was real. Collapsing onto her knees, she could only watch as Dexter was murdered in front of everyone. Claire, in her grief-fulled anger, retaliated against Reese, only to be thrown against the walls. That was when Madeline snapped out of it, grabbed her knife, and sprinted up to the beast, stabbing at it.

---

Hillview High – Mason Square

---

The chest opening had revealed texts – but from what Caelea could see they were in a completely different language. She inspected them but couldn’t actually figure anything out. Well, that wasn’t useful at all.

Everything had pretty quickly turned against Britney, which was something she could get behind. She never had been a big fan of the girl and it was obvious that she was hiding. Not just something, a lot. Tuyen didn’t say anything, but wasn’t sure she wanted to find out whatever Britney knew. Wouldn’t that just make things worse? She’d honestly rather be in the dark for this one.

Britney gave them the information that she’d been asked (though it seemed a bit forced) but there was no time to actually dwell on it.

“Shit,” Rien gasped out upon seeing Scott, taking a step back at the murder and trying to not panic. They were quick to pull out their sketchpad, trying not to think about what happened, and start drawing. They retreated a bit back as they drew a realistic gun – hoping they’d finish it in time, that it would work and that they knew how to use it. Caelea, on the other hand, just braced herself to fight even though she still didn’t really know what her abstraction really was.

Tuyen tried not to actually throw up when Dexter was disembowelled in front of them, breath quickly turning panicked from seeing Scott again. What could she even do? It was just like every other time something like this happened.

I can help you, if you ask.

Tuyen ignored the voice in her mind. There was no way that it, and her shadow, could help. They’d been anything but helpful so far. She didn’t want to ask it for help.

Wouldn’t it be easier to?

In front of her eyes everything changed – people weren’t ready to fight but instead they were all dead, Scott covered in their blood. Tuyen took a step back and could feel bile rising in the fact of her throat again. This couldn’t be real, could it? She hadn’t seen Scott kill anyone else. You could stop this, and be useful for once.

“Tuyen, move back,” Min had moved to his cousin – as far as he was aware neither of them had abstractions useful in a fight. It would be best for them to get behind the ones that did. He didn’t even have a weapon on him like the girl that had just attacked.

Except Tuyen didn’t seem to hear him or be paying attention to anything else. This forced Min to basically grab her and pull her back away from the fight. 

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

Penny’s hands clenched into fists of rage, but if she was going to smash Britney in her stupid face for jerking them around for so long then it’d have to wait. She hurried to respond to Paige’s bark, and her heart sank as her stomach rose when she saw Reese rip into Dexter. She looked away, trying to tune out the sound of entrails splattering on the ground, just in time to catch Claire rushing by her. A suicidal attack, if not for it being Claire, who was quickly chucked away like a ragdoll. The follow-up by Maddie was a surprise—Penny, not remembering that the girl had been “killed” by Reese once before, held back as a swore escaped her mouth. If she launched a barrage at Reese now, she’d likely end up stabbing Maddie in the back.

“You can stop him again, right?” asked Penny, sidling up to Jasmine. “Now would be a nice time to do it.”

Billy didn’t like the idea of leaving, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving his sister behind even more. Shrinking into the doorframe, he leaned out ever so slightly so that he could keep an eye on the outcome. If shit got bad he’d grab Penny and make a run for it, but for now he was sticking around. His eyes burned a hole in Scott. He couldn’t help but try and figure out what the deal was with this dude’s inability to chill. As Billy glared at the creep, his Abstraction begin to work subconsciously. Like Penny, Reese would feel that Billy was doing something to his head, making him sluggish, drowsy. Unlike Penny, he wouldn’t be able to telepathically snap at him to cut it out and pull him out of the focus.

But he could just bum rush him.

---

@Surtr Inc @Atrophy
Hillview High - Mason Square

---

Sharon didn't respond to anything Jasmine had said beyond giving her a look, and while that frustrated her it also reaffirmed her own thoughts on the matter. Sharon had already shown to be prone to outbursts over the slightest bit of conflict, so an accusation of murdering her own father should've caused another one of those...if she had reason to feel offended by it. Jasmine gulped slightly then looked away, unable to keep up eye contact with the girl. To kill your own family like that...she just couldn't imagine being capable of that.

Grant had come to a similar conclusion, but he was unsure if Sharon could be considered an ally now. Where did she stand in this conflict now? Where did they? If Britney hadn't begun to explain just how dire their situation was, he might've asked those questions aloud. Though he was not at all prepared to hear that multiple universes were now at play, Jasmine doubly so. How were either of them even supposed to react to that kind of information? But it did confirm the suspicions that Grant had all along: Britney had been hiding things for a very long time, and he'd been right to be wary of her.

Before anyone could respond to any of that though, Paige gathered everyone's attention to the hall outside the classroom. Once outside, they all witnessed a gruesome sight. Scott Reese had returned, and in his grasp was a young man who he brutally slaughtered in front of them all. It was almost as if he'd done it like that just to show it off to the group, and considering that there were a few of them who reacted personally to it, the two siblings were able to put together that the group knew who the guy was. Likely a close friend to many of them, and now he was dead.

"Grant, stay back!" Jasmine shouted in a panic as she shoved him behind herself, "Keep yourself safe, don't let him near you!" Fury was apparent in the glare she was shooting at Reese, and her arms were nearly trembling. All day long, she'd been dragged around and hunted by monsters and even other people, stuck in a conflict she wasn't even supposed to be involved in. No matter what she did, she couldn't get out of it or make a difference in the situation, and she was absolutely sick of it. She was done being jerked around, and decided here and now that she was going to make the biggest impact in her life; she was going to do whatever she could to kill the abomination known as Scott Reese once and for all.

"Like hell I'm running away!" Jasmine exclaimed at Britney when the taller girl declared a call to arms, and took on a prepared stance with her and the others as she faced Reese. Several of them tried to immediately attack him, with Maddie attempting to stab him with her knife. Jasmine wasn't sure how effective that would be, and being ignorant to her Abstraction, honestly felt that the move was suicidal. Penny seemed to agree, and suggested to try freezing him in place like before.

"I had the same idea," Jasmine nodded, "I'll create an opening for you guys, just hope I can still do it." The energy she'd felt within her from freezing him last time had disappeared by now, so she hoped that meant she was free to do so again. The shield sigil on her abdomen began to glow as she focused on Reese, and as she reached out to him she commanded her power to stop him the moment he tried to move again. Though as she did, she could feel her own movement begin to slow, though she didn't pay it much attention for now.

Grant meanwhile had warily taken a few steps back once his sister warned him to stay away. This was the monster that had attacked Jasmine? God damn, this thing was terrifyingly huge! What...What could he even do here? He wanted to help but he had no fighting ability and his Abstraction wasn't combat-oriented, all it did was kill off sound near him. Unless someone needed to keep quiet in order to make their own Abstraction more effective, he would just be useless at best and a detriment at worst.

Not wanting to get in the way and make things harder on the front line fighters, he ultimately decided to move himself to the back with the other non-combatants. All he could do for now was pray for his sister's safety, and check on the others around him to see if there was anything he could do to help them.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

Scott took the blade square into his bicep, and it pierced deep inside of him... and would have killed him provided that he was still a conventional human being. This merely gave him another advantage. He quickly grabbed Maddie by the neck and lifted her up in the air. Using her a shield between himself and the group, thus he made the group hesitant to attack him. He tried to march forward, but he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Unable to move at all.

At this point, Claire was essentially blinded with grief-fueled rage. The only thing on her mind was killing Scott Reese brutally as he had slain her friend. She didn't even care that Scott was using Maddie as a shield, when she recovered she rushed at him from the back and punched him square in his lower back. The sheer impact of her blow could be felt by the entire group as Scott dropped to his knees. He still held Maddie tightly through as he threw an elbow at Claire - which the girl grabbed with all of her strength.

"Everyone! Hold him down! Get him off her!" Britney commanded as clapped her hands together and a net of wooden roots came outwards from her feet and slowly creeped outwards towards Scott and wrapped around his legs

Lynette was finished drawing the water glyph on the floor. It had a six foot diameter and she had worked out that the larger the glyph, the more powerful the spell. She didn't know what the hell this would do, but she was hoping that it'd help. She placed her hands on the ground as the glyph began to glow brightly with a luminescence light, and the air temperature dropped as a messy, cascading wave of ice came outwards towards Scott Reese. Lynette smiled with pride as she prepared to freeze Scott's feet to the floor... only for the spell to run out of juice halfway through and barely even stop at his feet.

"Damn it!" Lynette said.

---

There was a lot to take in, cult-shit or not - and if Britney was telling the truth, which in this case it really looked like it was, he had a whole lot more than hillbillies and writing on the wall to worry about. Someone - no, something? Some group? The Watchers, the League, wanted him dead, just because he was awakened? Because he had an abstraction? That he didn't even ask for, at that, even though he wasn't complaining about having one at this stage.

No time to process it came before Paige alerted them to the horror scene going on in the hallway.

Nate had been caught like a deer in headlights, paralysed by indecision until the reality settled in a few seconds later. Reese had killed someone else and was about to kill more of them - but what would running do? He'd just come after them again and more would die. But what kind of a fight could his fat-ass give him? He wasn't like Lynn or Penny or the others, he didn't have anything he could shoot or throw at them.

What he did have, though... Nate took a deep breath, set himself towards the right frame of mind, then stepped into the wall, colour and surroundings bleeding out of his vision as his hooded frame disappeared into the architecture. Like wading through water, he had to actively push against his environment - there had to be another room he'd hit soon, right? It didn't take long before colour started seeping back into place - his torch beam, no longer covered, revealed yet another empty classroom, a few desk still left standing but little else of use. He was sure they'd passed a janitor's closet on the way in here. Pivoting towards the door, he came at it running this time and slipped through like a curtain, this time back into the empty hallways. Further down, he could hear voices and the ongoing commotion - and picked up the pace, feeling his own heart slamming against his chest and his temple throbbing.

There was the sign! CUSTODIAL Testing the door revealed it was still locked, but with a renewed vigor, he rendered himself intangiable against the sealed entrance and passed through to the other side, his torchlight hastily dancing across the dusty interior the moment he had the opportunity to look around. Mostly empty again, but a few things - cleaning solutions, a half-rusted toolbox, a mop... and a janitorial cart. A stupid idea came to mind - Nate checked over his shoulder for a moment to check if he could unlock the door from within and found, to his luck, there was indeed a catch. Thank you anti-molestation features.

Rattling came from within the custodial closet, then the door burst open as Nate wheeled the cart out, now laden with all manner of tools and junk that had been haphazardly thrown on top. With all the strength in his legs, he pushed hard against the floor as he got a running start towards where the fighting was - where Reese was - which soon turned into a charge.

"Move, move!" He rasped, then at the top of his lungs found another sentence roaring from his mouth, "Tenno heika, banzai!"

A butchered pronuncination of the Imperial Japanese warcry learned from countless Rising Storm sessions - but one that was surely going to catch Reese's attention and buy the others some time, maybe. Nate kept on going, damned-well intent on ramming this thing into that asshole whilst he was still in one place. Just don't die.

---

Hillview High
_{@Surtr Inc}

---

Nothing of note was visible when Paige first stepped through into the corridor. After looking both ways, she leant against the wall, changing her facing every ten seconds or so. Hopefully, this wouldn't be necessary, but then it would be nice to finally do something useful for the group. At the end of the day, whether Paige wanted something to happen or not would not affect whether it would happen, so it didn't matter that much. Either it wouldn't happen, or it- shit.

"Everybody! Out here, now!" Paige called out as the huge form of Scott Reese moved out of the shadows. She backed off without turning around, slowly and awkwardly, but enough so that she was towards the back of the group as they came through into the corridor.

And then Scott killed Dexter Quinto. Paige had never known him, but witnessing any death firsthand is traumatising, especially one as gruesome and bloody as that - and Paige had never seen anyone die before, not in person. Covering her mouth with her hand, Paige was wide-eyed but silent, and moving away with greater haste while the others began to attack Scott. Her hands began to shake, as did her breath.

Paige watched, frozen to the spot, now, as the group attacked Reese with everything they had. Claire was impressive, and Maddie was brave, but she still couldn't see what kind of chance they stood here. That hulk wouldn't have attacked unless it thought it could win, so obviously, it thought itself more dangerous than the entire group of Awakened gathered here. Which meant they should retreat, develop their capabilities, and play the long game so that one day they would be able to beat him. Here and now? He didn't think they stood a chance, so why should they?

Paige shook her head, narrowed her eyes, and clenched her fists so they would stop shaking. No. How dare he make her think like this? How dare he scare her into wanting to run and hide? He had just murdered someone in front of them. This was what he wanted. If they were afraid, he could win. And Paige hated him for this - she wasn't about to let him win.

Narrowly being missed by Nate as he hurtled past, Paige tapped into an energy within herself she had never previously known about. She went totally still, and her skin paled even more, gripping her crutch with white knuckles as she stood in place. A sudden ache and tiredness in the front of her head, but she fought through it, as was ingrained in her personality to do so. And Scott would be feeling the same thing all of a sudden, as he was where her attack was directed. Silvery blue, intangible projectiles of energy darted away from her and arced towards Scott, some hitting him directly, others intercepting his own projectiles that came back at her, those that hit her driving her step by step closer to unconsciousness. She didn't know what she was doing, but she was sure she was hurting him, and could now only do her best to keep this up as long as possible. A complex design of a sun inside a cresent moon glowed the same shade of silver-blue through her shirt: she had Awoken.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

While Nate was preparing for his charge upon his maintenance stallion and Paige was drilling Reese with what looked like a miniature Laser Floyd show, Billy had entered into some sort of Zen-like state. Jasmine had stopped the hulking monster long enough for Claire and Britney to attempt to hold him in place, and the daydream Billy was forcing on Reese would soon make his continued struggles sluggish and sloppy until he possibly succumbed to unconsciousness. His sigil glowed from underneath his shirt as he continued to stare down their nightmare, his jaw slack and his eyes glazed.

Penny often took to ignoring or actively antagonizing Britney’s directives—even when restrained Reese was still dangerous—but Maddie’s situation forced the defiant girl to act. Blinking, the word around her began to buzz with energy. She knew before Lynette that the ice wouldn’t make it to Reese, and the vines that had wrapped around his ankles gave her a headache as they grew. Still, she rather deal with a migraine than have Reese smash her with his hostage without giving her even the slightest chance to move out of the way.

Rushing forward, Penny kicked off a shard of ice and carried it like a dagger. She ducked around Reese and blasted the shard into the back of the shoulder of the arm that was strangling Maddie, while at the same time she caught sight of Nate charging in out of the corner of her eye. Judging by her aura, there was only a few seconds before he shoved his makeshift battering ram right up Reese’s ass. If her ice dart freed Maddie from Reese’s grasp she’d have just enough time to tackle the girl out of the way. Otherwise, well, there was no time to consider anything else.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

The barrage from the Support group was definitely hard on Reese. He was still holding onto Maddie, but they were attacking him from all angles. Nate had rammed a cart square into him, Penny had driven a shard into his shoulder, and the girl in silver was... doing something to him. He didn't know what to make of it, but he saw Claire running around and grabbing Scott by the arm, trying to force him to let Maddie loose. The mere thought of all this was driving Reese mad. He felt the tendril-like plants wrapping around him... he growled.

Master.

A sudden flash of orange light came outwards from Reese. It was blinding... but a few perceptive eyes could see something underneath all the light. The vines were disintegrated, and he felt a surge of strength flowing through him as he stood straight up. The first thing he did was kick the cart hard as he could into the crowd. Then he felt the power flow through him... his veins were glowing a bright orange color. It was as if his blood was replaced with lava, but it seemed more luminscient, like a star was inside of him rather than glowing blood. His eyes were glowing red through the mask.

"Move!" Justin shouted as he rolled out of the way with the others. Son of a bitch. He wants to help, as the flaming aura that surrounded him burned brightly, but he knew that his abstraction would do more harm than good since he was holding...

Scott heard his master's voice in his head. Few others would be able to perceive it, but Scott understood it clearly... he turned his attention towards Jasmine and threw Maddie at her hard as he could. She was just sent flying through the air - He was hoping that it just killed the two of them. He turned towards Claire whom was rushing towards him fists ready, and Scott grabbed her by the wrist and again threw her straight into the crowd.

That was when Scott turned his attention his Paige - at his master's urging - using blinding speed he rushed towards her with his blade ready to drive into her gut.

---

Hillview High – Mason Square

---

Caelea rolled out of the way as the cart came right into the crowd, quickly hopping into a crouched position. Whatever had happened had somehow empowered Scott, she could tell that much. To her a retreat seemed like the best plan – if only he wasn’t going after them one by one.

Claire was thrown straight into the crowd – and right near where Caelea was. Letting out a curse Cael threw out her hands in a hope of somehow catching the girl and not injuring herself in the process. Instead she sent out a blast of air, enough to soften Claire’s landing just a little and probably stinging anyone in its range.

“Shit, guess that’s what I can do,” Caelea murmured, looking down at her hands before trying to come up with a plan to help stop Scott from murdering anyone else.

Rien had finally finished their drawing, in time to be pushed away from the cart and fall very clumsily to the ground. Unharmed, at least. They pulled the gun out of the paper and pointed the gun at Scott.

Except it was really hard to get a straight shot with him moving around, they’d never used a gun and where still on the ground. Maybe they’d need to think of a better way to do this.

---

Hillview High – Mason Square

---

Tuyen still couldn’t see what was actually happen, could only hear some of the shouts through the hallucination her shadow was forcing on her. The smell of the dead bodies piled around her, some her friends some she’d just met, was only increasing the more she stared at the scene.

You’re just standing there, useless as everyone else fights and dies.

Tuyen tried to ignore it, tried to pretend the whispers in her mind weren’t telling the truth. But they were. She didn’t know what was actually happening. As much as she had figured out this was an illusion it didn’t mean that people weren’t dying now.

“…Please help me.”

But why? her mind responded, shadow moving around her in an almost taunting manner as the dead bodies only grew more mutilated. Why should I.

“Because I need to. I can’t just stand by and do nothing, but there’s nothing I can do.”

That’s your fault.

“I know it is,” Tuyen wiped away the tears that had started falling from her eyes – unable to stop them where she normally would with the knowledge people might see. “But please, they can’t die.”

The shadow seemed to consider it, though Tuyen still wasn’t sure if it was intelligent or if it was just another part of her mind. It seemed to decide it was worth the effort, that Tuyen had begged enough, as the illusion disappeared to show an only slightly less disturbing scene.

Tuyen had been pulled to the side by Min as the cart flew into the crowd. As Scott grabbed and threw people she began to lose hope that her abstraction, if it even was that, could help.

The shadow attached to her by its feet became solid, now visible as a shadowy clone of Tuyen. Then it grew to double in size and change shape to a werewolf demon cross that looked like it stepped right out of a nightmare.

It turned and hit Min away from where he was still holding onto Tuyen, not much caring that it would hurt him (much to Tuyen’s dismay). Then it turned to look at Scott. With Tuyen frozen in the spot and its inability to detach itself from her, it was a good thing it was so large. It didn’t have to move much to close the gap with a fist going directly towards Scott, but also not bothering to avoid anyone that might be in between.

---

@Surtr Inc @Ciaran @FernStone
Hillview High - Mason Square

---

Jasmine could feel the strange energy within her once again when she stopped Reese in his tracks. It seemed whenever she froze something with her power, the feeling would return. It was weird, but it didn't appear to cause any negative effects so it wasn't a concern for now. But could she do anything with it? That was something that she had been wondering about ever since she first learned of her power, she was sure there was more to what she could do but understanding how it worked was already enough to make her scratch her head.

But that wasn't important right now, she needed to focus and find the right time to strike. Everyone was letting loose on the abomination before them and beating him down as hard as they could with their abilities and makeshift weaponry, but Jasmine couldn't quite do the same. She knew she couldn't just keep using her power, there was some sort of limit to how it worked and she couldn't risk wasting a freeze in case a more opportune moment came up. Which, actually came up fairly soon, as Reese began to power up and tank his way through hits that had just previously staggered him. His transformation was so bright that it caused Jasmine to avert her eyes and put up a hand to shield against the impossibly bright light emanating from him.

That was when Maddie was thrown right at her, flying at breakneck speeds and giving Jasmine very little time to react. Her eyes widened in surprise, knowing that she didn't have enough time to even attempt to leap out of the way, and just braced herself for the inevitable impact. She was almost certain she was about to die, but instincts drove her to save herself once again as the second aspect of her power was finally activated. The second arrow sigil on her abdomen glowed, and the momentum within herself was released, with her own self as the target. Faster than if she'd attempted to dodge on her own, her body was suddenly thrown off to the side and roughly landed on the floor, barely managing to avoid getting hit by Maddie's body by mere milliseconds.

That wasn't to say Jasmine wasn't harmed. The sudden movement and impact on the ground dazed her, which mixed with her confusion at what just happened about as well as one would expect. Her body ached, and she was certain she'd accidentally hit her head when she fell, but she was still at the very least alive. Her mind tried to process what she'd just done, but the ongoing battle in front of her kept her from actively thinking on it and she simply accepted it as a part of her power for now. As she attempted to stand back up (and failing, having to resort to resting on one foot and one knee as she tried to regather herself), she turned to look back at the potentially gruesome aftermath of Maddie's landing, but Reese caught her eye instead as she saw him charge at Paige and...Grant!?

The mute young man had seen Paige Awaken and begin to use her newfound power, and though he wasn't sure what exactly she was doing it still seemed to have an effect on Reese. Not only that, but he could feel a draw towards this power of hers. Even though he had no combative powers himself, he wanted to help everyone fight Reese in some way; whatever Paige was doing, he could feel that he, along with everyone else there, could affect it. So he ran over to her side, narrowly evading a cart that was kicked into the crowd, and offered aid to her side of the light show battle going on between the silver-haired girl and the masked murderer. With the strength he added, more projectiles were added to Paige's side, giving her more of a chance at winning.

But now those two couldn't move, and Reese was barreling right towards them.

"Stay away from them!" Jasmine cried out in fury. With the stored momentum spent, she was free to take in more once again. She reached out with her power and begged to freeze Reese, hoping against hope that she could stop him before he could reach them. And just as she did so, a monstrous form erupted from Tuyen and threw itself at him. If everything worked out, it would be able to slam its fist into Reese just as he was frozen in place.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAH-"

Claire shouted at the top of her lungs, before a sudden gust of air stopped her in her tracks. To say the least, it wasn't any less painful than what Caela was hoping it would be. It felt like somebody hit her. She growled as she clenched her fist tightly, and then slammed it onto the ground. She felt the bruises develop, as her shield had shattered completely. She wasn't going to let this stop her. Oh no, this was only the beginning.

Before Reese could slaughter Paige, he felt a sudden stop as he couldn't move for just a moment... one moment was all The Shadow needed to land a dangerous blow onto Reese. One that sent him staggering over into a locker. At this moment, both Justin and Lynette attacked him at once. Justin's Soul-Self taking the form of a massive flaming phoenix that took flight and opened it's maw. Letting fourth a jet of flames that burned Reese to a crisp. All while Lynette finished another glyph and created an inferno that was augmented by Justin's mere presence. Reese's screams of pain echoed through the hallways.

However, Claire had her eyes on something: his blade. It dropped on the ground, and she had the perfect way of finishing him off. She eyed Reese slamming both of his monstrous, black hands, on both sides of the locker as he tried to push himself up. She was going to finish him for good this time... she grabbed onto the blade, and lifted it up, her aura surrounding it. She ran over to Penny, and quickly said,

"Barbie! I'm gonna toss this, do your little magic trick!"

And then she threw it over her head straight at Reese. Hoping that Penny would give it the push that it needed to put Reese down for good.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

It all happened so fast. By the time Penny had recovered from the burst of light, Reese had already closed the gap between himself and Paige. She felt a scream in defiance rip from her lips as she rushed after him, knowing all too well that she’d never make it in time. “Billy, do something!” flashed into her brother’s mind, ripping him out of his daydream just in time for him to witness Tuyen’s shadow come to life. He, too, was not going to get to Paige in time, but thankfully Jasmine had the time to freeze him in place. Penny sighed deeply in relief, and slowed her sprint to a trot as the shadow slammed Reese into a locker and Justin and Lynette turned up the heat.

Her aura was still going strong, which meant her head was buzzing with pain and her senses were beginning to overload. Still, she would not turn it off, not until she made for certain that they were in the clear. Reese’s screams filled her ears. She hated the sound. She hated him. Yet, the sound of him suffering caused her to freeze up. She knew that there would be no reasoning with Reese, that he was more monster than man now, that he had killed people that, while she truly didn’t like, certainly didn’t deserve it, and yet despite all of this she felt bad for him. He disgusted her, but she pitied him.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to do what was necessary.

"Barbie! I'm gonna toss this, do your little magic trick!" shouted Claire before chucking the blade that had killed so many of their classmates at Reese. Penny didn’t even hesitate. Her aura calculated the arc and she reached out with her hand. One second the blade was sailing through the air, and the next it was gone. At the same time, Penny felt her legs give out from underneath her. She collapsed to her knees. The world went silent and she saw a blackness begin to creep into her peripheries. She turned her aura off and pushed the hair out of her face; she was sweating and blood had begun to drip from her nose. As she looked up, sound began to return to the world, and then her vision cleared.

The first thing she saw was Scott Reese, his own blade buried in his chest up to the hilt.

“Nice fucking throw, O’Sullivan,” huffed Penny, sitting back on her rear. She glared at Reese as he screamed and struggled like a worm on a hook. He was trying pathetically to pull the blade from his chest. As his hands were about to reach the hilt, Penny reached back up and repulsed the blade again. Then again. And again. Anytime she saw the blade shift, she pushed it again. Penny started seeing red and could taste the iron in her mouth, but she would not stop. Not until she was certain.

Scott Reese wasn’t going anywhere.

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

The blade pierced though Scott cleanly. If there wasn't a wall in the way, the blade would have went completely through him. He slammed a fist against the wall, and tried to struggle... but his muscles deflated. Eyes stopped glowing, and the power that had once made him a beast was slowly leaving. Feeling as if it was forcibly taken from him, it appeared to the Awakened that he was merely shrinking. Reverting back to his original appearance as a scrawny teen... and tears were raining from his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry!" Scott shouted at the top of his lungs. "It.... it made me do it!"

With a raised eyebrow, Claire asked, "... What the hell is it?"

Before she could get her answer, Scott suddenly jolted, as he bellowed the warning, "My master! It's coming! It's t-too powerful... you all have to escape before it..." At this moment, Scott finally expired.

"Ummm..." Kimberly finally came from the shadows with Jordan, choosing to stay in the sidelines in case somebody needed help. "... I think we should go. Just a hunch."

"What? We listenin' to some dead murderer now?" Hagan scoffed, "Let his master come, I need to have a few words with it-"

Suddenly, the entire school was filled with a orange light that illuminated every inch of it without an apparent light source. That caused a bit of startlement for the crew, but it was merely the beginning. Something... the group could feel something otherworldly in their presence. It felt like it was there, but not really. A phantom feeling.

Then,

Then it appeared.

It took the shape of a orb that just appeared out of thin air. It looked vaguely like the thing seen at the end of the camping trip, but, without the glowing light. A black mass that couldn't take one solid form, as the air around it blurred. One heartbeat, it had millions of tentacles, then another it was smooth. The best way to describe this was that it was comparable to static of a TV-screen that was constantly glitching. The creature's mass seemed to take strange appearances from time to time. Shifting from grass, to maybe stain glass, to even human flesh, back to blackness. It was almost like this thing was so wrong that their minds were doing whatever the fuck it could to wrap their heads around it.

Yet, they couldn't take their eyes off it. Not even for a second. They were strangely compelled to gaze at it...

"... It's real... I always thought it was a lie, but it's real..." Sharon said as she just blindly stared at it. "... The Glutton."

---

Hillview High - Mason Square.

---

Penny stood back up to her feet as she continued to repulse the blade into Reese. Sweat was making whatever was left of her makeup run, and a trickle of blood from her nose was beginning to flow more steadily. Still, she wasn’t going to stop until one of them expired, or at least that was what she had thought before Scott began to transform back into his normal, scrawny, asshole self. She dropped her Abstraction and stared in a somewhat state of shock as he began bawling like a baby, begging for forgiveness. She felt her stomach twist as her throat tightened, the blood hammering in her ears. Had killing him really been the only option? He was a reprehensible murderer, but if his final words were true…

“Nobody can make you do anything,” came a hushed voice from behind Penny.

Rita had kept herself away during the fight. She was too curious (or, she thought, stupid) to run, but smart enough to know that she couldn’t really do anything to help. As Scott Reese began to transform back into his original state, Rita had felt that compulsion again to start ripping whatever facts she could out of the man. She had quietly approached from behind Billy, who seemed to be nursing quite a headache, and had walked up behind his sister. Her eyes danced around the scene, darting at the wicked blade dripping with Reese’s blood to the other kids who had been knocked around in the fight. She brushed herself past Penny and began to slowly approach Reese, his head hung low. If she could lift his face and look into his eyes—a hand grabbed her shoulder.

“Stop,” said Penny, pulling Rita away from Scott’s dead body. She didn’t know what the creepy girl intended on doing, but something bad was happening. Orange light flooded the hall as the hair on Penny’s arm stood up. A heaviness—different from the one of her overusing her Abstraction—came upon her, almost as if something was sitting on her chest. Her rapid breaths grew shallow and her eyes widened with horror as the being morphed into reality. It kept shifting in and out of forms, all of which seemed familiar but none of which seemed possible either. Penny’s hand fell from Rita’s shoulder.

And Rita stepped forward: “What the fuck do you want with us!?”