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The knowledge that Ash was both in trouble and out of his reach had consumed Thackery so drastically that his reaction to the hellhound's touch was to try to bite him to make him go away. Thankfully, he caught himself mid-snarl, sinking shamefully backward to lean on Damien in lieu of an attack. He didn't want to hurt his friends. That was the opposite of what he wanted to do. He knew he needed to get a grasp on this, as difficult as it was.

"I messed up," was all he could manage, in a tiny, tiny voice. He clutched the phone to his chest, wide eyes searching for any indication that Ash might be here. Nothing. Everyone was sticking together, but he'd managed to not stick by one of the only people he'd promised to.

He stood in silence, not offering any helpful input to the situation - just comfort in adding to their numbers. He was afraid to open his mouth, knowing he might snap at them like all of his defensive instincts wanted him to. He was afraid to tell them what he thought, because it might mean something he didn't want to think about.

Shun said it felt like something wicked was coming here. Thackery thought it felt like something he loved, instead.

It was getting more and more difficult to assure himself that these were not related.

The fog was bad enough on its own, but then the onslaught of voices, unseen but still there, made the witch honestly afraid. Pink eyes went wide as she realized this was actually happening, this wasn't some trick or joke, but it was legitimate and real. A noise began in her throat that she attempted to cut off, unsuccessful enough that she made the oddest strangled sound that startled her further. Both hands quickly reached up to cover her ears and with a shake Belladonna tried to clear her head.
This isn't happening, its not happening, its not real, its not--
But it wouldn't stop, wouldn't ebb. The voices kept on and with stark realization she felt something awfully wrong deep inside.
It was such a simple step, to just let all the aches push her forward and down. All she had to do was step forward, to let herself fall into this pit of despair that yawned before her, hungry and waiting. All it wanted was her, frightened and small, and it would be satisfied and she could go home, where it was safe, where things didn't hurt and no one was cruel or made her cry or--
A sharp note made her open her eyes, yanked her away from that pit and with a start Belladonna fell backwards. It wasn't far, but it was so much closer to that strange home she'd wanted that she only looked up at Mort and nodded once. The grip on her hand hurt, but it was an anchor in the fog that she clung to, her other hand wrapped around his arm.

With her senses still reeling from too vivid a memory, Belladonna looked up and noticed the small group forming around the ghoul.
"What's wrong?" She asked, softly as though her voice could break something.
Suddenly worried the witch craned her head around to find LW, eyes wide as she looked to find Alexander as well. The hand not trapped in Mort's reached out to LW to clutch at whatever piece of her she could. With a soft tug she pulled on some fabric and managed a small, "Find Ren." It was difficult not to let her face break into the frightened panic she felt, but instead she steeled herself enough to only present something concerned. Her mouth was drawn tight, but she nodded at the she-wolf and let her go.

"A circle," Roch said quietly. "First years, those most affected in the middle, Shun, you, me, Danny, anyone else that can handle it, on the outside. For those of us walkin' backwards, someone keep a hold on their clothes, can we get more people over here?" ((Yes, and add to the massive jackin' quote train, shall we?))

He wanted to leave. And he wanted to leave NOW, jackdammit. Somethin' was wrong with Rikki, and that in itself made him worried.

More people joined their group, increasing it's size and despite his earlier warnings that they should probably be leaving, evoking some measure of comfort in the zomboil who was so much more used to being surrounded by a horde. Friends were here, Belladonna, Mort, Amrita, and new faces too of those he had yet to get to know well. It gave him some semblance of peace, of warmth and security. Especially Mort, because he was Alex's zombro and almost as close to him as family.

"See, she see's them too! Those footprints are seriously messed up..." The zomboils voice trailed off as everything suddenly changed. Stillness, a sort of limbo where everything was muted, both in color and in sound. No thoughts, no feelings, except perhaps what might be something similar to the sensation of suffocating. But Alexander wouldn't know what that felt like, anyways. It seemed to stretch on far longer then it actually did, timeless in it's own way, before a single word punctuated the stillness, stirring up the fog as shapes began to form.

Home.

No...NO. Not again, no!

The zomboil tried to close his eyes, tried to mentally guard himself from the sight of the shapes as they continued to coalesce, grow, then diminish once more. Formless, off putting, and in their own way completely terrifying. Glowing blue eyes in the shapes, all staring, off in the distance, perhaps towards what they considered to be----

Home.

The feeling that swept over him was overwhelming as memories that were not his own clouded his mind. Thoughts, feelings, a sense of extreme longing. Something that somehow made him feel happy and comforted even though this was not his. Some of it was familiar though, some of it he could relate too, but it was not his.

And then it was gone, torn away, leaving him gasping though he did not require the air. There was a sudden pressure on his shoulder and his face turned, eye focusing on the blue tinted skin and darker hair of his zombro, who was clutching tight to his red headed ghoulfriend. But still there were the voices, and Alexander squeezed his eye back shut, reaching up his hands to press the heels of both against his closed eyelids.

"No no no no no...." He murmured.

"We need to leave. Don't you feel it? Somethings coming..." He was practically whimpering, his brain still fuzzy from what had just occurred. He wanted to wrap his arms around himself and sink to the ground, or to find a place to hide from whatever was fast approaching. He let his hands drop back down, let his pale grey eye sweep their group though the panic that lay behind his gaze was impossible to hide.

"Is everyone okay?" He whispered. "Can we leave now?"

Shun glanced towards Thackery with a furrowed brow. What? Well, now wasn't really time to be asking about such things. Shaking his head, he turned towards Roch, nodding quietly. That was more or less what he was thinking of as well.

"We better get started then," he urged while moving towards the edge, waiting for the others to fall into formation as well.

The Reaper paused. Something was approaching. Peering through the fog, he was trying to figure out who or what it was. All he could tell right now was that they were pretty tall. There was also the faint sound of something being dragged in the dirt.

He wasn't sure if that was necessarily a good sign.

When Thackery spoke again, it sounded as if it hurt for the words to come out. It almost did, in its own weird way - it made him acknowledge that he was here. That this was happening and he had no clue how to make it stop.

"I'm...thank you, but no." His ears drooped, and he seemed to really regret giving such a negative answer to the cheerful Xiu. "I think I'm breaking a promise. A really big one."

There was no real opportunity to explain the lengthy story behind the situation. How he'd promised himself that he'd look after a boilfriend a long time ago. How he'd somehow begun to feel when he was in trouble. How Insanity had gotten through the cracks to tear everything apart. Because, if this was not a trick of the fog or the whispering voices...Ash was here. Now.

"No!" he cried, voice panicked. "We can't leave! Or...I can't, but you can, but..." He paused to straighten out his thoughts, trying his best to not stumble over his words, but nothing was really getting any easier right now. "Just not in that direction."

Still shaky, he indicated the direction towards possibly-Ash, glancing from student to student in the group with pleading eyes.

Glad for the contact Xiu offered, Poke moved closer to the group, still glancing around nervously but feeling a tad bit better. Not to mention Shun informing her of Mitsu's whereabouts. "I'm glad to hear she's at home" She said, frowning at the talk of the reaper moving off on his own.

"Amityville would have some pretty big defenses would it?" She said to Shun. "I don't think Mitsu would be in any danger so long as she stays in her room" The baku then brought up a good point. Many of the students were staying behind, but for what reason she wasn't sure. "They might be wanting to take down whatever is about to appear" She said.

And then Roch and Shun brought up the idea of forming a circle. Which was all well and good, but it brought up the oh so fun part of 'all first years in the middle'. She frowned at the idea; she was not about to be put in the jacking middle and protected like some scareling.

Her attention was then caught by another canine boil whom appeared very distraught, ready to attack at everything, including themselves. She raised a eye when the student then pleaded them not to leave. "Why can't we go in that direction?" She asked. Did he know something she didn't? She wasn't about to leave, considering everyone else was staying.

Watching everyone fall into place, she folded her arms, tail lashing about grumpily. But she still moved towards the middle, but not quite, ready to jump out and fight if she had to. Because jack be damed she was not going to be baby sat.

To say she felt uneasy was an understatement. There had only been a couple times since she had felt this way, neither of them pleasant. With the voices and the misshapen figures growing louder, Mei felt herself subconsciously take a step back. Something was there--something was coming. She didn't know who or what it was, but it was there, and it was bad.

Her gaze shifted down to Bul, a little startled when he suddenly tugged on her boot. Jack knows she wanted to do that. She turn around and run right this instant. But at the same time, she wanted too know what the hell was about to happen here. "I-I don't know."