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The only movement that came from Thackery was the occasional twitch of his fingers, toes, and tail. His lips tugged into a tiny frown as muffled little yip yip yips came from somewhere within his throat, struggling to get out, but not quite making it. He appeared to be having a nightmare, which would likely be recurring frequently over the next few nights.

When he finally awoke with a start, he snapped up into a sitting position, scrubbing at his arms with open palms as if he were trying to stop his skin from burning. His skin was pale beneath a thin sheen of sweat, and he realized he might not have been breathing until he remembered that was something kind of important to do.

"What happened...?" he murmured, blinking slowly in an attempt to get his bearings. The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes, and the faint sound of something crackling over the dull throbbing that drummed through his whole body. Then a feeling like fire was eating his whole body. His brain had screamed in a way that his mouth couldn't even mimic; he imagined it had to be something like the Lost Souls felt, and he empathized with them for the first time since he'd known of their existence.

His classmates were here. They were back in the school. That meant...the horsemen accepted the truce? Surely that couldn't be right. Panic set in as he remembered what happened to Riley. Was she okay? What if he'd done that to the other students? His stomach churned and he turned to get a better view of what was going on, hoping to see that everyone else was here and awake.

Before he could even get a glimpse of Riley, a bug skittered across the edge of the edge of his bed. Thackery went completely rigid. Bugs. Bugs were here. Bugs were here like the other bathroom. He began to cough uncontrollably as the distinct memory of a grime-covered beetle setting up camp in his mouth returned. It was the worst taste he'd ever tasted. And as a curious Cerberus, he'd tasted many things.

"Somebodypleaseiseveryoneokay?" he spouted, attempting to compress himself into the tiniest possible ball.

The dragon didn't move he felt Shehk place a hand onto his shoulder. He didn't say anything else, until he heard someone asking if everyone was alright.

"No," he said. No. Everyone was not alright. Most people were. But Riley was obviously not alright. Jericho was starting to wonder if she'd ever really recover from this too. Her condition didn't seem to be getting any worse, but the fact that she was still so unmoving. The fact that she continued to be completely unconscious.

He had tried calling out to her mentally. Apologizing to her.

Still staring at the ground, he watched as two drops fell. He seemed to flinch a bit at this as his wings pulled in tighter towards his body.

Ren had not expected Vaith to pull away - though he probably should have, considering the state they were all in. But he was stunned just the same, taking a few involuntary steps back, his eyes wide, fingers trembling.

"I - "

Why couldn't he speak properly? It seemed as though the words were refusing to form, refusing to yield, to bend to his tongue, and nothing was coming out but a strange sort of keening sound, low and quiet.

Ren shut his mouth abruptly, face growing red. He could not seem to stop himself from shaking.

Don't do this to me - not you.

Vaith, his oldest friend, the very first person he had ever met at Amityville High - that look on his face was filled with pain and anguish, his stance practically screaming get away from me. Something fizzled behind the reaper; a flash of a golden glow that dissipated nearly as quickly as it had come.

But then Vaith's fingers curled around his own, startling him, Ren's hand shaking so badly he could hardly stand still. The life was starting to come back into his friend's eyes, though they were filled with horror and pain.

"I..."

There went his words again, disappearing. He felt like Jove.

"No," said Ren, and shook his head fervently, swaying unsteadily where he stood. He felt exhausted, drained.

"Don't...do that."


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"Fine?" repeated Sparrow, still in that strangely high tone of voice, his eyes darting around nervously from person to person. He could feel Xiu's fingers in his own, warm and just as quivering as his were, her voice stronger than his own.

"Oh," he said. "Yes, of course, I'm - I'm fine - "

The words were spoken jerkily, Sparrow completely losing his composure. He was not who he had used to be - he had not had the "opportunity" to experience what the others had now experienced twice, perhaps, and yet here he was, his heart clambering in his chest, his head spinning, exhaustion seeping into his veins.

He was tired now. So very, very tired.

"Xiu," said Sparrow weakly, beginning to calm down - at least until he saw the direction of her gaze, felt the stiffening of her fingers in his own.

Riley.

Despite the fact that he had only known her a short time, it did not stop the fear from searing through his veins once more. Sparrow's grip tightened around his friend's hand, standing beside Xiu and undead boil named Mort.

"...Riley..?" he said, his voice very small.

(Entering)

Night stretched on the floor, tail curling around himself protectivatly as he woke slowly. He moved so he could see what was going on and winced. Memories flooding back. he had died...the very first time ever and he had died. Dissipated back to the Office of the nurse.

He mewed gently before pushing himself up....slowly and then sitting where he pushed himself up from. Yeah his body was not happy.

Sighing he just laid there...and sulked.

---

Amphi was less then happy as she awoke, body blazing with pain. She hand't even a moment to see if Mac or anyone was alright before they we're sent back to the office in a fiery pit. Oh the fire, it felt like she was constantly burning and though she looked down at her body, nothing was different, nothing but a faint remeberance of pain from the nets...from dying.

And the hunters, humans. They we're so scary! Something inside her broke as pushed her body up and got up. She wanted the safety of water, the safety oceans around her. She desperatly just wanted to feel safe again.

And somewhere deep inside her though, she knew she wouldn't be, that this had changed something for her. Where she had once believed the school a safe haven, it seemed more like a waiting prison. How soon would the next attack from the hunters...the humans come?

Honestly? She didn't feel strong enough to recover from this, she was just....lost on how to proceed now.

Even though Vaith couldn't have helped it, he wished he hadn't done that. Not to Ren. Not to Ren most of all. His eyes flashed with regret, the red flush still on Ren's expression. It took enormous effort to lift his stiff hand, to pat Ren gently on the cheek, the manly gentle tap of his knuckles as if trying to wake the gryphon up.

His silent message: I wont. No matter what it took, Vaith would have to be Vaith. For Ren's sake-- who had lost far too much of himself already.

"You stopped me. Thanks. Don't take it too badly-- I throw people in my sleep too."

What a lie. Ren had seen Vaith when he was sleeping and Vaith slept face flat like an undead. How did he breathe while sleeping? He was almost impossible to wake up.

His voice was something like his old self, Jack knew how much effort that took, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. it was selfish for them to ignore that Riley was injured on the opposite side of the room .. but Xiu's plaintitive voice finally drew them towards the scene. His eyes dragged towards Riley, landing on Tybalt, Night and Amphi on the way.

"Okay is a relative term, Tybalt. Are you ok after being roasted?"

"Are you guys ---" He cut off when his eyes landed on RIley.

"s**t, her wound looks like Xiu's.. but heck of a lot worse."

Nobody could say they got the greener side of Amytiville Academy .. But RIley did get the much much shorter stick. Almost non-existent, really.

Ren had always never had any issues with physical touch; he had a habit of being overly comfortable with everyone all the time, regardless of gender, though he did tend to keep a careful set of lines at all times.

But Vaith, for as long as Ren had known him, was the serious, calm, and mostly grumpy reaper that tended to keep to himself. And Ren knew he was averse to anything out of his ordinary path - things like being slightly less than manly and patting a male friend on the cheek.

So the fact that Vaith had actually done something out of the ordinary was enough to jog Ren back into a semi-normal state - at least, for the time being, and as normal as he could get under the current circumstances. He was still jittery; there seemed to be no calming that down just yet.

He gave Vaith a weak smile, pushing his bangs away from his forehead. They both knew the reaper was lying; Vaith slept like the dead most of the time, but neither was about to admit that. Not here, not now, when everything seemed to be falling apart around their feet.

Ren could still hear the horsewoman's hiss in his head, reverberating in his ears.

Fools.

He stayed close to Vaith without actually touching his friend (he would have leaned on the other, but he had a feeling the reaper was already overdosed on the amount of physical contact he was used to), Ren's eyes sweeping around the room, taking in Xiu's desperate face, Mort's nervous, tiny voice. Even Tybalt, who Ren had lost the drive to dislike at the current moment. And then, of course Riley, with whom Ren had always shared a slightly rocky relationship, and who was now lying on the ground motionless.

This is what they do to us. They break us.

And not just physically.

"But Xiu..." said Ren, and once again, he failed to form a complete sentence. He glanced up at Vaith, his thoughts unfinished.

Xiu was all right. She was alive. So...Riley...?

Waking to a stinging pain, Mei struggled to get into a upright position, but gave up after a minute of trying. What the hell happened? How did she end up here, in Nurse Cricket's office of all places--the hunters! Jolting up, Mei regretted it the moment she did. "Ow Jack.."

The last thing she remembered was the horsemen leaving with the man in the white coat..and the hunters following after them. Her mind felt like it was about to explode as she tried to recall the details of what happened, and it was for naught. She couldn't remember a damn thing! How the hell did they all end up back here? What the hell happened? Did she black out? Where was Willow--"Willow?" Mei practically yelled the ghoul's name in a panic. Where was she? She was here as well, wasn't she?

Where was Bul? Was he okay? Did he get attacked as well? She felt as though she were going to be sick at just the thought of what might have happened. But she needed to know they were alright. Patting herself down in hopes of locating her yellphone, she gave up when realizing it was gone. She must have dropped it--lost it back in the chaos. Great.

Usually it only took a little bit for Roch's FEAR to gather, but it seemed to be taking far too long this time. Not that anyone would have noticed, considering what all had happened. Slowly the FEAR gathered, twisting, turning, taking a form then losing it, only to take form again.

The reaper seemed to shimmer for a bit, translucent, then slowly settle into solidity. He was lying on the floor of the office, looking a lot better than he had when he'd burnt to a crisp. He didn't move. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow, as if he was sound asleep.

You know, because he WAS.