KINGDOM HEARTLESS II

[Crystal Tears]

Kingdom Heartless
II

It was eons ago, when they came.

Devils of the dark, with wicked yellow eyes and shifting black bodies.

They were defeated on the cusp of their victory. Light overcame darkness when the sun’s rays bore down onto the earth.

Yet the ancient promise still stands.

Billions of the purest hearts in exchange for the opening of the lost door.

All that remained was 10000.

- ♥ -

November 19th, 2011, Township of Twilight.

“Thomas Borreau was found dead in his apartment earlier this evening; the long-time teacher of the Twilight Town Secondary School was respected and loved by many.”

The news flicked to one of the man’s long-time friends.

“He didn’t have a bad bone in his body…” She whimpered, holding back tears. “I… I’m sorry, I can’t…”

Back to the reporter, who had a neutral expression. “Police suspect that the attack took place during the power outage to his residence and that the assailant used the temporary darkness, to his or her advantage-“

- ♥ -

Darkness fell on Traverse City three years ago, light banished us, but the door was not found. Now we follow the beating hearts to Twilight Town, California.

Half way to success… the promise will be kept, and the debt will be paid.

4999

- ♥ -

Name:
Age: Not to young please.
Gender:
Personality:
Appearance:
Occupation: (If you have one)
History:
Keyblade: Name, and design.
Other:

- ♥ -

Please note, if you participated in the last Kingdom Heartless, you may not play your character from Traverse City, Japan. New heroes, new place. You can assume from the plot that the heroes in Traverse City succeeded in halting the heartless onslaught. It’s been three years, and now Twilight Town is coming under siege. Characters from the original may appear later in the RPG in which their original creators will have a chance to RP them again, but for now, new characters only.

- ♥ -

Name: Phoenix Williams

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Personality: Phoenix is honest, almost brutally so. She’s blunt most of the time, not sugar-coating a lot and tends to be a little more pessimistic. Independent, quick-witted and stubborn, Phoenix doesn’t talk about what’s bothering her, she’d rather let it drift away to the back of her mind. Her temper is short concerning whiners and lazy people, but otherwise it’s easy to annoy Phoenix, but actually rather hard to make her angry. Phoenix is creative, and tends to think outside the box, though she has trouble focusing on things that don’t interest her (like school). She’s usually upbeat, out-going, and a quick-talker. Her bad habits include talking to herself where she answers her own questions, laziness (projects never get done until the last day usually), and addiction to technology (she can’t stand to be separated from her phone…).

Appearance: Phoenix is a brightly coloured, to say the least. She has long red hair whose bangs are cut to frame her face, and gorgeous cerulean eyes. Her skin is a pretty, unblemished pale and she’s usually wearing some sort of bold coloured tank top/baby-tee (usually purple, green, black, or hot pink, all of which usually have some sort of saying on them) and dark skinny jeans. She wears a fingerless black glove on her right hand, and a silver star charm bracelet on the same arm. Her left arm is adorned with simple bracelets, and her left hand usually has two rings on it. Her shoes are usually primarily white or black, with bright colours accenting them, and are skater-style. Phoenix is lithe and agile, so she can keep running.

Occupation: Art Student o:

History: Phoenix has a tendency to leave home at random intervals due to the abusive personalities of her mother and father. She hates it, and thus doesn’t discuss it with anyone. Phoenix will avoid having people over due to the environment of her home, and her mother’s attitude towards visitors.
Due to her lifestyle, Phoenix is noted for her abilities with free-running or parkour. She’s very; very hard to catch when someone is chasing her.

Keyblade: The Scrambling Skip – A rather simple keyblade, the Scrambling Skip is mostly black, with white and gold accents. The hilt of it has a very industrial, geometric design to protect Phoenix’s hand, the body of the weapon is somewhat dented and looks like someone welded the white and black together pouring. The keys are sharp, and crisp and gold, though the edges look a little worn.

[b]Other:[/v] Phoenix was giving a fancy, lime green Mazda 3 sedan from her Aunt (she’s substantially rich). Otherwise she’d never be able to afford it with the modest amount of money she makes doing commissions. She’s skilled in both art and dance, but doesn’t have much talent for music (save for piano, she knows that, and can occasionally play something that resembles song). She also has a real talent for video games.

- ♥ - Phoenix - ♥ -

“No Seth I’m not joking,” Phoenix laughed, holding her iPhone to her ear with her shoulder. Clamped in her hands was a PlayStation 3 controller and her eyes were solely focused on her television. Final Fantasy 13; she had been hard at work leveling up for the past hour until she had ran smack into a giant ‘demon turtle’ as she called them. “I’m getting my ass handed to me and all it’s doing is stomping its damn feet!”

“Maybe if you didn’t suck at the game…”

“Oh shut up fairy boy.” She snapped back playfully, watching as Vanille collapsed from being hit and Fang and Lightning were gimped. “Get up Vanille, I need a healer…”

“You’re farther than I am.”

“You don’t own the game…” She noted, frowning a bit as she watched Fang and Vanille collapse.

“Thus why you’re farther than me.”

Phoenix’s room was dark, she only had one light on in the corner and past that the only illumation was the colourful television screen. The door to her bedroom was shut tight, not welcoming any intrusions from her probably drunken parents or any of their friends. It was the way she preferred it. She sat on her bed, legs crossed, in her pajamas, with cookiesin her lap and a glass of milk on her bedside table.

Tonight was a good night.

Then there was a flicker of something that caught her attention. She ignored it at first, until it moved again. Frowning, she paused the game and looked. That side of her room wasn’t graced with lights, most of it was shadows and more shadows cast by her bookcase and dresser. Her frown lightened a bit as she didn’t see a thing, only the blackness that the lack of light often left.

“Huh…” She unpaused the game and went back to trying to kill giant turtles.

“What’s wrong?”

“Thought I saw something move…” She trailed off as she saw the same dark on dark movement in the corner of her eye. Pausing, she looked again, harder. Nothing seemed off, at least, not until she spotted something. It was a shadow, yet nothing could’ve been casting it. Confused she tried to make out the outline, vaguely human maybe? Blinking, some nervous part of her was relieved when it was gone.

“Nixie?”

“I… nothing.” Masking her fear, she reached over and flicked on her light. The entire room now was light up, with only the tiniest amount of shadows in the corners and underside of the shelves. “I’m going nuts.”

“Too many video games for you.”

“There’s no such thing!”

“… True. You’re just tired.”

Accepting that rational, completely sane answer over the flurry of suspicions and anxiety in her stomach, Phoenix smiled and unpaused her game.

- ♥ -

Phoenix was awake.

She didn’t want to be awake.

Sleeping was proving to be difficult. With a frown she turned over and looked at her clock, her frown turned to a right scowl.

4:05 AM

This wasn’t the first time she had woken up tonight. Her body was on edge; her heart was beating faster than normal. She hadn’t had a nightmare, that not that she could recall. No, it was something else. Her mind drifted back to that shadow she had seen, but all the logical reasons as attributed it to her imagination and lack of sleep. Right now, was probably no different.

She wondered distantly, if Seth was having the same problem. She reached for her phone, grasping it off her sidetable, and quickly texted him.

You awake?

No reply, she stared at the screen praying for a reply but got none.

‘Oh suck it up, it’s not like-‘

Something in her room fell, crashing to the floor. Second after that Phoenix has flicked on the bedside light and was hiding under her covers, cowering. She scrambled towards the light; all the while making sure not an inch of her was exposed to the rest of her room. She clung to the phone like a life line.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

- ♥ -
Saturday, 11:45 AM

“It’s said that the door will open and-“

“And darkness will cover the world yada yada yada…” Phoenix interrupted Seth, who shot her a glare. She smiled at him, still tired from the night, she was happy today was an easy day with no real class commitments and was just a hang out day. With a yawn she went back to resting her head on her arms, enjoying how the table and her sweater made a lovely pillow. “Wasn’t there something about hearts?”

“Yeah,” Seth looked back at the door, flipping the page. “Creatures from the door will come and take your heart if it’s pure…”

“Well it’s good to know I have nothing to worry about…” She murmured, hearing him chuckle. She turned her head, looking at him with a faintly curious expression. “Seriously, why do you care so much about this crap? It’s a legend for a reason.”

“Thomas Borreau, you remember him?”

Looking a bit bored, she shrugged. “Isn’t he the teacher that was murdered?”

Seth nodded. “There’s been a leak, apparently, his heart was torn out.”

Phoenix sat up a bit, giving him a look. “So, you think some… how were they described? Heartless fiends came out of some evil door and stole his heart?” She laughed, putting her head back down and playing with her phone. “That legend doesn’t even make sense, the door is closed but they got in anyways.”

Chuckling, Seth shrugged. “They come through the cracks in the door apparently, I don’t know.. And no, I don’t think that. I just think some sicko might be mimicking the legend.”

“I think it was just a psychopath who felt like murdering someone.” She shrugged lightly. “Isn’t your roommate coming?”

“Anthony?” Seth looked around. “Yeah, he said he would.”

“Do you know him that well?”

“No.”

“Then why’d you invite him?”

“Because we should be making friends.”

Phoenix broke out laughing, gaining a few glares from people. Hushing, she looked at him and leaned towards Seth, smirking. “He’s hot isn’t he?”

“Whaatt? You think the only reason I want him here is because he’s eye-candy?”

“Yes.”

“… Then you’d be correct.” Seth sheepishly admitted. “But! That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends with him as well.”

Phoenix was quiet for a little bit, watching Seth go about reading his book as she texted numerous friends. Still, what happened in the night lingered in her mind. Nothing really important had fell, but the horse sculpture she had sat on the top of her bookshelf, which had no reason to really, fell, had fallen. Like something had bumped it or knocked it in the night. Words caught on her tongue, she was about to say something to Seth when he gestured towards the stairs leading to the main level of the library.

“There he is.”

- ♥ -

Tag Becki, and Sam and by extension Classy and Wolf. Library times <3

[Samchu]

Name: Anthony Leighton

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Personality: Although being raised in a lifestyle that demanded hard work and honesty, Anthony reinvented himself when he moved to America. He still works hard and he is still honest but he's also cocky and arrogant at times. He considers himself to be experiencing some of the best years of his life and embraces them fully. He can come off as a little obnoxious on occasion (usually after he's drunk) but he's really easy going and people tend to get along with him really well. He's a team player, not really a leader but he can step up and take charge if he needs to. He loves to be challenged, especially physically, and never backs away from a fight. He is also known for being something of a flirt but has never in his life committed to an actual relationship. The reasoning behind this is that he is somewhat ashamed of his sexuality. Although attracted to girls he also finds himself attracted to some guys and is afraid of someone finding this out. He goes out of his way to suppress his 'other' attractions and is internally torn by the drilled in guilt that it is 'wrong' and the curiosity of never actually trying it.

Appearance: This but his hair is dyed blonde. He also likes to wear baggy clothes, mostly jeans and t-shirts. He is very westernised in his appearance (see history). Stands at an even six feet in height.

Occupation: Sport science student (2nd year) and part-time maintenance man.

History: Anthony was born in California, America, but spent less than a year in the country. His father was businessman who, on a month-long trip to Tokyo, had had an affair with one of the maids in the hotel. As a result of this news, Anthony's parents divorced, and his mother left him and took everything else. His father, seeing it as an opportunity to start a new life, used the little money he had left to move himself and his son to Tokyo, where he set up a small shop to rent bicycles to English-speaking tourists. When Anthony was five, his father remarried, this time to a Japanese woman. It was a sad time for Anthony as, although he was young, he was aware that his ties to his country of birth were being severed. English was forbidden from being spoken in the house as his step-mother didn't understand it and refused to learn. With his father forbidden from the kitchen, American-style dishes disappeared from the menu. His only relief was the annual Superbowl, which he and his father were grudgingly allowed to watch.
Football quickly became Anthony's strongest tie to the west. He would hold conversations with tourists about their favourite teams and pretend to score touchdowns in his bedroom. When he finally enrolled in Junior High School, he was able to join the school's American Football team and poured himself into his training. By the time he entered high school, he was already renowned for his abilities. At the same time, his father decided to expand his business. With an able pair of legs available, he got Anthony to give bicycle tours of this city. Happy as he was for the extra workout, it was hard finding time for his studies between work and football and his grades suffered, much the displeasure of his stepmother who threatened to pull him from the team. Fortunately, his father stepped in and things continued this way until Anthony's graduation drew near. Knowing that this was his chance to escape Japan and move to the country dearest to him, Anthony sent applications to almost every university in the country. He was offered several opportunities to try out for scholarships but didn't have enough money to cover the costs of the flight. Feeling for him, his team banded together and covered part of his costs. His father even managed to get in touch with Anthony's birth mother and convince her to help. After several trials, he earned a scholarship at Twilight Town University, in his birth state of California. However, he was unable to keep his ties with his birth mother as the Japanese influence on him reminded her too much of her former husband's betrayal and she had a new family to take care of. Anthony feels some resentment and sadness at this but keeps it buried.
Due to his poor financial standing, he made an agreement with the university to work part-time as a maintenance man in exchange for his education of board. Free from his Japanese stepmother, Anthony did everything he could to embrace the western lifestyle, and died his naturally dark brown hair blonde and took up wearing slogan-ed t-shirts and jeans.

Keyblade: The Unyielding - Anthony's keyblade has a thicker shaft at most. The teeth are short but straight, with what looks like tiny barbs protruding from the edges. It is designed to act as well as a defensive weapon as it is as an offensive one, capable of taking battering whilst delivering heavy blows. However, this makes it heavy and difficult to wield against speedy opponents.

Other: Plays as a defensive end for Twilight Town University's American Football Team and has the highest number of sacks at college level. Is fluent in both Japanese and English and talks with a slight Japanese accent that he has been trying to lose.


Anthony
~~~~~~~

He didn’t know why he was dragging himself to a library on a Saturday of all days. It was the second-best day of the weekend, the rest time before the excitement of Sunday hit. But was he sleeping? No. No, he was forcing himself to the library for a study session. With a yawn, he readjusted his grip on his textbook. He’d already been awake for five hours, taking care of whatever bits and pieces of maintenance needed taken care of. It was a cruel shift, especially after the hours he had to put in the night before, but he didn’t exactly have any choice in the matter. It wasn’t all bad. Reflecting on it, Ant knew it was actually one of the best outcomes he could have hoped for, but he did miss his sleep.

Wandering into the library, he kept his eyes peeled for Seth, his new roommate and the reason Ant was giving up his Saturday sleep. He had hardly known Seth a week. Term had started, as usual, with Ant comfortably set up in his familiar room. But less than a week ago, someone had managed to flood the room above his, forcing him to find somewhere else to sleep. And apparently Seth’s room was the only one available that was still within reasonable distance of the maintenance storage block. So he’d packed up his things and gone over there. Seth was out at the time, which suited Ant because he didn’t want to deal with the late, awkward introductions whilst he was trying to settle into a pre-settled room. Their encounter hadn’t been the smoothest but it made him chuckle to himself as he thought about it.

Anthony made his way out of the shower, his black towel secured tightly around his waist. For the first time since his arrival, he opened the door to find someone standing in the room. Seth was reading at his desk but he had looked up when the door had opened. He was silent for a long time, his face looking, or so Ant thought, a little redder around the cheeks. “But…it’s not my birthday.”

Ant looked at the boy and tilted his head. “Huh?”

“Nothing.” Seth shook his head. “I’m guessing you’re my new roommate?”

Ant nodded and walked over, holding out his hand. “I’m Anthony. Sorry about arriving so suddenly. Someone flooded the dorm above mine so it became a bit of a rush to move out of there.”

“Seth.” He shook Ant’s hand. His grip was as weak as his physique suggested. “And it’s no trouble.”

They didn’t have much in common. Seth was the withdrawn intelligent type and Ant was the outgoing jock. But Ant enjoyed the little time their schedules allowed them to spend together. Seth had picked up on his accent immediately, much to Ant’s dismay, but for once he’d found himself happy to answer questions about the country in which he’d grown up. Perhaps that was why, when Seth had asked him to join him and his friend at the library for a study session, Ant had obliged.

Looking across the room, he saw the scrawny boy waving to him from a table. Peering over her phone, a brightly-coloured girl watched him approach. He waved as he neared the table. “Hey.”

“Hi. So, introductions. Phoenix, Anthony. Anthony, Phoenix.”

He held his hand out to the girl. “Nice to meet you.”

She returned the gesture, though it felt lazy and a little awkward. “Likewise.”

He frowned a little as he looked at her. He wasn’t great at names but he was generally good with faces and hers was setting off something in the back of his mind.

She caught his frown and glared slightly. “What?”

“Have we met before? Just…I have this feeling I’ve seen you somewhere but I can’t think where.”

She shrugged. “Maybe you saw me around campus. It’s not impossible.”

“No, I suppose it’s not.” He pushed the feeling into the dark, unexplored regions of his mind and took up the seat opposite Seth. He dropped his book onto the surface and started flicking through the pages until he got to the most recent unread chapter. “So how do these study sessions work exactly? I’ve never actually been invited to one before.”




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TAG Becki and Sie
Note: changed his major of study and made an addition to the 'other' section (see sign-up)

[ChobiChibi]

Seth Lawrence

What did these library sessions normally involve? In all honesty, most times Seth would sit with whatever homework he had, whilst Phoenix watched, maybe sometimes drawing something, maybe sometimes doodling over his work. It wasn’t really the most productive of times, because although the idea had all the best intentions, it normally turned into a bitching/ranting, general gossip or gaming talk session.

But Anthony didn’t need to know that.

“We just sit, do our work, and drink tea in large quantities.” Seth explained, catching Phoenix’s smirk out the corner of his eye. “Working is more enjoyable with friends.”

Anthony nodded, glancing over at Seth’s pile of books. “What exactly are you studying?”

“Erm, I’m supposed to be doing French today...” He gestured to a text book that sat right at the bottom of a pile of random other books. “But I may have got distracted... Did you hear about that teacher who was murdered?”

“I’m sure Anthony doesn’t want to hear about your conspiracy theories.” Phoenix gave him a wary glance. The glance that meant that no, this was not a suitable topic to bring up if you want to keep new company interested in you.

“It’s not a conspiracy theory.” Seth explained. “It’s merely a series of events that are coincidently similar to past events, and are therefore of interest.”

“To you maybe...”

“I’m just gonna get a couple more books...” Anthony gestured to upstairs, where he’d find the books he needed. Seth was lucky, both of his subjects were on the same floor. Seth waved as he went away, Phoenix watching him go until he disappeared, well out of earshot.

Seth tried to get back to work, but was rudely interrupted by a very rude, pokey finger poking him. “You fancy him.”

He didn’t look up from his notes, flicking over a page in his book. “Do not...”

His book slammed shut, narrowly missing his fingers. He frowned, but still didn’t turn to her. “Shut. Up. I can see it. You want to bend him ov-”

“No, you see, this is where you are mistaken.” Seth turned to her, a very serious expression prominent on his face. “I fancy the pants off him. There’s a huge difference.”

“I didn’t think football players were your type...”

“We watch most football games together, what gave you that impression?” He laughed. “I’m allowed to look if I want...”

“It’s only been a week.”

“He makes very good first impressions.”

“Oh?”

“Well on the day he moved in, I was out in the morning, I came back and found a load of random stuff on the other side of the room. Thought, fair enough, wasn’t expecting to have a room on my own for the whole year. And then he appeared.” Seth stopped, remembering the image.

“And...?” Phoenix didn’t look impressed.

“He’d just got out the shower. Wet and naked. Just had a towel wrapped around his waist, didn’t leave much to the imagination...”

Nixie bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “You made a fool of yourself?”

“The first thing I managed to say was ‘it’s not my birthday’. Not funny!” He scolded her as she chuckled. “It couldn’t have sounded any more pervy if I’d tried...”

“I’m sure it coulda been...” Nixie yawned, moving from the desk to his shoulder as an alternative pillow.

“You seem extra tired today.” Seth brushed some hair away from her face, it was tickling his neck. “Stay up playing too late?”

She shook her head. “No, couldn’t sleep. Thought I saw something. Probably woulda slept better if you’d texted me back.”

“I was asleep!”

“Yeah well...” She pulled down the sleeves of her jacket, folding her arms across herself. “I thought I saw something moving in my room. Just freaked me out a little, that’s all.”

“Maybe you’ve got rats.”

“Ew, no!” She slapped his arm playfully. “There are no rats in my house, thanks.”

“I’ll try and be awake next time something freaks you out by running through your room in the middle of the night.”

At that point, Anthony sat back down, placing a couple of books on the desk, startling them both, since they’d been too busy talking to notice his return. “Maybe it was rats?”

“It’s not rats!”

“Ow! Stop hitting me!”

~~~
Erm. Yeah

[Shadow Wolf]

Syd S. Arashi

Those yellow eyes kept him a bit frightened and alert at the same time

“Who are you?”

no response came from the yellow eyes burning in the darkness

“I don’t have time for games. Answer me!”

And again… no response

“Whatever”

Syd turned around… only to find another set of eyes. He thought it was the same pair, but when he looked back, the first set of eyes was still there. “No good” he thought.

He tried to escape, only to find himself being stuck. His feet did not move and the eyes began to draw closer to him. But the weird thing was that the eyes were sliding through the floor every time they moved.

Syd wondered why the eyes seemed to grow taller, but when he noticed he could not move his arms, he realized what was happening and began to panic. He was sinking in the darkness.

“Damn it, I can’t move” he grumped as he could only watch as the two set of eyes getting closer and closer to him. He tried his best to break free, but could not do anything. How could his life end like this when it hasn’t even properly started? It wasn’t fair!

“NO!” he screamed as his whole life flashed through his eyes. “I will n…”

The darkness quicksand covered his mouth… he could not open it anymore. The only thing left was the fear reflected in his eyes as he felt the eyes illuminate his head before sending a chill that reached his heart. He tried to grab his chest, but could not move his hands…

He closed his eyes, hoping that they could somehow reach his heart and get a hold of it...

.........

............

..........

*BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*

The alarm sounded, claiming that it was 5:30am. It was time for Syd to get up and get ready to go to work.

The image of the yellow eyes in the darkness lingered through his mind, but he had no time to ponder his dreams. He brushed it off as he went to take a bath and get ready, trying not to make too much sound as his parents were still sleeping. As he jumped in his clothes, he unplugged his mp3 player, linked his circumaural headphones and pressed the play button.

As he went to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast, he skipped a few songs and found one that could give him spirits to begin the day with energy. It took a full 15 minutes to prepare scrambled eggs in two slices of bread and coffee with milk, so he had a song in repeat to keep the rhythm going.

As he stepped out of the house, his wristwatch showed him that it was 6:15am, time for him to do chores around town. He slapped both his cheeks in motivation and set out to eat the world…
_________________

“Take me by the tongue and I’ll know you… kiss me ‘till you’re drunk and I’ll show you… You want the moves like Jagger, I’ve got the...” *click*

Syd opened the door of his house and proceeded into his room. Sure, his mp3 player was a bit loud, but he didn’t care much. This was his gasoline and he did not plan to have his mood ruined because someone else was hearing his phones. He left some of the income in his parent’s room before going into his and taking another bath. It was hard work, but he was proud of it, and no boss would tell him to take off his headphones.

“Hmm… what to do…” He pondered as he got out of the bath.

Suddenly, a flash came through his mind… how could he forget that the new Daniel X book was out?

“Well, that serves for free time.” Syd thought as his next destination became as clear as his body… the public library.

__________________

If I could find you now, things would get better. We could leave this town and run forever. I know somewhere somehow, things would get better. Let your waves... *whoooosh*

As the big doors of the library opened and the chilling wind embraced his face, Syd walked in with a hurried step. His body was strolling through the library, but his mind was on his house, where he would play in his Band Hero game the song currently being played on his mp3 player: Ocean Avenue. This song was always a challenge for Syd. Not only was it fast for him, but he also had some problems in leading his right foot (which banged in the battery pedal) at a different beat than his hands, which were moving quickly between the battery colors and the song progressed. He had to practice a lot if he wanted to dominate the bridges and the outro of the song, so he was practicing the song in his mind all of the time.

He passed by the tables as he went to the sci-fi section. He noticed at least three people about his age having some kind of conversation. He could only hear a few words, but they somehow inspired him…

“…‘s not impossible”

He didn’t know what they were talking about, but his mind suddenly felt a burst of inspiration. That’s right, it is not impossible to get the song right.

His eyes went into his mp3 player as his hands were on the verge of setting “repeat: song” when he suddenly bumped into someone. He could hear a faint “Ouch” and the sound of something falling. He could just say sorry and move forward, but when he noticed the pile of books on the floor, his will held him in place as his mind convinced him that he had to help.

He took off his headphones before speaking… just to make sure that he did not talk loud inside a library.

“I’m sorry” he replied ad he fixed his gaze at the girl with black hair and brown eyes, although they were two different shades of brown, which somehow distracted him.

"You should be careful with your music.” The girl replied. “While you wear your headphones, you could crash into a lot of people and their books and the books on the shelves. I did that once, you know. I borrowed a CD from my friend and I was so busy listening to it that I crashed into the horror section at the bookstore. King and Lovecraft and Koontz everywhere. There was a Dumas there too but that wasn't horror, so what was it doing there? And it's even worse at night when you're walking around alone and unaware of things sneaking in shadows and following your every move. Even if you lower your volume it's still a risk. But look for me if you need help looking for something."

“Um, right…” Syd could only get the last part of the conversation, since he was focused on helping her pick up the books. He noticed that she made a specific order of the books, giving the pile an organized impression; that somehow got his attention. “Wow, you’re really organized! Umm…. What’s your name?”
_____________

OK, let’s rock the library! Tag Nia (classy_cat18)

[classy_cat18]

Nia Hawthorne

Lily’s Sanctuary. That’s what the owner and my boss named the bookstore I worked in. Lily was his dear wife, who was killed in a car accident. Boss grieved for a good while before fulfilling her dream to move the previously tiny bookstore to a bigger space. I was hired during the transition, being a trusted and valuable customer.

The new Sanctuary at first seems to occupy a space about the twice size of the old location, but makes up for it by being three stories tall. It’s the biggest of the independent bookstores. In addition to the old favorites (Ancient Greece’s epic poems to the works of the Great Depression), they now carry modern favorites.

Except Meyer. Sparkly vampires are not allowed.

Nerds love it. Everyone else…didn’t for a while but they got over it I guess.

But I’m babbling again. I do that a lot.

Last night I was helping with closing the store while listening to Boss’ suggestion of renting an orangutan for a day to help with promoting the store. I had to burst his bubble by telling that there was a possibility that no one would get the reference. “Plus I don’t think there’s a way of renting an orangutan,” I added. “Although the zoo may do it but then orangutans must be hard to look after. They’re wild animals and it may climb all over the place and tear apart the books and bite off customers’ noses or our noses.”

“Fine, spoil my fun,” Boss grumbled. “Ook.”

Boss, a fifty-something man with a jock’s build, hated being called Mister or Sir. “Every time you call me one of those, I get a year older,” he would say. Of course it’s not true because Daisy would’ve killed him years ago if it was.

Daisy was his daughter, by the way. High school senior. Practically cloned from her mother from what I’ve seen from pictures.

“You and Daisy keep on wrapping things up,” Boss told me. “I need to bring the car around.”

“Okay,” I answered.

The only thing that was left to do was turning off the lights, third floor first. I looked up from the first floor. The lights switched off. Daisy must’ve turned them off. She would then walk down to the second floor and do the same thing.

Instead she was rushing back down to the first floor, not slowing down until she crashed into me. She was shaking badly. “Daisy? Did something happen up there?” I asked her.

“There’s something up there!” she wailed, her voice muffled by my shirt. “I was turning off the lights and then something brushed up against me!”

“Someone hiding up there maybe?”

“No! No, it wasn’t a person!”

“Maybe we should—“

“Let’s leave!” she interrupted.

“We can’t. If it is a person then he’ll be free to steal whatever he wants. He can even let in his friends and they can steal with him. We need to—“

“RAT!” she interrupted. “I remember now! It was a rat!”

“Okay, go outside and wait for Boss. I’m going to finish turning off the lights.” I pried her off of my body.

“NO!” She cleared her throat and spoke in a quieter voice. “What if the…rat…is still up there?”

“Then we can set traps.” I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The lights were still on and it was very quiet. I reached around and flipped the light switches, then made the mistake of peering into the darkness.

Two big, round yellow eyes. Like headlights. Peering back at me.

I gasped and turned around to run, accidentally running into the wall on the first attempt. “It’s a rat, it’s a rat, it’s a rat!” I chanted to myself in denial.

That’s what I said to Daisy when I met her at the front door, and to Boss when we climbed in the car. But we both knew…

That was no rat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day was an off-day. Weekends were my days to volunteer at the library, a space that was even bigger than the bookstore. It was a good way to shake away the dreams of swarms of yellow-eyed shadows. What was that thing anyway? Could I find an answer in the library?

I didn’t bother paying attention to my surroundings until someone bumped into me. Or maybe I bumped into them. Either way, the books that I was carrying were knocked onto the floor. “I’m sorry,” the boy said after slipping off his headphones.

That explains it. He was so absorbed in his music that he didn’t even notice me. I reprimanded him about the dangers of doing that but he probably didn’t even pay attention to half of it. I gave up and just stacked the books back to their proper order, occasionally taking one from him.

“Wow, you’re really organized!”

I paused for a moment, my ears only hearing his first sentence. “Of course. You need to be organized to work here. It’s easier to shelve and find books if they’re ordered. But some people just put books wherever they can and just knock the whole system out of order. It’s hard to find things that aren’t in their proper place.” I lifted the stack and started to leave.

Oh, he wanted to know my name.

“My name is Nia Hawthorne.”

[Crystal Tears]

♥ Phoenix ♥

Phoenix didn’t usually mind listening to Seth be concerned about her general condition, or be bothered by the man gawking over some jock or another. Actually he did it often when they went to football practice. She would draw the players in motion, while he would just admire their motion. But today was different; a similar feeling to the creepiness that had been eating away at her during the night was slithering into her spine.

She cleared her throat. “I’ll, uhh, be right back.” With that she moved away from the table, towards windows. A storm was gathering, grey clouds beginning to block out what remained of the sunlight, Phoenix could see the wind being to whip up, tugging on the trees and pulling leaves from the branches.

“A storm…”

Phoenix looked to her left; a boy was standing a few feet from her. Though she hardly thought he was speaking to him, she shrugged and responded. “We’ve had them before.”

Perhaps he hadn’t noticed her until then, as he looked at her with surprise. He didn’t say anything past his first statement, and that caused Phoenix to raise an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

He considered her for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I didn’t see you, sorry.”

She shrugged, trying to shrug off that horrible feeling. “It’s alright. What’s your name?”

“Syd… But people tend to call me Phones.”

“Phones?” She watched him gesture to his headphones. “Oh, ha ha. I’m Phoenix… What’re you looking for?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You’re in a library.” Phoenix looked around with a smirk at the books. “There must be a book you’re looking for?”

“The new Daniel X Book.” Phones stated. “I would ask the librarian, but she’s tends to um… go on, about things.”

The girl smiled. “Come on, I’ll help ya out.”

Wary, he nodded and smiled slightly. Gesturing to an aisle. They wandered into it. Phoenix, while helping him search, glanced up at the lights. For some reason, she couldn’t help but hope to hell that they would stay on. Thunder boomed outside, causing her to yelp as her skin crawled.

Something was definitely wrong.

Texting quickly, she sent Seth a message.

Something is wrong. >
< What?
I don’t know. I just feel funny. >
< Sick maybe?

There was a crack and an explosion from outside. It didn’t take long for her and Syd to get to the window, staring out at the collapsing pole, its cables and lines snapping and blowing in the wind as the power-line pole smashed down onto the street. Seth and Anthony appeared beside them, confused. While the librarian moved up next to Syd, looking at it curiously.

“Oh, just a power-line.” She shrugged, and looked at the group. “No need to worry, that won’t cause any real damage. We just might be out of power for a bit.”

Everyone looked over at her. Anthony frowned.

“Out of power?”

“Yes.” She nodded, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “A power outage, quite irritating at times but-“

There was a hum and then suddenly the library was cast in darkness.

“Oh dear…” The librarian spoke in the darkness.

The storm had grown much darker than originally, Phoenix’s eyes were slow to adjust to the new setting. She frowned, fiddling around with her iPhone before she held it up as a sort of crude flashlight. Turning around, she froze, unwillingly to believe what she had seen.

It couldn’t have been...

An inky shadow, moving atop the darkness. It had disappeared behind the aisle of books.

“What is it?” Seth whispered to her.

“N-nothing…” Phoenix looked at him and smiled, forcing it. He frowned, sticking close as she neared the aisle, her curiosity getting the better of her. She inched closer and closer, her free hand touching the edge of the long shelf.

Her phones light flicked off, and she frowned. Looking down, she pressed the home button and looked up.

Nothing.

Phoenix sucked in a breath, half expecting some sort of monster to be there. She let out the breath, but as soon as she did she found herself on the floor. Her phone dropped from hands, flicking out again. Confused, she blinked, suddenly keenly aware of something horribly hold clutching her ankle.

Then she was being pulled, like a ragdoll away from Seth. Phoenix let out a scream as she desperately clawed at the carpeted floor for something to grab. Her right hand snatched the edge bookshelf, and suddenly all her strength was being put into not being dragged to god knows where.

“Seth!” She screamed. “Fuck! Help me!”

♥

So. Rules about Heartless:

In darkness, they cannot be really seen. The most you’ll see is a brief shadow, and that’s if you do. Your real warning is ‘something is going to go wrong’. Your body’s own intuition telling you you’re in danger. You cannot hurt them in darkness, as you can’t touch them in any way shape or form. They also don’t have yellow eyes in darkness.

They’ve changed since their first assault.

In light, they turn physical. Their forms are varying shapes of humanoids, with yellow eyes. Note: they tend to hate light, so they’ll avoid it if they can.

More to be revealed later! HAVE FUN IN THE DARK LIBRARY.

P.S Somebody save me, plz.

[ChobiChibi]

Seth Lawrence

His first instinct was to throw something at whoever had grabbed Phoenix. Normally he wouldn’t dare use a book as a weapon, but at this precise moment in time he felt it would be best. He picked something particularly dense and hard backed off the shelf, rushing forward (because he knew that he was more likely to hit Phoenix from the distance he was away from her) and throwing it into the darkness. It landed with a satisfying thump shortly after.

The satisfying thump of a big book hitting the floor.

Either he’d missed... Or there was nothing there to hit.

He didn’t have much time to think about it, because Phoenix screamed at him again. He grabbed one arm and she let go of the bookcase, clinging to him for dear life. For a moment, he seemed to be winning. Seth’s sudden, if limited, strength had caught whatever was stealing his friend off guard. He managed to pull her a few feet back towards him before he felt a tug back.

“STOP PLAYING TUG OF WAR WITH ME!!”

“I’m trying darling!” He dug his heels into the ground as much as he could, but still felt himself inch further forward. “But you yourself pointed out that physical strength is not my forte.”

“SHUT UP AND PULL ME.”

“Well, that’s a little forward of you...”

“SETH!”

“Sorry!”

Seth lurched forward, having no choice but to hold onto Phoenix with one arm, and the bookcase with the other. It felt like his arms would either just pop out their sockets, or stretch like Mr Tickle’s, but he was determined.

“Seth...” She looked more scared than he’d ever seen her, all colour drained from her face. He could feel it too, this sense of dread and horror that awaited her, or even them both, if he let go. You’ll be fine... Just keep breathing, just keep breathing, just-

He felt a strong pair of arms wrap around his torso, hauling them both backwards. Seth was forced to let go of the bookcase and grabbed Phoenix instead, his feet finally feeling firm on the ground. It didn’t take him long to realise who it was, and he was thankful that only Nixie could see his blush. He coulda sworn, for a brief moment between the terror, that he could see a smirk in her eyes. He hoped the look her gave her back was one of ‘stop teasing me’.

“Need a hand?” Anthony asked.

Yes please, and when we’re done here, don’t let me go.

“Sure, that would be very much appreciated.” Seth planted his feet firmly on the floor. “Ready? After three... One... Two... Three!”

The two boys pulled with all their might, and Seth realised that he may as well not be pulling at all. It seemed like they were winning, but this thing was stubborn. The longer this went, the more Seth was convinced this was not a person.

The release finally came as lightning flashed outside. As Nixie flew towards him, behind her he could have sworn he saw several pairs of yellow eyes staring back at him. He landed not so gracefully on top of Anthony as Phoenix crashed on top of him, like a set of dominoes. Seth looked up to see the volunteer librarian (although he’d spoken to her many a time when seeking books, he never knew her name) and some guy with giant headphones on staring down at them.

Seth wanted to get up, he’d managed to get into a sitting position, but Nixie clung to him, so he felt it would be bad to let her go. Anthony had already stood up and brushed himself off.

“We need to get the lights back on.” The guy with the headphones suggested, pulling them down off his ears to sit around his neck.

“The fuses are probably blown, best case scenario is that we just have to turn them back on.” Seth added.

“The library doesn’t have a backup generator, so if the power is down, there is nothing we can do. But there are emergency flashlights somewhere around, probably located behind the desk if we need them. This is an emergency, right? In an emergency these things are called for! I don’t suggest we evacuate though, because the storm-”

“The fuse box should be in the basement, if I remember right.” Anthony shrugged as Seth looked up at him, confused. “My maintenance job extends to the library too.”

“Not the basement.” Nixie protested, having pinched Seth’s phone from his pocket and using it for light instead of her own. “I don’t like the sound of the basement.”

“We don’t have much choice...” Seth held her tighter. “We’ll stick together, then no one will get hurt.”

--

Or so he thinks Tag everyone! Flashlights -> Basement. GOGO.

[Samchu]

Anthony
~~~~~

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down. Whoever that was back there was just some punk with a really bad sense of humour," he raised his voice at the end to make sure whoever was responsible for the prank could hear him. "I'll take one of the flashlights and see if I can get the power back on. You guys just stay here and wait."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea..." said the librarian in a quite voice.

"I second that notion," said Seth, and the boy with the headphones nodded.

"It's just a storm and a few idiots playing a prank. It's nothing to worry about. I'll be downstairs and back in five minutes, ten minutes top-" He'd taken a halfstep away from the group to emphasise his intent but something had stopped him. Looking down, he saw Pheonix's hand gripping his own tightly.

"Don't..."

She didn't look at him. In the edges of the phonelight he could just about make out her gaze; the distance and fear in it. He wanted to dismiss her fears, to tell her that it was just people playing tricks, but the fear in that one word held his tongue. He found himself pulled by a desire to comfort her and whilst he didn't understand where it came from, he decided to let it guide him. He squeezed her hand. "Alright, we'll go together. No one would try and pull something if we're in a group this big."

She released her grip on his hand and it returned back to clutching the phone. He thought he heard her mutter the word "nothing" but he couldn't be sure and decided not to press it. Instead, he asked the two remaining members of their group for their names and asked if they would collect the flashlights.

There were three flashlights in total. They kept the first two for themselves and passed the third to a small group of students huddled nearby with the promise that the lights would be restored as soon as possible and welcoming them to evacuate if they felt it was unsafe to stay. None of them took the offer. Anthony agreed with them. A storm could be dangerous and unpredictable, darkness was nothing. The only thing that would hurt you in the dark was something you weren't paying enough attention to to see.

They found the door to the basement and began their decent. The stairway was only wide enough for one so Anthony took the lead. Aside from the fact that he knew the direction by heart, most of his decision had been fuelled by a desire to put an end to his unease. No one had spoken since Syd and Nia had finished distributing the flashlights and in the absense of sound his mind had run rampant. He kept turning events over in his mind; sorting through pieces to a puzzle that didn't seem to fit. Why would someone do that to Pheonix? Of all the pranks you could pull in a blacked-out library this one seemed low, even for the kind of minds you were unforunate to come across at this particular University. And then Pheonix...he had never seen fear like hers. She had honestly believed that her life was in danger. That someone had meant to cause her harm. Or something...

He shook his head. The worries of the group were starting to get to him. What was he thinking here? Monsters? Aliens? The boogeyman? He almost laughed. And yet deep down, some little part of him couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this than he realised. That something was not right with the world. And that somewhere nearby, something was watching him.

He reached the end of the stairs and waited. Pheonix and Seth were behind him, the boy slightly in the lead so that he could hold her hand whilst the other one kept a firm grasp on her loaned phone. Nia was behind her and Syd took up the rear with the last torch, holding it high above his head so that he could light the path for them.

I really hope any future study sessions Seth invites me to aren't like this. Although this might be an excellent excuse to call upon if I really need to sleep in. He felt a pang of guilt as the thought crossed his mind. What would have happened to Pheonix if he hadn't have been there today? Would someone else have been there to save her? Syd, perhaps, or one of the other visitors to the library? If it happened again and I wasn't there...He sighed, frustrated by the paths his mind insisted on taking just because it had a little unease to fuel its steps. Fine...I'll keep going to the study sessions. Like sleep is SO important...

As Nia neared the final step, Anthony began moving onwards. He made sure to keep in the edge of Syd's light so Pheonix could see him. He didn't know why he thought that would help calm her but he wasn't about to try anything that might make things worse. Maybe I should say something. He paused for a moment and turned back, casting his light over the group. "Almost there guys. We're going to have that light on in no time."

He felt it then. A presence. A something that shouldn't be, hovering at the edge of his bubble. He turned, flashlight in hand. The air behind him moved as he spun and whilst his light found mostly the corridor for a brief moment he could've sworn he'd caught a glimpse of something...not human. The muscles in his legs flared. Run. It screamed and the message echoed in his heart. He shouldn't be there. There was something down there. Something...something that wasn't right. Something...

"Hey, you okay?"

Anthony snapped back to reality and found Seth standing just behind him.

"Fine, fine. Just thought I heard something. Come on, almost there." And he continued walking, his pace no longer confident but steady as before. He didn't want the others suspecting that something was wrong. They just needed to get the lights back on. Get the lights back on and everything would return to normal.

He was sure of it.