The Plague

Admin Posts : 191 Join date : 2010-03-20

William was lost in his own thoughts, thoughts of freedom from the never ending shops. Freedom from the dark that taunted them all. It was the shadows that scared him the most now, shadows, darkness, anything that concealed well... anything at all. Caution was a last resort, he was itching to get out. But.. screams said otherwise.

William had his hand on the door knob of the other door on the other side of the room when Elizabeth's scream filled the small room. He hadn't realized that Raymond was so close, by the time he turned around towards the corridor, Raymond had already taken off in the direction of Elizabeth. Why was she still down there? Just before his left foot even lifted to take off running with Raymond, a loud noise was heard behind him. Something had taken hold of the back of his shirt, pulling him against the door hard. The metal pole he had been holding on to for dear life had dropped to the floor and rolled away from him. One hand behind his back, tugging and pulling at whatever had a hold of his shirt, he yelled out for help but got no reply. He tried to pull away from the door, kicking his leg out towards the pole to try and roll it back to him but it was too far out of reach. The hand pulled him back against the door again, a sound of wood breaking behind him from the force of his body hitting the door. Then the sound of thick wood hit the floor. William stopped struggling a moment, his gaze falling on the wooden stake that had dropped to the floor next to him. He had forgotten about the stakes he shoved into his belt loops, the other one was still wedged there.

Reaching for the wooden stake, trying to pull it loose from the belt loop with no luck, William managed to tug hard enough to break the fabric and the stake free. Now what to do with it? A cracking sound was heard as he was pulled more against the wooden door, soon there after, he fell through. Pieces of wood and debris from the door falling on and around him. Whatever had been holding him there had released his shirt, letting him fall to the floor. William rolled onto his hands and knees, eyes frantically searching around the library for it's attacker. There was nothing. He slowly got to his feet, staggering and wobbly from all the "excitement". He backed into the wall next to the doorway, gripping the wooden stake so hard that his knuckles turned white. Almost splitting the skin itself. The look upon William's face was of determination. He had forgotten about the other two, only to remember and jump into the doorway to make his way down the corridor to them, but it was then, that something had slammed into him. Taking him down to the floor again with a loud thud. His head had hit first, feeling as though he had smashed it against concrete. Everything began to go blurry and white. Now wasn't the time to give up, he couldn't. Standing there down by his feet, a tall figure leered at him. He could faintly hear the tussle from the other two in the dress shop, and apparently so did the creature before him. It's head turned towards the doorway, in a split second, as William lifted the wooden stake and aimed at the creature, It tried to bolt for the corridor. "No!" William yelled as he chucked the stake at the creature, hitting it just as fast as it had tried to move. The stake nailed It in the head, and William was sure that he had angered it.

As burred as his vision was, Willam managed to get back on his hands and knees, trying to crawl towards the tall shelves that were lined in a row to hold all of the books. Rounding the corner of the second one, the creature had latched on to his ankle, making him face plant against the carpet as he clawed to break free from It's grasp. He found it better to keep this one distracted, surely the other two had one to deal with on their own. It was easier for the two of them to take on one instead of two. William groaned as he continued to claw at the carpet for some sort of support to get away, but it was useless. He then rolled onto his back, using his free leg to kick at It. Each kick connected with the creature's face, all he could hear now was the thud of his shoe against it's flesh, along with the hissing noise it made. "Bastard! Get! Off!" William spoke through clenched teeth as he continued to kick at It. Finally it had released his ankle, backing away a moment before lunging at him. William rolled out of the way in just enough time to see the creature hit the floor. He managed to get to his feet once more, running through the shelves. Not that there was a place to hide from this thing. He came to a dead end, a wall lined with books. But just above it was another floor. William looked behind him, seeing the creature was out of sight, he started to climb the shelves for an escape. He made it to the railing, pulling himself up and over it onto the second floor. The moon shined through the small windows just above him. Would the sun ever rise again?

Using the railing, William pulled himself to his feet, again searching for the creature. "Come out of the shadows, you coward..." he spoke softly, then realized his weapons were truly gone. He had nothing to fight with, and no way to get to the other two.

Subject: Re: The Plague Mon Aug 30, 2010 6:23 am

Elizabeth was out for merely three seconds, but so much had happened with that fraction of time. She came too, a splitting head ache pounded away at her temples, blocking her ears of the tussle that was going on a few feet away from her; her side hurt, oh god did it hurt. For a moment, she was paralyzed until something cold, with the texture of metal, dampened from sweat, rolled into her fingertips.
A sharp inhale was taken as she snapped out of the daze, wincing at the pain that flared when she did so. Turning her head she could see Raymond on the floor as well, a large mass of black hovered over him and that was all it took to send adrenaline coursing through her veins, numbing the pain enough for her to forget it was there and allow her to stand. Her hand clutched that pole that had sweetly slid her way, the other held the stake. Silently, she tip toed towards the beast, the thin cotton hugging her frame was quite, and light making her agile and nimble. She could have gotten away with what she was about to do in that noisy dress either way, that bloody thing was breathing so damn loud. It made her skin crawl with disgust. She saw how it opened its mouth, snapping its teeth hungrily. Elizabeth couldn't waste time on this, she had naught but seconds before this monster would tear Raymond's throat out she was sure.
Her expression turned solid, hard, fiery determination burned within the depths of her eyes. Not a sound was uttered as she advanced the short distance towards the beast.
It sounded like a growl, but it could have been a snort, whatever noise it was was not important, the beast lifted its head with that disgusting noise to look down the hall at the sound of a battle going on in the library. And thus, looked straight at the advancing female. "Hesitate and you will die." she told herself mentally.
"Don't move!" she yelled to Raymond as she simultaneously dropped the stake and gripped the pole as her other hand came up, moving with lightening reflexes. With a shout of a battle cry, she thrust the pole forward as the beast lunged at her, possibly to finish her off since it did such a pathetic job of it the first time. But it wouldn't get that second chance.

Blood and brain matter splattered the pair as the spear of her pole went through the beasts forehead, the sickening crack of bone breaking upon the entry, and exit, of the pole through the things head. It stopped moving, fell limp as the undead life slowly left its eyes. Its face was so close to her own, she could see each significant detail, the lines of apparent age, the colour of his eyes, the crook in its nose that indicated it had once before been broken. And the blood, mixed with gray sludge, it was all over her, splattering her arms, soaking the chest of her undergown. Sticking to her hands.

She dropped the pole and turned away, clutching her stomach and smearing blood and gore all over herself while she dry heaved. Her slight frame trembled uncontrollably while her eyes stayed firmly shut, not the best of ideas as the images of the beast... no, man, was tattooed on the back of her eyelids. She knew that man, he was the bar tender. And she had killed him. Maybe they were crazy, maybe they were imagining that all these people were trying to kill them, but perhaps they were trying to help the band of youngsters. And she had killed him.
The sound of William fighting another one in the library brought her - once again - back to reality. She had to tell him that it was a mistake before they killed another innocent person. Turning to Raymond - eyes not daring to look at her kill - she exhaled sharply, expression now fearful. "We have to go to him." she said almost robotically. She hadn't bothered to note whether Raymond was on his feet or not, or if he was inspecting the body, she didn't want to know, yet she extended her hand to him to aid him to his feet. Though she snatched it away, re-thinking it. He wouldn't want to have blood on his hands too, literally. This was her doing, she didn't want to burden her new friend with this baggage. And she didn't want William to either, he was making a mistake! She had to stop him.
Running as fast as she could, she shrieked, "NO! It's not what you th--" but before she could finish she saw the white gleam of thick enamel in the moonlight, curving in an unnatural way. She had seen pictures of this in books, but now she couldn't recall what it meant.

Elongated canines. Pale, chalky skin. Bloody eye. Anamalistic noises.
One word was uttered as the pieces all fell into place.
"Vampires."

Posts : 63 Join date : 2010-03-25

Raymond stared fearfully into the eyes of the creature that bore down upon him, unable to tear them away from those fiery irises. The pungent stench of blood and death puffed from the monster's mouth, flying up Raymond's nose, creating tears within his eyes and a violent lurch from his stomach. It was then that he heard a command. "GET DOWN!" Elizabeth? Raymond did as instructed, hands flying to cover his head as he flattened himself against the cold floor. Above him, a loud CRACK sounded, identicle to the one he had made with his own strike. The thing fell to the ground in front of him, crumpled up and limp, its scarlet hues wide open in the stare of death. Its mouth hung open as well, a steady trickle of crimson fluid flowing from his gaping maw. Raymond's gut did another backflip as he came to recognize the monster's face as one of the townspeople, one he had seen in passing. To make matters worse was the spring of blood that poured from his destroyed cranium. What the hell was going on?! He looked across the room, spotting the other one he had killed, now fallen in a similar fashion. Another citizen. They had killed two people! And...the one he had killed in the market place. That was three. Why did they attack? Had the entire town gone mad? Or maybe it was a dream. Oh, he wished. A round of gags ensued, though Raymond's intestines were already empty, and all that came up was air and the sound of gagging. He swallowed hard, barely able to stand.

He looked at Elizabeth, who recoiled her hand from him, too busy contemplating that abundance of blood that stained them. He looked around, spotting his iron rod and scooping it up. When he turned to face Elizabeth again, she had already begun to run off, though soon she stopped dead in her tracks. He moved to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright..." But, then he caught her single articulation. Vampires. "No...that can't be..They aren't real! Just made up creatures in books to make children behave....conjurations of the imagination!" He rejected her idea. "Myths..." He mumbled. But...He took another look at the bodies. Skin of an unnatural palor, a deathly alabaster. Curved canines of a bright ivory. Red eyes. A thirst for blood...
As much as he hated it, the revelation gradually dawned on him, struggling internally as he came to accept this unbelievable fact, though he never admitted it to Elizabeth. "C'mon. We need to go to him!"

Raymond gripped Elizabeth's slicked hands hard, making sure he didn't lose her again, gripping the pole tightly with the other hand. He stopped as he walked into a labyrinth of shelves, lined with a surplus of books. Suddenly, he heard a noise, something sweeping past them. He looked all around. "Come out!"

Admin Posts : 191 Join date : 2010-03-20

William stood there, both hands gripping the railing so tight his knuckles were whiter than what his hands were. That's when he noticed it. Releasing the railing and taking a step back into the moonlight, he lifted both hands up. Twisting and turning them slowly as they shook. His hands were so pale. He had always been tan, but now he saw it. He brought his hands down, hunching over slightly to get them out of the moonlight. Still as white as ever. What was going on? What had he become? He was just about to whine before remembering what it was that he was running from.

His ears perked up at the sound of Elizabeth's voice, but it was cut off just near the doorway he was pulled through. On an impulse, William practically leaped over the railing and landed on top of one of the book shelves. The wood beneath his feet seemed so flimsy that it rocked back and forth once he landed upon it. He quickly jumped over the small gap below to land on the other shelf. It was the same. The feeling of falling made him move faster, and as he did, he managed to push on the edge of the shelves only to cause the first two to fall away from him. "Elizabeth?!" he called out as he went, unsure why she had grown so quiet. "Raymond?!" he called for him as well, sure that he wasn't too far behind the girl. There was no answer, he continued on coming to the last row and stopping suddenly. Glancing down towards the doorway, neither one of them were in sight at first, until he crouched low on top of the shelf. He could see faintly see someone's back. Subconsciously, he let out a low growl. The creature brought it's attention back to him with a hiss before stepping through the door way. The broken pieces of wood shuffled beneath it's feet.

William was feeling..... feisty now so it seemed. Something inside him that wanted him to taunt this creature, like it was a natural instinct. And that's exactly what he would do. Coming to a stand, William lifted his left hand, all other fingers except for his index finger were curled against his palm. He tick-tocked his finger at the creature before crouching down again. Both feet were planted firmly against the top of the shelf, he jumped, using all the force he had to push up from the wood to make it up to the rafters above. It felt as though his fingers just dug into the wooden rafter beam as he pulled himself up on to it. There he perched a moment before his ears caught the sound of a large 'crash'. The book shelf he had jumped from toppled over towards the creature. "Come on you coward." he taunted. It was just enough for It to come after him. Seems it didn't need any boost to stand on to get to the rafters above as William had. It was darker up here. The shadows seemed to dwell here away from the rays that the moon brought through the windows. William got to his feet once more, balancing his way along the large beam as he tried to close in on the creature. Seems It had the same plan, as it was making it's way towards him as well. William had no idea what he was going to do, he had no weapons to fend it off with. Nothing at all. It was then, another large 'crash' sounded out. Another shelf had fallen and it had caught the creature's attention for a moment. William took the chance and lunged at it, his hands out stretched towards It's shoulders. Success!

He felt his body collide with the creature's, sending them both off the beam and falling towards the ground. He was hoping to have it break his fall, but it was all so fast. William felt the sting of the floor against his back. The wooden boards gave way beneath him as he hit. He groaned, trying to get up, but shortly after, he blacked out.

Subject: Re: The Plague Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:45 am

Elizabeth stood there in shock at her findings, jaw hanging open. She felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, then Raymond’s ramblings entered her ear canals, she was barely listening, looking around frantically for William; the horrid odour of the dead was all through this building now, it was easier to pick up on. Her head turned to look at Raymond when he began to accept the knowledge, a slick hand came up to her mouth, fingers poking at her canines, flesh tore against razor enamel.
A small whimper seeped through her mouth as her hand fell, they hadn’t become ill, they’d become undead. Her hair was suddenly whipped around her face, and she realized Raymond had taken hold of both her hands and pulled her along with him. Faintly she saw a shadow outlining a figure ahead of them, her body was riddled with exhaustion, not physically but mentally and emotionally. “William!” she called out with excitement, assuming that the shadow ahead was their friend, but then she heard his voice to her left, then the fall of heavy wood and books.
Looking back to the figure, she noticed that it had its attention on whoever was knocking shelves over. She watched as the books on the shelf next to them trembled, quickly looking up she saw William standing on the top of it.
A small grin formed on her lips watching his antagonistic act, quickly falling into a horrified expression as he leapt into darkness, causing the shelf to quiver.
Tugging on Raymond’s grip, she dragged him out of the shelf line and into the open, just in time too as the shelf fell after the beast jumped after William.

She looked up, desperate to see what was going on, then the image of two men grappling neared, leaping back she winced when William’s back collided into the ground, the sickening snap of wood was mistaken for his back, a quick scream of shock left her parted lips, bringing the other vampire’s attention to her. A distraction that bought William time to move, settling Elizabeth’s worries that his back was maimed.
Her jaw fell open, those sharp point in her mouth seeming to grow as she hissed back at the creature. Eyes falling to the wooden stakes William had dropped a few metres away from her.
She took a leap for them, the thin cotton tangling around her legs to rip away at the knee’s as she landed, grabbing the stakes and rolled, just as the lard ass leapt onto her with little time to thrust the stake up under his ribs and into his heart. She missed.
Wiggling and pushing deeper, she felt claw like fingers tear her flesh, teeth against her shoulder ripping more flesh. She couldn’t move her arm anymore.
Desperately she looked to William’s passed out form, then to where she had last seen Raymond, looking for some aid before the teeth ripped her throat.

Posts : 63 Join date : 2010-03-25

Raymond moved as Elizabeth pulled him away from the shelves, having gotten out of the way just before the monolithic shelves fell forward, slamming down onto the ground with a loud SLAM! He jumped, nearly passing out so close was he to being flattened. He cringed as William fell to the ground, knocked out cold. He swallowed. He wasn't...dead, was he? No, William was stronger than that. It all happened so fast. Elizabeth was preoccupied with worrying over William, too much to notice the creature before it lunged and pinned her down. It went at her, looking to tear her limb from limb, gorge on her throat and suck her dry of blood. If he didn't do something, she would die!

Raymond yelled, trying to get the creatures attention. He charged, swinging his metal pole straight at the vampire's head, listening for the sickening crack, as much as he hated it. But, it never came. In fact, something stopped the swing. Raymond looked at the vampire, seeing that it had caught the pole in its pale, gnarled hands. The monster wrenched the weapon away from Raymond, throwing it, then knocking Raymond away with a swipe of its hand. Raymond was knocked backwards, tripping back on the toppled row of bookshelves, landing on the back of one. He got up to his feet shakily, looking around anywhere for a weapon. His eyes flicked to William's discarded stakes. Raymond ran, scooping up the stakes quickly, one in each hand. He threw himself at the vampire, knocking it off of Elizabeth. He grappled with the creature, rolling across the grime-laden floor, it's mouth snapping at his face. Raymond rolled over again, ontop of the vampire. He threw his head down, slamming his forehead into the vampire's. The creature was dazed. He gripped the stakes, driving one into each eye of his opponent. It shrieked and screamed, blood pouring from its sockets. He yanked the stakes from its eyes, stabbing one into its neck and the last into its heart, slamming a fist down on it to drive it through. Suddenly, the creature became still, going limp beneath Raymond. He rolled off of the vampire and onto his back, panting heavily.

Raymond got up, offering a hand to help Elizabeth up, looking over at William to make sure he was still alive. "Are you okay...Elizabeth?"

Admin Posts : 191 Join date : 2010-03-20

William thought for a moment that he had been knocked unconscious. That all of the muffled noises were of his own imagination, that all of this was just a dream perhaps. But that wasn't the case here. His head was pounding non-stop, his back had a stabbing pain shooting through it to his stomach and side. His eyes didn't open, he just laid there a moment longer on top of the wooden pieces of the floor that he had smashed upon landing. He groaned softly, trying to sit up as best he could before finally opening his eyes. Everything was yet again, just a blur. He watched the blobs of what looked like Elizabeth and Raymond... and that creature. Fighting. His head weaving and swayed as he tried to shake the feeling away, but once he sat up more, the pain shot through his whole body; causing him to yell out in pain.

Seems that the broken pieces of wood beneath him, wasn't the only thing that had broken his fall, but speared him as well. A piece, like a large splinter, struck through his back, leaving through his stomach. His head lowered, shaky hands gripping around the end that shot out through his stomach. "Oh fuck...." was all he managed to mumble. Every sound around him became silent, just background noise that he no longer paid any mind to. The pain slowly eased away as well, until he moved again. Another groaned passed his lips, wishing for the piece of wood to be removed. God only knows the pain he would endure from said action, or that he'd even make it without bleeding out all over himself. He tipped his head back, trying to get a visual of Elizabeth and Raymond, reaching a hand out as though he was able to touch them. "Help?" his voice was soft.

Subject: Re: The Plague Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:09 am

Elizabeth lay under the mound of stinking flesh, squirming and wriggling in vain to keep her face and neck out of reach. Her hands struggled against the grotesque cheek, pushing It's head back inch by inch, only to has him snap It's teeth and thrust It's head forward each time. And the stench of It's breath... it was disgusting. Suddenly the weight atop her body shifted, a hand left her arm; opening an eye she peered up, curious as to what had given her a moment extra lease on life. Seeing Raymond was like a beacon of hope, just enough to give her the fight she needed to struggle harder than before.
She had inched forward, out from underneath the Vampire a fraction when Raymond was no long aiding her, claw like nails raked down her upper arm, tearing her flesh like ribbons which caused her to wince and muffle a shriek behind clenched teeth.
"Raymond!" she shouted, wondering where the hell he was when she obviously needed a little assistance. "Not finished he--" the weight was gone completely this time, a breath of relief was expelled from her lungs while her head turned to watch Raymond take care of it. Slowly beginning to sit up, her attention snapped to William when he yelled out in obvious agony.

Raymond and the beast were no longer her concern as she focused wide eyes on the floor board sticking out of William's stomach, gasping she found she couldn't move for a moment. Why? She wasn't the one with a makeshift spear poking from her stomach. It must have been sheer fright for her newly acquired friend.
"Don't move.." she instructed as she snatched the torn material of her clothing from the ground near her and began to crawl to William, neglecting Raymond a simple glance to check if he was alright.
Fingers hesitated by the plank jutting from his body, dark patches of red quickly proceeding to damped the material around the wounded area. "If I pull it out... it will only bleed more," her eyes searched for William's, distraught and unsure. Yet her fingers clasped the wood, close to his stomach and slowly dug her nails into to sides, taking a few moments to slowly and carefully cut the wood off as much as possible, being careful not to bump it or jiggle it.
After a short while, most of the half sticking out of William's stomach was in her hand. Putting that on the ground she turned to find Raymond had slaughtered the beast who had sought to destroy her.

"Raymond, I need a hand. Can you hold William up against you so I can pull this out of his back?" A hand gestured to the male by her, fingers tightened around the white cotton. "Perhaps being a vampire now... we heal quickly. But this piece of wood is preventing that from happening. Removing it is his only option."