Darius had shut the lid on the footlocker which contained the corpse. Soon the sudden event happened caught Darius' attention, Andrew had seemed to drop down dead. Darius stood back and watched as Claire attempted to save her brother. Darius cursed under his breath, their leader is no more.

When Claire failed to revive her brother, she wept, andrew in her arms. Darius watched sadly, the third victim had been taken, that left only seven of them, with one ready to break, and another badly. Darius had no idea what Claire would do now, she wasn't the most stable of people with her powers.

"I'm sorry Claire," Darius said to her, "But we must carry on." Darius knelt down next to her, "Andrew would want you to get out, be safe." Darius wasn't sure if he was getting through the sorrow of Claire, but he felt he was right.

Claire looked up at Micheal when he spoke. ""So what do we do now? Andrew wouldn't have wanted us to give up." Tears continued to dtream down her face at the words, washing away the blood.

Claire felt lost. The sorrow she felt was overwhelming but she knew that Micheal was right. She looked at the faces of her companions. Each seemed to have an expression of sympathy. She knew she had to pull herself together. She just needed a little time.

Darius was looking at her and began to speak. "I'm sorry Claire, but we must carry on." He knelt down beside her. "Andrew would want you to get out, be safe."

Claire gently lowered Andrew's head onto the floor. She looked at Darius and then wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry.

"I...I can't believe he's gone. It's just not fair." She turned her head and looked at her companions again. Looks of concern were on their faces and Claire began to try to pull herself together.

Claire was so distraught that she didn't notice that the barriers covering the two doors in the room had disappeared.

Darius was shocked that Claire suddenly grabbed on to him. Darius allowed her to use his shoulder to cry on, Darius tried to help calm Claire down but didn't know what else to say. After a few moments she and said, "I...I can't believe he's gone. It's just not fair." Darius nodded slowly, it was unfair, people die in the wastes, but when it is someone you were close to does, it hits hard. "He is in a better place," Darius said, it was weak he knew, but it was true, any place was better then this, and he had been released from this prison.

"He is in a better place." Claire had a hard time believing Darius' words. Sonething was telling her that in this place, death was not an escape. Still she needed to get it together for everyone's sake.

Claire looked at Darius and managed a smile. "Thank you."

Giving Darius a small kiss on the cheek, she leaned back over the body of her brother. She kissed him on the forehead and closed his eyes. "Vaya con dios hermano."

Pushing herself to her feet, she looked over the group. She was still thinking of a way to help Andrew. She thought of the powers each possessed. She could remember how Ann had used her power earlier to help him. She didn't think it would help now, but still, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Ann, earlier you helped Andrew. Is there anything you can do now?" She was grasping at straws, but still had hope. And litlle hope was better than none at all.

Ann was shocked by Claire's mood swing, and the event that followed. Two lickers lay dead next to her, Claire's emotions were getting the best of her. Andrew began to comfort her, and soon the group was moving again. Ann and Bear took point this time, seeing as they were some of the few that hadn't shown any signs of being affected by the wicked complex. Having Claire next to her didn't put Ann at ease any, but she proceeded down the hallway anyway.

The next room was well lit, had many cupboards, and the doors leading deeper were blocked by a sort of barrier. Claire ran ahead to check the cupboards, Ann barely missed grabbing her arm to hold her back from running into a possible trap. She let out a small sigh as she held her Chinese Assault Rifle up in case another ambush occurred. Ann's worry was for nothing though, Claire exclaimed that she had found the group's other weapons. Ann went to the first cupboard to discover her Hunting Rifle, the rifle itself was of little value, but it had armor piercing rounds that could be helpful. She hefted the rifle with one hand, holding her other gun in her other, then slung if across her back. Next Ann moved onto another cupboard, it had some well made explosives. Ann grabbed four charges and a detonator for them, tossing them into her small pack.

A dull thud came from the other side of the room. Ann thought somebody must have dropped something, but quickly doubted that when she heard Claire call out for her brother. When Ann turned around she saw that Andrew was lying on the floor and Claire was frantically trying to revive him. Claire's tears and choked calls to her brother stunned Ann, she never knew what it was like to lose a family member. When she left her family, they had merely parted ways without more than a 'good-bye'.

The other members of the group started to comfort Claire as tears streamed down her face for the loss of her brother. After several minutes she regained some of her composure. Ann was still rooted to the spot, trying to figure out what would happen next. They had just lost their captain, and two other members of SCAR were already dead. To Ann it seemed it would only be right if Claire took her brother's spot as captain of the team.

Suddenly Ann's thoughts were interrupted by Claire, "Ann, earlier you helped Andrew. Is there anything you can do now?"

Ann blinked, then opened her mouth taking in a slow breath.

"I'll see what I can do," Ann replied quietly.

Ann approached Andrew's body, and knelt down beside it. First she tried to probe for energy around him, but there seemed to be only trace amounts. Ann then pulled her glove off and put her hand on Andrew's exposed chest, channeling as much energy as she could spare into him. For a moment she felt a connection to something inside of him, but it quickly left. Ann tried to pull back the feeling, but it had buried itself deeper than Ann could reach. Pulling away from Andrew she frowned.

Ann said lowly, "I can't do anything for your brother, Claire, I think we need to honor his and our goal. We need to stop whatever is down here," after a quiet pause Ann took a step towards Claire putting the two of them inches away and whispered, "I felt something in Andrew that wasn't supposed to be there, but it got away from me before I could identify it," pulling away from Claire, Ann mouthed, "I'm sorry Claire."

Ann wasn't sure why she had whispered that bit of information to Claire only, but she didn't feel the rest of the group needed to know.

Ann said lowly, "I can't do anything for your brother, Claire, I think we need to honor his and our goal. We need to stop whatever is down here," after a quiet pause Ann took a step towards Claire putting the two of them inches away and whispered, "I felt something in Andrew that wasn't supposed to be there, but it got away from me before I could identify it," pulling away from Claire Ann ended with, "I'm truly sorry, Claire."

Claire looked at Ann and forced another smile. "Thank you for trying,"

Claire then looked around the room at the others. They all seemed to be looking at her expectantly, as if they were waiting to follow her lead. Command was a burden she didn't want. But with Andrew gone, it seemed like she didn't have much of a choice. Glancing about the room, she noticed that the barriers on the exits had dropped> Her eyes blackened and she reached out for any sense of emotion within the room. She could only feel those of her companions. It was time to get moving, but first she had something to take care of. Walking over to her brother's body, she knelt down and picked up the weapons. Choking back the tears that were welling up, she placed his pistol into her empty holster. She handed the scoped rifle to Ethan and the other to Ann.

"You should be able to make use of these." She was speaking softly and was still in shock for the loss of her brother.

"Everybody listen up!!" She was doing her best to stay strong now, but her voice was wavering. "Finish searching the room and take all the weapons and ammo you can carry." She was trying hard to sound confident. "Darius, keep an eye out for medical supplies." She then turned back to Ann. "I need to speak with you for a moment." Claire and Ann walked over to the hallway they had used to enter the room. Claire began speaking in a hushed voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"There is something in here that is trying very hard to manipulate us. I can't help feeling that Andrew was killed not only to hinder us, but to place me on edge and make me lose control." Claire's voice was serious and she was unsur how Ann would react to what she was going to say. "Whatever is in here, it seems like it has an interest in me. To what end? I don't know. But I want your word, that if I become compromised again at anytime, you will not hesitate in doing what is best for the mission. Is that understood?"

Her tears were gone and she wrestled with her emotions as they continued to pound away at her.

Micheal just watched as Darius consoled Claire, who'd just lost her brother. Micheal said nothing but thought, "It looks like Claire's our new leader now." He then leaned on a wall and contemplated if it would even be possible for them to fully recover mentally from their experiences inside this hellhole. While Ann was talking to Claire, Micheal noticed something running towards one of the newly opened doors. Micheal said, "I think we should start walking this way." before walking in that direction.

"Maybe I am really crazy, Adam."

Bear stood dumbstruck at the scene that had just unfolded. Their leader, Andrew, had inexplicably vanished. No traces of where he could have gone were found. Claire had tears rolling down here cheeks, being consoled by some of the other members. Bear would have weeped too, but was at a complete loss of action.

"Claire, if you need me, just ask. I've been through this before, and I can expect the worst in this facility. Right now... you're not fit to lead. I'm sorry. You need to stop your emotions, we can't compromise this mission. I'm going to lead us through a bit, and you concentrate. With my knowledge and telekinetic concentration, this place will have a hell of a time manipulating me. Until your mind is clear and your eyes are dry, we can't risk losing you from some stupid mistake." Bear said, almost raising his voice.

A little harsh, eh? Poor girl just saw her brother get svcked away into the unknown. A million things must be running through her head now, and you say that? I guess I really do leave an impression on you. Give me another decade and I'll be able to control how you move too.

"This isn't any time for that, Adam. Unless you have something helpful or productive to say, I don't need it right now. We have too much on our plate and we're three people down, including our leader. Shut it." Bear shifted his sight to Ann. "Are you able to energize us a bit? I think we could all use it."

Hey, don't get snippy with me. We both know he's probably not dead, but he will be if we don't finish this mission. Right now he's stuck in some dark room, being [censored] with by a bunch of tap-dancing, headless poltergeists. That productive enough for you?

Bear sighed and shook his head, moving into the next room for some alone time. He flipped of his helmet and held it at his side. Beads of sweat rolled down the back of his neck and off his armor.

"I hate you."

Silently Ann grabbed one of Andrew's guns. It was the assault rifle with the larger clip and the red dot sight, leaving the assault rifle with a scope for Bear, she didn't like scoped weapons much. Another gun could possibly be a hindrance to Ann, but she didn't doubt she would need it later.

"I need to speak with you for a moment," Claire and Ann walked over to the hallway they had used to enter the room. Claire began speaking in a hushed voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"There is something in here that is trying very hard to manipulate us. I can't help feeling that Andrew was killed not only to hinder us, but to place me on edge and make me lose control." Claire's voice was serious and she was unsur how Ann would react to what she was going to say. "Whatever is in here, it seems like it has an interest in me. To what end? I don't know. But I want your word, that if I become compromised again at anytime, you will not hesitate in doing what is best for the mission. Is that understood?"

Ann took in what Claire was saying. A lot had changed since they had entered the complex hours ago. The group was now down three men, Claire's powers had been altered, and the team was now brimming with weapons.

It seems like things go up and down in a pattern. Maybe its the Darkness's way of trying to break us? Ann thought to herself.

"Of course its taken an interest in you, Claire. You have violet hair and eyes," Ann said joking, trying to ease Claire's, and her, emotions a bit, "But you have my word Claire... That I will do what is best for the mission if you become compromised."

Ann placed her, still ungloved, hand on Claire's cheek. Dipping into her own energy now, she gave some to Claire to help her control her emotions. Ann began to sweat a little. She then silently excused herself when Bear called her.

"Are you able to energize us a bit? I think we could all use it," Bear asked.

Ann nodded slightly. One by one she put her hand on each of her squad mates. With each touch she had to dip into her own reserves more and more, when she finished Ann was breathing heavily. She felt something prying inside her head.

Why would you help these people? What have they done for you? You've only made yourself weaker, Ann, a voice resonated strongly in her head.

It was the voice she had heard earlier, it almost sounded like hers. There was something strangely influential about it. Ann held her eyes closed for a few seconds trying to push the voice away, but without her strong reservoir of energy it was there to stay. She tried her best to ignore it, she would have to until her energy restored.

Claire chuckled at Ann's joke. She was happy that Ann was trying to make her feel better and, for a moment she did. She knew she was asking a lot of Ann but she felt better knowing if something bad happened, Ann would be there to put her out of her misery. The two approached the group again and Bear spoke.

"Claire, if you need me, just ask. I've been through this before, and I can expect the worst in this facility. Right now... you're not fit to lead. I'm sorry. You need to stop your emotions, we can't compromise this mission. I'm going to lead us through a bit, and you concentrate. With my knowledge and telekinetic concentration, this place will have a hell of a time manipulating me. Until your mind is clear and your eyes are dry, we can't risk losing you from some stupid mistake."

Claire looked at Bear and nodded her head in agreement. "You're right Bear. I'm not fit to lead right now. How should we proceed?"

It was about this time that Claire noticed Micheal heading towards one of the room's exits.

"Micheal, wait!! We don't know what's down there. We might be walking into another ambush and we don't need to lose anybody else."

Claire felt rejuvenated now thanks to Ann using her ability, and was relieved that someone else was willing to take the lead. At this moment she was under far too much strain and didn't want to be responsible for leading them all into a trap.

Darius had started to look around for what could be medical supplies, HE thought about Claire, this could cause her to go rogue and be a danger to everyone, he had no idea what he would do if it came to that. Darius pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and carried on looking. Looking to a top of shelves Darius saw to boxes. Bring them down they were white with red lines going around the edges and a large red cross in the center.

Darius opened the packs and they had everything that was needed, "Thank god," Darius muttered to himself, with medical supplies it would be a great help to them. After grabbing what ammo he could Darius went back to Claire and held up one of the first aid kits to show her, "Found some," Darius said. Darius clipped the other one on to his belt behind him and allowed it to danagle, and handed Claire the other one.

Darius handed a pack of medical suppplies to Claire. Immedaitely she opened it and began to take inventory of the contents. Removing some fresh bandages and peroxide soultion, she walked over to Ethan.

"Let's take a look at that wound?' Claire started to clean and redress Ethan's wound.

When she had finished, she attended to the others as well. It didn't take much time, and when she fiinished, she turned to Bear.

"So what's our next move?"

Claire was sitll feeling the pain of losing her brother. It was good to have Bear in command. She couldn't help thinking that with the state of mind she was in, that any decision she made, would be the wrong one. There was also the fact that she wanted revenge. She felt an intense hatred for the thing that was doing this to them and she wanted to lash out at it. She was having a hard time keeping the hatred and rage bottled up inside her. But for the good of the group, she had to.

I was happy that Claire was going to comply. It wasn't a power struggle, it was only thinking for the good of the group. We were all too tired, physically and emotionally. Ann's rejuvenation helped us out a bit. Suddenly, the air became cold. The room that I was in was completely flooded with darkness. Several screams and gruesome sounds of blades sharpening began to ring.

RUN AWAY LITTLE GIRL, RUN AWAY! You'll never get away! You're stuck here! You're going to die here, right now. I'm going to chop you into pieces and boil you until your flesh is soft and tasty. Right after I'm done...

My spine amplifiers flared a bit as I blocked out all of the voices. My mental concentration was a gift I had, and came in handy way more than people could believe. Sadly, not all voices were able to stop.

No... no! Stop! Don't do this, you don't have to do this! I don't want to die, not here, not in this [censored] compound! Not by a disgusting monster like youuuahhhh!! Claire!! Claire!!!!

It was Andrew... he as still alive. He was somewhere around here, just like Adam had said. Somewhere in this facility, he was going through unfathomable horror and pain. We had to get moving. I turned back to the rest of the group with a blank stare.

"All of you, get in here." As I finished and looked back, gruesome scenes of death were laid out in front of me, in the now brightly lit room. Several people were posed in unthinkable deaths. Ethan and Jian's bodies were piled on each other, riddled with bullets. I myself was nailed with railroad spikes to a wall with my hands, eyes, and spine missing. A waterfall of blood poured on to the floor.

"I hope you all have a good stomach."

"Micheal, wait!! We don't know what's down there. We might be walking into another ambush and we don't need to lose anybody else.", Claire yelled as Micheal began walking away from the group. Micheal thought, "Might as well come back then.", and did so. As Micheal walked back, he thought about Claire. Though Micheal lacked telepathy, he could tell that the loss of her brother was making her slightly unstable. Micheal thought, "I just hope she doesn't go nuts on us or something. I don't want to think about what we'd have to do next."

Suddenly, Micheal heard Bear calling everyone and rushed over. Ignoring Bear's warnings, Micheal stepped inside and nearly threw up at the Gorn right in front of him. Both Ethan and Jian were riddled with bullets on the ground, while Bear was pinned to the wall with railroad spike and missing his hands, eyes, and spine. Micheal looked around and found himself hung upside-down and bisected on a wall, blood splattered everywhere. Micheal remarked, "This appears to be very similar to my own powers, but I don't know how to dissapate it."

"Good god all mighty!" Darius shouted, "Bloody hell, what the hell is this?" Darius looked at the their duplicates on the floor, dead in the more guresome of fashions. Darius scanned the room, looking for himself, upon finding it Darius looked away. He was on the floor, impaled with what looked to be a steel beam through the torso. Darius turned away and shook his head.

"Thats the worst we have seen so far," Darius pointed out. Darius wished to wipe his mind of what he just saw, but it was there, at the fore front making it' self known to him.

Claire started to walk to the room. As she drew closer, she could hear a voice in her head.

Claire...Claire...Come see

The voice belonged to Andrew and it had a soothing quality to it. Claire went to the doorway and looked in. It was a large room with a chair in the middle. Sitting in the chair was a man.

Claire

Claire started to approach the man, who was hunched over in the chair. As she got closer the voice changed. It was no longer in her head, but coming from the man.

"Claire...Come and see"

"Andrew??? I can't beleive your alive!!! Claire moved quickly to the chair and placed a hand on her brother's shoulder.

As soon as her hand touched Andrew, he rose to his feet and turned to face Claire. His eyes had been ripped from their sockets and blood was streaming down his face. His jaw had been partially ripped away, and what reamined was hanging grotesquely In his hand was a knife that was covered in blood.

"Look Claire!!! Look what I can do!!!" The false image of Andrew raised the knife above his head and broughtt it down towards Claire. Wihtout warning the image in the room changed and she could see the bodies of her companions torn apart and strewn about the room. Claire saw herself being ripped apart by invisible hands.

Claire opened her mouth to scream and her eyes went wild with terror. She turned back towards the door and could see the others standing there. She forced back the scream and tears rolled down her cheek. She walked over to the door and trembled in fear. She looked up at Bear. the words came as nothing more than a whisper.

"I...saw....Andrew. No....not Andrew"

Claire reached out in her mind, trying to hang on to what was left of her sanity.

The gruesome sight was hard on everyone. We were seeing our deaths. At least what this damned place wanted us to think our deaths would be. Claire obviously wasn't doing very well already with her brother's disappearance, and seeing her own and his own death would be completely devastating to her mental capacity. She sat crying in the doorway, her violet eyes glistening.

The bodies began to slowly deteriorate, almost melting to a mushy fleshy, vanishing without a trace into the tile floor. The blood and organs were almost absorbed into the walls. The spies that had held my crucified body onto the wall were pressed in, leaving small holes in the wall. A murky black puddle began to form in the middle of the room, almost like an oil spill.

"Claire... I know you're not doing too well right now, but you need to block the emotion." I slowly backpedaled to her, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Get up. Come on. I don't like the look of this, guys. Get back, stay back." As the words escaped my mouth, we were all backed into the previous room, staring at the humanoid figure forming in the murky black. As it arose, it took a familiar form.

The creature began to trudge over to us, bloody footsteps following its path. As it walked, the blood and gore once again filled the room. The human eyeballs rolled into view, revealing a dark brown iris. A mouth slowly opened, strings of the black muck sticking it shut. The taint began to seep back to the ground. A voice began to speak.

"Oh Claire... hermanita. It's me, your brother. Aren't you happy to see me? Aren't you happy to see your brother? I'm not dead, I'm ok! It's all going to be alright." The tainted Andrew stretched his arms to embrace his sister. "Come give your brother a hug. It's nice to see me again, isn't it?" Andrew said.

Immediately my amplifiers flared with a bright orange, ready to defend. I wasn't sure how Claire would be reacting to the sight of her brother, wether she was susceptible to his guise or not. This was going to be hard to get out of.

"Michael, can't you change him into something else for Claire? There's no way she's going to attack her brother. Ann, keep up with the reservoir if you can. I know it hurts, but we all need to be on top of our game after that last manifestation. Darius and Dax, be ready to fire. And Ethan, for the love of god, cut that damn thing in half!" I yelled, standing our ground.

The creature seemed to grow with anger at my yelling. Sharp, dark claws began to sprout from his finger tips, and large yellow fangs were beginning to form. Its eyes remained on Claire, slowly moving towards her, looking almost like a prowling deathclaw. A putrid smell of death and blood filled the room.

"Come on, Claire. It's time to come home."

((OOC: Sorry for the huge amount of inactivity. But I'm going to refer to Andrew as "The Puppet" since it's not really him.))

IC

Ethan looked at the fleshy puppet of Andrew, but he looked past the outside skin. With his powers always in effect, he could see the ghostly puppeteer, controlling the combination of bodies from the inside. The disgusting creature inside of the puppet had a purplish glow, and it's skin looked as if it was constantly moving nowhere. It was truly an evil spirit, and only Ethan could see the creature for what it really was. The thought of it getting to Claire made a shiver go up Ethan's spine, and he quickly pulled his blade out to prevent that from happening.

"...And Ethan, for the love of God, cut that damn thing in half!" Barry yelled, just as Ethan pulled his sword out.

Ethan wondered if anything would happen to him, if the attack failed. The creature inside could easily overpower Ethan, judging by it's inside looks. Even Andrew himself seemed like he could overpower Ethan; and that most likely true. Ethan sighed, anyone could hold a silver sword; if he didn't make, it didn't matter. There were only 3 or 4 ghosts so far, anyways.

As the puppet got closer, Ethan jumped to attack. His silver sword easily sliced through the puppet's skin, and sunk deeply into it's body. To Ethan's horror, his blade stopped half way through the body, and the cut open part rebuilt itself almost instantly. He watched the silver burn the skin, he could tell from the steam coming out of the body, and the faint smell of burning flesh. The body rejected Ethan's sword violently, and Ethan flew back to the wall. His sword still in hand, and covered in a thick black goop.

Looking directly to the puppeteer, Ethan could tell he did some sort of damage. As the body visible by every stood unharmed, the ghost inside was in serious pain. But it didn't stop it from getting closer to Claire, and the rest of the group. Ethan jumped to his feet, and yelled;

"Stop that thing!"

Ann stepped into the room that contained the gruesome illusion of the group brutally killed. Ann's image lay on the floor near the corner, it had several nails drilled into it's spine and skull, and many chops from a dull hatchet that had been left in her shoulder. She gasped, then looked away the gruesome sight was going to make her lose her lunch. After a few moments she looked back to be sure it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her, the images were beginning to turn into an inky oil that gathered on the center of the floor.

You don't look too good. Maybe you should give up now... The voice was beginning to fade as Ann's energy returned, it was becoming weaker, more pitiful.

Shut up, you spawn of hell. I am stronger than you, I always have been, and I always will be, Ann told the voice in her head.

There was no answer, but it would be back. Ann would have to be sure not to dip so deep into her energy, or strain herself more than necessary. The SCAR members turned around by Bear's command, it was obvious that the group was beginning to break. As they backed up the liquid began to form into a human-like shape, it was a crude and ugly form of Andrew. Ann readied her Chinese Assault Rifle, training the dot on the head of the sickly figure.

"Oh Claire... hermanita. It's me, your brother. Aren't you happy to see me? Aren't you happy to see your brother? I'm not dead, I'm ok! It's all going to be alright," The tainted Andrew stretched his arms to embrace his sister, "Come give your brother a hug. It's nice to see me again, isn't it?" Andrew said.

It's voice was Andrew's voice, unlike the voice Ann would occasionally hear in her head.

"Ann, keep up with the reservoir if you can. I know it hurts, but we all need to be on top of our game after that last manifestation."

Ann frowned at Bear's question, she could, but she didn't want to. It would be tough to transmit energy through touch if a fight broke out, instead Ann began to extend a web of invisible energy that was invisible to the human eye. It reached into each member of the team, wavering slightly as energy was gifted to everyone. This method wasn't very efficient as energy was lost through the air, but it was the most practical application of her power.

The voice began to creep back into her head, Feeling weak?

Micheal saw the room suddenly return to normal, or at least what passed for normal around here. Suddenly, a black puddle appeared in the center of the room and a creature formed out of it and walked towards Claire. Though it appeared vauguely humanoid, the creature looked like something out of a Lovecraftian horror story, something humans were never meant to see. As it walked closer it said, "Oh Claire... hermanita. It's me, your brother. Aren't you happy to see me? Aren't you happy to see your brother? I'm not dead, I'm ok! It's all going to be alright. Come give your brother a hug. It's nice to see me again, isn't it?"

Micheal was terrified and felt like running, but he stood his ground. Micheal heard Bear yell, "Michael, can't you change him into something else for Claire? There's no way she's going to attack her brother." As Ethan attacked the monster Micheal thought, "The other's are counting on me, I have to at least try."

Micheal said, "I'm on it.", and started working on Claire's mind. As he started to alter her perceptions he thought, "Her sanity's only hanging by a thread, and here I thought this place was crazy." Suddenly a voice yelled, "WE WILL DEVOUR YOU!" This made Micheal break his concentration, booting him out of her mind." Micheal said, "There's someone else here interfering with her mind, I'm going to need some help." "What's wrong", said the voice, "can't take the heat?" "Get out of my head.", Micheal muttered as the voice laughed, its voice ringing inside Micheal's skull.

Darius was relieved to see the issulion of their own deaths disappear. The black puddle forming in the floor of the room gave pause for concern now. The creature which spawned from the form was frightening to behold, upon seeing it clearly and it speaking, Darius glanced at Claire to see what she would do, this could easily be the final nail in the coffin for her.

Darius listened as Bear gave out the orders, Darius nodded at the orders said and raised his assualt rifle ready to give it a hail of bullets. Darius watched at the futile attempt to server it half by Ethan. Darius was astonished by it's resislance, Darius aimmed towards the creature's head, and pulled the trigger to see the rounds travel true and hit the creature multipe times, yet it wasn't even fazed beside a low growl.

"How do we kill this?!" Darius asked, "It won't stop." Darius stepped back a few steps as he watched as the creature, always heading towards it's target, Cliare.

As the Andrew thing moved towards Claire, the struggle in her mind continued. She was beginning to shut down completely. She wasn't truly aware of what was going on. In her mind she was swimming in a sea of blackness. She could hear the voices of her companions but they were muffled and distorted. A part of her wanted to die. She continued to swim through the murky blackness of her mind. To everyone else she would have appeared to be catatonic. She wasn't moving or making a sound.

As Claire swam though the inky darkness, she could see a light above her. She tried to reach out to it, but felt herself being pulled deeper into the abyss. Claire was alone in the darkness and was beginning to welcome the idea of death. If for no other reason than to escape the facility.

Claire?.

She could hear the voice of her brother calling out to her in her mind. The soothing voice of Andrew was echoing all around her.

I will be with you soon hermano.

Claire had given up and allowed herself to sink into oblivion.

Claire, don't give up. You have to fight.

She sank deeper and deeper into the blackness.

I can't hermano. I failed you and the rest of the team. This is for the best.

Claire continued to sink deeper and deeper until she came face to face with her brother. He had a caring look on his face and was smiling.

You can never go back to what you were. You have to be reborn?You have to fight.

Claire started to sink again. Her mind was collapsing in on itself and she welcomed death.

I will be with you soon hermano.

Andrew faded from view and she was alone again. His voice echoed around her one last time.

Our friends are going to die if you don't do something. You need to stay alive. Not just for them, but for me as well. You have to find me. I love you hermanita.

The words rang in her ears. She knew now that Andrew was still trapped in this unholy place. She started to fight against the darkness and began to swim upwards towards the light

As the beast slowly inched towards Claire, her eyes began to flourish with life. she was beginning to see her humanity, and not fall under this monster's trap. Though the life was there, her mind was still wandering, an inner struggle only she could fight. The entire group had begun to take their roles. Ann's energy reservoir was infinitely useful and much appreciated, though she seemed to have her mind wandering. Michael's illusions had apparently not affected Claire or the puppet, and Ethan's attacks were nearly useless against his regeneration.

"Michael, what the hell was that? Why isn't Claire snapping out of it? We don't need these stupid ghost mind games right now, we need to get out of here! Ann, I'm sorry, I know using your power is tiring, but we need to move. Come on, we need to find a way to kill this thing!" I grabbed Claire by the arm, and began to lead her towards the doorway. Before we could reach it, Ethan's body came flying overhead and crashed through the rusted frame. Chunks of metal were strewn about, his body on top. The puppet had given him a good swipe out of the way. No lacerations were made.

As we all went through the door, we were greeted by a long, narrowing hallway with various rooms on each side. They were once lodging of some sort. The black taint began to wrap itself around the frame of the door, slowly filling the entire narrow space. The only way to escape it was going to be keep running down the hallway. I scooped Ethan up to his feet by his shoulders, hoping he could keep going. He was a lot tougher than I thought.

Claire seemed to be completely unaware of what was going on. All of her energy and willpower was being used to combat whatever torments were in her mind, and from my standing, it looked like one hell of a fight. We kept a brisk pace, our feet clacking against the tile, moving across each doorway. As we ran past them, in our peripheral vision we could see corpses, blood, and grotesque demons. Several large, multieyed creatures had been snarling at us, looking almost like wanamingos. As we reached the end door, we were greeted with a not so nice red light. The door was locked, and a black taint was closing in on us.

"Guys... keep doing what you're doing. I need you to give everything you've got for this. Keep your fire on the puppet, and stall him as much as you can. I'm going to try and tear off tis door. Ann, please, make sure Claire is OK. If you can, attack that damn thing. This is do or die. Ethan, keep being a trooper." I said, immediately turning back to the door. It was several inches thick and would take almost all of my concentration to manipulate it.

As my amplifiers flared, small pillars of light jetted out from each port. My visor was glowing bright as ever, and my hands were almost completely engulfed in the blue light. The liquid like substance began to wrap around the door as I groaned in pain, arching my back in an effort to remove the door. It was slowly giving, the metal bolts coming loose. This was going to be a close call.

(( OOC: Please do not kill the creature. He's meant to be tough. ))

"Michael, what the hell was that? Why isn't Claire snapping out of it? We don't need these stupid ghost mind games right now, we need to get out of here! Ann, I'm sorry, I know using your power is tiring, but we need to move. Come on, we need to find a way to kill this thing!" Bear shouted.

Ann barely heard as her focus was on maintaining the web of energy. It was taking a toll on her though, and the pestering voice in her head wasn't helping her. Finally she realized it was time to collapse the web, without a second thought she pull away from everyone. She turned with the rest of the group to run, but she wasn't as fast as everyone else. Fortunately she was moving faster than the Puppet was.

Heads up, the voice cackled in her head.

Just as the voice had finished speaking Ann was hit with the Puppet's arm. It had extended several feet longer than it originally was. Ann slid across the floor, her Assault Armor, luckily, taking most of the hit for her. She stopped sliding next to the locked door, and saw that Bear was going to attempt to tear if off its hinges.

Bear told the team, "Guys... keep doing what you're doing. I need you to give everything you've got for this. Keep your fire on the puppet, and stall him as much as you can. I'm going to try and tear off tis door. Ann, please, make sure Claire is OK. If you can, attack that damn thing. This is do or die. Ethan, keep being a trooper."

Ann propped herself against the wall of the narrow hallway, and propped her Chinese Assault Rifle on her thigh. She trained the barrel on the Puppet as best she could and began to spit bullets at it in short bursts. The bullets didn't do much in terms of hurting the Puppet, but it slowed him down a bit. Ann's rifle made a distinctive click, telling her it was empty. Dropping the gun she reached for Claire, grabbing her hand, she transferred almost all of her energy she had, leaving just enough to stay conscious. Her breathing was stiff and lengthy, she wasn't in any condition to fight, but hoped her energy boost would help.

Well... This has gone great guys, I'm glad you kept going with it and all. I do NOT have my internet back as yet, I'm on a completely different stystem here. So I just ask that you keep on keeping it going, mmk? I'll be back... Eventually...

Edit: I'm gonna post while I can I guess...

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You know what it's like to be dead? To swim through the nothingness that is your existence and float around in the maelstrom of horror and fear? Well, I knew what it was like now, it was [censored]. As well as that, it was well and truly boring, as I could feel no obligations to do anything. I couldn't keep a track of time and everything just floated by my tattered mind. I knew my body was no more, but I still felt strength.

Floating beyond another seemingless empty patch of darkness I noticed a bright light. Moving my way towards it I realised I could change which way I floated with my mind. Putting all my energy into going towards the light I started to go faster and faster. Within a few more seconds, or minutes; or perhaps even hours I made it to the light. Moving even closer I dissapeared into it's brilliance.

Falling down into the realms of the facility again I hit the floor, with an 'oomph' I felt a small bit of breath escape me. Moving my limb in front of me I saw what looked to be a ghostly arm, my eyes widening I moved up my left arm into view as well. It was the same, looking down I saw myself in a horrible way, the way of my death.

Blood was spattered all over my armor, although I could only just notice it's stain against my transperent form. Breathing in suddenly I felt no relief from my chest with the intake of breath. Sighing lightly I looked off to the wall, getting up slowly I made my way over to it. Touching my hand against it I almost felt an urge to release some of my energy, doing so I fell straight through the wall.

Blinking rapidly I stared into the room, there was every member of the squad; dead in a number of ways. I noticed the others grouped around the door and Claire moving towards what looked to be my body. Falling backwards I went straight back through the wall and into the other room. With small tears I turned around and walked down the hallway. I knew that I couldn't do anything to help them... Yet.

It wasn't my choice at the moment, there was an energy that pulled me towards it. I didn't have much of a choice, and I knew that my body was being put to use. Suddenly I fell through the floor, continuing to tumble into a dark abyss I hit the ground with a large thud. Looking up slowly I saw a single shadow in a cone of light, staring at me.

Staying in my position I felt energy surge through my veins, as I looked upon this figure in the light. I quickly recognized the face and took a quick gasp, another figure appeared next to it, followed by one more. As I stood up slowly I felt the tears trickle down my face as yet another two more beings appeared in the group. Stamping my foot on the ground once they all dissapeared and shrivelled into dust.

Staring into the light I moved into it myself, stepping into the center I knew I had a choice. I made it and waited to see what would happen, all I knew was that Claire would be talking to a small piece of me from now on...