Erin was busily locked away in the soundproof section of the room, which amounted to a large corner that covered almost his entire side but for the space outside left for his bed and dresser. It was thick concrete and 2-inch transparent glass, the concrete composing the majority of the wall and the glass filling the center, a bit of it left bare to let in light and let Erin see outside of his secluded room. It was filled with all sorts of instruments; nothing new, most second-hand, all obviously used vigorously over several years. A cello lay in an open case on top of a massively complicated soundboard, an electric and acoustic guitar mounted on the wall above it. On the table next to the soundboard were closed up cases for various other instruments; to someone who knew a bit about instruments, a harpsichord, violin, viola, and a banjo. Yet another table next to it; this one mismatched to the general decor of the room. On this one were various woodwind instruments, none of which Erin was particularly good with. Buried underneath them was a battered electronic piano, dusty and ancient.

Erin was deliberately bowing away at a violin, eyes squinted in concentration as his left hand flew across the fingerboard. In a fit of inspiration, he stood up, almost dancing around the tiny soundproof room as he played. He no longer was entirely sure where his fingers were going; they had switched from fast flying to a gliding. Hes right arm began to play legato, staccato sections breaking in from time to time. It was around this time that it occurred to him that he should have turned the recording on, and the spell was broken. His left hand cramped, and he dropped the delicate instrument on the ground. Erin heard a snap and a bright twang, and couldn't bring himself to look down. As his face clenched and twisted with mental anguish at the loss of his instrument, he thought he heard a loud thump from across the house. This should have been impossible due to the room being soundproof, but when he waited a few more moments, he could feel the tremors rocking the floor. Slightly panicked, he pushed open the door to the rest of the room.

It was divided almost perfectly by an invisible line. On the left side, if one were standing outside of the room, resided Erin's soundproof room in the back corner, the front stretching out as far as it could without crossing the invisible dividing line. The empty space that was left near the front on the immediate left to someone standing on the outside was occupied by a small twin bed and a wardrobe/dresser.

On the opposite side was Zack's section of the room, decorated in the way in which he had chosen; Erin had never paid much particular attention to this, preferring to leave the boy to his devices and keep that at that. He was never one to muck about in other peoples' business.

Ignoring the boy that still laid asleep on his bed, Erin walked out the door that too was divided perfectly by the line in the center of the room, and rushed out into the main area. It seemed everything that had happened was passed already. There were bloodstains left on the carpet, scuffs all along the wooden floors. Erin walked to the center of the room to examine the blood before something hit him. Something of an epiphany, you might say.

Maxwell was supposed to visit today.

Instantly he rushed to Tarin's room, unconcerned with the other goings-on. He saw Cupid there, as he knew he would. He was sweaty and bleeding, his face bruised and his nose might have been broken. Even sitting down, Cupid's head was almost level with Erin's. Erin heard arguing and screams throughout the house. From the locked room where Maxwell tended to take people to be punished, there were loud grunts and whimpers, various bangings barely audible above the din all around him. He tried not to think about that too much.

"Cupid, I...You..." Erin took a moment to gather his thoughts, his high voice stuttering for a moment. He thought it would be best to put his feelings on this matter as frankly as possible. "What the fuck is going on here, man?"

A wary gaze met with the eyes of Erin as Cupid continued to sit on the floor. Then his focus darted about the room to each area where something occurred. "Maxwell... came..." he managed to get out of his system after much silence. "He was bringing pills today... and he brought some kids too... They were so young... So... fuckin' young... Look at that little girl in the kitchen and tell me that isn't the youngest that has been through here... She looks like she's five years old..." Palms dug into his weary eyes; he felt terribly helpless. "I tried... to stop him from gettin'ta Tarin... She... She's havin' an episode... I can't even get in the room, she has the door blocked... So I grabbed onto the fucker's leg and he got dragged until he kicked me in the face. I... don't really know what happened after... I woke up and he was gone and someone is in the room and I was in X's arms... Clara screamed somethin' about Gabe... I... I think he sacrificed himself again... She said somethin' about him saying he scared her into the room...."

Cupid brought his knees to his chest and placed his eyes against his kneecaps as his body shook uncontrollably; it would take quite some time for the pills to settle. "I woke up and got my pills... He wouldn't let me have them... Then Ryudo... he found someone. One of the missing kids... and... I think it's Rah-" He shook his head. "You came after him... He's the only guy who has ever gotten Tarin to open up... and the only person she's ever let help her... but he did somethin' and Maxwell took him away... It can't be him though... He just looks like him... That guy has got to be dead by now... He can't be... the guy who looks like a corpse in there... can't be...."

He rested his head against Tarin's door with his eyes closed as he let out a long sigh. "Now... she won't come out... I think girls were fighting... I don't care..."



If Rix was older she would understand why she felt so confused at this very moment. Someone was being kind to her was odd once papa stopped visiting her. Part of her felt warm and loved, like she had then, while the rest was scared she would turn against her and began beating Rix much like her mother did. It terrified her that Alexis may turn into her mother, then tell her how she's possessed and worthless. Truly, she didn't want to let go. Each time Alexis had to clean part of herself Rix wanted to cry, but she saw the older girl was still near her so she could keep her composure.

Bath? The tiny child cocked her head to the side. She couldn't remember the last time she took a bath, it had been so long since her mother cared to bathe her. Rix glanced down at one of her hands then back at Alexis before nodding. "Will Jezz, Binkie, an' Mo won' get mezz up in da wach, right? Papa gave me Jezz an' Binkie an' Mo... He zayz dey'll protect me an' keepz me warm at night... I don' wanna lose dem. I love dem." The girl held tightly onto her blankets, it was clear that she had named each blanket. "Aleckziz can make me a new blankie? I like lellow cauze papa lovez lellow. Can you make a lellow one, Aleckziz?Pleaze?"

((Tiny text is tiny and hurts the sickie's eyes xD ))

Noticing that the small girl had still gotten upset when she put her down, every couple of seconds she'd stroke her hair. It was a pretty color, not far off from her's. They could've been sisters in another life. When the girl agreed to a bath, she almost kissed Rix from ecstatic happiness. It really meant that much to the germaphobic girl.

With a gentle smile, she nodded. "I promise nothing will hurt your blankets. I'll even handwash them and air-dry them if you'd feel better that way. They sound like very special blankets." She scooped Rix up in her good arm, giving her a moment to grab her neck before she began walking. Instead of going straight to the bathroom, she went to the bedroom she now shared with Rix.

"This is our room Rix. You live here now, okay?" She smiled politely. There was a small child's bed across the room and opposite her own. There was a small chesnut wooden toybox by Rix's bed, but everything else was plastic and white or slightly-off white. Alexis kicked the latch open on one of the plastic bins by her bed. Inside it were maybe 60 skeins of yarn, 2 of 25 shades of yellow you could think on, then 10 skeins of multi-shade yellow. "Pick your two favorite out of these. Simply point, that's all I need." She smiled politely again, but this time she was trying to be polite about her OCD and germaphobia. Rix wouldn't understand, she was sure of it. All a child would hear is 'Don't touch' and she knew all too well how much that didn't work..

Erin's mind ran through what Cupid just said, analyzing every bit of it. Maxwell was here, but he already knew that. The rampant chaos throughout the house was enough to tell of that. As Cupid mentioned the child in the kitchen, he did indeed crane his neck over to look. He guessed five, maybe six at the most. Erin was aware of what went on with the children, as much as he hated to admit it. It tarnished his image of Maxwell, but he tried to forget what happened behind closed doors. He tried not to think about the screams, the "punishments", the beaten and bruised and wet bodies of the children who came back out. Erin would almost go so far as to say he loved Maxwell, and his mind decided that this was pretty much instruction to block out everything that didn't put him in a positive light. So Erin sometimes actually didn't know what went on behind the closed doors, what caused the screams. Sometimes his mind decided he was better off not knowing. Or rather, a part of his mind.

Erin's fist absently clenched as Cupid told him how Maxwell kicked him in the face. That was beginning to push it. He knew how Maxwell tended to punish and hurt Cupid quite often, watched as Maxwell deprived Cupid of his pills. This was yet another thing his mind would occasionally decide to erase from his memory. A pang of worry also was felt in the back of his mind when Tarin was mentioned. He still had a bit of feelings for her, but now it was mostly just brotherly. His mind wracked with worry and guilt for not waking up earlier, distracting him from the story of Gabe's sacrifice, which he probably would have "forgotten" anyway.

Erin was puzzled, however, by Cupid's last statement. The guy who was supposed to be dead.

"Rod?" he asked, waiting for the surprise to spread across Cupid's face. Erin had never revealed that he had knowledge of Rod's existence. Being as small as he was, Erin could very easily hide around places and listen. And being Cupid's friend, he tended to hear a lot from the past. Rod had been mentioned a few times, or occasionally muttered in his sleep, and Erin had managed to gather enough from eavesdropping and kids who had been there longer than he to have a vague idea of who Rod was. "What is he doing here?" Apparently Rod was dead, or so Erin had heard. But if he wasn't... well, a lot could change in Maxwell's mansion, and very quickly, too. Erin didn't exactly know this, but already the tingling feeling of coming and unstoppable change lingered in the back of his mind.

The impact was less than she expected, because the Empress had caught a hold of Clara's shirt she was able to balance on her back leg. She sighed, and looked back at Jinx. Jinx was utterly terrified. She then looked to Clara who had spoken to her, and then down to her hand, then to her own. This was not something she wanted to do, but she felt a need to do. X outstretched her hand midway before withdrawing it back. "I'm sorry. I can't. " She bowed her head instead. Some how she managed a smile after. She hadn't smiled in so long, not since she had left Nate. "And I bare you no harsh feelings, really. I've been dealt heavier blows. And I do not wish to fight you either, I don't want to injure you."

“Empress Divine, Jinx, I know it’s not my place, but-” Clara was right they hadn’t see Tarin today. She glanced behind the girls, to see some of the other units gathered around Tarin’s room. She watched as Taylor moved with the soup. What had she missed? She had been here sic months, and this time none this had become natural to her, no matter how much she made herself believe. The thing that came to mind was that Maxwell didn’t like when Tarin didn’t come to greet him. It was unacceptable.

It had been such a long time, could she still do it, or had she been domesticated? The hatred for Maxwell showed in her eyes, but no one could probably tell who was directed at. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. “You should all go check on Tarin, perhaps convince one of the boys to help cupid open the door.” She departed the small group, and headed into the kitchen. There was nothing she could do for any of them, except which she was contemplating on now. She barely noticed the other two within, not that it mattered, if she did decide that is.

================================================== =========================

When Clara mentioned Tarin Jiao’s eyes immediately went to the girl’s door. She hadn’t realized it till this point that she had been missing. Which explained Maxwell’s foul mood. She noticed that a lot, but didn’t associate it with anything other than normal. Her parent’s had cruel when they deemed her disobedient. She assumed most did, and this was after all, a family. Maxwell had said it countless times before.

He had said it when he brought her, Clara, and X here. She was so happy, and nothing in her life had ever made her happier. But not X, she recalled it when she had saw that look in her eye. It was clear that X didn’t like it here. It was like that for a lot of the children here, but she hadn’t seen the others try so hard to want to want to be here. Jiao tried so hard to get X to talk to her, but sometimes it seemed as though she didn’t understand anything. X would question even her questions, and then would never give a straight forward answer, or would say she couldn’t answer. At first she thought perhaps the girl hated her, but then she realized that X shut everyone out. And what kind of a name was X anyways?

Jiao wanted to go after the girl, but decided to do what the girl had said. She turned, and went to check on Tarin. “Do you need help opening the door, the least I can do is try,” she said to all in general.

================================================== =======================

Lewie had wandered the halls for what seemed like hours to him, which were perhaps only minutes in reality. He had been through the majority of the rooms, one room, one he could not venture into, captured his attention. He had turned the knob, and shoved the door, but it wouldn’t budge, and he had nothing to pick the lock. At this point he wasn’t sure if he remembered how anyways. So instead he merely stared at the door, as if by some means that would it to fall. This was all no more than a dream, a drugged up fantasy.

The things here only were only real because his mind made it be. Quite honestly he was beginning to grow very bored of all this. This was no more fun than his own room. “Perhaps I shoulda followed that little white rabbit after all. C’est la vie!”

A spark hit Clara's eyes when X said that she wouldn't want to hurt her. Well that almost sounded like a challenge, however Clara let it go for now, which was actually an improvement in the past six months. Maybe she was just that scared of Maxwell. So instead of following and attacking X to meet her challenge, Clara looked over to Tarin's bedroom where a crowd of people had gathered. Ugh, why did they care so much about the girl anyway?

Even though she thought that the group was going to ruin the good mood she was trying to have, she bounded over. "Hey! Just push the door open bit by bit and I betcha that that stuff will move." Annoyed she pushed passed everyone and decided to show them, however a heavy kick to the slightly ajar door was probably no good for Tarin's nerves. Yet the furniture inside did scrape against the floor a little with the force. "See? It moved, just push. Duh. You guys stand around like you're stupid or something!" Yeah, Clara was in a good mood for now, then again she was trying to be.

Taylor wasn't entirly sure what to do. She was so confused as to what was going on and slightly frightened at the man laying on Ryudos bed, but she felt that she had to help somehow. It was her nature, but she was so shy it was rarely shown. "O-Okay...anything to help..." Taylor said and walked over to the bed and sat down on the floor on her knees. She put her stayed alert just in case she had to help Ryudo hold him down. She had no idea who he was, but he really seemed like he wanted to see Tarin. She wanted to offer to go get her, or at least help him to go see her but she didn't want to bring it up and get yelled at. She felt bad for the man...

If there was one person Jinx hated in this house more than Tarin, more than Clara, it was Divine. She tried to up Jinx constantly, making it seem like she was better than her. Oh, she had it coming. Jinx took all that Divine said in with folded arms and rolled her eyes occasionally. The redhead had never fought in her life but she was about ninty percent sure she could take her on. She was worth the broken nail. When she was done ridiculing her and threatening her, Jinx walked closer to her, close enough for her to see the seriousness in her eyes. There were few things in life that she got this look over. Divine was one of them. She wasn't messing around anymore. "Listen, dearie, if anyone in this house is trash it would be you. Now, Maxwell told me I can do what I want, and I want her out. It's as simple as that. If there's a problem, bring it up with him. Selfish, yes I am. It's deserved. A brat, oh no. That's going to far. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have stuff to throw out of MY room." Jinx walked off, making sure to shoulder check her on her way to her room. From there she proceeded to throw Clara's things from her room. If she wasn't going to move them herself, Jinx would do it for her. There wasn't much to throw out, anyway.

Rod was getting angry. All he wanted right now was Tarin, and Ryudo was preventing him from doing that. He wished he was strong enough to fight and get up to see her. He had to help her...Wait, did he just say Tarin wanted me to eat? She knows I'm here, alive? I want to see her, but if that's what she wants... Rod had no choice but to comply now. If it's what Tarin wished, he would do it. He just had to eat fast so he could see her. Rod had never felt more pathetic in this life, though. He was laying here, weak and letting other take care of him. He had to get out of here, and get Tarin out of here. Get everyone out of here..quick..and he wasn't even strong enough to get up or feed himself. How pathetic. Tarin deserves better than me...

Divine was quite insulted and angry. The audacity of the child! But, she remembered, Jinx was just another heathen. However... This could not be tolerated, regardless of Maxwell. However, first things first...

She moved to the crowd outside her and Tarins room. "Move aside." Clara kicked the door, and Divine was tempted to kick the girl, but decided not to. "Clara, dear, move aside." She then knocked on the door. "Tarin? I'm coming in now. I suggest you move out of the way." She gave Tarin ten second before she gave a hard push. The screech of the furniture moving against the floor was grating, but Divine continued pushing. The girl had surprising strength- Perhaps from the various times Tarin did this and her daily swim. After a moment, she opened the door enough for her to slip in, and then pushed the furniture out of the way of the entrance. She glance at Tarin's state with mild disgust before exiting the room.

"Your welcome."

With that done, Divine raised a brow gave a light laugh, and then went to Jinx's room, closing the door behind her, leaving only her and Jinx in the room.

Things were going to get very bad, very fast. "Hex, darling... Its a VERY bad idea to disobey me, and you're about to see why." Maybe Jinx didn't know, but Divine had been in plenty of fights- All of which she won. Jinx, she knew, never fought before- Sure, the girl would probably put a bit of a fight, but that would be easily resolved. Or, better yet...

She strode over to Jinx's things- First the items that looked breakable, some accessories and the girl's makeup. She gathered them up and then kicked the door open, gracefully slipping into the hall and walking up the stairs. She turned and went towards the pool, where she...

Holy shit. She threw them into the pool, smiling as she turned again and went back down to Jinx's room to throw more of her things in there. She passed by a certain room and called out. "Zack, darling! I need some assistance, if you would."

"...Whut?" Zack blinked, opening the door and rubbing his eyes blearily. He then saw Divine and followed her, too tired to question her- Not that he would, anyway. "Grab Hex's things and throw them into the pool, would you?" Zack blinked, then shrugged. "...Sureeee..."

He went in and began grabbing her clothes, gathering them up in her arms as Divine hummed lightly smiling at Jinx wickedly. "Interrupt Maxwell if you wish, although you know what happens when you do THAT. And if you touch Zack, nothing, not even Maxwell, will keep me from killing you." That last bit was said with a beautiful smile, beautiful, but dangerously serious.

And honestly, anyone would believe her.

Ryudo sighed in relief, and smiled. "Once you finish, I'll get Tarin to come." He glanced at Taylor and gave her a thankful smile. He moved towards her and whispered in her ear. "If he tries to get out while I'm gone, he's too weak to overpower you... Just push him back and hold him down, alright?" He then exited the room, closing the door behind him, only to see Divine and Zack go into Jinx's room, some of Clara's stuff outside the room in the hall. He raised a brow, but decided to focus on Rod instead.

He moved to Tarin's room, realizing the door was open now- No doubt Divine's doing. He entered the room, looking at Tarin. "...Tarin? I need you to come with me really quick. Maxwell is... With, Gabe."

X went straight over to where they kept the knives. She pulled one out, slipped it down her shirt, and through the back of her bra. That she really didn’t need almost. X was very small, but she made up for it in strength, and intelligence. During all those years she had spent with Nate hardly a second went by without him teaching her some tactic of survival. When you’ve lived on the streets, especially when you are girl, you learn fast that the world isn’t kind.

“Neo. If you’re going to run off own on your own like that you should know what the hell to expect. God! I swear!!” Nate had said after saving her from a group of creeps on the streets. “I’m not going to be your baby sitter. You’re on your own in this world, and that’s all there is to it.” He kicked the corpse of one the guys on the ground. “Damn piece of shit!”

“I’m sorry Nate. I was trying to find you. Y-y-you disappeared. I thought you were lost,” X said. This had taken place when she had first met Nate, she was only about six. She hadn’t really realized that those men were trying to her hurt her. She had had a bad feeling, but she didn’t recognize it, all she knew was that she wanted Nate. “They said they knew where you were.”

Next thing she knew Nate, who was so much bigger than her had her pinned to a wall with his hand growing tighter around her neck. “This is what can happen if you trust someone to much! This is what can happen if you let your guard down1 Humans are vile creatures Neo, very weak, They fall to greed, and pleasure so easily….” He let her go, and walked away.

X took a moment to recollect herself. She had never seen someone act this way before. “But aren’t you a human, Nate? Aren’t ya?” she asked following after him.

“Hardly….”

“Then I’m not gonna be either.”

“Humph. Then you’re gonna have to stop caring so much.”

X wiped a tear from her eye, then stared at the little droplet like it was the most unfamiliar thing had ever seen. She sighed. X wasn’t worried about surviving here, she planned to leave. Surely if Maxwell was able to come here, and go, then there was a way out. Even she had to go through a hundred men, and die, then she would, just to know she hadn’t given in so easily. X feared death more than anything, but it would be worth it. She didn’t care of what the others thought, if they wanted to survive they could find a means to.

X inhaled, and headed out of the kitchen, and straight to Maxwell’s door, reciting all the pressure points of the human body in her head as she went along. She then knocked as hard as she could. There was no turning back now.

================================================== ==========================

Jiao stood aside as Clara gave her shot at the door, and even more so as Divine stepped in, and then out. She couldn’t help, but look to see where she was headed. To no surprise it was Jinx’s room that she was headed in. You’d think Jinx would know better than to mess with Empress Divine. Those two were always at it about something anyways. She decided to ignore it.

Jiao was just about to head in to check on Tarin when Ryudo walked ahead of her. Jiao simply had to follow behind. She thought a moment after the boy had spoken. Well Tarin had seemed capable enough to move all this furniture in front of the door. She kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want Maxwell getting upset with Tarin, and she refused to even think of Gabe. Maxwell was her angel, she couldn’t let herself demonize him.

================================================== ==============

Lewie clicked his hills together. “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” He sighed. “Hell even I know that place ain’t no home. And these certainly ain’t no ruby reds.” He glanced down at a new pair of sneakers. Upon finally acknowledging this he noticed that everything he was wearing was new. Yet all he could do was pull at his hair, and fall to the floor. “Zut! I can’t stand this another second!” He sighed. “This is far to wonderful to be real. It has to be a dream. It has to.”

Lewie slowly fell asleep there on the floor until he heard someone storming through. He opened his eyes just to catch a glimpse of a red head going by. He pondered moment. “Neh. I dare not follow in the direction of the Cheshire Cat.”

((Time to reply to stuff before I clean my room 8D In which I shall dedicate myself to cleaning my room... >.>; to make up for breaking the internet box...))

"Wow! Zo much lellow!" Rix's eyes lit up, a smile spread across her round, baby cheeks. "Uh... uh..." she sucked on her point finger on her right hand as she contemplated which one to choose, her left arm still wrapped around Alexis's neck. That same finger then shot out of her mouth and pointed at the brightest color of yellow she saw, "Dat one! Iz really, really lellow." Large eyes gazed around the room briefly, but it didn't take Rix long to stare at the bright yellow again. The color enticed her and reminded her of the good memories she shared with her papa before her mother threw her into the cage. She remembered how he smiled, laughed, and tossed her into the air. Her blonde mess of a head laid against Alexis's shoulder as she stared silently at the yellow she had chosen, missing her papa all the more.



"I-I don't know, Erin... I just... I don't know... I saw his face... without the facial hair... it's him... but it can't be... He's dead... he has to be..." It was easier for him to accept that Maxwell had killed Rod over anything else that could have happened to him, but it was unlikely that the old man held someone who looked like Rod prisoner. The thoughts raced about his mind, though he tried desperately to ignore them all. What that man could have possibly done to Rod tore at him. If that was Rod, which he was pretty sure he had to be, the man had starved him, beat him, and god knows what else. All of it was too unbearable to imagine. Did Maxwell truly have no soul?

The bickering between the girls still did not matter to Cupid. Them arguing was nothing new and he doubted what they fought over had any relevance to him. He glanced up at Jiao, "There... there's something in the way... It's amazing... what Tarin can do when she's scared..." His butt scooted across the hardwood floor as Clara walked over and pushed against the door, it was best for him to get out of the way. Most boys, at least ones that Cupid knew, would feel a stab at their pride when a girl could do something they couldn't like now as Clara managed to push the door slightly when he couldn't even get it to budge a centimeter, but it didn't bother him. This pretty boy knew he was weak when it came to physical strength, he wasn't made to be strong.

His eyes began to water as he thought of what had happened to Rod and even more sore when he thought about what was going on with Gabriel. Cupid dragged his knees to his chest, allowing the others to do as they pleased to try and get into Tarin's room. Then Divine opened it more. When she left and began dragging personal possessions out of Jinx's room he didn't really care. This house was filled with selfish brats and oh how he wished they would all get a reality check. Had nothing bad ever happened to them? Had they never lost something -or someone- so important that they realized what they had taken for granted? And why the hell did Maxwell want any of them anyway? Did he think they would change their ways? No... they were all gorgeous, that was why. Surely he was just a perverted old man eager to see a cat fight and subdue at least one of them. Sometimes he wished a giant fight would commence and the girls would bash each up so terribly that all of their bickering stopped. He missed the years before some of these people arrived, it was quieter. Sadly his first year was a year where many were already taken out of the house, which was also why it was quieter than now. It seemed Maxwell was only getting more and more children, did he want the house to be flooded?

It was then Cupid realized Tarin's door was open. He crawled over to it and stared at the distressed Tarin. He bit his lower lip, Rod... why can't you be all right? She needs you... None of us can ever help her... only you can..



Her hair stuck to her damp face that stared at Ryudo utterly terrified. Pupils darted about as her mind tried to figure out who this boy was, since he was clearly not one of the people who haunted her dreams. "Ryudo..." she muttered under her breath once his face finally processed into her system much like a slow computer. "W-what?" the girl whimpered, rubbing at her weary eyes while her lips quivered. "Gabe... he... he went to Maxwell? Why?"

Are you a moron, wench? I didn't think you were that stupid, but I guess even I can be wrong...

She shook her head rapidly, placing her palms against the floor to push herself up. Tarin used the wall behind her to steady herself. "W-why... do you need me? I... I'm sorry I didn't cook... I just... I..."

You're pathetic.

"Is Gabriel all right...?"

Stupid question, wench. Why not ask somethin' important? Or do somethin' meaningful? Oh, wait. All you do is kill.

"I do not!" Tarin cried out, yelling at what appeared to be an empty corner of the room. "I... I... Yes, Ry-ryudo?" She was trying to convince herself to step away from the wall, but it was complicated for her. "W-where... do y-y-y-you nee.. need me?"


Gabriel... Cupid's head turned towards Maxwell's room, where he saw X standing. "X! What the hell are you doing?!" he screamed, sprawled off of the floor, and ran over to her, though he almost slipped a couple times due to wearing socks and running on a hardwood floor. He grabbed onto her arm, trying to pull her away from the door though she could easily slip away from him if she wanted to. "Gabe can handle this! Don't... don't do this. Don't let him get you instead! Please, don't."

Maxwell's door crept open, the old man's grey eyes looking out through the crack. The room was filled with darkness and the only light making him visible at the moment was the light from the main room the children were standing in. "This had better be of some importance... or you will both be joining Gabriel..."

Panic drove through X's mind when Cupid grabbed her arm. At first she could not help, but let herself be dragged by him. She had to, or she would have surely killed him then. She fought against every survival instinct she had until finally slipped out of his grip. her hand dove for his throat, but she stopped midway letting her hand fall limp. She was shaking all over. "I'm sorry Cupid," X spoke softly. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

Why couldn't she stop shaking, and why was this wetness coming down her face? She took her sleeve across it. "I have to. I know that my purpose is to be here. That Maxwell is supposed to be the head. I know I'm supposed to be a unit of this family, but there's so much chaos. I need him.... I need Nate, he's the only one that can make me understand this strange world. I don't want to want to leave, but I can't help it. So Max-" She trailed off as Maxwell's door opened. She gave one last look to Cupid, and then gripped the door handle.

X took in a deep breath, and sighed. "This issue doesn't concern Cupid. He was only trying to stop me. We need to talk, and I prefer privately." She put her hand on the other side of the wall to give herself leverage in case she needed it.

Alexis smiled at Rix's reaction.. and suppressed the urge to vomit as she sucked on her fingers. She did end up swaying a little from the nausea wave, but she recovered very quickly. She picked up the Canary Yellow yarn with her non-childbearing arm after sanitizing it with a wipe in her pocket. "Is there any other shade you really like, or just the one solid color, sweetie?" Alexis was kinda proud of herself. She was doing much better with Rix than she thought she would when she realized the child was not opposed to being cleaned. And Alexis would make sure she bathed well.

Assuming that Rix had decided on the one color, she leaned towards the door. It was then that she noticed the commotion coming from the other end of the bedroom hall. She froze when she saw Ryudo trying to coax Tarin out, but she had heard Maxwell's voice instead. She didn't know exactly what happened to each child that went behind his ominous door, but she knew what happened to Gabe. Had that been the voice she was hearing tossed around? Yes.. certainly. Suddenly, she felt a bit ill, but in anger rather than nausea. She protectively held Rix to her chest inside the bedroom and kept her from sight while still being able to watch what happened. She muttered to herself quietly. ".... won't let him get you..."

If Clara knew what Jinx was doing to her room.... Bad things would have ensued, and Clara would have been punished by Maxwell for it, surely. Luckily Clara had been too focused on Tarin's door when a few of her things were tossed out of the room, and then there was Divine. "Yes Empress Divine!" Bounding out of the way she watched as the door was pushed open, grinning big and wide. She was proud of Divine for solving the big group's problem, and watched as she walked over to Jinx.

Oh wait.. what was going on there? Clara walked past the people in front of Tarin's door and tried to see what was going on in front of her room, however there was also Maxwell in Gabe's room... Which was being guarded by a large, winged, headless beast. Clara stared at it for a while, glared really. She temporarily forgot about her room and what Empress Divine was doing in there with Jinx.

Then X showed up and Clara was lost with the things that followed. Cupid had earlier crawled to Tarin's room and now he was running to X, then the door creaked open, the gruesome guard stepping to the side so that Maxwell could speak. That's when Clara ran over and tugged on X's arm, "Hi Maxwell! I think X just forgot her medication!" Clara's voice was on the verge of hysterical, she was scared of Maxwell and for good reason. She leaned in to whisper into X's ear. "Maxwell is too strong X... He beat me in a fight, please don't fight him." However Clara wasn't about to put herself in harm's way, she was terrified of incurring one of Maxwell's punishments. The headless guard growled. "Bye!"

Clara took off, she said her bit, and now she was going to go to her room.. Where she might be safe. Well that idea came to a screaching halt when she noticed a few of her things strewn on the floor, looking up she watched Zack carrying a few of Jinx's things and was headed to the stairs of the leisure quarters. Solemnly the girl knelt down and picked up a picture frame, the glass was cracked. The recent drop on the floor had been the limit for the abused picture, tears plopped on the cracked glass before Clara even realized she was upset. "You don't like me any more, Clara-bean?"

Looking up she saw her father standing before her, "No daddy, no! I love you."

"Jinx isn't a good friend, Clara. She hates you, she wants to have Maxwell lock you in that room forever and keep you from me. Just like the case worker." Well Maxwell was considerably more frightening than the case worker had been. With a deep shuddering breath, Clara gathered the picture, small bag of bottle caps, and her favorite floppy hat into her arms. She really hadn't packed many sentimental things when she ran away six months ago, these were the few things she had. Quietly she walked back into her room, placing the things where they belonged, however she left the picture on her bed. Planning to would fix it later.

"Jinx...?" Clara wasn't even sure where her room mate was, but she was certain that the problems were going to end.

((Yo! I may reply later, I unno. I may wait on Keyasha. Anywho~~~

Due to the... violence? I suppose... starting to be brought up in the RP... I decided to RELOOK at character sheets and remind everyone who actually has fighting, etc. on their profile to show strengths off of, ya know, what's been told. Mainly because I'm paranoid of like... I unno? People thinking they are all powerful, I guess =\

So, just because I KNOW my own characters... Gabe is really fuckin' strong, all right? All he does is train in the gym all day unless Maxwell pops up in which he tries to get the old man to punish him to make him feel like he's atoning for sins and such. Thus, I honestly think he'd be the strongest due to the sheer fact that he has no life outside of training himself.

Both Clara and Divine's profiles say they have training. I am not sure how extensive Divine's is though, I honestly think Clara would be stronger than Divine since Clara is a trained fighter, while Divine's profile sounds like it was more self defense with some fighting in it. Clara was just simply trained to beat people's asses all day. Sadly, she's psychotic xD

Then X doesn't mention training, but it mentions living on the street, so I'm not sure if she's very STRONG at all, but I'd think she'd be able to dodge rather well.

That's it, from what I skimmed. Oh, Rod would be a damned good ass fighter if he wasn't weak as hell right now. Once he regains his strength then he'll be bad ass too.


AND!!! AWAY FROM CHARACTERS...

Since, if it's not fuckin' obvious by now, I'm trying to rush ya'll outside. Whenever ya'll get outside, I do NOT want any bitching if a character of yours dies. Why? Because there ARE places outside that may or may not INSTA-KILL your character. Now, don't dodge this because I said it. If I notice obvious dodging from you then I will just make a boulder fly on your character's head. Think I won't? I'm the GM bitches, I do as I please.
But really, I won't play favorites. There's just some places outside that will really kill you. Finding the hints inside the house help you for outside, but I doubt anyone is gonna find anything since all ya'll are too busy fighting and it'd be unrealistic to suddenly be searching for something.

Just wanted everyone to know these things~

I'd post it in OOC, but I unno who all reads there.))

(( once i ever make my post im going to be searching o-o..... and I believe Rien would be decent in strength, he doesn't sleep o-o, so he trains in the gym while people sleep XD
but yeah, all I gots ta do is you know, make my post already. T_T))

((Then I guess he'd be like... as strong as Gabe or right below him xD since Gabe just kinda wakes up, works out until his body won't let him anymore, then sleeps. Occasionally he eats 8D xDDD then when Maxwell comes, which isn't often, he tries to get punished ha ha.

I just wanted to point out the strengths for everyone and whatnot xD Some people were pointless to put... since like... they aren't strong >.>; Like I know Tarin can't beat up anyone.))

(( =3 I can push Clara outside with relative ease... However she probably wouldn't normally try to venture outside until Maxwell leaves the house... She's too frightened of Maxwell to do anything when she thinks is nearby... >=3 But I could push her to do that too... xD; And fairy could lead her off of a cliff in all likelihood. Hey! If our old characters die, we're allowed to bring in new ones, right? ))

((Well, there's an opening outside xD The room that Rod just came from has a door that is opened that leads to the outside world :D He just came from the locked room and I doubt he shut the locked room's door... thus if anyone goes upstairs >.>; they could see it open lol xD

I'm slowly gonna push everyone outside, I swear.

WE GOT TWO NEW PEOPLE JOINING US! Believe it or not. Shocked the SHIT outta me.

One is now Ryudo's roommate and the other is Gabe's roommate 8D So, yay roomies xD ha ha. Dereck is completely new and Atticus has been here for two years. 8D Their profiles are added to the profile thread thing.

I may make a reply later o-o though I think I rather wait on Keyasha))

Dereck F. Landon

If only he'd known.

If only Dereck had known he'd be diagnosed with schizophrenia and was autophobic, that he would soon be moving into a house - no, a mansion - full of people, he'd -

Wait, what had he been thinking about?

He pushed it aside and continued to his room, or the room he was supposed to be sharing with someone. He pushed aside the door and froze, dropping his things. There were two other people here! "M-my bad," he stammered, and then saw one of them on the bed, looking a little beaten up. He strode over, stopping right before he invaded their space. He took it back. A lot beaten up. He said nothing, just looked at the guy for a minute before he walked out, down the hall and into what he believed to be the bathroom, which he locked himself in. He closed the toilet seat and sat down, pulling his knees up close to his chest and resting his chin on them.

"Dereck." His head snapped up, and his mother was standing before him. "Ma?" She moved beside him, touching his arm. "I miss you, you know. I miss you so much." She hugged him, crushing him to her. He hugged her back, burying himself in her long brown hair. She pulled back and kissed him on the forehead. "If only you weren't so pathetic." He looked at her, shooting a mini-glare. "Then I would have kept you. But I still miss you. My only son, a schizo." He pulled away. "Uh, Ma? Are you alright? You're kind of, um. California." She stared at him weirdly, motioning around her. "What are you talking about? All this for nothing?" The table to her left, filled with four people. He realized they were in a restaurant. "You do remember why I brought you here, right?" He remembered back, but remembered nothing. "You were sleeping in the car. Muttered something about some mansion." He ran his hand across his face.

Where am I, really? Which one?

(( =D Yay, another character that hallucinates! <.<; ))

Atticus gave a frustrated sigh at the various sounds of collision below him. Immediately, he released the heavy bars he had been pulling towards his chest, reveling in the sound they made as they came to a crash on either side of him. Atticus forced his head to side to side, shuddering as a crack came down each vertebrae of his spine and flexed his body. Sweat dripped down his neck and onto his grey tank top, illustrating the fruits of his hours of effort as he stood from the bench and wiped his face with a towel. Did they have to fight every goddamn day?

The recovering addict gave a groan and threw down his towel back onto the bench, snatching up his water instead and making his way briskly towards the main area of the second floor. He gave a small grimace at the ugliness of the floor rug, turning immediately to head towards the stairs. Atticus never could force himself to like the ugly orange and blue swirling into nothingness... It just left a bad taste in his mouth. He gave a swallow at the thought, clicking his large tongue against the roof of his mouth as he jogged down, step by step. Soon, the familiarity of the first floor hallway was in sight.

Atticus clicked his tongue again, instinctively, as he passed himself in the mirror. Since coming to the mansion he had gone through quite the transformation. His muscles deteriorated within the first year due to the withdrawls, but by now they had recovered themselves and had returned even stronger and larger than before. Chiseled abs led to a toned chest with led to his egg-shaped head. Embarassed, Atticus looked down at the remembrance of his head, insecure with the way his browline so sharply contrasted with the darkness of his sunken eyes. That was the one thing that hadn't gone away since his addiction... Those damn eyes.

He heard people in the house talk. Talk about the darkness. The weight behind them. The way they spoke volumes and yet nothing at all. Atticus was one of the only ones who didn't mention why he was at the house. He was typically just one of the youths who nodded and comforted at the confessions of other people's fears. But those portals... They held confession to all of the sins and all of the innocent moments while still remaining locked away. The deepest and shallowest pieces of him: Atticus was most insecure about his eyes.

Breaching the hallway and entering into the main area of screaming and insanity, Atticus was horrified at the sight. Literally; everyone was fighting. Where the fuck was Gabe? He listened to the catty girls bicker, muttering nasty things under his breath as he made his way to the source of the commotion: Divine pushing what seemed to be tons of furniture a couple of inches into Tarin's room with her own door. He gulped at the idea of another episode of the girl's, picking up his pace and moving past Divine with a courtesy nod. Unaware of how blocked it was, Atticus moved past Erin and attempted to merely push the door open, his eyes bulging at the amount in front of it. Closer now, he noticed Cupid staring inside.

Atticus furrowed his brows, muttering quietly to Cupid, "You should prolly get her med-," Upon Cupid's outburst and run towards Maxwell's room, Atticus gave a groan. Fucking kids needed Ritalin and a good whippin'. Frustrated beyond belief, he forced himself through the small crack, taking one look at Tarin and giving a sigh. "You look a downright mess, girl..." He inwardly jumped at the sound of Ryudo's voice behind him, blinking at the Asian in surprise. Atticus didn't speak, instead going to work on the furniture blocking the door; if Maxwell came in and everything was still a wreck, he'd be pissed. Besides, Atticus knew that Tarin was bound to fix herself - it was just in her nature.

As he dragged a dresser across the floors, Atticus couldn't help but remember the many times he'd done it in his past two years of living here. Hell, she cooked, cleaned, and medicated him; moving her furniture and taking care of her occasionally when she had a break down was the least he could do. "These fuckin' kids need to grow a brain, eh, Sugar?" He gave a grunt as he positioned the dresser, stopping for a moment to look at her. No wonder she wasn't giving a response; she looked awful. And rightly so. She worked so damn hard and worried so much... And her and Gabe just gave themselves to that sick fuck every day. He's really gotta stop doin' that shit... Atticus thought to himself at the consideration of Gabe's self-abuse. It's just not right..

Atticus jumped at Tarin's screaming at the empty corner, blinking and glancing at Ryudo. "I think she needs her meds," he grunted, cracking his knuckles before gripping another piece of heavy furniture. "I'll take care of the room 'fore the old man gets back, you just take care of her."

((Yup :D Hallucinatin' peeps.

I think I might make a summary thing like Del does for OW o-o just because it's... rather complicated to explain and remember it all! xDDD ha ha. Imma make a reply where I feel needed :3 since I doubt Rod will get up really soon anyway xDD and Keyasha is busy with some school shiz atm :D I am enjoying our new people though :P))

Being nearly strangled, even for a short period of time, was surely startling, but he should have known better than to grab her arm so quickly. X's body was shaking terribly and there was nothing he could think to do about it other than try to get her away from Maxwell's door. Cupid nodded, "I know." She continued on, explaining herself to Cupid, which shocked him as well since she didn't seem to open up to anyone let alone explain her actions. Before all the details were out, however, Maxwell's door creaked open and there he stood. "Don't do this..." he whispered to her, though it probably went unheard.

"Y-yes! She forgot her medication! I mean, you haven't been here in fuckin' forever anyway, so I bet she ran out thanks to your sorry ass. So, how 'boutcha just leave'er alone, eh?" pearly whites revealed through his grin as he slowly tried to edge X away from the door and back to the group of people. "Come on..." the boy muttered.


Nothing Alexis did bothered Rix. Being held so closely was comforting and allowed her to finally let her guard down rather than being prepared to bite anyone who came near her. She liked Alexis, a lot. This older girl cared about her, wanted to help her, and wanted to make her blankets clean again. Feeling someone's body heat against her, to be able to her someone else's heart beat, made all of her paranoia fade for the moment. Rix's on track mind allowed her to be unaware of the rest of the drama surrounding her.


Exhausted, sore eyes looked in the direction of Atticus's voice. Each time he came and put the furniture back, though she planned on doing it once the hallucinations went away. Tarin watched as he moved each piece of furniture back into place. Did I... really move all of that? Fear was truly amazing, it allowed you to do wondrous things you normally weren't capable of. For instance, Tarin rarely performed any sort of manual labor for she truly was weak. Working out never appealed to her. She cooked. She cleaned. She was the typical mother figure... but oh how she felt she failed as a real mother. I couldn't even... save them.. trembling fingers latched onto her hair, tugging hard to return her mind to reality; it was a failed attempt.

You're too pathetic to protect anyone.

Tarin carefully scooted across the room, keeping her back against the wall to avoid the boy in the middle of the room who continued to attack her with insults. For years this imaginary boy broke down her mind when she forgot to take her medication. This time it was because she chose to stay up and help one of the other children who was having issues the night before, causing her to miss a pill or two... or three. Luckily not all of her hallucinations had hit her yet, only he was there. "D-d-d-d-d-d-don't... w-w-worry... I... I... I can get... get them..."


"[b]So... which story is accurate, dear? Did you forget to take your medication? Did I neglect to refill you accurately? Or do you wish to speak to me in private? I do believe I am finished with Gabriel anyway." Maxwell rested his head against his bedroom door with a small smirk. Grey hair was the only attribute this man had that revealed he was older than middle-age. It was hard to tell if he ever had wrinkles or if he paid a surgeon to get rid of it all. The dark suit he wore bore no wrinkles, for those showed imperfection.

((And now Aru is too tired to focus... hopefully this post is good enough...))

(Divine may not be as strong as Gabe, but she's probably about as strong as Clara, because she DOES get into extensive fights, and her fighting style solely consists of moving out of the way of someone's attack and drawing out a fight so she can cause extensive pain over time. Sorta chipping away at them. She can, however, take a LOT of hits, and is pretty strong due to her constant exercise, mostly swimming(yo need strong arms for that). I mean, before she was at Maxwell, she acted the same way as she did now. Not a lot of people were cool with that. So every other week she had to beat ass.

...And I'm waiting on Keyasha and Aru now. >.<)

"...Tarin? I.. I need you to come with me realy quickly- Oh shit. Tarin, stay in here." Ryudo had looked out in the hall and saw X outside. "Oh jesus." ...He had to help Rod first, but... Gods, she was going to get herself killed!

Her eyes met Maxwell’s as he peered out. X wasn’t afraid. Even her fear of death was pushed aside. She would endure it, if it came to it. All those nightmares that awaited her in her sleep, she would face those for him. She didn’t understand these emotions, ones that made you do irrational actions. It was just irresistible. X could no longer deny that she was slowly becoming human. She was becoming weak.

The shaking hadn’t stopped, and when Clara tugged at her arm it just made everything more worse. Why did they have to keep touching her? She listened to Clara tell Maxwell she had forgotten to take her medication, and then Cupid added to it. She hadn’t forgotten to take her medication, she hadn’t run out. She purposely didn’t take those pills. They aided her nightmares.

Clara whispered into her ear, making the same pleas that Cupid had made almost. They were both telling her the same thing, but what did it matter? And why did they want her to stop her actions? Wasn’t it more logical for them to let her reap the consequence her own stupidity? X watched Clara dart out of the room. The girl feared Maxwell, but X lacked that feeling of warning. Her gaze went up to the man.

“A need of medication is inaccurate. My first request is accurate, Mr. Maxwell,” X said.

Humans… susceptible to emotions, thrive upon desire, vulnerable, prone to falling into their own darkness. Will not become. Maxwell must be brought down for the sole reason that he is an incapable head, nothing more. “Forget him…” she whispered softly under her breath.


================================================== ==========================

Jiao merely glanced as Cupid darted out of the room. So much commotion today. She didn’t really want to know what X was up to. So instead, between all that was going on in the room, she went to Tarin’s side kneeling down to her. She placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tarin, sweet heart, just relax. We’ll take care of everything. You can’t be moving around to much, not in this kind of condition.” She was really out of it. Even after six months she didn’t know how to really handle such things as this. I can’t imagine what all there other people have been through. I hated my life, but it was nothing bad enough to cause something like this. She sighed. “I can take care of her. But someone should really go and get her medication, as well as some water to help her swallow.” Atticus was right, she was in horrible shape.

================================================== ==========================

Perhaps he had turned the handle wrong. Lewie shoved himself up, and went for the door again. He turned it both ways this time. The last way seemed to budge it some. “Jammed.” He lifted up and turned. It budged a little more. He glanced down to see a towel hanging out. He couldn’t believe that this was what all the trouble was all about. While pulling at the door, he tugged the towel up to where there was more opening. Finally he was able to pull it free, and in doing so allowed the door to be open. “Magnifique!” From the room he pulled out a broom. “To slay the mighty jabberwocky!”

[And they shall never know. XD ]

((And now Atticus is up there as well. Not sure if he's as strong as Gabe or stronger though. Gabe didn't work out until he got to Maxwell House. Sure, he'd fight and such, but he never sat down and worked on it.

I go off of character sheets. Your character sheet says that she has had training and that she killed her brother, but I don't know how strong the brother is. Without your character sheet thoroughly explaining sheets and trainings then I cannot say you are strong. Off of sheets, Clara is stronger than Divine. More insane, but stronger. Especially since when killed the older brother she used a metal pipe, which could even help Tarin (who has no training and has never fought in her life) kill someone as strong as Gabriel. Also, I mention violence in Rix's thing as well. The more specific the profile, the more I can go off of. Clara's mentions fighting throughout the entire history and how she was a prized fighter, so I'd imagine she would be stronger and fight better than someone trained for self defense who beat those "under her".

I'd reply, but I should reeeally wait on others xD I'll talk to Keyasha about replying. Hopefully she can at least BS something.

I just want people to realize strengths and whatnot since I'm not sure if people have read all of the character sheets that are there, so I figured I should point them out here.

I haven't even decided how strong Maxwell is yet. xDDD That varies on my mood.))