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In case the thread was closing and we were both gone >_<

Mandy twitched, clutching her head in a desperate attempt to ward off the voices as she stumbled through the portal. For a blessed moment everything had been clear, or maybe it had been for a hellish moment because when everything was clear she could see beyond the fightfightfight and the voices and the ache of home to the devastation beyond and was that really better than her-

She moaned, head throbbing as everything seemed to roil and shake as though the earth was just as tumultuous as her emotions. She threw a hand out, grasping onto a tree as the weeping forest suddenly came back into focus.

They were back!

She could have shouted to the sky, screamed in joy and danced except she was exhausted – bone deep exhausted.

That was when the boogeymen striked, dragging them and yelling about quarantine and generally saying and doing things that felt of not the good.

“Noooooooo, get off! Lemme go! I wanna go hoooome!” Mandy struggled slightly against her herders, but she could barely move her feet to walk where they pushed them than to fight again. Even when she felt a burst of terrified strength at the sight of the gym, because too many bad memories had already been stirred this day, she still could not break from the crowd.

In the end it was probably for the best as if she had been left on her own she may not have made it further than the lawn for it was only seconds after the words ‘quarantine for the next day ‘ where uttered that she felt the pull of unconsciousness, crumbling wherever she could.

This wasn’t Amity. It was blurry and confusing, but Roch was positive it wasn’t Amity, even if it looked like it. Amity didn’t come with boogies--they’d gotten rid of them. Roch looked around, seeing all the boogies, knowing that it was finally over--he had been there when the four clans islands had gone up in smoke--he’d been the one to open up that room on War to begin with--he was SO SCREWED. The punk boil cursed and jerked, trying to get free of the boogies, trying to run away--his shadow step wasn’t working. “JACK YOU!” he bellowed. “I didn’t DO ANYTHING!”

But he had. He knew he had, they knew he had, even as they shoved him into the quarantine room he was positive at least half of them had looked at his file before this even started, and were planning on culling him from the herd, taking him to a different lock up after they let the law abiding students stay behind. “LET ME OUTTTT!” he bellowed, slamming into the fence with his shoulder. “LET ME OUTTTT!” he bellowed again, hitting the fence over and over again with the last traces of energy that he had. Tears were threatening.

It almost seemed as if the insanity had gotten him more than the others--but that wasn’t it. That wasn’t it at all. Even if he’d been free of the insanity completely, he still would have been reacting this way. “I didn’t do it,” he said, so tired that he was sliding down the fence until he was crouched next to it. “I didn’t. I’ve gone straight. Well... y’know... straight enough. I don’t--“

His eyelids were heavy, threatening to close. “I just wanna go home,” he whispered, a single tear escaping him, sliding down his cheek. “I wanna see... I wanna see Bones. I wanna see... Dad.” He would be in juvie before the morning came, he was certain. No matter what he did to change, he would always--always be a useless thieving punk from the wrong side of the streets, he thought as his body dragged him into sleep, still curled up next to the fence.

He had nightmares.

He heard many of the students whispering it. Amityville... Amityville... They were back. At the school that most of the students had come from, it appeared. He was still dazed, the voices and the... well all of it. It was still there, fading but on the edge of his consciousness. It continued to fade and they were safe and home, or close enough, and now that the adrenaline was leaving his system he was so tired. Maybe he'd just sit for a minute... they were in quarantine, he could explore later when it was lifted. So maybe, just for e bit, he could res... he began snoring softly.

Draven had never been so glad to see something familiar. He had no real idea of what had, but he knew it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He also knew he was glad to be back. Even if it meant he was in quarantine. That was still better than being where they had just been.

With one last effort the phoenix managed to enter one of the portals. The portal they had been trying to get it away from, and the humans began to file after it. It bothered him. All of that prey slipping away. He needed to destroy them. Hurt them all before they left. Maybe it was a student's fault. Maybe he needed to hurt someone. Yes. Cause pain. Destroy.

The chime of bells was unexpected, but the clear sound cut through the air and sliced through the insanity for a moment. Then he remembered. Remembered attacking students. Remembered that he had tried to attack Alexander. Why would he do that? He had not meant to...he had not done it.

But it felt like he had.

He could not raise his eyes to face the zomboil, could not even see how sorry he was. A horsewoman was telling them to go back to Halloween and he was just fine with that. He could handle that. Just go back and maybe it would all be a bad dream. He had those. But as they left he caught site of the crater in the land, colorless and...no that was real. He could not have dreamed that up. All of this had been real. Alexander was beside him but...what could they even say to each other? He had not meant it but...

They stepped through the portal back into the woods and then there was the faintest hint of a murmur and the thought flooded back to him even stronger. What if Alexander had meant what he said? The flash of grey before everything settled down seemed to think so.

But no...if he had not meant it maybe it was a problem that they all faced? He had seen others attacking students. He had been attacked himself. Maybe...but he did not want to trust it. He was in a place that should have been familiar but seemed off. He was hearing things but when he looked around they could not have come from anything. There was a cool brush against his hand, but he no longer knew what it meant. What anything meant. Boogeymen were surrounding them, and he heard voices. Quarantine. But were the voices even real?

Alexander's hand found his. Was grasping it. Squeezing it perhaps a bit too tightly. And he was not sure what it meant but perhaps that was a good thing. Touching was a good thing to Alexander. His own hand tightened as well, not sure what all was happening as they were herded to the gymnasium but determined not to get lost in the crowd. To the gymnasium. He knew that place. It was almost safe in its familiarity. Passing into the enclosure it was like the voices lessened, the slack giving him a bit more clarity before exhaustion began to wash over him.

Alexander was not one to move very much or very far very fast. Which meant that they were close to the fence still when he broke the silence between the two of them...silence if one ignored the voices. Asking...or perhaps telling him to stay. But...it was as if he just wanted him to stay because he did not want him to leave. It was confusing. He was insecure but...the zomboil wanted him to stay. He was not about to leave. Even if it was just for Alexander, even if he meant nothing...if he could help him he would stay...that made him useful...correct?

"As you wish," he answered, fighting off sleep. He had fought through exhaustion before. At least...he could long enough to half sit, half collapse next him against the fence before sleep finally overtook him.

It was a wonder the nature demon could even walk. Even through the pain of her screaming roots that were seared at the ends from that cold fire, she pressed on. Far too groggy, too tired, spent in ever sort of way. she didn't even look to who was around her, just followed the mass to the gym. They were home, but she couldn't even register, or show gratitude for it. For what ever reason, she was just... too spent to really care about anything. Her mind was calm, but from time to time whispers would murmur through her mind... ones she couldn't quite catch ever.

Finally, she settled onto the ground, her roots sprawling from the pathetic half-attempt of forming legs, the tips of most crooked and coiled painfully. Listening to the hushed words of those above her, Ev hadn't enough focus to concentrate on a single word, slowly being taken under sleeps embrace.