Ororo's ghost story II: Raccoon City

[Seer]

the nightmare begins

<< as Karen reeled in disbelief at what had just happened in a matter of minutes, James Marcus' body began to reanimate! But he wasnt returning as a zombie...no, he was becoming YOUNGER, "REJUVINATED". He was was in his youth...his PRIME.>>

Diana: what the hell?!

Marcus: Diana, you telepathic bitch, you overestimated yourself. You may have been able to assassinate Lord Spencer without incident, but did you REALLY think I would trust YOU without laying a back up plan for myself?

<< zooming into his eye...through to his body, his blood...his CELLS...we hear the flow of blood, the beating of the heart.>>

Marcus: The T virus...my creation...not only did it give my precious children...

<< the leaches which now crawl all over the ceiling and walls...pulsating and slithering.>>

I placed it in my OWN BODY...allowing it to slowly procreate...to BOND with me in a way that i never could achieve with my test subjects...i kept the results a secret from everyone...including Dr. Victoria. But now...now that you have shown your true colors...allow me to show MINE. Mystech will FALL...and your pretty little HEAD will adorn its literal and figurative tombstone!

Malice: Fool. Whatever genetic freak you've turned yourself into...you STILL have a mind...and that, my foolish, arrogant man, is MY PLAYGROUND!

Helena, carry out the plan for the mansion.

You two...OPEN FIRE! empty your guns into him!

<< the soldiers do just that...firing without hesitation or mercy...but he doesnt fall..he writhes a bit...and laughs as he takes more damage than no norman human or most supers could. Malice attacks...with a "PSYCHO BLAST" as white halo forms around his head....but he merely winces...as a slimey substance begins to ooze out of his noze.>>

Marcus: your psychic powers are 2nd to none, Diana...but they...

<< heaving....>>

will not...

<< once again...>>

save yourrarrggghhh....

<< he doubles over...and VOMITS...slime and leeches come gushing from his mouth...they spew forth and immediately come back to latch on to him, covering hisbody as he writhes and screams...his screams changing in volume as his body seems to become something else...>>

Karen: Diana...what have you DONE!?

Malice: He did it to himself, Dr. Victoria. And i would think you'd be GRATEFULL. You were about to have to fight him to save yourself and we did you a favor! Now GET OUT OF HERE if you want to live.

<< from over their voices, come the roar of a MONSTER...a t-virus, leech infested creature that was once human...the "leech queen" has taken on a whole new meaning.>>

<< Karen gasps as this monstrous thing now exploding before her was once a human...a man!? the leech queen quickly takes down and DEVOURS the soldiers.>>

Malice: Helena, seal off the mansion. Karen can escape with her magick. release the virus and nerve gas and kill all the staff in the mansion.

Karen: NO!

<< Karen runs out...knowing what is coming as a red alert siren goes off. Malice and Enchantra fend off the monster long enough to escape themselves via emergency underground express jet.>>

Nicolas...

<< and with that, Karen DISAPPEARS with the sound of a chime.>>

 

[Shadow Weaver]

back up in the mansion

<< Nicolas is in his room, BLISSFULLY unaware of the nightmare that is beginning in the floors far beneath the mansion. but after settling once again following the fleeting contact with Cameron, he lays quietly on his bed with the small white kitten nestled on his chest.>>

<< suddenly the poor kitten is frightened by the siren and the red glare from an emergency lighting system that flashes all around the mansion. Nicolas is awakened too but he can't get out of the room.>>

<< Karen suddenly APPEARS before him in a way he'd never seen before.>>

Nicolas...come with me!

<< she rushes over to the book case and pulls a book down, the case quickly opens like a door to reveal another door that opens to a PANIC ROOM, one of several safe places designed into the mansion by the architect per Lord Spencer's request.>>

Take the kitten and Get inside, on the floor... put this mask on...it will protect you and allow you to breath from a supply of oxygen. put the kitten in that... << pointing to an oxygen tank.>>

Nicolas: Dr. Victoria??? where did you come from!? I dont understand...I...

Karen: DO AS I SAY NOW!

<< the woman bellowed as she herded the young man into the room>>

<< screams from people in the halls could be heard. cries for help, people choking, falling down...DYING.>>

<< as they get in...the panic door...a THICK carbonium steel door slowly slides shut. Nicolas has time to see two lab workers BUST through what was once his bedroom door, screaming with blood coming from their eyes as they are now beside themselves with pain...dying. the door shuts and seals them in. they are safe...relatively speaking.>>

<< the panic room is pitch black at first...as the power in the mansion is cut by Helena's last command code but soon the emergency back up in the panic room kicks in along with several monitors that allow Karen to see what's going on. she still wont tell Nicolas what is happening...but she sits in her chair...trembling with shock..overwhelmed with dismay. Mystech lab workers, engieers, technicians, nurses, nurse pratcioners...all staff are being killed by the T virus and nerve gas. this panic room is one of a few safe havents with its own mini life support system, some medical supplies, lighting and monitors among other things.>>

Mercifull Minerva...how....

<< she covers her face and begins to weep....all the while Nicolas sits there...on the floor looking at her.>>

 

[Seer]

Meanwhile

<< back at the mansion, Morgan returns to the first floor of the mansion and rejoins her guests, looking concerned but keeping quiet about it.>>

<< Alison excuses herself to have a quick word with Ava and Blaze sits there, glaring at Cameron for the things he's saying...implying about her adoptive mother, Karen was some how involved...in something insidious.>>

<< the evening is turning out to be something more than anyone could imagine and the tone of raccoon city is now sleeping on the eve of tremendous change...disaster.>>

<< Mike makes his way back into Raccoon City, downtown, to the luxury hotel to wait. the storm is still moving through but its mostly just rain now, the wind has lessened a bit.>>

 

[Prophet]

Lounge

:: The feeling was gone almost as soon as he felt it. Ava was propping him up as he made his way back to the couch, taking a moment to settle himself. He had no idea really what he had just experienced but it was strong and he knew it was Nicholas. Cameron was a bit perplexed as he let out a sigh. ::

"I can't pinpoint his location.. because i've never met him. Hell I dont even know if he is truly alive or dead. He could be a spirit of some sort messing with me. That's been known to happen from time to time..."

:: He took a moment to look at Blaze and saw Morgan enter the room once more as he pressed a little further about Karen and her work for Mystech. The others may not like it but it could prove useful into finding Haleigh. ::

"I'm not trying to upset anybody but at this point.. we need anything we can get.. You said Karen was a researcher for Mystech, what kind of research did she do?I mean we saw the footage in the forest.. there are things out there that SHOULDN'T exist... This whole town has tons of medical and scientific research facilities, it's the city's bread and butter.. Maybe Mystech.. went too far.. maybe they.. they are playing God?"

:: Letting out a sigh. ::

"I'm not saying your mother is DOING these experiments but maybe she KNOWS what is going on and is forced into silence? People do crazy things to keep their families safe..."

:: Cameron might have said a little too much but he was TRULY trying to get to the bottom of this situation as everyone else seemed sandbagged with side tasks and other vendettas. They needed to stop wasting time and start getting down to business. They needed answers. ::

 

[Harbinger]

Morgan's mansion

:: Alison leads Ava to a smaller room off the foyer of the mansion and practically spins her around to face her.::

Ava!?

:: she says in a hushed but urgent tone.::

I know what's going on and I know what you're about to do.

you have the hots for Officer Buns of steel, but COME ON! You're going to go out in this weather, back into the city to meet him at a hotel? What more could he have to tell you that we havent already seen or put together here so far?

:: coming closer so as not to allow any staff to overhear::

Look, My brother and I detected a presence...IN Morgan's mansion.

Michael has been here! He was following us...and when he saw Delilah he called her shortly after she left. Mike has been all but STALKING Morgan and her family and neither Morgan nor Blaze have any knowledge about Haleigh that would do him OR you any good...yet he was just HERE in her house, without permission? is that the kind of man you want to trust!?

Ava, youre letting yourself get distracted by him and I don't like it.

:: Telling it like it is, as only she could, the precog looked at her friend with those striking colbalt blue eyes of her's.::

We're getting in deep, there's no doubt about that, but we need to keep ourselves TOGETHER.

Some things are going to HAPPEN and if you...WE going to be able to find Haleigh, I need YOU to keep your head on straight.

 

[Spellbinder]

back in the lounge

:: He took a moment to look at Blaze and saw Morgan enter the room once more as he pressed a little further about Karen and her work for Mystech. The others may not like it but it could prove useful into finding Haleigh. ::

"I'm not trying to upset anybody but at this point.. we need anything we can get.. You said Karen was a researcher for Mystech, what kind of research did she do?I mean we saw the footage in the forest.. there are things out there that SHOULDN'T exist... This whole town has tons of medical and scientific research facilities, it's the city's bread and butter.. Maybe Mystech.. went too far.. maybe they.. they are playing God?"

:: Letting out a sigh. ::

"I'm not saying your mother is DOING these experiments but maybe she KNOWS what is going on and is forced into silence? People do crazy things to keep their families safe..."

and what are you? a police consultant for rhe RPD? How many times has my mother been interviewed...HARRASSED by the same people that failed to protect my sister or help us when we needed answers?

Firebird: You may not be SAYING it flat out, but it sure sounds like you're implying it. if there is a problem...if our mother IS somehow involved... WE [her daughters] will deal with that.

Morgan: Whatever it is you're sister is suggesting we do, interrogating my mother is NOT an option? do you UNDERSTAND?

<< she glares at Cameron with her icy violet eyes. if there was one way to provoke Morgan's WRATH it was to harrass or threaten her family. Mike found that out when she near threw him out of the window of her office at Rejuvination during a routine inquiry gone horribly wrong. Morgan and Blaze were a united front on protecting their own. >>

There's obviously something wrong here. something going on in the city itself under our very noses and most of us seem to have some kind of unwitting connection to it...and while I'd be HAPPY to help Ava find and rescue her sister as i know how i feel about my own sister and no doubt you feel about yours, I must also think of my mother. If she IS in this deeper than I knew, I have to get her out. This is probably why shes been so...SECRETIVE and so WITHDRAWN.

Even tonight, when i talked to her she sounded like she was SHAKING!

But we need a plan. we can't just go gallavanting off into a forest of horrors. Blaze nearly died there and she's a super...and the "elite" of RPD barely escaped with their lives.

....where are ava and alison now?

 

[Arsenal]

Mike rolled up to the hotel parking lot and swore under his breath.

Shit...why not pick the most bugged and camera-covered thing in town to meet?

Mike knew many of the camera angles so that would help...but Ava's choice of venue would limit his ability to communicate with her. But he had to try, before Team Victoria turned HER against him as well. He parked off to one side and decided the best hiding was in plain sight, so he put on his sportscoat and looked every bit the part of Mike Armstrong, RPD.

He walked in to the bar and requested a bottled water, raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous price, paid it and waited. He was too shocked at the cost of the damn thing to even drink it...

 

[Firebird]

back at the lounge - Morgan's place

What a night this was turning out to be! First Ava insulted Delilah, a dear friend of hers and Morgan's best friend! Then the footage Delilah and Mike had provided. And now Cameron was practically insulting her mother's good name.

"You may not be SAYING it flat out, but it sure sounds like you're implying it. if there is a problem...if our mother IS somehow involved... WE [her daughters] will deal with that. "

Morgan: Whatever it is you're sister is suggesting we do, interrogating my mother is NOT an option? do you UNDERSTAND?

Blaze nodded in agreement with Morgan. Both sisters were very untrusting of others and it was easy to see why. It would serve Cameron best to be more mindful of his words, especially with all of the hostility and stress in the air. Morgan and Blaze against Cameron were not good odds especially when Ava and Alison weren't there to protect him or back him up.

Even tonight, when i talked to her she sounded like she was SHAKING!

But we need a plan. we can't just go gallavanting off into a forest of horrors. Blaze nearly died there and she's a super...and the "elite" of RPD barely escaped with their lives.

....where are ava and alison now?

"Shaking?" Blaze allowed this little bit of information digest in her mind. "Morgan, we really need to get Karen out of there, once and for all. Obviously, that place is poison. You saw what's been going on. For whatever reason Karen is trying to PROTECT us. But we can't even protect HER when she continually shuts us out."

Blaze looked around for Alison and Ava, who had been gone longer than a few minutes. "Cameron." Blaze attempted to be amicable enough to him, after all he was a guest. "Maybe you should check on your sister and Ava?"

Blaze felt a mixed reaction to Ava. She was a downright SNOB, arrogant, and at times rude. But she was Morgan's friend and Blaze wouldn't try to shun her because she was rich and powerful.

"I need some air."

Getting up, Blaze walked out of the lounge over to the sliding glass doors by the balcony. Stepping outside she looked out unsure what to think or how to feel. A part of her wanted to uncover this and blow the lid right off. But the other part of her still reeled from her trauma. Re-watching the footage brought back painful memories for her. Memories she tried in vain to forget.

After a short reprieve, Blaze returned inside to sit next to Morgan while they waited for Ava and Alison.

"You really do pick some interesting friends, Morgan." Blaze quipped as she reached for her drink, a double espresso shot.

 

[Persephone]

Getting pull into a seperate room, Alison quickly closed the door and went into crazed precog mode.

Alison: Ava?!

"Alison befor--"

Alison: I know what's going on and I know what you're about to do.

[deadpan] "Really?"

Alison: you have the hots for Officer Buns of steel, but COME ON! You're going to go out in this weather, back into the city to meet him at a hotel? What more could he have to tell you that we havent already seen or put together here so far?

"I'm not expecting much from him, but I want to hear what he has to say. It's only an hour Alison. An hour out of my night to see what he has to say. What's the harm in that!"

Alison began to explain that Michael had been in Morgan's house snooping around. Ava sighed and rolled her eyes. She questioned if he was trustworthy considering how he DID break in, but Ava shook her head.

"I'm not defending what he did, Alison. I barely KNOW the man! All i'm saying is I want to hear what he has to SAY. Everyone jumped down my throat for not giving Delilah the chance to explain herself--for BLAMING her for my sister's disappearence. Just because Morgan, Blaze, Cameron, and YOU don't like Mr. Armstrong doesn't mean what he has to say is any less important. [sighing] I'm not expecting him to give me new and profound information, i'm just giving him a chance to help as well."

Alison: Ava, youre letting yourself get distracted by him and I don't like it.

"So what?! So what if I am? You know how stressed and tense I have been since I found out about Haleigh's disappearence. One hour of staring at a hot police officer isn't going to kill me or this mission.

Alison: Some things are going to HAPPEN and if you...WE going to be able to find Haleigh, I need YOU to keep your head on straight.

"AM...[taking her friends hands] I promise you--I SWEAR on my sister's life--that nothing is going to distract me from finding Haleigh. My head is completely in the game. I just want one hour. Just an hour...that's it."

 

[Delilah Trelaven]

Delilah parked in the drive and turned the engine off. She sat there for five minutes…ten. Thinking. She looked out the rain-streaked window. Windmill Pointe loomed in front of her, haunting yet beautiful.

“Well, Trelaven, it’s not going to get any easier,” she said to herself, unlocking the car door and stepping out onto the pavement. She wrapped her black trench coat around her tightly against the cold wind and rain, and walked to Morgan’s front door.

She knocked and entered – not waiting to be let in after years of coming and going as she pleased there – and found Morgan and Blaze still in the lounge.

“I’m sorry- [she made a motion indicating the hullabaloo earlier before hastily going on] but I need to talk to you about Haleigh. There’s more going on here than any of you realize – and it all leads back to Mystech.”

 

[Rampage]

Nicolas was relaxing when Karen materialized out of nowhere, calling him to follow her quickly. Just at that moment he noticed the SCREAMS. SCREAMS of dead and dying and hurt. As they stepped beyond his wall into a space, two people who needed help burst in, in agony. He hesitated, but she screamed at him to move as they went into a hidden area beyond his room. She gave him a mask and he placed the kitten in a safe place as commanded, just before the lights went out.

The lighting returned and he still sat there as he watched the screens along with Karen. It was carnage, people running around in horror and them falling, some convulsing, other dying from fright before something could really get to them.

Mercifull Minerva...how....

<< she covers her face and begins to weep....all the while Nicolas sits there...on the floor looking at her.>>

Nicolas rose quickly, hugging her from behind and kissing her forehead as a son might do to comfort his mother. he spoke softly, kindly to her, pleading with her.

Karen? Whatever is wrong it will be OK. OK? it will be all right somehow. Please don't cry.

 

[Harbinger]

morgan's mansion

"I'm not expecting much from him, but I want to hear what he has to say. It's only an hour Alison. An hour out of my night to see what he has to say. What's the harm in that!"

being seen with him? there's PLENTY of harm in it. You're not Delilah...this isnt your "yard" as she called it. SHE knows this town...you don't. Mike is being watched by vast...terrible powers that are ready to swoop down on him at any moment. I don't want you caught up in that. I don't want to lose YOU.

Alison began to explain that Michael had been in Morgan's house snooping around. Ava sighed and rolled her eyes. She questioned if he was trustworthy considering how he DID break in, but Ava shook her head.

"I'm not defending what he did, Alison. I barely KNOW the man! All i'm saying is I want to hear what he has to SAY. Everyone jumped down my throat for not giving Delilah the chance to explain herself--for BLAMING her for my sister's disappearence. Just because Morgan, Blaze, Cameron, and YOU don't like Mr. Armstrong doesn't mean what he has to say is any less important. [sighing] I'm not expecting him to give me new and profound information, i'm just giving him a chance to help as well."

No...just because more than half the group doesnt TRUST HIM is what you should be paying attention to. I don't know him well enough to like OR dislike him. You know me, Ava. I don't care WHO you bang But i DO care about YOU and OUR safety. We're here because we have to rescue Haleigh and while we may get the help we need to do that...we will ALL need to be able to escape with our lives.


He's a police officer and he TRESPASSED on private property. I could have flushed him out....


:: speaking quietly.::

But I didnt...because despite him not being someone i trust...i realize that he's trying to uncover the mystery that surrounds Haleigh.

and as for Delilah? You were needlessly harsh. I didnt say anything because it wasnt my "fight". You provoked her and she bit back. You saw the video...you know there was nothing more she could do and that Haleigh made the descisions she made as their commanding officer to save the team and hopefully get the word out about what they encountered. She can help us and we can help her.

Alison: Ava, youre letting yourself get distracted by him and I don't like it.

"So what?! So what if I am? You know how stressed and tense I have been since I found out about Haleigh's disappearence. One hour of staring at a hot police officer isn't going to kill me or this mission.

don't be so sure of that. this city is a facade. the closer we get to downtown Raccoon City, the stronger the impression of DISASTER becomes.

Alison: Some things are going to HAPPEN and if you...WE going to be able to find Haleigh, I need YOU to keep your head on straight.

"AM...[taking her friends hands] I promise you--I SWEAR on my sister's life--that nothing is going to distract me from finding Haleigh. My head is completely in the game. I just want one hour. Just an hour...that's it."

I know you can take care of yourself. But if Delilah and Blaze BOTH "barely survived" their encounters with the creatures and they are SUPERS, that tells you we need to be carefull. Go. do what you need to do but be carefull and bring your ass back here in an HOUR or ill bust in on you AND your beefcake officer!

:: that last part was a playfull jest as Alison smiled with approval.::

I'll be watching your back as always.

:: in a way that only a precog can.::

:: hugging Ava, she sent the elemental on her way, watching her as she leaves in the limo before returning to the sunken in lounge where a newly returned DELILAH had joined them.::

Delilah.

:: she greeted as she returned. Delilah had something to say to Morgan and Blaze, and so Alison sat next to her brother and watched and listened.::

 

[Spellbinder]

in the lounge

<< Morgan looked up.>>

Delilah! you came back!

<< smiling with relief as she realized how much more worried about her best friend she know was after seeing that video.>>

“I’m sorry- [she made a motion indicating the hullabaloo earlier before hastily going on] but I need to talk to you about Haleigh. There’s more going on here than any of you realize – and it all leads back to Mystech.”

<< Morgan, already feeling a sense of dread and worry from the things she had seen and heard, looked at her dear friend.>>

What is it? What am I missing? I mean...if its about helping to rescue Haleigh, I'm for it. We have power, we SHOULD help if we can...but I need to get my mother too! Cameron seems to think its okay to imply that she's some how...INVOLVED.

<< shooting a disdainfull look at the man.>>

 

[Shadow Weaver]

and speaking of the doctor- Arklay research facility

<< as the mansion soon fell silent of screams and death, inside the fortified panic room, Karen sat, trembling and crying. Nicolas stood up and reached out to comfort her. The doctor for the first time ever, showed emotional distress at the situation...all that lead up to it...she felt like she had failed in more ways than one.>>

Karen? Whatever is wrong it will be OK. OK? it will be all right somehow. Please don't cry.

<< she took a hankerchief from the pocket of her lab coat and dabbed her eyes before wiping her cheeks. She was trembling a bit as she looked up and over at the young man who so kindly tried to comfort her.>>

Nicolas...you don't understand. There's something...terribly wrong.

But that doesnt matter to you....it shouldnt. the only thing that matters for you now is that you escape this place. It's too late for me...but you still have a chance.

I want you to prepare to leave and take the kitten with you. Use your special gifts to protect yourself as you have been taught and honed in the use of.

<< knowing that he would ask HOW since his powers seemed to be inhibited...>>

I'm not who...what you think I am. I'm more than a human. I'm a witch, and my magick allowed me to scramble/keep your powers in check until you were fully capable of controlling them inspite of emotional distress. this place...is more than what it seems, but that doesnt matter now. I want you to leave...get out while you still can and RUN...as far and as fast as you can. don't look back!

There's no reason why you should stay here any longer than you have to...and you musn't worry about me, child. What happened here...is ...in large part...MY FAULT.

<< she began to think of her daughters. what would they say? how would the LOOK at her? she didnt know that they already had more than an idea of what was going on and all they wanted to do was rescue her.>>

<< she stood up, making preparations to send him on his way out of here, fully prepared to stay behind and sacrifice herself to make sure what happened here did not get out. she'd rather die keeping this suppressed than let things spill out the way Marcus had been doing for so long. she thought about the victims at the hospital, about blaze, and other things...she knew the truth all along. sheknew what must be done.>>

 

[Rampage]

Nicolas...you don't understand. There's something...terribly wrong.

But that doesnt matter to you....it shouldnt. the only thing that matters for you now is that you escape this place. It's too late for me...but you still have a chance.

I want you to prepare to leave and take the kitten with you. Use your special gifts to protect yourself as you have been taught and honed in the use of.

How could I do that?..My powers are inhibited somehow...dampened.

But as Karen spoke again, he felt a surge of strength...of energy. He could hear the minds dying in the hall and he felt stronger than he'd ever felt...by several factors. He listened as she spoke again.

I'm not who...what you think I am. I'm more than a human. I'm a witch, and my magick allowed me to scramble/keep your powers in check until you were fully capable of controlling them inspite of emotional distress. this place...is more than what it seems, but that doesnt matter now. I want you to leave...get out while you still can and RUN...as far and as fast as you can. don't look back!

There's no reason why you should stay here any longer than you have to...and you musn't worry about me, child. What happened here...is ...in large part...MY FAULT.

Nicolas stood there...dumbfounded as the older witch who had practically raised him spoke of her true nature, and that she was to blame for all of this. She was beside herself...then reigned to fate where she would send him away, and sacrifice herself to try to undo what she had done. The young man was hurt at the deception, and even now her mind was closed to him...but there was one thought that she lived and breathed, that managed to escape.

DAUGHTERS. Of course, she had children...REAL children. That was how she took such good care of him, she knew what he needed as a MOM herself. And though he never looked at her in THAT way, she was indeed beautiful. It made sense that she would mate and have progeny of her own. Progeny that would be motherless, like he was before she helped him. His face hardened as he went back to her and turned her seat around.

NONSENSE. I will not leave you here...you did not leave me to what surely would have been my fate without you. Dr. Marcus and his staff would have turned me into something horrible, something like what is hurting people outside. You could have left me at any time, but you did not. And now, we are ALL getting out of here.

Nicolas gestured to the wall and a thin layer of carbonadium peeled away and morphed into a sealed carrier for the kitty with wheels. He attached the air tank and gently pulled Karen from her seat.

I understand why you did what you did. The same thing that made you participate in terrible things made you care enough to save me, nurture me, and even now, try to sacrifice yourself for me. WE will get out of here. NOW. No arguments.

Nicolas strode to the carbonadium door and punched it. It dented heavily and he would be through in just a few more seconds...

 

[Shadow Weaver]

Arklay Mansion - preparing to leave the panic room

<< she expected Nicolas to react with betrayal. She could protect herself with her magick but she would not HARM him. After all he'd been through...to find out that the one person who cared for him through his existence as an orphan (two times) turned out to be a witch and was in league with an insidious organization that had designs on him...she expected him to react badly but by now? she could hardly care. her shields would keep her safe from harm if necessary.>>

<< to her surprise, the young man refused to leave her behind. he seemed to understand. perhaps she had underestimated him. as her unofficial ward and as her patient, the doctor had mothered him all this time, shielded him from Marcus' abuse as much as possible and made his life here as peacefull as she could. when it came time to "harvest" him for his genetic potential, the doctor deviated from that agenda and crafted a plan to save him and get him out of the mansion even if it meant losing her life. he couldnt read her thoughts, but her emotional bond to her daughters stood out like a beacon that even a low level telepath could detect.>>

<< he knew that the doctor had a good heart and he remembered her kindness.>>

<< she continued to wipe her tears away as the young man resolved to make sure they ALL escaped. >>

Nicolas...I'm very sorry for what happened to you. From the very beginning, when Marcus detected you and your family onboard the Ecliptic Express, what he did to capture you...it was cruel and over the top. He didnt even tell the staff...or ME just HOW you came to be here at that time. I was the doctor who treated you upon your arrival and I took care of you ever since. My life...my work as it relates to this entity, mystech has taken much from me...including my husband and strained my relationship with my daughters. I don't know if i can bare to face them when they learn the truth. I'm afraid of what Mystech will do to them...just as they took my husband from me. my life...my career...they are finished. I'd rather...just...die here then risk bringing more harm and danger.

But you? you're free now. You can leave this place and never look back.

I understand why you did what you did. The same thing that made you participate in terrible things made you care enough to save me, nurture me, and even now, try to sacrifice yourself for me. WE will get out of here. NOW. No arguments.

<< he gently pulls her up from the chair and she allows him to lead her closer to the door as he starts to hammer at it. >>

There's something....someONE that i must get to before I leave here. She's still alive because of where she is underground in the mansion's secret lairs but she will not survive if she tries to escape on her own. I must get her...she was to be the person who helped ME get YOU out of here before things went so horribly wrong.

It will be a terrible risk...and you're under no obligation to help me.

 

[Rampage]

There's something....someONE that i must get to before I leave here. She's still alive because of where she is underground in the mansion's secret lairs but she will not survive if she tries to escape on her own. I must get her...she was to be the person who helped ME get YOU out of here before things went so horribly wrong.

It will be a terrible risk...and you're under no obligation to help me.

I understand...but it is only fitting that I help YOU rescue HER. I'm not sure how magic works, but can you conjure a ball of something or other to lead the way?

Nicolas punches one last time and the door falls inward with a loud BOOM.

And one last time, we are all getting out...TOGETHER, Ma.

Nicolas turned back to enter the room after deciding to help, even calling Karen by the pet name he sometimes used to get his way or make her smile...

 

[Seer]

and so

<< and so...with more secrets revealed and no choice BUT to face them head on, the distraught doctor and her unofficial ward cautiously emerge from the panic room with the kitten safely inside the carbonium carraige that Nicolas had formed with his power.>>

<< there's would be a frightening journey, one of discovery and survival as they not only sought to escape with their lives but to also rescue the one other person Karen knew to be alive in this place.>>

<< the mansion would not be what it was before. the music that played over the system was now warped sounding and flickered on and off. the lights were dim and the air was filled with an odd smell...but still breatheable for Karen.>>

<< this place had gone from being a house of intrigue into a house of the dead. the doctor and nicolas would have to depend on each other. Karen's magick and knowledge of the mansion would help them navigate more quickly while Nicolas' strength and psychic abilities would afford them protection. the doctor would now have to use her skills in a way she'd never dreamed if she and her unofficial ward were to escape and so...the would take their first steps forward from the safety of the panic room, out into the mansion...funny how a place that they both knew well now felt so strange and so foreign..and with good reason.>>

meanwhile

<< Ava arrived via chaufered limo to the posh luxury hotel she and Alison had originally been set to stay in. she would meet with Mike in the piano bar and knew that Alison would be watching them. Mike wanted to talk to her and Ava was willing to listen, now we would see what would come of this.>>

and back at Morgan's mansion

<< Delilah returned to her 2nd home to see her best friend, to talk to her and Blaze about things most urgent. Alison and Cameron were present but at this point that was okay. what she had to say to Morgan and Blaze had plenty to do with why Alison and Cameron were there.>>

<< all roads were leading to one place...but not before MORE things changed over the next 24 hours.>>

 

[Prophet]

Lounge

:: Cameron listened as both of the sisters expressed their dislike at the idea that their mother might somehow be working for the enemy which Cameron expected, but Cameron felt that at the end of the day, you had to call a spade a spade and they didn't have time to sit around and talk themselves into feeling better about the situation. ::

"Look, I don't think your mother is experimenting on humans or anything like that.. I'm just saying that your mother might know more than we thought and it would be worth having her here..."

:: As Morgan responded Cameron understood where she was coming from and he respected her stance. He would feel the same way if people were saying Alison was responsible for the mess. He put his hand on his head and let out a sigh. ::

"I understand Morgan and will let you deal with it how you and Blaze deal with it how you see fit, I was just putting forthe a thought. I know we can't go, but my god I can't see the point at gallavanting around with a cop when we could be doing something way more effective..."

:: Cameron watched as his sister appeared right after Delilah had came back. He was a little weary of her. One moment she was impulsive and leaving and now she was back. He decided to hear her out as he took a moment to squeeze his sister's hand and smile briefly at her. ::

"Hello Trelaven... i'm glad you're back. What do we need to know?"

 

[Delilah Trelaven]

What is it? What am I missing? I mean...if its about helping to rescue Haleigh, I'm for it. We have power, we SHOULD help if we can...but I need to get my mother too! Cameron seems to think its okay to imply that she's some how...INVOLVED

“Involved? Of course not. In danger? Certainly.”

Delilah uncinched her trench and sat down. She licked her lips, getting ready to unload her tale. Would they believe her? She hesitated for a second, then moved ahead. She couldn’t turn back now.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that we have SO many cases of people claiming to have been attacked by cannibals? And like Blaze – sorry Blaze – their claims are dismissed as crazy rantings. But how could THAT many make up the same tale? And why out of so many has only Blaze survived?”

She glanced at Morgan, testing her reaction, before continuing.

“Of course I don’t think Karen is involved, but I think she knows something – I think she’s trying to protect you- us, really. Don’t you think it’s odd that you are the spokeswoman for Rejuvination…and you specifically don’t wear it?”

She looked out the window, memories of horrors playing in front of her eyes.

“I was out there…with Haleigh…there’s something terrible out there in those woods. I saw it myself. Mystech is doing something to the people of this city – and we need to find out what it is.”