What Lovely Specimens. PLOT

[Kirien Melantha]

Kirien stood there, calm but menacing, watching everything unfold. Her bloodlust was fading, and she felt tired, and the cold floor was inviting her to lie upon it and forget about all else. It could have been that she took too many bullets that day, and she had lost enough legion healing to feel fatigued. It could have been that she'd moved too much, too far, or that she'd seen too many things she didn't want to see that day, and they were only just hitting her. It could have just been that whenever she came down from a high, her adrenaline plummeted, but whatever the reason, she felt tired.

She observed each of the children with an unfocused gaze, taking in their reactions. They weren't taking the killing well, she realized, and she felt a closeness to them, remembering the first time she had seen death. It was a cruel thing, death, but it made you strong over time. The world they lived in was ruthless, especially to their kind, those of unusual blood and talents, and if they didn't see death now, it wouldn't be long until they did.

She lowered her weapon, and gave the group a look as if to say "You'll get used to it," and ventured after her friend, dripping blood that was not her own as she went.

"Cylo!" She called after him, her voice low and full of something, maybe a combination of things, and reached for his hand with her free one.

[morg]

The kids were more or less in order. One on wolfie's back, the others linked by hands. So now it was time for them all to get out of this hell hole.

Morgan took a deep breath, then hurried to the front of their little group, again avoiding the corpse. She again slid her hands into Kiri's and Garion's, giving both a gentle squeeze. Morgan also forced a smile, looking down at Garion, then over to Kiri. Nodding, the girl started down the halls, leading them out.

She figured the wolves would more or less follow behind, and the two demons had already gone ahead. Morgan's group would be going a lot slower, what with the younger people and the exhaustion and all. But there didn't appear to be anyone else to bother them.

Soon they'd be approaching the exit, guarded by the two lesbians. Morgan didn't know how Rae or Eve would take their little group, but at least there'd be someone older then her to take over.

Morgan just wanted to collapse, and let someone tell her what to do...

[eryk]

Eryk had suddenly become, a horse. Not like he hadn't had Maelee ride him before but she hadn't just been subjected to that kind of horror. Tail lower he still wagged it trying to help lift up people's spirits. Even though there were no spirits to lift it seemed. It was like he was walking with a bunch of zombies other than Morgan.

While walking down the hall a distinctly reptilian scent hit him. He glanced around but couldn't find the source. When they came into view of Rae and Eve he noticed big and scary wasn't there. Odd, where had he gone off to? He gave Rae a questioning look before glancing around again as if to indicate "Ain't there somebody missing?"

Eryk gave a nasty look at the demons, but then it softened just as quickly. To think that they were so okay with this made him sad. It meant they'd been tainted like this long ago. When had their innocence been robbed of them? Was it as young as the smallest one? If so he pitied them.

[Karmine de Arcadia]

Karmine ducked and dipped around the halls, in his shrunken form. He wouldn't make himself known to those who were present, but he would at least watch over them.

A guardian angel, go figure.

He came across the body of a large man, with a slit throat. Those weren't claw or bite marks, and if Kirien hit him, he wouldn't HAVE a head. So someone used a knife or edge of some sort. The cut wasn't very deep, the person behind it was weak.

A...child?

"Oh damnit all." he muttered to himself. Then he noticed that the large man clutched something in one of his hands. Karmine flew low to examine it. Several long strands of blond hair.

Long...blond...hair...oh god Kiri. But there was no sign of her here, or anyone else knocked out and unconscious. He very much doubted Kiri or Star had the ability to kill anyone, or that either of them carried something to do this with. Granted they could have used a scrap of metal, but that didn't seem right...so that meant he knew Kiri was here, and she wasn't now.

"****" He muttered, continuing down the next hallway, still small. It wasn't very far until he saw the odd scene before him. Garion, Locke, Kiri, Morgan, some kid he didn't recognize, and two wolves. Well, one wolf. Karmine was experienced enough to see through the glamor, and saw that it was indeed Star. Why was he disguising himself?

Instead he remained small and un noticed, following the group lest anything else get in there way. He wanted to sen a message to Rae, but the air was quite cross with him right now, and was not likely to do anything else for a while.

[Raelena St. John]

Apparently flirting and taunting would have to wait for later. Rae heard footsteps coming, and pushed off the wall, bracing herself for a fight. If some idiot attacked, they'd get to know just how ferocious Raeleve could be when prodded.

Fortunately, Rae recognized quite a few of them before they could approach.

"Hell, ye look like train hit ye," murmured Rae, studying the group. She hurried forward, checking to see if anyone was particularly bad off. The redheaded couple was standing off from the rest, which struck Rae as a little off. But the blood on several of the kids' shoes was even more off, and Morgan and a blonde kid looked as if they'd been wading in the stuff.

"Alrigh', let's get th' hell oota dodge," ordered Rae, jerking her thumb behind her. She also turned. "Eve, take point."

She turned back to the group. "Get movin'. I'm gonna go look fir Karmine an' baldy. Cannae be leavin' lads behind even if they are bloody idjits."

Rae started stomping toward the door, past the rescued and rescuers.

[Karmine de Arcadia]

"You will find that..." Karmine said, walking up the stairs with an exact copy of the jacket Cylo wore glammored on his chest now, the coat of blood masked, though the scent was not. "Is quite unnecessary." He finished, clearing the door frame.

"I'm all right, and baldy...well he's free ta do what he wants now, it's his life. So no need ta wait up on em. Let's get the kids an get out o here."

He looked to Locke, Garion and Matt. "Question being, Nia said their families were notified o this, so we gotta contact em somehow. Wouldn't be right just leaving em like this. Come on now, let's load em all up and...oh wait."

He leaned over to Cylo and looked as if he was going to take the jacket. The blood soaked jacket. No that was probably a bad idea right now.

"Ah need somethin fer the kid." He said gesturing to Locke. "He canna go parading through town with his little 'addages'."

He tried hard to not look at Kiri, his heart might break.

[Eve Stone]

She started when the kids came into the room, with an extra wolf? Where had that one come from? The children looked like hell had kissed them, but instead of rushing to Locke to see if the brat was alright she glared at Rae.

"One I'm not your pack, but I'll go get the car ready anyway." Eve growled before running outside to get the car started. The car looked fine to her and she slid in behind the wheel. What had happened, or might of happened to those children ran through her mind. Course not all of them were children, but the students still looked shell shocked. Blood and pain. Something only horrible people should have to experience.

One the car was up and running she ran back inside to find a new man in their midst. Instantly getting defense she started for him, even though no one else looked threatened.

"Who's the new guy?" She paused stared at him then smiled. "Aren't you a teacher?" If she remembered correctly he was a teacher at the school, combat to be precise.

[Raelena St. John]

Only Eve would argue with Rae when people were bleeding and miserable. Then again, Rae was being quite bossy, but no one else was, so she felt obligated to be.

Karmine's entrance caught her by surprise, but it wasn't out of character for him. So she just grinned, nudging him with an elbow. "Ye always in trouble, ain't ye mate?"

Chuckling, she started walking toward the exit. If Karmine said to leave baldy, that worked for Rae. After all, the big man had made Eve uncomfortable, and that was enough for Rae.

"Tha's Karmine," explained Rae, jerking a thumb behind her, "an' he's fine."

She paused, waving the others forward. "Alrigh', let's get oot o' here!"

[Ϛ Cylo]

"Hey," Cylo said, sounding tired but not unhappy to see her. Even his grin, though no longer a grim line, was tired. He was not battle-weary or anything of the sort, he simply was exhausting himself thinking about what he'd done and the ramifications of it. He didn't regret it for a moment, but he wasn't looking forward to the future, either.

The children were his most immediate concern, probably because they were right there. He doubted they'd seen a man killed before today, and now they had that to deal with on top of whatever it was the people who had kidnapped them had done. He almost wished he were in the position of someone else, if only for a moment, so he could help the kids. It was beyond obvious that they wouldn't be accepting any consoling words from him.

On top of that was the fact that he'd basically ended his school career. He hadn't been learning anything too terribly interesting, besides perhaps combat class, but their combat teacher wouldn't be going back with them either, so he wouldn't be missing much. His only friends from school were with him too, so it was definitely not school itself that was the issue.

The issue would be telling his mother. He would have loved to hide this whole incident from his mother, but that wouldn't be possible. His siblings went to that school, and there was no way they'd keep a bombshell like that from their parents. Even if they could occasionally be very supportive of him, as a family should be (he was still amazed they hadn't tried to join the fight at the assembly), their bond with their mother and father was much stronger. At least his mother wouldn't have to know about the killing. He could simply tell her they'd got the children out safely, at least physically, and leave it at that.

He sighed as Kirien's hand reached his, and smiled too, as if the sigh had helped to expel all the troubling thoughts he was having. All the goings-on of the others fell on deaf ears and blind eyes as Cylo and Kirien stood apart from the others. They were the killers, the demons, the ones with blood on their hands. The children would be happy to see the others, but they would never want to see Cylo, at least, again. He was sure of it; not proud, but accepting the inevitability.

As everyone else made arrangements to leave, Cylo looked down at Kirien.

"What now? Do you have a place to stay?"

It was obvious he wasn't even beginning to consider the possibility of going with the others.

[Karmine de Arcadia]

Karmine, however, would have none of that, leaning over to Cylo and Kirien.

"I never got yer name." He said to Cylo. "But she is coming with us fer the time being." He said pointing to Kirien. "Once we get all settled down ya can leave if ya want, but fer now yer coming with us. And that is the end of that." His voice would tell everyone, even Rae, that there was no use in arguing with him.

"Oh and...." He walked in closer so only Kirien and Cylo could hear him.

"You are going to tell me what the HELL you did in there, as if I didn't already know." He said through gritted teeth.

This didn't need to happen now, but no way was he letting this guy just walk away.

[matt]

Matt allowed himself to be carried on the wolf's back, staring off at nothing, confused. Oh great. It thinks it's my mommy. He thought to himself, a weak attempt at lighting his mood, but he ended up sighing heavily instead of cracking a smile. The situation was just too weird for him to handle. Superpowers, kidnappings, people dying, giant wolves...everything was hazy to him. He kept quiet, watching everything with half-lidded eyes, wishing that he'd wake up, or the wolf would just eat him already.

I'm dead. I have to be dead.

He decided when he saw Raelena St. John standing near the exit. He knew her, like most kids his age, and there was no way a superstar like her would be in a place like this. He was probably dead.

He'd seen it in a movie once, he remembered. The star of the whole thing died somehow or other, and went to some place that was like heaven, except he got to make up whatever he wanted to be there. He never really wanted to meet Raelena St. John until then, but he decided that maybe a little entertainment would be nice, and if he could have anyone, why not her? If he had her around, girls would totally like him more! Girls loved Rae!

I wonder how I died. Maybe those guys at school did it, and this has all been some kind of rite of passage for dead people. Being dead's not so bad. You don't really...feel anything...

[Kiri Honeywater]

She held the young boy's hand, who in turn held Morgan's, but she didn't feel the contact. Eye eyes kept darting to Locke who didn't seem to be fairing too well, and then they'd dart to her godfather. The two people she cared for were safe. They were safe.

Her other hand rested upon the grey wolf, who wasn't a wolf, his fur coarse againt her palm. Kiri glanced at the boy riding the thin but tall wolf, and figured he didn't look much better than most of the others. Why did she feel so, numb, compared to what the others appeared? They all looked in a daze while she just felt nothing. She'd just witnessed murder, heard voices, almost lost her love, and she was acting like it happened everyday. Another thing she noticed was that words didn't sound the same. No one's voices seem to be coming in clear.

Eyes roaming she first went to Locke, then the older people, then Mr. Kar, then to the wolves. One wolf made her confused, it hadn't spoken to her, and it seemed as much in a daze as the other students. Something just seemed off to her about that wolf. More off that the larger one beside her playing the role of horse. Deciding to leave the odd wolf problem alone she turned her eyes to her love again.

"I want to go home..." Kiri didn't realize she barely spoke above a whisper. To her the words came out so very loudcompared to everyone else's words. Her hand rose to cover her mouth feeling stupid for just yelling at everyone. How utterly childish. Again she tried, and this time made it so she heard a whisper. "I want to go home..."

A mouse would have been louder. The grey wolf glanced up at her having heard her the first time. He whined and her grip tightened on his fur. All she wanted was to go home. Home. Away from these zombie students, away from the blood, away from the fear that drenched every stone. Home. "Home..."

[Locke F. Herald]

Locke was trapped in his own mind, replaying the events of the last hour or so in his head. The screams, the fear, the actions. He could have done so many things to change it, why had he allowed himself to lose his head? He could have prevented this, there had to have been something he could have done if only he was paying attention. He paid attention to nothing else as he pondered on this.

Locke heard Kiri's whisper, even lost in his own mind. He snapped his head up looking to her, and found that he too wanted to go home. He wanted to see his mother, his father, even that stupid bird. Something to remind him of home.

"Me too..." He muttered to her, squeezing her hand to let her know she was alive. He saw the car sitting off to the side and moved towards it.

"Only...a little bit more...then we can go home...home..." Something occurred to Locke that he didn't vocalize though, where was Kiri's home?

Probably the labyrinth, that was a foolish question.

[morg]

"Did you not have an exit plan?" demanded Morgan. She glared at Karmine and Rae, each in turn. The two of them appeared to be the only "adults" in the near vicinity, and both of them also looked to be the technical leaders of this operation. It irritated Morgan that now they were almost out of the hellhole, and nobody had thought to think up a sanctuary.

"Why can't we just go back to the Academy? That's what makes the most sense to me..." Morgan looked around, feeling suddenly very, very tired.

It was Rae who responded first. "We kinda o' had a wee bit o' trouble wit' th' Academy..."

Which was not what Morgan wanted to hear. she rubbed at her eyes, wishing this was all just one bad dream.

"Ye brother said ye'd ken where tae go, tae meet oop wit' 'im," offered Rae, shrugging. The rock star had gone through less then the rest of them, and didn't look all that worse for wear. At best just tired.

"I'd know where to go?" repeated Morgan. She started wracking that wonderful memory of hers....[/color]

[Admin]

Fate compels you to move on:

Temporary Reprieve - awaits you...

(and I sort of moved a few of characters more or less by force. If you object, let me know and I'll edit things....)