The Color of Evil {PLOT!!!}

Enders woke to an undeniable odor of death. It permeated the atmosphere and made a horrible taste in his mouth. It smelled worse than every surgery and dissection he'd done in the past. After he got used to the smell, he opened his eyes and tried to pick himself up off the cold floor only to find his wrists tied together behind his back. He flexed his fingers and grunted, heaving himself up off his side and onto his knees. His joints complained, but they took back-seat to his fingers which had gone all numb.

Where the Hell was he? This was definitely not where he'd been shot with a tranquilizer. Then he mentally smacked himself. Of course his kidnapper would move him. He took in the area, noting certain details.

Like the circle-surrounded pentagram drawn on the wooden stage near where he and a still-unconscious Nikolai were. And there were figures moving in the dark beyond the edge of the stage- he squinted, but could only make out one thing: they did not move like humans. There were some that moved like water- fluidly. And there were some that had a clumsy, shuffling gait. The former made Enders more uneasy.

He glanced to Nikolai, who was stirring. Immediately, the boy was hit with another dart and he went still.

"Sorry, old chap, but we wouldn't want you to ruin our festivities by pulling a reptilian fast one on us," said a familiar voice. Jonathan's head whipped around and his eyes settled on the one that Nikolai had called Hector. Only, he wasn't blonde hair and blue-eyed. His eyes were completely colorless and his hair had taken on silvery, almost-iridescent tones.

"You! You're the one I saw in the office," Enders said, stating the obvious in his disbelief. Whoever would have guessed that whatever this was was his end when he'd gone through the files? "What are you doing?"

"Only what I was supposed to do ages ago, Wizard."

"W-what are those?" Enders nodded out to the figures in the dark.

"My minions, naturally." He snapped his fingers and one of them turned on the lights to the seating part of the auditorium. Enders could have been sick. Dead people. They were dead people. Some of them were highly decomposed already, but something, some perverse magic, held them together. Enders could barely make out shadowy outlines of powerful lines holding parts together.

Hector laughed and Enders cringed. It wasn't high-pitched, but it was cold, like everything else about this man. It sent shudders throughout his body.

"Who are you?" Enders asked, highly confused by this point. This was not something easily explained by mere observation. "What do you want with us?"

"Slow down, Wizard. Let's wait for the others before I even try to impart just a fraction of what's going on to you. See, look, my pets have already found one." However, as the struggling girl was brought forward, his expression darkened. "You fools! I told you not to bring her here! Go get the son of Orpheus's line!"

The girl spat at him and struggled to reach a violin case one of the Dead was in possession of. "You're upsetting the Otherside! Stop this now!"

Hector sighed and shook his head. "You do not understand, Child." He nodded at her and said to his minions, "Tie her up securely and place her with the others. Without her instrument, she's as helpless as these two." He gestured to Nikolai and Enders.

As she joined their little group, Enders caught her eye. Poor thing was shaking.

Hector was pacing, impatient like a tiger in a cage surrounded by fat tourists. Enders wondered whether he had a spell that might help them in this situation.




[ALRIGHT. THIS IS IT. THE FINAL SHOWDOWN.

Plot Note: Either your character follows the smell and gets to this place, or he/she is brought here by zombies. If you have another way of bringing him/her into the plot, PM me and we'll have a chat.

Rules:

One post per rotation. You will post at the same place in each rotation and it will form a pattern.

If you decide that you cannot think of a reply or think you can go without replying, simply post "Pass" in ooc brackets.

If you are not going to be on for a day or so, please tell us. If you're gone for a significant amount of time, we'll have to continue without you. I suggest making a Will saying what you want us to do with your characters.

Don't diss the zombies, yo.]

They didn’t need to use tranquilizers on him; he was already too weak to move much on his own. But that hadn’t stopped them from knocking him across the head. The archaic stench of rotting flesh made him gag and he did everything he could to keep his lunch down.

Tobias had been walking around the grounds, despite the doctor advising him to rest. After all he had just collapsed less than twelve hours ago, but he wanted some alone times since his family was going bombard him very shortly with their worries and the coddling.

Besides he was feeling wolfie, and he needed to stretch his legs. He had smelt that decaying smell a good five minutes before the zombies had brought the blow to his head, and he was down again. The only thing Tobias could think of at the time was, ‘Oh great, now I can add this to my long list of luck’.

He had weaved in and out of consciousness as he was dragged to the auditorium. At one point he had caught a reflection of himself in the trophy-case glass. Blood was slowly pouring down the left side of his face, matting his hair and beard in sticky clumps. Tobias groaned he looked just like one of them, sunken cheeks, deep circles beneath his eyes, everything bony and pale.

Tobias growled, angry that he had been caught, and frustrated because he didn’t know what he had done this time to deserve it. He was too weak to go completely animal, but his body semi-transitioned from the hostel aggression bubbling up inside of him. His fangs grew sharp and deadly, his eyes glowed and he was thirsting for blood and thoroughly pissed off that he was too weak to help himself.

The two zombies dragging him tossed him recklessly beside Enders. The crash racked his chest and he cursed for a good minute in his native tongue. “Dammit…my chest.”
Tobias rolled onto his back breathing hard. “Why the F*ck did you tie me up?!” He asked the room, and no one in particular.

What was that horrible smell, was the only really clear thought that drifted around his mind. Along with a few other people, Kenric was partially in charge of keeping the school clean—though lately he’d been doing a horrible job. Maybe he could really start this time, make up for lost time, perhaps. Whatever the reason, Kenric decided to check it out, hoping that some idiot student hadn’t gone and picked a fight with the wrong person. Then again, maybe the cafeteria was serving a new kind of meal to accommodate all the raw-meat eaters…? All those ideas seemed a little…logical, sort of. But they were not extreme enough for the stench of death to be floating around the air. Whatever the cause, maybe he could help clean up the mess?

Kenric, naturally, was very accustomed to the smell, having killed his own share of people for his own good, but this, this was just a little insane. But once again, curiosity got the best of the vampire, and he slowly paced back to the corridors of the school, his nose pressed against his sleeve as he got closer and closer to the source of the smell. Even now, his mind was coming up with some ridiculous explanation. Maybe a boy threw up, and heaved so hard his organs came out? The thought made Kenric’s face wrinkle in disgust, and slight amusement. Though he doubted that could ever cause the smell even if it could even happen to begin with. Besides, it wasn’t like one’s organs could decay that quickly.

Perhaps, long ago, before he’d arrived at the school, a mass murder occurred and the bodies of all the dead were hidden around the school…? That would have been interesting, but highly unlikely, you’d think that a school full of gifted children and adults would have realized this! Right? With his imagination running wild, Kenric was practically turning this small event into a murder mystery novel.

Why did it have to be anything mysterious and odd, anyway? Maybe something was just spoiling, maybe he was wrong and it wasn’t even the smell of death assaulting his nose. Kenric was capable of faults, and his nose was in no way perfect. He was just overreacting, just like he always did. With that thought lodging itself into Kenny’s mind, he considered just turning on his heel and heading back to his own apartment and hang around until something else caught his interest.

Then again, he needed to do something productive, even if it did mean just running after a small little smell. Shrugging, Kenric stuffed his hands into his pockets, walking down one more corridor before the smell became almost overbearing. Weird, Kenric thought, looking at the doors along the hall that he’d ended up in. There were a few empty rooms, the main one though, was the Auditorium.

Kenric once again began thinking of why the smell was here, his mind exploding with dozens of Why’s, How’s and Maybe’s. Enough of that, the vampire thought, shaking his head and clearing his mind. Why guess when the answer was behind a single door? With a small trace of excitement in his step, Kenric walked up to the door, placed his hand on the handle, and pushed the door open.

The sight that lay on the other side of the door was…shocking, to say the least. Kenric wanted to run, to turn around and dash out as fast as possible and laugh about this in a few years, probably. But for once in his life, Kenric was shocked beyond belief. Sure, when you travel around like he had, you see some crazy things, but most of them don’t deal with decaying corpses that looked like they could easily be diminished to dust in a matter of seconds. And so, Kenric stood there, probably looking like an idiot with his mouth slightly agape and his limbs frozen in place. No he didn’t scream, he didn’t run, he didn’t threaten and shout, no, he just…stood there.

That, of course, offered the zombie things a chance to come up to him and grab him without Kenric putting up much of a fight. The door shut and Kenric half walked and was half dragged over to a small group of people, one which seemed to be in a bit of pain and moaned something about his chest, one who didn’t seem conscious, and an old man. Stuck in a dazed and confused sort of state, Kenric stood there. He didn’t care much for the source of the smell now, that little mystery had already been solved, now there was another one: What was going on, and what did it have to do with him?

Black clouded her eyes, her mind, every sense she had. She tried to remember what had happened to her before this odd blackness. When she tried to look around, all she saw were blurs of what she supposed were actual objects. Not able to take the intense dizziness, her eyes closed and she let out a soft moan.

What had I been doing before this?

I was... In the office, looking at some of the supplies I had, working on... Papers for certain kids. Making sure to know who was allergic to... What. Nothing big, no chemicals. But, then ... Then... That smell. That horrible, putrid smell. Maybe that's what did it.... No, I don't think that was it... Then what was it... A little bit of pain, not much. And then this. This odd blackness.

Where am I? Where am I going? What's this smell?

All the thoughts that ran through her head only made a headache grow. Trying to move didn't help either; it felt like she was being dragged somewhere, but she didn't know how that would happen. They were in a school, they were safe.

Right?

It wasn't long before Amorina found that she had stopped moving, and could hear something. People? She still couldn't move, and didn't know why, but she was able to see. One person she recognized from the festival, and older man, some girl, some freaky looking man, that Tobias guy and... Seriously? She wanted to run away, to get out of there, but she felt weak. One thing was for sure; her gift was going crazy. She couldn't control it, and it was flashing in and out around her, taking all of her energy for her to keep it in.

Her nose caught that stench again and she looked towards it. More people but... They didn't look right. They looked... Dead.


------

Something smelled. Bad. Clara had been trying to eat, to read, to just relax for the day. She had been busy the past few days and felt she deserved a little bit of a break. She hadn't done anything destructive lately, her temper had been kept down, she was doing much better than usual. That smell, though... It kept her cringing, wondering where the Hell the janitors were, what was going on. Did something die?

Her curiosity (and anger) pushed her to go looking for it. If they weren't going to do something about it, she would. While she walked the halls, though, she noticed something strange; there didn't seem to be anyone else out. Maybe they had all gone outside while the smell was being taken care of and she just hadn't gotten the memo.

The auditorium? Whatever. It was definitely where the smell was coming from, but it felt like Amy was in there too. What was she doing? Without thinking twice, Clara walked through the doors and stopped dead in her tracks. (No pun intended). There was Amy, looking very out-of-it, that bastard of an ex boyfriend Kenric, and a lot of people she didn't know, many of whom looked dead. About to run out, she felt something grab her and started to flail and yell.

"Get off of me!" Clara felt an odd sense of pain shoot throughout her and felt that she couldn't do anything. She couldn't move anything, but why? Looking to Amorina, she immediately knew why. Amy and Clara had a sort of connection in case one person couldn't control themselves. With Amy's power out-of-whack, Clara's was too.

Fuck.

It all happened too quickly, faster than she could have ever reacted too. Nothing was different in her routine, she was sure of that but by simply walking, she was introduced to something new. Layette walked the grounds, as she usually did, enjoying the sunshine and thinking about god knows what but something that day was different. As she turned the corner, her body all of a sudden, leaned up against the school.

What is that smell?

Was all she could think as she brought her hand to her face. Her stomach clenched as she came to her knees. That smell was so overbearing and it hit her harder than anything this earth could provide. Her blue eyes went dark as she looked around for the location of it.
That smell? Animal? No, too strong but it does smell like... She thought as Layette got her footing back and looked around. Flesh...rotting human flash...

That smell. She knew what it was now by thinking about coming across some dead bodies in her time but this smell was stronger and much more heartbreaking to think about. Looking at the school, she was right outside the auditorium and it seemed that is where the smell was coming from. Looking around, she saw a window. Curiosity now settled in, as she was about to jump and look for the source of this smell, her world went black.

In waves she woke up, only briefly to feel pain and see her surroundings. The first time, she felt pain in her head and a pulling sensation on her scalp. Trying to adjust her vision, her vision was going from clear to blurry but she did feel the coldness of the hallway. Wasn't she just out side? Her arms should have dragged at her side but they didn't, she did not feel them. Trying to move them, she hissed at the pain. It seemed as they where being tied behind her back, one was popped out of joint. With that hiss, she fell back to to the darkness only to wake when she felt a thud and the pain in her scalp was gone.

Opening her eyes slowly, she was looking at the backside of a person and felt a pain in her head. She can not bleed for there is no blood in her body but she sure can bruise and as she rolled her head on the ground to try and wake up, she rolled over that bump and again hissed at the pain. When she rolled over the bump, she tugged at her arms and felt the one popped out. Her legs where not tied but the smell was so overwhelming, it hit her hard that she curled up into a ball trying to cover her face. Closing her eyes tightly, she coughed. The smell...that smell was way too much. Knowing what it was, she did not want to see where it was coming from. Her long blue hair was ripped when she was bring dragged here, it now only lay to her lower backside.

She said nothing and with her eyes closed, tried to untie herself, against all the pain she was feeling. She had to get free.

-----------------------------------

"Sonova..." Escaped Aiden's mouth as slowly opened his eyes to only be introduced to darkness. His body ached as he coughed onto a floor. A floor? The last thing he remember was going towards the lake, walking on grass. The lake. He remembered now.

Aiden decided to take a walk to the lake, it was a beautiful day. Grass, he was walking on grass but something stopped him when he caught sight of something unfamiliar walking the school grounds. It looked weird, its skin, the way it walked was all wrong. No student that he could remember was like that. It reminded him of the horror comics he read when he was a kid. Attack of the Zombies. Wait, was that a Zombie?

And of course with the idea of a live zombie around, the now excited Aidonsious had to go and check it out. Quietly walking in the direction he saw that figure walking would not only get him to where he was now but also bring a smile to his face, he was excited to exploit this new found--

With that thought in his head, he was all of a sudden over taken by darkness as he hit the ground. Of course going after a zombie was a bad thing, as he regained feeling to his body, he figured that he was not outside anymore. No birds where singing, no smell of flowers...that smell.

What the...

He thought as he tried to look around but he still only saw darkness. That smell was so overwhelming, the smell of meat? It had a meat quality to it but there was something more...meat...an animal...a PERSON!? The smell he was smelling was of a person, a rotting person. His eyes, where covered with a blindfold but he could smell the rotting corpses and hear people around him. A groan and a few cuss words. Hearing familiar voices brought a slight ease to Aiden but he was still afraid. Why was he blindfolded? There was blood coming from the back of his head that he could feel trickle down his neck. Trying to move, his arms and legs where tied but why was he blindfolded. The only thing he could come up with was his eyes scared them, the ones that captured him. The zombies. Where they really zombies? All of these questions formed but Aiden could do nothing, trying to get that smell out of his mouth and untie himself, the only real question that kept popping into his mind was..

Where am I?

Groggy and in pain was how Penelope woke up. Everywhere ached as if she had been thrown around, especially her head, god her head hurt. Her first instinct was to reach up and find out the exact spot but she couldn’t move her hands. They were bound and so were her ankles, panic immediately surged through her. She was on the ground tied up and she could sense people behind her but she couldn’t see anybody because she was facing the wall.

Just as she was about to start hyperventilating she smelled it, the decaying smell of death; that she couldn’t handle. Immediately she rolled onto her side and heaved out everything that was in her stomach. That smell of course didn’t help her so she heaved a few more times before there was nothing left. Feeling dizzy now she attempted to sit up without passing out, she did but not without a head rush. Looking around she noticed she wasn’t the only person in this situation. There were others, most of them teachers but there were a few students and Penelope didn’t know why. Maybe the government had decided to take out all the gifted and were starting with Foresta? Well her family would be happy with that.

However she continued to look around and realized where she was, she was in the auditorium. The auditorium? Why would they kill us here? Why not just kill us while we were asleep? Penelope thought to herself, but that’s when she noticed to zombies and she knew it wasn’t the government and that they were in worse trouble that she thought. Far worse.

----------------------------------

Once again another sleepless night; God do I hate you Craig thought as big surprise he couldn’t sleep; and it was all because of the bastard that lived in his head. That stupid, annoying, arrogant and cruel demon that wouldn’t leave him alone. It was nights like these that made Craig want to put a bullet in his head, but he knew that was the coward’s way out. He would find a way to get Gabriel out.
What’s the matter Craigy poo? Can’t sleep? Ha well isn’t that unfortunate?[/color] Gabriel said as he began bombarding Craig’s head attempting to get out. Craig being tired had to try with all his might to keep Gabriel in. Sighing he realized that he wouldn’t be getting to sleep anytime soon. Getting out of bed he grabbed his coat and decided to go for a walk.

He had been walking for about half hour when he saw something. It was a person being dragged inside the school. Walking a bit closer Craig realized it was a teacher. Looking around to see if anybody else had seen this and realizing there wasn’t he followed them. As soon as he stepped inside the school the smell hit him. It was disgusting, it took all of his will power to keep his lunch down but he put his sleeve over his nose and continued to follow them. He couldn’t see them anymore but he could hear the shuffling of the kidnappers and his fellow teacher being dragged. Gabriel for some reason had thankfully taken cover. Maybe he can smell it to Craig wondered as he saw a door open and close.


Quickly and quietly he opened to door and what he saw shocked him. There were zombies, the living dead and a group of people in the auditorium. Craig stood there shocked for a moment, one moment to late. The zombies had seen him and were coming for him. One had a stick in its hands and he realized it was probably to knock him out. If he got knocked out Gabriel might be able to get out. Putting up his hands so that they hopefully didn’t bash him on the head, which they didn’t Craig let himself be tied and dragged to the rest of the people who had been brought here either by curiosity as he was or by the looks of some of them unwillingly.

Jared has always been more powerful then Erin. It had to do simply with the fact that his ability was more open and allowed him to do more things, while Erin's was just creating elements and elements only. Erin could eventually become and equal to Jared, but with all the other factors- age, gender, experience, thoughts, etc. Jared was just naturally the more powerful one when it came to their hereditary 'gifts'.


The two siblings, happened to be in the dinning room at 2 in the morning (this was normal thing for them) discussing different potions (and Jared trying to get Erin to forget about Alex) when a nauseating smell assaulted both of their noses. Since the two also happened to have heightened senses, it was even worse in a sense because the smell became even more overwhelming when the zombies had actually ended up at the door of the dining room. Erin ended up fainting automatically from how disgusting the smell was- Jared on the other hand managed to keep his consciousness and food. Assesing the situation he frowned, kind of caught of guard by the fact that there were zombies standing infront of them. What the hell were zombies doing here in the first place? Taking advantage of his confusion, one of the zombies aimed a blunt object at his head. It was assumed that Jared would be knocked unconscious, but by sheer luck was he able to finally come to his senses and dodge the inanimate object. Having ducked and rolled out of the way, with quick reflexes he pulled out two potions one was a kind of immunity potion while the other was thrown at one of the four zombies that had come for them. A second passed and the zombie melted into a puddle of goo, Jared briefly celebrated this little victory until he realized that two zombies were carrying his sister away. "What the-," the other zombie took it's chance at this and for some reason tried to punch Jared- the punch was strong but the thing that got Jared was the little pieces of dead decaying matter that went into his mouth since the punch had landed there. And so, Jared puked- all of the zombie... which really didn't help the smell at all. Pulling out a fire potion he threw it at the zombies feet and then ran out of the dining room. Yeah, the janitors would have to deal with that nasty mess later.

Wiping his mouth Jared ran to find Erin, and spotted her getting dragged to the auditorium by two zombies. He pulled out a bottle that had little black sparkling dots in it, he threw the potion at Erin- whom was unconscious at the moment and almost as if the bottle passed through a bad luck area to a good luck area it landed just a few feet infront of the zombies and shattered. The zombies paid no attention to it, and the moment her feet and legs passed through the black dust, Erin gained consciousness. When she opened her eyes though, she was dragged into the auditorium and Jared was no where to be seen.

Enders watched as more people were dragged in by the Dead. Inevitably, they ended up nearby and he was able to see the condition they were in. A few of them had been treated roughly and Enders was angry. All of this without a word of explanation. And what's more, the girl kneeling desolately nearby had started crying, whimpering about heresies and disturbing the Eternal rest.

When a blonde woman and a onyx-haired girl were dragged in, that smile turned positively evil. "So good to see you again, Amy. I trust you are well? At least... for the time being." He chuckled at some inner joke... or was that the joke? Enders frowned, confused, though it was clear that they were not supposed to leave this room alive.

Finally, things seemed to change in the atmosphere when a brown-haired, green-eyed girl student was 'escorted' in. Hector stood at the edge of the stage and laughed. He laughed the cold laugh of a man who'd won in a game of Russian Roulette. "Well, if it isn't one of our guests of honor. Welcome, Erin. I expect we'll be seeing your brother soon? I would be awfully upset if he doesn't join us."

He nodded to his zombies and said happily, "Bring her over. If she's wearing her belt, please take it off and put it with the Guide's violin. We wouldn't want an interruption."

He folded his arms over his chest and looked pensive for a moment. "I suppose we can start it now. But I did promise an explanation, didn't I, Wizard?" He turned to Enders. "And since you're playing an integral part in this little drama." He laughed again.

"I'll tell you a story, then. And, Ms. Baine, please stop your infuriating muttering. It serves no purpose unless, of course, you wish to be gagged or sedated. Tobias, the answer to your question: you are tied up because I like uniformity. Also, it keeps you and your fellow sacrifices from moving around and muddling things up." He took out a knife, but Enders didn't quite see where, exactly, he had gotten it from.

It was made of bone and had strange carvings on it. The edge was jagged and it had no guard. Enders winced and inclined his head forward at the thought of something like that dragging across his throat. He noticed that the girl had withdrawn into a weepy whisper-mutter. She was rocking back and forth. Well, at least he knew who not to trust in an extreme situation.

Hector frowned at her and nodded to one of his minions. Shortly thereafter, she was gagged. It had been a rough job and Enders noticed that the zombies with the jerky motion were the ones with more body parts intact than the ones without.

Hector began again, gleeful expression and all. "Once upon a time there was a man who was able to trick anybody he wished. It was not just his job, but his very reason for being. In your terms, he was a con man, a thief. And he loved every minute of it.

"Now this man told himself that he would never let himself be held back by family or friends. Therefore, it came as a surprise when he fell in love. This woman convinced him to stop his lifestyle and settle down. They lived happily for about three years. Then his love took ill- terminal and swift.

"With no other route to take and determined to keep her, the Ex-con took on his greatest trick ever. He cheated death. Originally, he was doing that solely to get his wife back. But he pushed Death into granting him more and more... and when he was done, he found out that she had died while he was haggling.

"He went to go find Death to get him to uphold his end of the bargain, but he found that Death still had a trick to play. Death had disappeared when his back was turned."

Hector smiled. "A sad story, is it not? The only reason I am here today is that I gave up my wife for immortality and power. I searched and searched for Death, whose name was most recently Pain. I searched only to find out that he had been beaten by a pair of siblings... their name was Ashe. So we are here. I will soon have both siblings in my grasp and my revenge will be like the disease that ravaged my wife- swift."

He looked up as the auditorium doors opened. "And the slut arrives."

---

She had only woken up a half-hour earlier. Emilio had found her in her closet.

Caroline had a red mark on one cheek that was swelling and deep gouges in her wrists from where the plastic cords had cut into her skin. She'd been trying to slip them off and the knots had been tied so that each struggle made them tighter.

When she'd arrived back at her apartment after the harrowing trip with Tobias to the hospital, she found Hector waiting for her. He had shown her a side that had been hidden from sight the entire time. Needless to say, she would never tell anybody what happened. Not that it mattered, though. The odds were dire enough to impart some insane relief that she wouldn't survive to have to answer any questions that might come her way.

She was still wearing the white dress from earlier that day, but it was torn in places and hung, dishevelled, on one shoulder.

Emilio was standing behind her, anger on his features. Caroline needed him there, to guard her back. Between the two of them, they had avoided the majority of the zombies and had taken out the ones that had spotted them.

Her eyes spotted Tobias and not the Dead surging towards them. She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. Her eyes flicked back to Hector's face.

"Here. Payment," Hector said cruelly and tossed something her way. A bag of coins landed at her feet and burst, sending discs rolling all over the place as two zombies grabbed her arms roughly. She could hear Emilio struggling behind her against what sounded like at least three or four of the Dead, but then he gave out a whimper and the sounds of struggle stopped. Caroline herself was rooted to the spot, silent in shock and hurt.

---

Hector laughed. Enders could not understand how anybody could be this way- so detached... Hector then returned his attention to them. "So... any questions? I would hate for you all to die without knowing the reasons behind it. Why, that would be cruel."

Enders found it hard to speak at first. "If you are after revenge on two kids, what's the point of the rest of us being here? What would our being sacrifices accomplish?"

Hector grinned. "That's a very good question, Wizard. You see, I have found a way to get past the lack-of-Death thing. You're to read a spell and they are to give up their lives in order to bring Her back. Their mingled energies will grant her life." His gaze flicked to each face. "You all have something to contribute. Be proud. You're all part of something more important now."


||Sorry if I went through that kind of quickly... I want to get to the meat of the plot rather soon.||

“No shit Sherlock,” Tobias had interjected at the answer he had received from Hector. He let out a frustrated and exasperated sigh and peered up angrily at him through his salt and pepper bangs. He listened to Hector’s monologue and righted himself into a seated position. His chest still hurt, and he was sure that he had heard one, if not two, ribs crack.

In his sporadic mess of his teenage years, the cops had picked up Tobias on more than one occasion. Sometimes it had been for loitering or possession of drugs, but more often than not it was because Tobias was just there, and looked the part. Needless to say, with a few quick maneuvers, he had shifted his hands from behind his back to the front of him. Hopefully it had gone unnoticed.

He stuck out his bottom lip and blew the air toward his face, shifting his hair from his eyes. Not wanting to make much more movement with his hands, and not knowing if Hector really cared, Tobias remained relatively still. His vision blurred at the edges and he blinked a few times, trying to correct the possession of his contact lenses that had been in for far too long.

He had caught a hint of Caroline’s all too familiar sent moments before he entered the room. His brow furrowed as he watched the coins fall to her feet. They dropped heavily in slow motion; little metal discs glinted brightly in the stage lights and spun to the ground, reflecting light onto all the best features of her face.

“We’re getting a little biblical aren’t we?” Tobias asked, scooting on his butt to face Hector properly. “I mean, honestly? It might be catholic superstition that has been thrust upon me since birth, but sacrifices? Gethsemane references?” He glanced at Caroline. He wanted to ask her what she had done to be treated this way. This was beyond the hurt he had caused her. This was calling her a cheep thief and a whore. Tobias didn’t think she was any of those things. If he had ever made her feel that way, he vowed to thoroughly apologize when this whole mess was over.

“Personally,” he continued dryly. “I think Judas was very brave to go through with the plan and played the role designed for him. We could have asked for no grater sacrifice from a man than that. He gave up his dignity, his friendship, and life all for the greater good.” He had not looked away from Caroline as he said this. Flicking his gaze up into Hector’s dead eyes, Tobias added coldly, “So calling someone Judas might not be the best way to go if your intention is hurt and embarrassment.”

He took a steady breath and looked at those around him. The wizard, the students, the decaying bodies sloshing around behind the curtains and in the shadows.

“Secondly, and this might just be Catholicism again…but I’m pretty sure all the major religions follow this: shouldn’t sacrifices need to be pure? I mean unless you want a very bad curse on your head, shouldn’t you be laying out unblemished beings? I don’t know about you but humans, or whatever we are, we’re jacked-up units. I personally have scars, drugs still hiding in the shadows of my bones, and I’m not the most physically fit. Granted I’m an ass, you can ask anyone. A guy like me ought to be put to the slaughter. But as a sacrifice? Your theology is a bit askew isn’t it?”

Kenric scoffed. Really, this whole thing seemed pretty comical. This insane, obsessive and hurt little soul wanted his long lost love back and his demented little mind decided to bring her back by killing other people. Huh. Not only was he scoffing because it was funny, but it was just insane, it was stupid, it was illogical and the guy more definitely belonged in the nut house.

Kenric listened to the scruffy looking guy with is hands tied and didn’t even bother nodding. Religion and all that junk didn’t really matter to him after he became a vampire. It was sort of a waste to think of an afterlife when you would die along with the rest of the world eventually. Besides, after living as long as most vampires live, why would you want to have any sort of afterlife?

After the guy was done talking, Kenric made a move to get off his butt and stand up…though when the zombies stepped a little closer, he decided that might not have been the best idea. Instead, he just grinned, as though from some sort of inside joke, and spun around to face the Hector fellow.

Bringing his knees up to his chest, Kenric wrapped his arms around them and fixed the crazy con man with a steady gaze. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, “So, you came to a school full of gifted and powerful kids and adults, and you plan on killing us all?”

He shook his head, a small smile plastered on his face. “Are you stupid or something?” That question had been floating around in his mind, did he really think it would be that easy? Sure, some of them were tied up, but still…

“You actually think that you can pull this off? I mean…” The whole idea was pretty hilarious. He shook his head, like he’d just heard one of the dumbest things in his life..

Kenric wasn’t sure what else to say, what was there to say? It’s not like this guy could even get away with it if he succeeded in killing even one of them. God, this was stupid and a waste of time. Maybe it was all some sort of practical joke…?

Amorina was still groggy. Her mind was fuzzy, her sight blurred, her hearing affected as well. All at once, though, it seemed to vanish. Everything was clear, better than it ever had been. Looking to her right, she reahced out for Clara with an odd, scared smile. She didn't have to say it, but it was there, in that scared smile. It'll be okay. Don't worry. "Thank you." The voice that came out was quiet, almost silent, timid and scared. It wasn't the Amy Clara knew, the Amy she depended on. This woman was actually scared.

Hearing her name, Amy turned to glare at Hector. "Oh yeah, being dragged here by zombies was number one on my list of 'Things I want to experience before my 30th birthday,' so thank you for that one. Dick."

Her head still hurt from whatever had hit her, but she had enough strength to sit up on her own, glancing around at the others. She only knew a few of them... Her eyes landed on Kenric, wondering what in the world Hector wanted from him, or any of them for that matter.

---
Clara's heart stopped when she heard the man address Amorina. How did they... Taking a closer look at him, she recognized him. He had been at the festival, right? Even then he had frightened her; this just made the fear even worse. What did he want with any of them anyway? Clara didn't even remember talking to this guy!

The sight of somebody familiar made her body tense. Was that... No, no it couldn't be... Her mind would not let it register. That could not be Jared's sister. No. There was no way Jared would have let any of this happen. Even before, at their old school, he had let her know everything that was going on in his life. Right now... Clara's stomach plunged.

---

The two listened to this story, Amy keeping Clara from using any of her power, Clara from letting Amy drift back into that odd sleepiness. It was the last name that broke Clara's restraint. After putting up such a fight, she had found herself bound; this did not stop her from struggling against the binds. "FUCK YOU!" Amorina winced at Clara's anger, feeling it harder for her to control her cousin. "You are never going to hurt them. Not while I'm here."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Clara." Amorina's gentle voice made Clara glare at her cousin. "It's a bad idea to threaten somebody while you're tied up and powerless." The last word made Clara stop with the threats, but her anger did not subside. No. There was no way in Fuck this was going to happen. The only thing that was keeping her back was Amy.

---

Amorina knew that Clara would have easily tore the roof down in that little fit of hers; thankfully, she could gain back Clara's sense. Clara, just try to get a good mapping of every single thing in here. There has to be something in here that could help us. She knew Clara was still mad at her for keeping her back, but she couldn't let her go on a rampage right now, not with Hector going all Supreme-Ruler-of-the-Dead on them.

Hector's attention to the door made her look and gasp. Oh no. Not them. Her heart sank and she looked at Clara, who was glaring. "Now what." Amorina's own glare shut her up. She just had to think...

"Why do you need so many of us?" Amorina leaned against whatever was behind her and sighed, knowing she was free but too weak to run away. "And do you honestly think your little wife is going to be happy about this? Just because you broke your promise to her and let her die doesn't mean she'd be happy to be resurrected by you."

Looking towards Tobias and Kenric, she couldn't help but shake her head. Nobody was taking Hector seriously. It wasn't like she was either, but at least she was scared.

The smell had gotten to her but the more people that got involved, the more she payed attention. She needed to get her act together, get her mind into a mode that will analyze this situation and figure a way out. But this was not only for her, there was others that where at risk. As she thought of this something crossed her mind. Where are all the other teachers? Where is everyone?. Help, where was the help. Wasn't this school suppose to be a place to protect the ones here that are afraid. It is not that she needed protecting but these other students...

Twins...Death....Life...Resurrection.

What he was talking about, as she was listening was old magic. Very old and dark magic. Sacrifice, there was a need for a lot of sacrifice and as she peeled her face away from her knees and looked around, he just had enough. Twins...Layette's eye went from looking around to the one that he called for, the one that this show was all about. There was a lot of secrets within every person here but to allow such a student into this facility, was only asking for trouble.

Listening to what someone said, Amorina to be exact, her eyes went to her and listened. Question where flying but hers where close to the truth but yet, so far away from what will happen. "He may need a little more.."She muttered, loud enough for anyone to listen if they wanted but quiet enough not to announce it.

She read about this, in the books of the dark arts. Dealing with death only leads to death itself. Others she had read gave their lives for the ones they loved, so what was the point but she felt that this was different. What he had in mind was different. These zombies, these un dead drones, how is he controlling them? Who is he working with?

His wife. It was all out of love but will it be his wife. "You can never recreate the soul. It is not in the hands of the ones from below. You will only create the body and it will be a drone.."She said a little louder as she was thinking about it. Sitting up, she supported her body with the cool walls of the room and her eyes, for the first time, went to Hector.

----------

Wife? Sacrifice? Death?

What the hell was going on. Who was he talking about, better yet, who was he? So many unanswered questions and it seems, others where shouting out their questions but what was the point. By the sound of his voice, he was not gong to change his mind about this, if he had one anymore.

The blindfold was making the situation so much worse, so he crawled on the floor and was looking for something to take this blindfold off. He hit it, at the cost of his head once more, he felt a corner with some sort of edge. It was wooden, maybe a broken chair? With that, he pressed his face against the leg and a small scratch was made as his red eyes looked to the scene that was forming behind the darkness. As the blindfold fell to his neck and a few blood drops fell on the floor, he listened to what was going on.

"What will happen....when she is brought back.."He muttered as his eyes looked to Hector.

To bring back someone you love, he remembered his sisters but at the cost of others, they would hate him for it. But will she even remember? Will she be what he wanted?

Did he even think this through?

Staying silent, would be best. There was time for heroism but there are other lives at risk. His eyes went to Layette and noticed how she was muttering something, she was analyzing the situation and maybe, there is hope if everyone...thought before they spoke.

As some of his fellow captives argued and threw insults at their captive apparently named Hector, Craig examined everybody to make sure they were all right; at the moment he could only go by what he could see for all he knew they all had broken bones and internal bleeding. Hopefully they didn’t. By what he could see they were mostly just bruised and cut, which hopefully they would only get if they somehow got themselves out of this predicament. When one of his fellow captives started talking about the bible however Craig began listening. Turning towards the ones who were talking he cleared his voice “Actually according to the Gospel of Luke Judas was entered by Satan himself the night before the feast” he said not really caring if it made a difference or not.

Hopefully this Hector fellow isn’t a demon Craig thought to himself, which immediately brought on his next thought; Where is Gabirel? Craig hadn’t heard a word from him since he went for a walk. That made him even more concerned, he didn’t know that much about demons especially Gabriel so he didn’t know what he could do; plus Craig was exhausted and if Gabriel decided he suddenly wanted out then Craig didn’t know how long he could hold him off, and then they would have a bigger problem on their hands worse than Hector.


----------------------------------

Penelope sat and listened to the others her eyes going back and forth from whoever talked to Hector. So it’s a sacrifice he wants for his dead wife? Well that’s romantic I guess in a weird twisted sort of way, but the way I’m willing to die she thought to herself, in her head she was as brave as a lion but when it came to actual confrontation she was the biggest wimp you would ever meet. In fact just sitting there she was shaking like a leaf and she was biting back whimpers so hard that she was actually drawing blood from her lower lip.

When the girl spoke Penelope’s thoughts immediately went to the worst. Why does he need so many? She repeated the thought in her head, taking a stuttering breath she whispered “Probably in case he gets it wrong” she knew that probably wasn’t the case but she didn’t care, she was actually just amazed she had had the balls to say something. Luckily she hadn’t eaten too much lately so she hopefully wouldn’t vomit anymore. She had already thrown up everything she had eaten and would hate to see what would come out next.

Erin blinked clueless as all this register in her head. The only thing that really seriously got to her was the sacrifice part- sacrifice... dead... killing...

Erin blinked and suddenly that overwhelming smell didn't seem so awful anymore. One part of her (the one that still missed Alex) told her to just give it up, let him kill whoever he wants to kill. The other part of her, the more logical at most part was screaming frantically in her head to get away from those disgusting zombies. Erin went with the latter choice and as the zombies went after her belt she let out a loud battle cry that echoed across the auditorium. “You’re NEVER touching this,” she screamed aiming a high kick at the zombie closest to her. It stumbled back, but otherwise seemed unaffected by the kick. With dozens of rotting hands reaching toward her now, she looked desperately at all the people tied up. She could save them, or kill Hector. Conflicted for just a split second Erin reached into her belt pockets and pulled out 3 bottles- Light, Water, and Air. Pouring all of them into her hand; a large pale blue whip that was about 10 feet long formed. With one swift motion she spun and the whip sliced the torsos of about 10 zombies that were coming toward her. With the cost clear, Erin ran at Hector. The whip in her hand had taken the form of a white sword and she held it with both of her hands. After all, if you wanted to bring down the army you had to kill the general.

Meanwhile, Jared snuck into the auditorium when Erin had started to slice the zombies up. He looked at all the people, but then his heart stopped as he spotted Clara. What was she doing here? Of all people why was she tied up? Rushing quietly over to her, he purposely collapsed down behind her and Amy as to stay hidden. “Are you okay?” he whispered frantically while working at the rope that tied her hands together (there is rope right? ).

Closer and closer she got; then she was finally in attacking range. With the sword growing in size as she neared she pushed her arms out with the intent on stabbing him in the heart.

And Johnny had his own part to say. “I will not cooperate with terrorists.”

Hector knelt on one knee before him, “What makes you think I want you to cooperate? I want to break you first- to watch the defiance in your eyes flicker out like a candle come to the end of its wick. See that pentagram? It’ll collect the energy of each person whose life is snuffed within its interior. You’ll be willing by the time all your comrades are dead- oh, yes, you’ll wish to end their suffering because you can bet that I will not make these deaths pleasant.”

As for the bit about Judas, Hector only shrugged. “That was half the meaning. Good. But do you know what happened to Judas anyways? He killed himself. For a man you call so noble, he was quite the coward. The reward of God for doing the hard thing- a coward’s death in the desert and trip straight into one of the lower circles of Hell.” He nodded to Caroline, “And while she was mostly unaware of my actions, she was being purposely blind to the truth at times. Her brother had warned her, oh yes, he warned her about me. He hated me from the very beginning, even though he had not known exactly why. Despite his efforts, she threw herself at me like a cheap whore. So she’s been paid. Now, let’s continue with more important matters.”

Enders didn’t think that he needed to give verbal commands to his minions… most of them went about their business without his guidance. Johnny was sure the vocal commands were solely for their benefit. “She’s a distraction, apparently. Take her out into the hall and dispatch her- her brother too, while you’re at it. Their energies are useless to me.”

He stood up then and laughed some more as the zombies dragged Emilio out, followed Caroline following as though she would have collapsed without the undead flesh encircling her upper arms. “God,” he spat. “Purity! Idealistic idiot, did you really think that this had ANYTHING to do with that?!? I said energy, not innocence. You yourself have an element that I need- canid, wild…. The song of the moon and of the earth. Everyone I chose has an element I am looking for. IN THIS ROOM, GOD DOES NOT EXIST. Not for you, not for me. Do you know how I know? What kind of God would let a person like me continue to do all I’ve done? What kind of God would let a believer, no matter how sinful, die at my hands?” He leaned out over the edge of the stage and shouted again, “GOD IS A LIE!” He turned back to them and said condescendingly, “’ Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate.’”

Johnny provided the translation. “From The Inferno, “Abandon every hope, ye who enter.””

Hector smiled, an expression that make his eyes seem hollow. “Very good, Jonathan.” He tilted his head at the vampire and asked coldly, “I only needed some of the energies, Kenric. I will kill all who stand in my way, but I will leave those who stay out of my way alive to witness a the beginning of a new age. And you doubt my ability to do so! Ha! I’ve gotten all of you here, have I not? One by one, you all fell into my reach. I must say that it was remarkably easy for, as you say, ‘a school of gifted and powerful kids and adults.’”

At what Amy said, he actually lost his cool and snapped, “Of course she wants this. To be with me, her Love. She will be thankful for what I’ve gone through. And when I gain for her the same power that has been given me, she and I will be unstoppable.” He frowned at Clara. “The minute your cousin stops holding you back, you just try. You’ll find I have defenses for people like you.”

That being said, he regained his composure and smiled.

The girl with blue hair, Enders noticed, had spoken up. Hector seemed unperturbed by her comments and by the comments of the others. “Don’t presume to know my plans… you might have some wisdom for all your years, but I guarantee that you do not know this magic. Your energies will be as the music of Orpheus- calling her soul out of its resting place. This is not MY necromancery- this is his spell.” He jerked his head in Enders’s direction. “We found the book, yes, but I am not a wizard. Most of my constructs lack souls of their own. But with his help, she will be as alive as any of you… more so, even, since I will give her immortality as well.”


Then the Erin girl did something that Hector had not planned on. She attacked.

The zombies went down like dandelions under a hedge trimmer. And the sword sank into Hector's chest and out through the other side. He looked surprised, then collapsed.

There was a moment of silence and Enders breathed a sigh of relief as the zombies all collapsed too. The woman, Caroline, swayed on her feet and dropped to a knee next to her unmoving brother. Her shoulders were shaking, but Enders didn't know if she was crying out of relief or something else.

He took another deep breath and said haggardly, "Let's get out of here and get the authorities. This place stinks."

Nikolai moved a little and said grumpily, "Don't speak so loudly. And don't underexaggerate. This place smells godawful." The boy pushed himself up to his knees, then managed to get onto his feet, reeling a little.


It was at that moment that things took a turn for the worse. The auditorium doors opened and several odd characters escorted three boys in. One had white hair, and the other two Enders recognized from his class.... Wes and Sam.

The odd characters were varied in appearance- a tribal medicine-man type, a large man with mousey-brown hair wearing doctor’s garb, twin girls wearing acrobatic outfits, a figure obscured in a cloak, and a dark-haired woman with a whip, business clothes, and dark red lipstick. Their only common features were the heavy iron loops around their necks. Enders could not quite see from this distance, but they seemed to be covered in designs. More magic, perhaps? The woman asked loudly, “Hector…? What are you doing? This is not part of the plan.”

“Plan…” Enders said, confused.

And then Hector’s arm swung up and buried the bone knife in her side. As the blood spurted out, Hector picked himself up and her sword dissipated. He laughed. “This is amusing. Now… what do we have here? Oh, Dear Guests, did I mention my friends? They help me out in all my endeavors.”

“The Son of Orpheus’s line you wanted and two others. They were all headed here. Gave us a bit of trouble. Especially this one.” The tribal man shook the white-haired kid and he winced. “He almost took out Morgana without powers. And the leaf head beamed Eric with a soccer ball while the Sam kid came at us with an epee. All very organized… but very foolish.”

Then the kid struggled and shouted, “ERIN!!! ERIN! You bastards, what did you do to her?!!? ERIN!” Enders could have sworn the ground beneath his knees began to rumble then. The tribal man struck him on the back of the head and he dropped to his knees. At least he didn’t pass out. But the ground stopped rumbling.

Meanwhile, the zombies pulled themselves together and returned to what they had been doing before the disruption. Several reconvened around Caroline and her brother. Enders didn’t quite understand what happened next. He heard her say, “No!” and felt a pulse…. Like when one’s car is next to a car playing loud music and one can feel the base pumping through the floor under his shoes…. It was like that and several of the zombies were thrown back before surging around the two again. Enders could see no more after that.

Hector laughed. “Oh… Jaaa-ared, why don’t you come out and join your sister? Your attempts are misguided and foolish. A waste of everyone’s time.”

Enders despaired, knowing that he faced Death with these innocents… four of whom were his students. Nikolai had not been neglected. The zombies in charge of keeping him under sent another tranq into his neck and he crumpled heavily. Hector held out his arms. “Anybody else want to volunteer for death? If not, we’ll just have to trust Fate and kill you off at random.”


||Alrighty... I made henchies so everybody has a high-powered battle without going after Hector himself. Let the fun begin! Feel free to attack at will! PM me if you want to lengthen your post by narrating a henchy towards your character. Once I OK it, you can NPC them into attacking and all that.||