City of Mist: Sad, Sad Situations

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

“I can....”

Aurora takes a deep breath and shuffled closer to the bodies, her fingers brushing against their foreheads. Her eyes go milky white, no pupils or iris to be found, a green mist pooling down her cheeks. She takes another deep breath, tugging on the that thread that ties her to the dead, to those still lingering behind.

“Please answer my questions. I am sorry this happened to you. I want to find who did this and bring them to justice.”

Tears still fell and her chest was still tight with fury and sorrow. Her voice grows strange, like thousands of voices layered upon each other, crying out to be heard. It’s been so long since she’s heard that that chorus. She dislikes how familiar it is.

“Who did this?”

 

[GinkyGotBack]

For Aurora, the spirits of the deceased children formed themselves from the green mist flowing from her eyes. Their bodies like as they were before they'd died, unscarred, but now translucent. Their skin and clothes were a glowing pistachio green but their eyes were pure white like hers.

They had the ghostly aura around them that Aurora was so used to seeing among her coworkers and strangers, only this time it made sense for them to have it. They awaited her questions patiently, expressionless, and hovering just above the ground.

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

Aurora let out a soft breath. They were children. Their lives cut short because of some sick f-

“Who did this to you? Where are they? Why did they do this?”

Rory rushed through her questions, knowing she could only ask a handful.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

"A very tall man walked into the building with a jerry can."

"His hair was long and messy, his beard was too."

"He was smiling the whole time as he walked up to us, his teeth were big and sharp."

"He put zip-ties around our hands and feet and taped our mouths."

"He started splashing gasoline all over us and the floor and the table and cabinets."

"When he was done, he lit a match and tossed it into the gas."

"Before the flames reached us, he went down the hall to the left with his can."

The spirits simultaneously pointed down a hall going left from the foyer. Aurora would know that the other set of doors leading to the gym were in this direction, as well as the change rooms, faculty lounge, and about a dozen classrooms.

"Then we died."

amongfoxesandfaeries

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

The mental image of it just made Aurora feel ill. She could feel her stomach turn and threaten to empty itself onto the burnt floor. She shoved the urge down and looked up at the spirits.

“I am so sorry. May you find peace.”

And she lets them go, her eyes and voice returning to normal, the mist fading into thin air. She takes a moment to regain her composure.

“The man that did this went that way. I want his head on a stick.”

Rory stands after addressing Helena, her hands shaking at her sides.

“He was tall, with sharp teeth and messy hair. Long messy hair, with a matching beard. I have a feeling he’s still here.”

 

[Corvid15]

Helena didn't bother to ask how she knew that. She simply nodded, breathing in deeply. She could smell something, a faint trail in the direction Rory pointed.

She shadow hopped in and out of classrooms, the scent getting stronger. Infront of a classroom two doors down was a large fire, blocking the door. She could smell him back there, and she was impatient. She didn't want to get burned, but she readied herself (giving Aurora her purse and cane to hold). She stripped her suit jacket and belt. Only could cause more damage. Her eyes glazed over red, as she smiled to Aurora. But this wasn't Helena anymore.

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

“Don’t kill him. Not until we get answers, please.”

Aurora took Helena’s jacket and purse, leaning the cane against a wall nearby. She didn’t flinch at the red eyes or the smile, her spine straightening in response.

“Unless you’d like help putting out the flames before running in headfirst. Which I’d suggest, as I’m pretty sure catching fire is rather painful.”

 

[Corvid15]

She nodded, taking the fire extinguisher and snuffing the rest of the fire. Sniffing the air again, she could smell him further down. He still had gasoline on him, he was in the furthest down classroom on the left.

She raised a finger to her lips, telling Rory to be silent for a moment. She shadow jumped inside the classroom, staying silent. Claws at the ready. It had been forever since she had killed someone. Helena hadn't let her out in forever, because Helena didn't like how she handled things. But she was much better for this kind of task. To capture and kill this wreched man.

Claws ready, eyes ready in the dark. She could smell him in here. Ready to pounce.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Across the classroom standing by the windows was a tall, well-built man with dark wild hair holding a jerry can. With his back to Helena, he hadn't noticed her 'step' into the classroom. Raising his arms above his head, he slammed them against the windows, shattering the glass upon impact. It was apparent that his plan was to escape as he started to lift his leg to climb through to the outside.

 

[Corvid15]

Not Helena lunged at the man, trying to pounce and grab him before he got away. She pounced, clawing at him and the windowsill before he got away.

Pouncing, she caught her foot on a desk, messing up her strike. Her claws swiped, but missed. Dammit. She was out of practice. She snarled at the man. She couldn't let him get away. Not after what he did to those poor children. She needed blood to spill, and it wouldn't be hers.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

The man pricked up his ears as Helena lunged at him, then dodged to the side as her pounce sent her out the window. The man smiled wide, showing off his incredibly sharp teeth. The man stepped out the window and walked over to Helena as she was starting to recover on the ground.

Taking his container of gasoline, he poured its contents all over Helena's monster-like form, quickly lighting a match and tossing it onto her. The man began cackling as Helena was quickly engulfed in flame, clearly amused with the spectacle of her failure.

Corvid15

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

It was frustrating.
Aurora didn’t like being told to sit on the sidelines, being unable to help. She set Helena’s things down and looked into the room, heart twisting in rage at the sight of the monster that had killed her students.

Rory let that rage bloom into wrath when she saw Helena burning, her heart pounding in her ears as she stormed forward. Her eyes glowed softly, her power pulsing through the air and into the soil below. She beckoned, small white flowers blossoming around her hair and fingers, and the earth answered.

A rope-like vine shot through the window, covered in those same flowers, twisting around this madman’s throat and dragging him away from Helena. Voices, angry and crying for blood, echoed inside Aurora’s skull.

The strange force within her opened its arms and she embraced it, more of those flowers appearing across the ground as she walked. She’d abandoned her shoes, barely acknowledging the danger of it.

”What do you gain from being murderous firebug, pup? Other than the anger of things far more terrifying than you.”

Aurora’s eyes glowed brighter, like wildfire barely contained.

 

[Corvid15]

Helena screamed, her flesh and clothes catching quickly due to being doused in gasoline. She was up in flames, her voice doubled as she screamed. The pain only rooted her in this form further. She rolled on the ground, parts of her clothes melted and burned into her skin. Nothing much was left really. Once she shifted back, these injuries would be a bit worse. She was stronger and more tanky like this.

Helena attempted to grab onto his fear and amplify it. But she was too distracted by having been set on fire moments before, and this guy was hard to get a read on. This was aggravating, and the burns were overlapping her scars. It hurt like hell, re agitating the area. She was nearly head to toe covered in fresh burns, due to being doused w a can of gasoline. Not too high a degree, but the sheer amount would be tough. She was familiar with the Burn Rule of 9s, this wouldn't be fun at all. Maybe only first or second degree, but she was at least 50% covered, bare minimum. She was a bit quicker to heal then most. But still not fun.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Completely unaffected by Helena's mind powers, the man ripped the vines from his throat, freeing himself from their grasp. His eyes burned red with anger towards Aurora and so he ran towards her, on all fours, hoping to pounce on her much like Helena had tried to do the same to him earlier.

Corvid15 amongfoxesandfaeries

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

Aurora took a deep breath, her hands steady and her face serene. As this...beast leapt at her, another vine replaced the one he’d torn off.
”Down, pup.”
She didn’t even flinch or show any ounce of fear.

 

[Corvid15]

Helena pounced and missed again, slamming rather un gracefully face first into the ground. This was getting rather tiring. A little blood ran from her nose as she stood up, growling. Screw it. Non lethal force wasn't getting her anywhere. Helena's voice slipped out.

"Fine.. you win."

"Goood. Much better."

Helena was gone completely. She gave up, but the new her felt herself become a bit stronger. Her voice was a bit thicker accented, a mix of British and German. High class serial killer.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

The hairy man spun gracefully out of the way of Helena's pounce, crouching his body in preparation to dodge another attack. "This has been fun, but I think I'm done here for now. Until next time, ladies." Crouching down on all fours, the man took off with incredible speed, disappearing into the nearby grouping of trees near the outside of the school. It would appear the pyromaniac has slipped away unscratched this time.

Corvid15 amongfoxesandfaeries

 

[amongfoxesandfaeries]

Aurora screamed profanities after him, the flowers withering away as she took a breath and regained her sense of self. She tiptoed around the glass back to her shoes and turned to Helena, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end.

“Are you alright? Do you need my help?”

Rory stepped forward, willing to help in any way Helena needed. Though, she had a feeling it wasn’t quite Helena anymore.

 

[Corvid15]

Eliza Druitt, the alter of Helena. Ah, it had been a while. This, Aurora woman was offering help. She didn't hurt too much, most of it was the fact that she had been useless. DIDN'T EVEN HURT HIM A BIT. That's why Eliza prefers to be in control.

"My purse. Tourniquet and syrette."

Taking the required items from Aurora, she tied the rubber tubing around her upper arm, injecting the syrette... nothing happened. She'd have to wait this out. She grabbed her stuff, heading to see if police or anyone had arrived. Or medical team. Tbough she'd rather treat these burns herself. No drugs worked on her. Except her two formulas. You could inject her with cyanide, and she would laugh it off. Medics would get suspicious, normal ones that is.

She would have to call in to work, go through all that to get special medical care. She couldn't go to a normal hospital, both because of this and her work. It was.. a thing.

She could hear the sirens at this point, so she walked back to the burnt main building and waited.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

As all the madness on the other side of the school was happening, the police, fire department and the paramedics had finally made it Paul Simon High. Out of one of the police cruisers strode Artie, Joe's police friend whom he'd spoken with the other day. As the other officers went to take stock of the situation, Artie made his way over to Joe with that trademark shit-eating grin of his.

"So I take it the play was a riveting experience?" Artie held out his hand for a friendly shake.

Felix

 

[Felix]

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you set us up for this 'riveting experience', but that would imply you were a criminal mastermind and it's not the criminal part I'm questioning." Joe might have been old, but he was still sharp enough for these quips. He grabbed his hand and smiled, though not entirely sincere. "Thanks for coming on such short notice, Artie."

"Artie?" Martha seemed to vaguely recognize her. "What are you doing here? Was there a break in the case?"

"Yes dear, there was. Artie will watch you for a bit, okay? I need to take care of this." He turned to Artie with a grim face. "You kind of owe me. I saw my niece running into the main building earlier and haven't seen her since. I am worried about her, so I will go and look for her. Will you please watch Martha?"

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Artie gave a polite smile to Martha as she spoke to him, but didn't say anything. He watched as she walked away before turning his attention back to Joe. As the old detective explained his plan, the stupid grin slowly disappeared and was replaced with the professional expression of an officer of the law.

"Joe, you're not with the force anymore, you're a citizen now. I can't have you running into a burning building under any circumstance. I realize you're worried about your niece, but we have firefighters working on putting out the flames and rescuing anyone still inside. Just let us do our jobs and I promise you we'll get your niece out safe and sound."

 

[Felix]

"That's easy for you to say! Your son is probably alright and well standing outside. When Rory ran inside she looked like she knew someone was in there, be it a victim or an arsonist. If-" His voice cracked a little. He was really worried. "If something happened to her, I can't come home to her mother to tell her I saw her go in and did nothing. Imagine what you would have done if Tommie was inside?!"

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Artie tries not to betray any emotion as Joe voices his concerns. It's his duty to uphold the law and protect citizens, after all, but it seems here he can't do both. "If it was Tommie in there, I'd be just as upset as you. Hell, I'd probably try to punch my way inside if I thought it would help. But I can't just go against orders and let you put yourself at risk."

Artie sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Look, I can radio in that your niece might still be inside the building. That way the boys in red will know to keep a lookout for her and you don't have to go in there. Sound good?"