Family Reunion

[Spellbinder]

Headmistress' office

<< the horror of the evening had definitely taken its toll on Morgan. She'd managed to block her brother's murderous approach long enough for her mother and Michael to help them escape...for now.>>

<< the news of Alycia's death at the hands of the shape was a painfull blow for the young witch and as she grieved, Delilah silently did her best to comfort her.>>

<< Dr. Starr & Michael were now searching for The Shape, to confront him and [if Karen had her way] deal with him permanently, but no one was sure that they'd succeed or even survive.>>

<< Nicolas, who only moments earlier had saved Morgan's life, was now preparing to throw his own away with a foolhardy play. Delilah objects as does Ava, who is now calmer thanks to one of Dr. Starr's magickal elixirs but still quite terrified.>>

love you babe.

Then he walked over to the door. The spell was boosting his own power so...with some effort...he opened the shield a bit and walked out, sealing it behind him.

But I HAVE to help them. I cannot let Mike and Doc go out like that. If my shield fades, run.

Nicolas starts to walk down the hallway, his TK scanning all around him as he went...

<< Morgan bolted upright. Her face was tear streaked from running mascara & her countenance was darker, more grim.>>

<< in a flash of violet light, she TELEPORTS via stepping disc and blocks Nicolas' path just outside the office.>>

NO!

<< she bellows. he see's that "Dark" aspect about her that he'd seen when she & her mother had it out in downtown & when she had "dragged him to hell">>

Don't be a FOOL! Don't THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY!

<< she pushes him back & he stumbles and falls into a disc that has opened behind him vertically. He finds himself back inside the office>>

You...I TOLD you what he did to my friends...my sister...he's after ME. I'm NOT going to let you throw your life away over MY nightmare.

My mother...

<< putting her hand to her chest as she struggles to remain "calm">>

She's going to try to kill him. We were stupid for trying to believe she'd succeeded in killing him all those years ago...even as we saw him walking THROUGH her hellfire spell and now Alycia is dead too! Kids we went to school with...INNOCENTS are dead! If this is ANYONE'S responsibility...it's MINE and I'm NOT seeing ANYONE ELSE die by his hand tonight...not now....

NOT EVER!

<< the fear and grief are starting to give way to ANGER.>>

Stay HERE with Me...with Ava...with Delilah and help ME keep US << gesturing among the four of them>> alive!

<< she looks at Nicolas as she commands>>

I have a ...."rapport" with my mom through the bond of mother and child. I'll KNOW if she's hurt or worse and I'll get them...ALL of us away from here...BUT I will be coming BACK...to make SURE he's FINISHED!

<< Morgan seemed very dark and grim at this point. They looked at her and suddenly she didnt seem too far removed from her brother's darkness but there was a difference between the two. Her FRIENDS knew her and now they understood why she'd created her facade. She'd lost SO MUCH because of her brother and she wasn't about to lose anything or anyONE else tonight.>>

<< despite their distress, they'd seen a taste of what she could do with her magick. TOGETHER they might just have a chance after all!>>

 

[Rampage]

<< in a flash of violet light, she TELEPORTS via stepping disc and blocks Nicolas' path just outside the office.>>

NO!

<< she bellows. he see's that "Dark" aspect about her that he'd seen when she & her mother had it out in downtown & when she had "dragged him to hell">>

Don't be a FOOL! Don't THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY!

<< she pushes him back & he stumbles and falls into a disc that has opened behind him vertically. He finds himself back inside the office>>

He sees the 'demonic' aspect of Morgan, but he is no longer afraid. he is determined to do SOMETHING.

Morgan, quit fucking aro-

You...I TOLD you what he did to my friends...my sister...he's after ME. I'm NOT going to let you throw your life away over MY nightmare.

My mother...

<< putting her hand to her chest as she struggles to remain "calm">>

She's going to try to kill him. We were stupid for trying to believe she'd succeeded in killing him all those years ago...even as we saw him walking THROUGH her hellfire spell and now Alycia is dead too! Kids we went to school with...INNOCENTS are dead! If this is ANYONE'S responsibility...it's MINE and I'm NOT seeing ANYONE ELSE die by his hand tonight...not now....

NOT EVER!

<< the fear and grief are starting to give way to ANGER.>>

Stay HERE with Me...with Ava...with Delilah and help ME keep US << gesturing among the four of them>> alive!

<< she looks at Nicolas as she commands>>

I have a ...."rapport" with my mom through the bond of mother and child. I'll KNOW if she's hurt or worse and I'll get them...ALL of us away from here...BUT I will be coming BACK...to make SURE he's FINISHED!

Nicolas nods...he remembers Mike admonishing him to keep the women safe, and he STAYS.

You will not be alone.

He stands up to his full height, jaw set.

If I stay here, you WATCH them. And we ALL get out of here alive. And when you decide to strike, I will be there. NO ONE ELSE faces THAT MOTHERFUCKER alone.

Nicolas began to pace like a caged cat...

 

[Seer]

Searching

<< the four young mutants stay together inside Dr. Starr's office...they understand what's at stake. Morgan, now fully free of her "Courtney" facade finds that Nicolas, Ava and Delilah have no intention of abandonning her OR allowing her to face her nightmare alone.>>

<< Meanwhile, the adults, Dr. Carole Starr a.k.a. Karen Victory and Sgt. Detective Michael Armstrong carefully stalk the dark halls of the administration building, searching for the source of the nightmare. Karen's son, the Shape. True evil in human form.>>

<< Karen and Michael move quietly, whispering only when necessary. She with her hands raised and poised to strike with magick, he with his powerfull weapon training in front of him.>>

<< Michael knows that Carole is repressing her grief over Alycia and that she's focusing on protecting her daughter and the kids first and foremost. He also knows that this is a WOUND she and Morgan thought had healed...but was now WIDE OPEN and white hot with pain and FEAR.>>

<< He wanted to know who she was, what she'd been hiding...he never imagined it would be anything quite like THIS but he would NOT abandon her, nor would he allow her to face this alone.>>

<< still...there are some things, that we don't necessarily have a choice in....>>

 

[Shadow Weaver]

In the halls

<< through the dark, moonlit halls they move, quietly, carefully.>>


<< the uncertain silence is only gently breached by the whistling wind and rolling thunder clouds outside>>

He's here...in this building.

I know it. I've....I...after he murdered my daughter, his sister...the trauma seemed to have activated a psychic rapport between me and my surviving children. With Morgan, it helped me to always be able to..."keep watch"...at least know if she was in trouble. With HIM...it was as if the blackest vortex of cold...EVIL was trying to suck me in. I...blocked him out. I knew after the first seven years of attempts at intense psychotherapy following his detainment for murdering Blaze that he was beyond help.

He was...a BAD SEED...

<< they pass a set of open glass doors leading into an interior courtyard. the satin drapes flow and billow in the haunting breeze as Carole and Michael, moving along the wall stop and she looks at him with such pain and uncertainty in her eyes>>

and I gave BIRTH to him!

<< she says with a crack in her voice, already a hushed whisper>>

...it's MY fault!

<< she looks away, out toward the open glass doors into the interior courtyard. Even as Michael would respond to her on this, the look of anguish on her face slowly fades into one of coldness.>>

Go.

<< Michael looks & responds puzzled.>>

Go, Michael. Save yourself. Get out of here.

This is not your fight and I won't see you suffer the same fate as poor Alycia! I won't! Now GO!

<< she commands>>

I must protect Cour...MORGAN and the children! No matter what the cost!

 

[Arsenal]

Michael just looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, still scanning as he replied after her speech.

That ship has sailed honey. Even IF I were of a mind to run, which I am NOT, I am as much a target as you are now. I am in greater danger running now in THIS place WITHOUT you than standing with you here. So you are stuck with me. Let's focus on the task at hand: staying alive.

Mike went back to scanning the area, weapons drawn.

 

[Seer]

at the end of the hall

<< Carole was determined not to lose anyone else to the nightmare she unwittingly birthed into this world. But In the span of mere hours, the stern facade of "Dr. Starr, Psy.D" had been blown away to reveal a woman with a backstory all too terrifying and real.>>

<< Despite this, what SHE may have forgotten is her own inner strength and instinct. Beyond that of a doctor or even a witch, but that of a MOTHER.>>

<< The Shape, for all HIS power may have forgotten that as well. He may be the irresistable force that has closed in on his family but he would soon meet the power of a mother defending her child...the IMMOVABLE OBJECT.>>

<< Michael was key in helping to keep her STEADY for inspite of her power, experience and capability, this wasnt a patient in her office or a mere foe on the battlefield...this was PERSONAL and so much was at stake.>>

<< Try as she did to command him to flee for his life, he would not. He countered her emotional drive with logic and refused to let her compell him the way she could so many others.>>

<< and so, once more they moved along.>>

<< eventually they reached a T intersection of the hall, with another set of french glass doors opened to reveal the same interior courtyard. Just as Carole remarked that the Shape was taunting them with a "cat and mouse ploy"...Michael's peripheral vision registers movement and then a shadow emerging on the wall of the T intersection.>>

<< the shadow is LARGE and the silhouette seemed to MATCH the outline of The Shape.>>

<< the shadow lengthened and was moving, indicating the body was coming around the corner!>>

 

[Shadow Weaver]

sudden encounter

<< she looked visibly pained. between Michael's refusing to "obey" her and her own distress. but really Michael was the one in the right on that note.>>

<< now near the end of the hall and with another entry way into the interior courtyard, Carole sighed a bit.>>

two points of access that were not accounted for when we initiated security protocall! he'd like it to seem as though he COULD be outside...but...as sickening as it is for me...i'm allowing myself to acknowledge the "rapport" I have with him...JUST ENOUGH to at least...sense his general presence...

he's taunting us.

<< Michael had been training and watching intently. Though he was steady and seasoned, THIS had been one hell of a ride for him tonight and even his emotions were elevated now. He cared about Carole. He had a stake in this. Not just her but the kids and HIMSELF too.>>

<< He wouldn't leave her and he wouldn't let his guard down while watching over her...not even NOW as the shadow and shape emerge and then a BODY, coming TOWARD them.>>

<< at that moment, Michael catches sight of movement. A shadow...a form. It lengthens and soon, the BODY that cast the shadow slowly comes around the left corner at the T intersection!>>

<< at this point, Michael was not about to let it get near them...HER>>

CAROLE!

<< quickly moving her behind him and taking aim, he FIRES upon the shape, a total of 6 times.>>

<< his sudden action and the discharge of the weapon causes Karen to flinch as she tries to get a clear view of the oncoming danger!>>

<< after 6 shots, the body drops.>>

....

<< she moves beside Michael>>

We must finish him now...while he's down.

<< she speaks in a low, cold tone. not wanting anything else but to be RID of him once and for all!>>

<< Her mind had been racing, recalling the DARKEST and most VIOLENT spells of the Darkhold she could use against him. She was going to use a soul rendering spell to remove Adam's soul...his very life essence and cast it adrift into the ABYSS.>>

<< They needed to get closer and so, with cautious but moderately paced steps, the move toward him.>>

 

[Seer]

a tragic mistake

<< So strong, so full of courage. Michael may not have been a mutant but he was no less formidable.>>

<< He cared for Carole...Karen...the name didnt matter, it was the WOMAN he cared for and now her moment of truth was his.>>

<< as it was...a large looming shadow lengthened and drifted across the wall, followed by large form, a male, enshrouded in the darkness of the hall. there was no time to waste. no room for hesitation!>>

<< Michael fired upon him....IT. Just as Alycia had all those years ago.>>

<< after six well placed shots and a moment of reeling from Carole, the two cautiously approach. Carole fully intends to dispatch this creature with a dark and deadly spell, one that would make her colleagues at the school BALK at the idea of her using it but this wasnt school business. This was PERSONAL and a matter of life and death, she and Michael knew that.>>

<< drawing near the fallen form, they get a closer a view.>>

<< a view that suddenly reveals something VERY WRONG.>>

<< The body that lays on the floor in front of them is NOT that of Adam b.k.a. The Shape. It is RONNIE, the security guard!>>

<< In all the confusion and horror of the evening, he'd been largely forgotten, but he'd still be on the grounds, trying to get the generators going and now...as emergency power flickered on providing soft lighting, the HORROR was confirmed.>>

<< Michael had just shot down the wrong person. Ronnie lay at their feet, a pool of blood slowly forming and expanding under his body.>>

<< For all of Michael's strength, courage and expertise, his desire to help and protect Carole...he was human...and as such...ALL humans make mistakes. Some worse than others...some that can be....

a haunting roll of thunder can be heard in the billowing dark clouds outside

<<FATAL.>>

 

[Shadow Weaver]

in the hallway

<< she instinctively held her breath the moment Michael moved her behind him and took swift, unhesitant action.>>

<< flinching from the flashes & booms of the weapon at such close distance, the seconds felt like slow motion minutes before silence finally returned.>>

.....

<< no words between them. they needed to check...and then, Carole needed to dispose of him PERMANENTLY while the opportunity was there.>>

<< after six well placed shots and a moment of reeling from Carole, the two cautiously approach. Carole fully intends to dispatch this creature with a dark and deadly spell, one that would make her colleagues at the school BALK at the idea of her using it but this wasnt school business. This was PERSONAL and a matter of life and death, she and Michael knew that.>>

<< drawing near the fallen form, they get a closer a view.>>

<< a view that suddenly reveals something VERY WRONG.>>

<< The body that lays on the floor in front of them is NOT that of Adam b.k.a. The Shape. It is RONNIE, the security guard!>>

oh...<<inhaling sharply>> ohmygod!

<< Carole covers her mouth with horror as the the flickering of lightning from outside and roll of distant thunder underscore the shocking discovery.>>

Oh...Ronnie....oh....nooo

<< Carole says with hushed, pained grief as she and Michael kneel down over his fallen form.>>

<< It was always a fear of Carole's, that SHE'D accidently harm or kill someone in situation like this. She came very close to doing so just earlier this evening and now this...this man, a young man with a wife and two kids, lay before them, a pool of his blood slowly expands out from under his body.>>

<< Both Carole & Michael reel in horror & grief & then, after a few moments, Carole looks over to Michael>>

Michael...it was...an accident. We BOTH know that. The campus is in a state of emergency...

<< Michael was not so easily consoled and Carole's voice , though in a lower tone, sounded quite shaken. Though she sought to prevent any more deaths due to her renegade demon seed son, here was one more just the same.>>

<< the both struggled for a few moments. there were so many things that were now added on to this overall situation because of this tragedy in front of them. But they'd have to LIVE THROUGH this life threatening emergency in order to deal with that. Carole was all too familiar with innocents becoming casualities when it came to Adam...THE SHAPE. Michael was no murderer. She'd see his name was cleared if and WHEN there was a "later"...>>

We...we've got to get up. The children....We've got to move before...

 

[Arsenal]

RONNIE. Dead. At his hand.

Fuck me. Oh my God...Ron?

Michael went 'away' for a moment, his mind drifting to Ronnie's family and how he owuld tell them, how he would have to give up his badge, his calling.

Michael...it was...an accident. We BOTH know that. The campus is in a state of emergency...

WE do...but the DA that sees this? I will not divulge the secrets of this place to save myself...

Carole continued to console him, trying to ease his guilt. He finally fell very silent...something here was OFF...

We...we've got to get up. The children....We've got to move before...

we are a sitting duck...to the wall in front of us, back to it and scan...NOW!

Mike moved the two of them to the place he could readily see so they could get some space and find the predator that his gut screamed was here.

 

[The Shape]

Time to kill

He didnt have to hunt for them. In their attempt to hunt HIM, they lead themselves right to him.

From around the corner he steps.

In one fluent motion, he's standing between them, over the body of Ronnie and GRIPPING Michael by his neck as he lifts him up off the ground with terrifying ease.

His eyes fix on his weary, terrified mother for a moment before returning to gaze at the man he's now lifting off the ground.

Michael is much like Alycia. They both INTERFERRED.

The Shape always preferred an up close look at his prey before killing them, especially prey that fights.

He tilts his head ever so slightly as Michael struggles, all the while increasing the pressure of his grip, cutting off Michael's air, beginning to crush his wind pipe and other nerves, making Michael's body twitch.

He could snap Michael's nick 5 times in as much effort as it takes Karen to scream in protest but prolonging the torture of claiming yet another life of someone his mother cared about was his course of action.

Michael would be dead in moments. The pressure building up in his head would make it explode like a potato in a microwave.

Then, it would be KAREN'S turn.

 

[Shadow Weaver]

two can play this game

WE do...but the DA that sees this? I will not divulge the secrets of this place to save myself...

<< Carole stopped short of saying 'that's what MEMORY SPELLS are for...to make them FORGET!" But now was not the time.>>

Carole continued to console him, trying to ease his guilt. He finally fell very silent...something here was OFF...

<< In their momente of grief...they HAD forgotten the danger that loomed.>>

we are a sitting duck...to the wall in front of us, back to it and scan...NOW!Mike moved the two of them to the place he could readily see so they could get some space and find the predator that his gut screamed was here.

<< He was RIGHT. Carole's OWN mind churnedand her "empathy" chimed...>>

oh NO!....

He didnt have to hunt for them. In their attempt to hunt HIM, they lead themselves right to him.

From around the corner he steps.

MICHAEL!

In one fluent motion, he's standing between them, over the body of Ronnie and GRIPPING Michael by his neck as he lifts him up off the ground with terrifying ease.

<< Carole was momentarily frozen in shock as he was there, right among them and now had Michael in his death delivering grasp.>>

NO!

<< Carole's mind, SOUL screamed even as her body seemed to be frozen.>>

NO....

<< Michael was almost convulsing now from the strangulation>>

I won't let it end this way! I WON'T let you take ANYONE ELSE!

<< blinking away tears and snapping out of her freeze, Carole lifts her hands forward and gestures, igniting magick. Golden halos of mystic energy form around her hands>>


ut ab iniuria tuta vadis scriptor tenent

<< a beam of sparkling golden energy casts over Michael, as golden orbs spin around him ever so fast. in the twinkling of the witch's eye, Michael is TELEPORTED from the Shape's deadly grasp. He's sent BACK to Carole's apartment and along with that goes the touch of a healing spell to repair his throat.>>

<< It'll be more than a few moments before he's recovered, but he'll LIVE. He'll perhaps be ANGRY that Carole evacuated him like this, but she doesn't care. His LIFE was more important. Michael finds that he can't immediately leave either. No doubt Carole attempting to bar his exiting the apartment.>>

ADAM! That's IT! That's the LAST one you touch! Do you hear me!?

You want me? You'll have to CATCH me FIRST!

<<ZARK!>>

<< from her still outstretched hands comes a mystic force bolt. Against a normal unprotected body it would hit them with the force of a high speed moving CAR and cause considerable damage, but Adam's durability is as unbelievable as his urban legend.>>

<< He is staggered but does not fall. Carole does not wait. She's already taken off, running for her life...back towards the office. It's time for her to get Morgan and the others, and get them out of there!>>

<< down one hall and around another corner...she stops for a moment. there's blood on her hands. Ronnie's blood.>>

my god....

<< but before she gives in to emotion again, she remembers her SON is after her.>>

<< She looks over her shoulder. She knows he's following already. She needs to give herself and the kids more time to put distance between them & the monster...>>

 

[The Shape]

Once again

His unwavering stare snapped from his vanishing victim to the person responsible for it.

Karen. MOTHER.

The red irises ofhis
Always interferring. ALWAYS DENYING that which he was entitled to!

She defied him once more but her yelling wasn't all he heard.

Rapid heart beat. Elevated breathing and pulse.

Everything about her body betrayed her front. She was SCARED.

Before he could step toward her, a mystic force bolt slams into him.

Staggered as he is by it, he does not fall. He simply reorients himself on Carole's new location and he watches her, staring with out one blink as she takes off running.

He's already learned the layout of this building. NO matter how or where she runs, he WILL find her. Everything about her from her beating heart to her harried breathing calls to him like an animal to the predator.

He walks with a purpose. No hesitation about which way to go or when , which way to turn.

Finally as he reaches the same hall Carole was in, he finds a door. It's handle dripping with blood.

Could she have let her fear get the better of her? Even she would not be so careless!

A brieft attempt to open the locked door sees The Shape now SMASHING through the door with one, two, THREE punches.

Now looking inside and taking a swing with the butcher knife he'd taken from the hall where he'd confronted Morgan earlier.

If she had been foolish enough to try to hide herself in here, she'd sealed her fate.

 

[Shadow Weaver]

exit strategy

<< While The Shape was smashing through the door, looking for his quarry, Carole suddenly appeared BEHIND him. She'd hidden herself via cloaking spell and made it appear as though she'd taken refuge inside the closet.>>

<< He tore through the door with such agression, ready to destroy what he was sure he'd find within.>>

I don't have time for anything fancy! I just have to knock him down long ENOUGH to....

<< she raises a fire extinguisher up over her head with both hands and with as much force as she can muster, coupled with a sudden detonation of mystical force, she SLAMS the fire extinguisher down on his head and releases the mystical force.>>

<< the sound of metal hitting flesh is sickening, coupled with the flash of golden light from the impact of the force blast. It would have killed most others on the receiving end, but it simply sends Adam crashing down to the floor, leaving him motionless but that wont last for long.>>

<< hurrying away from him, she reaches the door to her office and bangs on it.>>

Open up it's me!

<< banging a few more times>>

OPEN UP!

<< the shield is dropped, the door opens. Out comes Nicolas hand in hand with Ava.>>

Go!

<< she ushers them out, followed by Delilah and then Morgan.>>

GO!
<< she looks back.>>

<< Sure enough...The Shape's form stirs and he slowly begins to push himself up off the ground.>>


<< MOMENTS LATER, through a fire escape.>>

HURRY!

<< Carole commands as Nicolas, Ava, Delilah and Morgan rush down a flight of stairs with Carole bringing up the rear. The kids's facial expressions sum up how they feel at the moment and with Michael no longer in attendance, some of them can't help but assume the worst.>>

RUN!
<< Carole screams as she commands them to move faster. Good thing she healed Nicolas earlier or there'd be no way he could keep this kind of pace right now.>>

<< soon, the group make their way to Carole's truck.>>

Hurry...get in!

<< Nicolas, Ava and Delilah scramble into the back. Morgan makes her way around to the front passenger side and Carole is already in the front. They catch a glimpse of The Shape, already closing in from the distance behind them.>>

Oh my god! He's already caught up with us!

Mom...What happened to Michael!?

<< Carole ignores them as she attempts to start up the car. Typically though not at all welcomed, it does NOT catch!>>

DAMMIT NO! C'MON!

<< two more tries. Now Delilah and Ava both exclaiming that the Shape is closing in>>

<< looking back through the rear windshield.>>
SHARDS! HE'S REALLY CLOSE! MOM!?

<< it's not working!>>

<< By now, even Nicolas is expressing concern as his own emotions for Michael's fate wash over him. Carole doesnt respond to any of that.>>

<< she spots the EMERGENCY start lever.>>

OF COURSE!

DELILAH! On my count...release your STRONGEST stroboscopic flashbulb effect against The Shape!

ONE!

The rest of you, bend over, heads to your knees!

TWO!

SHUT YOUR EYES tight and cover them with your hands!

<< At that moment, Morgan screams as The Shape REACHES the truck, pulling his fist back to SMASH through Carole's window.>>

THREE! NOW DELILAH!

<< her hand already on the emergency start level ready to pull, Carole hoped Delilah would come through as ordered!>>

 

[MorningStar]

THANKFULLY Courtney was able to convince Nicolas to stay rather than going out and getting himself killed. They waited in nervous silence in Dr. Starr's office.

They all jumped a mile when Courtney's mom started banging on the door!

"Jesus!"

"Open up it's me! OPEN UP!"

Nicolas opened the door and led Ava out, and Delilah followed. But as she stepped into the hallway, it was clear that the danger wasn't over. Especially as Mike Armstrong wasn't with them.

"Dr. Starr..." she looked at the headmaster nervously for reassurance.

"Go! GO!"

They went out the fire escape, then they just ran. Reaching Courtney's mom's truck, Delilah scrambled into the back as she was told, with Ava and Nicolas. Delilah fastened her seat belt, turning as she did so and looking out the back window...

"Oh my god! He's already caught up with us!"

Dr. Starr was frantically trying to get the engine to turn over. Delilah unfastened the seat belt, ready to run again.

"He's coming!"

"DELILAH! On my count...release your STRONGEST stroboscopic flashbulb effect against The Shape!

ONE!

The rest of you, bend over, heads to your knees! "

"I...I don't know...I can't control it that well yet...I...I could blind everybody..."

"TWO"

She braced herself, and took a deep breath choking down nerves and tears, determined to be strong despite her moment of weakness. She looked back once again to see The Shape about to break through the back window.

"Oh God..."

"THREE! NOW DELILAH!"

She thrust her hands out towards the back window, a blinding flash lighting up the truck in the night.

 

[Shadow Weaver]

the getaway

<< the moment was at hand!>>

<< The Shape was about to SMASH through Carole's window and grab her by the neck.>>

<< she hurridly commanded the others to brace themselves for Delilah's attack and then ordered to Delilah to strike for her life! The young mutant struggled to remain brave in the face of DEATH. Despite being one of the most powerfull mutants on the campus, she was still young, still in training. They all were but her life....ALL their lives were at stake. It was clear Dr. Starr would not abandon them, nor would she see them taken without a fight!>>

<< Carole herself bows her head, shutting her eyes tightly and covers her eyes with ONE of her hands, the other gripping the emergency starter lever her left by her knee, her high heeled foot poised over the accelerator. She knew what she wanted to happen.>>



<< on Dr. Starr's count, Delilah strikes in ernest!>>

She thrust her hands out towards the back window, a blinding flash lighting up the truck in the night.

<< the FLASH was BRIGHT as it was JARRING, causing Carole and the others to flinch or jolt from the sudden manifestation of such BRIGHT, POWERFULL LIGHT!>>

Keep your heads down! Your eyes SHUT TIGHT and covered!

<< she called out to Morgan, Ava and Nicolas>>

We're getting OUT of here!

<< she PULLS the emergency lever, turns the keys! the engine turns>>

NOW!

<< and Carole PEELS off away from the Shape! leaving him in the dust as she speeds off in the truck.>>



Good job, Delilah.

<< Dr. Starr says in a softer, reassuring voice as she speeds along through the campus grounds toward the front entrance.>>

<< Now another respite for them all. though Carole wasn't thinking about this, the kids now realized despite Carole's hardass exterior, the woman was very brave...and would not abandon them. they could only guess what happened to Michael and feared the worst but they'd soon be surprised for the better about him.>>

<< the reach the front entrance, the guard house and the key pad that controls the large rod iron gates that grant access to OR exit from the school ground.>>

 

[The Shape]

the chase is on

No matter where they went, he'd be there. No matter what they did, he'd keep coming and he wouldn't stop until his hands dripped with their blood.

He reached the truck, standing right outside of Karen's window. Pulling his massive fist back, he swings forward, about to SMASH through the glass as if it were nothing and wrap his hand around her tiny neck.

There was such HUNGER in his cold black eyes with those eerie red irises.

His EYES.

His mother played her hand well as one of the younger mutants in her charge attacked him with LIGHT.


The LIGHT! It was so bright, so UNRELENTING and it assaulted him FASTER than even HE could move.

His sense of vision completely LOST at the moment, he CRINGES and staggers back, swatting outward as if he were being attacked by a swarm of bugs.

The little girl's strobe attack DAZZLED him.

Karen then starts her truck and peels off from him.

His hearing follows the direction the sound of her truck travels in and while she puts distance between herself, her charges and him, this is FAR from over.

He WILL catch up to them.

For now he struggles. His vision painfully taken from him but was now starting to return. First as a inky blackness. Moments pass as his staggering returns to a slow deliberate walk and as his vision further returns and clears, that walk soon increases to a RACING pace.

His mission is still the same. The outcome will be no different than the others.

 

[Seer]

escape from hillcrest

<< Carole zooms along, reaching the rod iron gates at the entrance of hillcrest.>>

<< she tells Morgan, Ava, Delilah and Nicolas to stay in the car and that she'll only be a moment as she quickly exits the truck to input her passcode in the key pad and get the gets open.>>

<< they put considerable distance between themselves and the Shape and Dr. Starr was doing everything she could to protect her charges.>>

<< They had another brief respite and While Dr. Starr was outside the car, Nicolas was the voice to his fears about Michael. Ava, Delilah and Morgan can't offer any response with certainty and all are similarly afraid for what his fate was. They note that Dr. Starr has not said a word. She's too busy trying to get them to safety.>>

<< Carole finally manages to override the emergency lockout of command functions and comes out of the guardhouse to the key pad, quickly putting in her passcode. Never has the sound of those gates opening been such a joyfull thing to the four students in the car.>>

<< But there's something else. The look on Carole's face tells them that she's not leaving with them.>>

 

[Spellbinder]

at the front gates

<< Delilah's strobe attack was INTENSE. Even having her head lowered, her eyes shut tight and covered with her hands didn't prevent her from feeling pain just behind her eyes and a headache overall.>>

oh...wow...Dee.

<< as her mother sped through Hillcrest, Morgan slowly sat up right and opened her eyes. They'd each gotten a good hit on the monster. Imagine what they might have done if they were older, more trained and experienced in the use of their powers! Still, there was one thing SHE could do that they hadn't accounted for yet.>>



<< At the front of the campus grounds by the guard house, her mother quickly went inside. The 4 had a few brief moments to themselves to catch their breath a bit and to talk. Nicolas expressed his concern over Michael. After a pause, Morgan was the first to respond to Nicolas.>>

....Nicolas...I wish I could tell you something with certainty...but I can't.

Mom...she wanted him to LEAVE. She tried to get him to leave twice. You know how she is when she gives a command and he's one of the few that could openly defy her and not be bound in mystic chains for it!

Maybe she...cast a spell on him and teleported him away to safety.

He might be pissed, but at least he'd still be ALIVE.

If he's still here...and still alive, there's no way she'd abandon him now like this.

<< Courtney's tone was a mere shadow of what it was earlier when she bellowed at him about leaving them to go stalking after the Shape.>>

can't you MAGICK up view of him or something like you did in the basement??

There's no time. I'd need to fashion a pentagram with white chandles...

<< Nicolas looks dissappointed and pissed.>>

YES I'm not just a mutant, I'm a sorceress as well, but I'm NOT my mother! I don't have her level of experience! Don't you think I'd DO IT IN A SECOND If i COULD!?

Mike has stood by my mother through SO MUCH and now TONIGHT! He's helped ALL of us. OF COURSE I care about what's happened to him...

<< Morgan was upset at herself. Yes she'd defended herself and her friends from The Shape but it was all she could do...on EARTH at least. In her special place, LIMBO, it was a different story but when she tried to suggest it to her mother earlier, she was cut off.>>

<< she worried for Michael, for ALL of them. Even if they escaped, the shape wouldnt stop. he found her and her mother despite their hiding under assumed identities for 20 years. He killed nearly a dozen people in his latest hunt of them. how many MORE would die because of them? because of THEM?>>

This CAN'T go on...

<< she said as she looked across to the open driver's side door and watched her mother finally get gates open.>>

<< Her mother then hesitated, looking at her then the others.>>

Mom?? What are you doing??? Let's go!

Dr. Starr, come on! We have to get out of here!

 

[Shadow Weaver]

a decision

Mom, we have to go!

Dr. Starr, come on!

<< Carole looks at her daughter with regret and sorrow as she closes the driver's side door.>>

MOM! what are you doing!?

Go.

what!?

GO! Morgan, get in the driver's seat and go. Call Ms. Grey on the phone in the car and tell her there's been a serious emergency at the campus and that she and the SENIOR STAFF should return to the campus at once.

You're not leaving with us?

No. I can't. The Shape...my son...your brother is NOT going to stop coming for me...for YOU until ....

<< she pauses, surppressing emotion.>>

Enough is enough. Too many have died tonight because of a monster I gave birth to.

Michael is still here and alive. The Shape attacked him earlier, I stole him from the Shape's grasp with a spell and sent him back to my apartment. I also rendered him unconscious and barred his leaving the apartment long enough for me to get you all out of here.

I can't abandon Michael and I can't allow the Shape to leave this place.

NO MATTER WHAT IT MAY COST ME.

<< she looks so grim as she says this to Morgan and her friends. she'd already thought of the spell she'd use. Summoning the Demon Storm. A spell so black and violent that it would lay utter WASTE to this place and would not only kill the Shape on ALL levels, but also cost Carole her own life. They didn't need to see her do this. She didnt want her daughter to watch her sacrifice herself.>>

You'll know a life where you can life FREE of this creature ever finding you again. I'll see to it.

<< Morgan begins to protest.>>

MOM! You DON'T have to do this! There's another way...there...

Now DO AS I SAY AND LEAVE THIS PLACE!

Don't look back!

<< tears begin to fall from Carole's opal blue eyes as she's basically told them she's laying down her life to stop her own son...PERMANENTLY.>>

I love you...daughter. You've all been very brave tonight. Take care of each other.