It was no surprise that Clara stood in shock as Jinx cried on Gabe. So the girl fought the urge to punch Jinx, and instead stared at the floor, chewing on the inside of er lip. Her hands were shaking from the effort to not be violent, however if she could get out of this house and find her dad, it was all worth it.

So Gabriel wandered into the room, and Clara followed him, unsure. She had seen the television screens, however she had also seen grinning imps with sharp teeth guarding them, thus why she didn't walk in there for fear of the monsters attacking her. Now in the room, there were fairies swirling around where ever Gabriel seemed to look. It was absolutely magical, and Clara was lost in that.

He turned to her and started speaking, it took a moment for her to hear him, "He's gone?" A thrill ran through her stomach, and the girl became giddy. "He's really gone!?" With a big grin, Clariece immediately thought of getting X and Alexis. However.. she had to see the outside first, and so she ran to the door, running out a few steps without really thinking, eager to explore.

It didn't take Taylor long to reach the top of the stairs. It never made sense to the blond why the cleaning closest was upstairs when they did most of the cleaning downstairs. Taylor decided since she was already cleaning up one mess, she might as well fill her day up with cleaning the rest of the house. She made sure to get the broom, mop, and the bucket full of cleaning supplies. The blond made her way downstairs again, oblivious to everyone this trip, and went back into the kitchen. She sat the supplies down and first swept up her mess. After that was done, Taylor started filling up the sink with mop cleaning stuff and swept the rest of the kitchen. After that was done, she began mopping. Taylor hadn't sung since her mother died, but she absentmindedly hummed an old tune of theirs while she cleaned. Taylor actually smiled while she did it, too, without realizing she was doing so.

Jinx continued to cry as Gabe turned and comforted her in return. His arms around her surprisingly felt nice. The redhead may seem like the physical type, but it had actually been a long time since she had felt anyone touch her. Jinx had always been a little scared of Gabe, even though she had desperately tried to win attention she was always a little hesitant. Although he seemed so scary before, he seemed so...caring now. Maybe looks weren't everything. Even Jinx had to laugh at herself over that one. Looks had been everything to her for most of her life. It was just the way she was raised. Jinxed looked up at him, not caring about the mascara tear streaks running down her cheeks, and listened to what he said. For some strange reason she really believed in what he was saying. "St-stay here... I don't know if the room is safe...Don't worry... I won't let him do anything." Jinx nodded her head so he could leave. Never before in her life had she really believed someone like that. She, for some odd reason, had faith that he wouldn't let anything happen. It was an odd feeling...

Jinx desperately tried to remove the mascara streaks while her went into what she remembered as the locked room. When did that become open..? She wondered as she stepped on her tippy-toes to try and see over Gabe. He was just so damn tall. He wasn't gone long, though. "He's gone, Clara... Jinx... Rien... He's gone. Let's... get everyone out of here." Jinx's jaw dropped. Yes, she had realized a lot today but she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave. No. Where would she go. Panic was instantly shown on her face. What would she do without Maxwell? She'd be on the streets, that's what. "Gabe...I don't know..." Jinx managed to say out loud in a raspy voice, the panic apparent.

Rod continued to pat her back and whisper sweet nothings of safety into her ears. After awhile of letting her get almost every drop of tears out, Rod gently took her by the shoulders and pushed her an arm length away. He smiled at her as he took a stray strand of her hair and pushed it behind her ear. "Better now, Tarin?" Rod asked, not realizing it was the crying that was making Tarin feel better, but his presence. He discarded of the remaining tears on her cheeks and eyes.

As much as being here, with her again and hold her made him smile, he realized why he was even set free. His smile faded. "Tarin. We have to leave, now. I know a way out. I need to get you out of here to keep you safe..." Rod confessed, even though she wouldn't truly understand the amount of danger she was in nor did he feel like telling her. He didn't want to frighten her. Everything he had ever done since he got here was for here, and now was no exception. Rod used the bed as support as she lifted himself into a standing position. Although he had very little strength, Rod held out his hand to somehow help Tarin off the bed. "We need to get the other children out of here too. Is Maxwell still here?" Rod asked, hoping for a no.

Rien tilted his head as he watched the two embrace, it looked strange to him. Never in his time here has he seen Gabriel make any physical contact with anyone. Why do I feel jealous? It was all so confusing, he never knew he felt any deep emotion towards anyone and it made him uncomfortable, though once he saw Gabriel pull away and go into the room, He followed abruptly without listening, He didn't want to be waiting out in the large room without seeing what was there with his own eyes. They narrowed as he stared at the screens recognizing each of the rooms clearly well and horror came across his face when he realized how dirty he felt, every time he took a shower, he was being watched. What kind of sick and twisted building was this anyway?
Staring out the open door to the outside world, he slowly looked over how it looked. Turning back to Gabe and the others slowly, he smiled. He can no remember how long it has been since he truly smiled, but he just felt a relief, but then he also felt worried that he wouldn't be able to survive on his own and that he has grown too dependent on being with others. When Clara ran out the open door he had turned into panic mode and quickly ran to the door and wavered his hands at the girl. Quickly he turned to Gabe and tugged on his shirt a bit with the pained expression on his face and pointed out the door. Afraid to speak to these people he grew to be mute towards those he doesn't fully trust, but he knew some of them will gain his trust rather quickly. He sighed and watched Clara cherish her freedom for the turning moment but still didn't like the idea of splitting up alone in an environment we have never seen before.

Alexis continued to rock the child as she tried, not understanding the girl's exact story. She fretted over what could make it better, making it worse instead.. All she knew was why her parents hadn't been able to 'save' her. She stared into the wall of the bathroom as if hoping there were answers somewhere amongst the tiles.. After a few moments of rocking, Alexis whispered softly. "Because sometimes.. Some things just make so even Papa can't save us." It was harsh, it was painful.. but it was the truth. Something she expected Rix hadn't heard in years. She gently combed her hands through the small child's hair. "I promise, I'm not your mama.." While logic told her most children wanted their mamas, it made sense that another child under Maxwell's roof wouldn't. This girl seemed far more attached to her parental figure than her maternal anyways, she figured that was how Maxwell had lured her in.

Alexis smiled at her gently. "Yes, dear child. Strong. It's a feeling, a warm feeling, that we feel right here." She gently touched her fingertips to Rix's chest, right over her heart. "Even when we feel bad or sad or scared, it's the feeling of strength that lets us ask for help, accept help from others, or help someone else - even if we're scared. That's the part that matters. It's not about being brave and fighting the bad feelings all on our own, it's about accepting the help we need or want, and giving it away to others who need it more. You have a very strong heart, Rix. Like a lion." She grinned playfully. "You know, lions are yellow, Rix. Maybe I'll call you Rix the Lionhearted. Does that sound good? It can be my little nickname for you."

The repetitive tromping up and down the hallways and the raised voices didn't escape Alexis and her mind quickly calculated a hundred thousand explanations and reasons and possible scenarios as to what could cause that much ruckus in this house. Even one of Maxwell's rampages didn't stir this much volume and activity.. He surveyed Rix's body. She desperately needed a thorough cleaning but... That activity was pressing in on her mind like a freight train. So she did a quick fix - she used a smaller bucket of hot soapy water to lightly sponge bath the girl and then treated some of her worse injuries and infections with just the light style of antibiotic cream and a bandaid instead of getting down in the serious style first aid she knew the child would need and soon. She procured a fresh sandwich from her first aid kit - she made fresh ones every day - for the small girl of just dry turkey on white bread with no crusts. It was simple, plain, and boring.. But it was food. Picking up the girl's blankets and wrapping her up in them, she hefted the girl back onto her hip and ran into the hall way just in time to see Gabe return with a "he's gone". It didn't make much sense for them to make such a fuss over Maxwell well leaving - he left every time he came... but he always came back.

Shyly, holding Rix on her hip like an older sibling or mother might, she tucked her hair from her face and managed to speak up. "Gabriel.. What's so magical about him being gone? I mean.. He'll just be back in a few weeks and we'll still be trapped here like lab rats.. " It was probably more than most of the house had ever heard the germaphobe say.. and now the majority of the house could see her holding a only-surface clean child wrapped in filthy clothes with god knows what underneath. Most would assume she was over-dosing on drugs at this point. She looked at Jinx and saw the mascara run marks. "You should be careful cleaning that up because some mascara can cause severe eye infections, temporary blindness, and paralysis as well as your eyelids to fuse shut if they mix with ocular fluid." Yep. She was still Alexis.

((Okay! Since ya'll are finally heading outside.... I shall be scanning the outside map and editing it so you can only see what you'd see first and it'll be revealed as you progress.

I'm not home right now though... so I'll try and remember to do it when I get home or tomorrow. Sorry I'm taking forever. Blame school and a lame ass fifteen year old in Texas.))

((I'm tired of waiting, we're fuckin' movin' on now. So, this post is to rush shit.))


This is what you can see from where you are exiting. As you can see, the people leaving the house are exiting from the BACK of the mansion. Once you move about more I shall reveal more. To your right you can kind of see some trees that form a circle, clearly purposely grown that way. Far off in the distance, still on the right, is an enormous boulder that's hard to make out. Straight ahead, a good distance away, is a lone tree with something hanging from it. Far left is a tree with something hanging on it as well and it looks like there's something else attached to the trunk, but it's hard to make out from so far away, and next to it is a small hut with giant rocks surrounding it. Everything looks dead other than the kind of green trees, thus the ground is covered in weeds and dead, tall grass.

"Seeing what's out there... is better than starving in here." Gabe acknowledged Jinx's hesitation with a nod before Clara bolted outside; instantly panic struck his face at her arrogant decision. "Uh... I... um..." came the stutters, mind racing with various outcomes and consequences for chasing after her and not. "Get the others! I have... I have to make sure..." she doesn't end up like her... Gabriel then rushed out of the room into the outside world, a place he had yet to see in years. The sun was high in the sky and walking out of the nicely air conditioned building felt like an instant oven.

Since Gabriel was upstairs, which means anyone talking to him was, and he ran through the outside door, anyone speaking to him are now free to see the many television screens showing everything going on in the house, including that Maxwell is dead.


Tarin took a hold of Rod's hand but more or less pulled herself up, since she knew how weak he was at this point; the sight was disheartening. "I... I... I don't... I don't know... he... he was... but... I... I don't know...." she stammered. "I... I'll get... everyone together..." Standing in front of him felt terribly awkward for her, but only because of her built up feelings she didn't comprehend. She gulped and slid out the door, dragging her feet against the ground. Everyone seemed to be out in the main room except for a few people, whom she decided to locate.

She found Cupid curled in a ball on her bedroom floor with tears streaming down his delicate cheeks causing her heart to break a little bit at the sight. "Cupid... Why... a-are you crying?" Gently her hand touched his shoulder.

He peeked at her from under his arms that were wrapped about his head then sniffled. "He... he did... s-so so.... so.... m-m-much... to... to yuh yuh... you...." then came more tears, his body trembled beneath her fingers.

"It's okay... Sh.... sh..." Carefully she lifted his upper body off of the ground so he was sitting beside her, rubbing his back soothingly. "Rod says there's a way out... We can leave now, it's okay... Help me get the others out... I... I need... need you."

Cupid lifted his head from his arms and wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve then nodded. He stood up and brushed off his pants as if there was dirt on it. "I'm... I'm going to find Taylor." Then he left Tarin's room and followed the sound of strange humming which led him to Taylor, whom was mopping the kitchen floor. He shook his head and smiled, it was funny to him that she was mopping when no one really cared about the floors right now, yet there she was. Taylor seemed like she was in her own little world to Cupid, maybe it made it easier to cope with whatever pain brought her to this place.

He walked across the wet floor with bare feet and held out his hand to her with the most sincere smile one could see upon his features; if his eyes weren't slightly red it'd be hard to tell he ever cried at all. "We're finally free, Taylor... Come with me."



"I like lionz," Rix bobbed her head up and down. It was definitely a different feeling, being cleaned; her body hurt less and the itching was barely there anymore. She allowed Alexis to carry her wherever she pleased while she devoured her sandwich greedily. Now licking her fingers while Alexis stood around the group Gabe was in, his absence not effecting her in the least. In fact, the girl was perfectly calm until she noticed that open door, causing her eyes to enlarged in fear. Sheer terror struck her tiny features as she scrambled about, trying to get behind without so much of a care that she bore no clothes. Fear of leaving Alexis, who had been kind of her, but then there was the fear of being taken back out to that cage... which overpowered her trust for Alexis.

The little girl managed to tear out of her blankets and the arms of Alexis, running out of the Locked Room towards the stairs that led up to the attic.



Tarin entered Kyle and Kylie's room, where the brother was clinging onto Kylie for dear life. She approached them slowly, though it was mainly for the little boy since she could tell the girl wasn't bothered by her presence. "Hey... it's okay..." she smiled. "I'm here to take you somewhere safe, I promise."

Kyle was reluctant, but from the bustling noises that were happening earlier he knew it wasn't going to be safe to stay in this room forever. "We have nowhere else to go..."

"Stay with me; I'll protect you." Tarin held out her arms to them, trying to be as gentle and motherly as possible.

He scooted slowly off of the bed, which I claim they were on, and tapped on the floor, confirming it was safe to stand t here, then cautiously walked towards her.

Seeing the two struck a nerve for her, but Tarin kept her composure and held back any tears fighting to come out.

Rien turned quickly when Gabe told them to go find the others and tell them of the news. though distracted by the fact that the little girl Rix had ran off to the attic, one of the places he was so accustomed to here. He looked at Alexis and recalled how much of a clean freak she was and instantly knew she wouldn't dare go up into that dusty infestation.
"Alexis, I uh.... will go get Rix." He managed to get out that much, grabbing the blankets and such from her arms and swiftly maneuvering between the others and heading off to the attic without waiting for much of a reply from the group.
Curious why of all places she chose to run off the the attic, the one place everyone was afraid of going to, He crept up the stairs silently thinking while he carried the blankets. "Rix ... Is everything okay?" he called out with a very hush tone in his voice, trying to not startle the young girl. "I think I understand a little bit... and I just want you to know, it is okay to be afraid... we all are, and that is why we have each other now." He thought he heard something move then and turned around to look in the direction of the sound, but all he could see was darkness still, his eyes yet to adjust to the change of lighting. He was so used to the darkness up here, but never did he really search the place, he started to wonder if there was anything up here. "Maybe..." He thought out loud and then sat down on the ground, holding the blankets close to his chest as he waited in thought. After a few moments of sitting on the ground he looked around for Rix again. "Of all the time we have been here.... I have never really talked to anyone.... do you think... it would be okay if we could talk to each other?" His anxiety and asthma was taking a toll on him, which he was aware of, hoping maybe he will calm down and control it on his own if he had someone to share his thoughts with.

(( D= I still can't post yet guys. I have friends that let me check my stuff on their computer but I never have time to do the posting thing. Darn you crashed computer! DARN YOOUUUUU! Miss you guys. Please go ahead and move on without meeeeee. =3;; ))

((Okie doke. I'm not sure how long it'll take them to finally get outta the house o.o; so it won't be much of a worry...

When they do get out, if you still can't post, what do you want me to do with Clara? XD

And, if it makes it easier, I'll allow YOU and ONLY YOU to get away with shitty short posts that get to the point xD No one else has an excuse.))

Clara ran out into the long grass, and brushed the tops of the dead weeds with her palms. It was better than the house. With a great big smile she watched a few lights dance up from the grass and circle her head. Laughing, she spun around in circles, kind of dancing before she fell on her bottom, giggling more.

That's when she noticed that Gabriel had ran after her, looking up she held up her hands as if there was something to show him. "Do you see the fairies Gabe? It's good out here!" After a moment or two she took a deep relaxing breath and actually looked around her, composing herself. Even though she was outside, she knew that she wasn't clear of the cursed house yet. Besides, the image of her father went missing, she had to go look for him.

Perhaps outside wasn't that great after all, she didn't like the look of how far and creepy everything was. "Gabriel.. Where do you think we are..?" Curious, she set her eyes on the circle of trees, it was closer to the house anyway. She didn't want to wander too far away from everyone else. "What... What is that?" Walking a little closer she thought that she could see something through the circle of trees. She just wasn't close enough to figure out what that was.

[Woot! I get to use Lewie at last. And *cough* sorry this took so long.. life.....]

Lewie had been out for awhile now, he had seen quite a bit of the general area, but had decided against venturing to far from the mansion. As much of an adventure as he was, he saw no point in getting lost, when he already didn't know where he was to begin with. Perhaps waiting would draw out some kind of guide, or maybe the shadow man would show himself again.

Sooner or later he found himself asleep in the branches of a tree. He never reached a deep sleep because shortly after his eyes had closed, and his body became still, he heard voices from down below. He peered down, and saw a girl and boy. She was going on about fairies. He looked around, he saw no fairies. He could never see the fairies. "You must be one of the special ones," he called out. He made a leap from the tree, and landed perfectly on his feet. "My little half-sister Nattily could see fairies, and dragons, and castles." He shrugged his shoulders. "Try as I might I could never see any of it."



A hundred dresses costing more than a thousand each. Forty-seven shoes, at least thirty decorated with precious stones or jewels. 200 perfect sets of jewelry, each behind a glass case. 1001 pairs of designer clothes, one sewn by the withering hands of an old maid who passed shortly after, she never was allowed to wear it. Far less than half of what she owned, or of what came with her, like a priceless doll and her accessories.

As much as she complained though, she knew her life could have been a lot worse. At least she had known love once, or something like it. At least for a moment of time she could have anything she asked for, a shame she never asked him what she would have really wanted from him, but perhaps that was for the best. What would two teenagers do out there on their own anyways? And had they ever been caught her parents probably would have found a way for him to be charged with kidnapping.

It all made her laugh to her surprise, the feeling it brought was nice. Her life truly was a fairytale, maybe one day she'd write about it. But of course that all depended on her decision.

Jiao gently lifted X off of her, and sat her up against the wall. She took the piece of her skirt that she had torn off earlier, and used it to wrap up X's cut. She planned on cleaning it, but at least this would stop the bleeding for now. "I'm going to tell everyone the news."

Jiao left the door open a crack on her way out. Truthfully she was dreading the whole announcement she had to make. She wiped at her cheek where the dry blood was irritating her skin. Looking all out of sorts was not bothering her as badly as usual. This time the spotlight would have to shine a little dully on her. "Maxwell's dead!" she shouted out.

((Only making a map response 8D and Gabe... because I want others to reply inside first xD haha.))

NEW PART OF ISLAND REVEALED:

He glanced around but, of course, he saw no fairies that Clara was speaking of, though he chose to not say whether or not he could see them. Instead he followed closely behind Clara, since he knew that there were others in the house capable of leading the rest of them outside. Brows furrowed at the sight of Lewie, he could only assume he was one of the new children who ran out because his clothes were too nice to be of a child that was outside for a long time, assuming any outsiders existed.

Gabriel walked passed Lewie to examine the circle of trees, firmly believing they had to be planted that way. The deeper he walked into the circle the wider his eyes became at the sight of what appeared to be other children. He ran over to the one in the center who was tied to giant makeshift cross with their arms spread. The statues all looked so real, but he wasn't much of a crafter so figuring out how they were made perplexed him. Five trees, a person tied to each tree, then there were four people with one person between each tree. He turned around to see if there were anymore and there was; two children, one an older teen and the other a young child, completed the circle with their hands locked together.

Gently he pressed his index and middle finger against the thigh of the girl on the cross in front of him. Surely she felt a little bit squishy, so it couldn't have been clay or wood. Her skin was cold, which came as no surprise since outside the breeze was making it a bit drafty. The features on her face held no expression and her eyes appeared to be made of... glass. His brows furrowed in deep confusion, stepping closer to her. After a few more minutes of analyzing her he remembered a movie that he had watched with his sister years ago when she insisted they go to the movies once. Apparently the town had been talking nonstop about it and she had to see what all the fuss was about so she could join in on their conversations. The killers in it turned their victims into wax sculptures and allowed the public to view them without realizing they were alive or, in most cases, corpses. Now he was suspicious; could Maxwell really commit such an act?

He glanced over Clara and Lewie, then back at the possibly wax corpse. Gabriel glared down at the ground. Suddenly his hand shot up to the girl's face, he pinched her skin and prepared for the worse. Luckily the other two were far away enough that they wouldn't see what happened by this action. He was correct, they were all wax corpses of children from who knows when. Carefully Gabriel pressed the wax skin back, but he wasn't much of a professional in this area so anyone who came up close enough to her could tell someone did something to her.

Gabriel walked back over to Clara and the new kid. "Let's go back to the others; we'd be better out here in a bigger group." His eyes trailed over Lewie, still not sure where the boy came from. "The name's Gabe. Yours?"

Hearing a voice, Clara gave a start and looked up at Lewie. At first she looked confused, but eventually she smiled. He was clean and well dressed, and the fairies spun around him before drifting off to do their thing. She was smiling at Lewie before he mentioned that his sister could see things too. At this she fidgeted with her fingernails and glanced down. "...I see demons too." Where had Gabe gone? Spinning around, she looked for the missing figure to see him near the cross... That had a person tied to it. There was a demon curled around the top of the cross, leering down at him. It looked like it was melting and like it's dark red fur was matted and falling out. It was a gruesome mixture that fightened Clariece.

Looking back at Lewie, she was going to ask if he could see it too. However, just becuase he knew of fairies didn't mean that he could see them. He said that himself. Nervously running a hand through her hair, she watched Gabe, resisting the urge to run over to him. That urge was destroyed when the feline-esque demon crawled down the cross and whatever was attached to it, and stalked alongside Gabe, grinning wickedly at it's long whip-like tail flicked back and forth. "This is a bad place.. this is a bad place this is a bad place thisisabadplace." As Gabe walked up to them, Clara moved behind Lewie and eventually sunk down and hugged her knees.

"Clara..." Gabriel noticed Clara sinking down to the ground which worried him; normally he tried to avoid females, but now was not the time to give in to such fears. Carefully he knelt down before her, down on one knee, and offered his hand to her. "I don't know what you see right now... I'm sure it's terrifying, but trust me... We need to leave this area and we cannot allow any of the younger ones near this place... Do you understand?"

He glanced over at Lewis. "You must be one of the new people... but this goes for you two." Then back to Clara. "Let's go back to the group and think of a plan to leave this place for good."

--------

Rix had been hiding behind a couple of the crates that were up in the attic closer to the door, while they back of the attic was flooding with many boxes and more crates. Rocking back and forth with her knees to her chest on her toes until an unfamiliar male voice sounded throughout the small room. Ears perked up much like an alarmed cat; she turned her head in the direction of the sound and headed towards it on her hands and knees. Thud, thud, thud each time her knees pounded against the old, wooden surface. The naked child stopped a couple feet away from the stranger with her head close to the ground and her behind in the air like a feline ready to pounce.

She frowned, ready to sprint off into the darkness if he became threatening, but he was male and men wasn't who she feared. Teeth grinded against each other with her brows furrowed until special items caught her eyes. "You gotz Jezz an' Binkie an' Mo!" Her eyes lit up and she sprawled over to him, snatching the blankets out of his arms then wrapping them around her. "Talk? You wan' talk? You wan' talk wif Rickz? No one wanna talk wif me..." the little girl blinked, pulling her blankets close to her and scooting a bit closer to him. "I talk if you wanna, mizta."