Vatican's Manor

Blaire:

"Are any of them...friendly?" I asked, looking around at the dead end hallway.

Max shrugged, grinning to himself. "How would I know? It's not like I want to hang out with any losers, dead or alive." He shot us a meaningful glance that I ignored. Jake tightened his grip on my hand.

"Come on, let's go back," He muttered, turning to go back down the stairs. Max is such a jerk, I thought, shooting him a glare. Max just grinned at me and I knew he wasn't looking at my face. Oh lovely. He's a perv too...

We returned to the room and stopped to stare. It was filled with a pale, whitish light and fog. We could hear voices, but couldn't see anything.

"Hey!" I called. I was definitely scared now. "Are you guys in there?"

Maxxie

I absolutely hated to admit it, but I was beginning to like these guys. I would never tell them though, people shouldn't learn to like me. I just end up wrecking everything. I didn't try to wreck things, it just happened.

Shaking the thought out of my head, I began listening to Blaire and Jake again.

"Hey!" Blaire shouted. "Are you guys in there?"

We couldn't see a thing, we could hardly hear a thing either. Although, we could hear hushed talking. I was about to comment on how stupid this was, when I noticed a white fog like thing in the corner of the room.

"Guys?!" Blaire shouted again.

Suddenly, the hushed talking began sounding muffled. I heard someone call back from the other side of the room, but I couldn't understand what they said. Jake said something, but my head had begun to spin madly. I couldn't understand what anyone was saying. I closed my eyes as every sound drifted off, every feeling became numb. Everything around me seemed to just disappear. I felt Jake nudge me.

"You coming or not!?" I managed to hear him shout in my ear. "Maxxie?!"

All of a sudden, I felt myself drop onto the cold, hard wooden floor.

Jake

Maxxie was acting really weird. Like, weirder than usual. He ignored me, his eyes closed, as I asked whether he was coming. Alarm started ringing its bells in my head as his eyes suddenly fluttered open and bulged a bit, while his face grew deathly pale.

"Dude, this is not funny!" I cried.

He collapsed on the floor, and the fog from the other room crept into the hallway, covering the floor - and Maxxie - from view.

"Hey!" I yelled, lunging forward. Rowan helped me and we started grabbing for Max's hands. Just as we gripped them, a shuffling noise was heard.

"Jake," Rowan said, a tremor in her voice. "What's that?"

"What's what?" I asked, looking up.

My heart stopped, I swear it, as a large, menacing shadow walked slowly towards us.

Blaire:

Maxxie was covered in fog and I couldn't find him. I dug my nails into Jake's hand but he didn't seem to notice. I looked up and screamed, actually screamed. There was a huge, dark, menacing shadow towered over us.

"Jake," I whispered, scared. "What is that? Seriously, I'm most definitely freaking out now!"

Jake gripped my hand tighter and edged us backwards into the room that the others should be in.

"I don't know," he said. "But I don't think think it's friendly."

I agreed with him. It was scaring the hell out of me! So much so, that I forgot all about Maxxie laying on the floor--he was a jerk anyway. Oh hell, coming into this house was such a bad idea!

Chrissie~

My hands began to tremble and my lips began to bleed as I bit down into them. The black shadow raised it's gaunt white arms, what looked like mists drolled around him encaing Maxxie.

"Help him Chris," I told myself. I edged against the wall trying to ignore the long back shadow like figure. I can do this, it roared loudly blood red saliva falling at its feet. Maxxie began to jerk his eyes rolling back in his head.

Pushing myself level with the floor I began to crawl into the mist holding my breath. My lungs creamed for air my cheeks turnign red. I grabbed hold of Maxxie's leg and tried to shake him awake.

He kicked back though it was very weak. I looked up to see the shadow, it stared over in the corner hidden by cobwebs and dust. I began to pull at Maxxie's body my heart and lungs begging me for air.

Crawling back out of the mist I sucked in a large gulp and went back in this time grabbing onto both of Maxxie's legs.

Maxxie

My entire body felt numb. Every sound, every smell, every feeling had vanished. I could hear the faint sound of Blaire screaming. As my senses slowly returned, I felt something on my legs. I tried, and failed, to kick them off. As I continued struggling, I couldn't help but let my eyes flutter shut. An unnerving darkness slowly replaced my vision, and then there was nothing.

"Maxxie?" A shaky voice spoke. "Max?"

My aching head was resting in someone's cold hands. I could feel their breath close to my face. There were some other people speaking, but it just sounded muddled.

"Deserves it... if... ask me," I heard a guy's voice. "Bastard,"

"Shut up Jake," I managed to mumble.

"Maxxie! Are you okay?!" Chrissie yelped.

Somehow, within the matters of seconds, every feeling returned to my body. I felt stronger than ever. But what was even more strange was the fact that I felt different somehow.

I carefully sat up, rubbing my head. I looked around me. Great, it wasn't just a dream. I was still stuck in some old, stupid, messed up house.

"I think so," I looked at the people around me carefully. "I'm so sorry for being so stuck up guys! Friends? We all need to work together to get out of this place! We need a plan. Any suggestions?"

The second I finished speaking, I froze. What the hell was happening to me?! Since when did I say something nice to these idiots? That shadow thing had seriously messed me up... Everyone around me seemed just as shocked as I was.

"Okay..." Blaire spoke slowly.

Ben~

I fell against the wall in shock, what was happening. First the baby, then thin human skin book, the ghost, than the shadow and NOW Maxxie saying he liked us!

What else could possibly go wrong? I pulled out my fangs moistening my top gum.

“Okay.” Blaire muttered staring at Maxxie with wide eyes. Chrissie jumped forward nodding her face pale with fear.

“We should work together!”

Lexie-
" Woah, work together," I shook my head," did you just say that?" Maxxie shrugged and looked around.
" I guess so," he mumbled. I almost fainted again, but instead just smiled. Jake grumbled and rolled his eyes.
" So how are we going to get out," Chrissy asked. I sat down on the floor and picked at my dress. Wait, where had the ghost girl gone? I shrugged.
" That's what were trying to figure out," Ben said while also sitting down. Soon, we were all sitting in a circle, discussong possible escape plans.

Maxxie

There I was. Sat in a pansy little circle with a bunch of losers, but for some unknown reason, I didn't want to leave them. Not because I was scared, or because I wanted to get out and save myself, but because I actually wanted to work with them. I wanted them to be safe as well as me.

I couldn't let them to like me, I just couldn't. I'd only end up hurting them like I did with anyone who ever liked me. Shaking the stupid thoughts out of my head, I finally decided. If I was going to work with these guys, I may as well do it well.

"Okay," I began. "I haven't been totally honest with you guys,"

"What a surprise," Jake muttered under his breath.

Surprisingly, I Ignored his comment, and continued speaking. "Before I found you, I saw that book, and I managed to look inside it. It was full of weird writing, in some other language." I paused for a while, remembering. "It was old English actually, I think. I can't be sure, but I think it was full of spells. Or something like that anyway."

"Do you think there will be a spell to get us out of here?" Blaire said hopefully.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "The problem is that it tends to disappear, as we've witnessed. When I first found it, it just suddenly vanished. It did the same with you guys as well."

Jake had finally stopped mumbling to himself, and he was now looking up at me.

"Yeah okay, but where is it now?"

That was a good question.

Jake

I did not trust Maxxie. He must be bluffing - how could this tough guy who had called us "losers" no more than ten minutes ago suddenly want to work with us? Certainly fainting couldn't have changed him that quickly. Unless...was there something in the fog? Or with the shadow creature, which had, incidentally, disappeared? Or maybe...this wasn't even Maxxie.

I poked him in the shoulder, to see whether my finger would go through him, but all that happened was that he shot me a weird look and said, "Yes?"

To cover my suspicions, I hastily asked, "So where do you suggest we find this book?"

He bit his lip, thinking, and slowly said, "Well, I've found that it tends to appear after something...bad...happens."

Everyone in the room fell silent and stared at him.

"So you're saying that the next time someone is almost killed, this book will show up?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's just something I've noticed."

"I don't like this," Lexie murmured. Chrissie and Ben nodded in agreement. I glanced at Rowan, who just shook her head at me, not any more sure than I was.

"So," I said, clapping a hand on Maxxie's shoulder, "what do you propose? We set a type of trap?"

"Trap?" Chrissie repeated, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Now wait, just hear me out." I could tell the others were growing uneasy. "Okay, so the...things...in this place like to get us when we're separated. So what if someone's alone, but the rest of us are ready to spring out and help them as soon as something happens? And once the thing or whatever it is disappears, the book should appear, yeah?"

They gave me dubious looks. But then, to my surprise, Maxxie nodded. "Sounds like a fair enough plan. I'm game for it."

"Great." I looked at the others and they all slowly nodded.

"So," Rowan said, "who's going to be the bait?"

Chrissie~

All their eyes swivelled towards me. I placed my hands up shaking my head.
"No, no. no..." I began to say shaking my head hysterically, I felt a hand on my shoudler. I stopped moving and began to pant.

"Look you are the only one who can do this," Ben began trying to be comforting. I blinked at him, was he insane! Did he honestly think I was the perfect live bait! Did they all think I was the perfect live bait!!

I looked around to see every single on of them nodding their heads in unison, a glimmer of relief in their eyes. I began to gape, opening and closing my mouth.

"But I'm not the shortest!" I shot Lexie a glance, she squealed in dispair.
"We don't need the shortest," Blaire continued her voice rising. "You scream the loudest, you make the most attention! You stick out like a blue thumb!"

"Stick out like a blue thumb?" I repeated her words my voice changing different octaves. They all began to nod in unison. I felt my shoudlers slump and the fear rise around my throat.

"I hate all of you," I said with a touch of humour. They all began to laugh and pat me on the back, "Now all we need is a plan!" Jake muttered, Maxxie nodding behind him.

*Anyone else going to post? I can write the next part, but I didn't want to so soon after my last post. Anyways, I'd like to get back to this! *

I will post soon.

Edit: Posting.

Blaire:

I sighed and held onto Jake's hand, looking around the group. "Right," I said, bringing their attention back to me. I wasn't so scared anymore... Okay, I was lying. This house was freaking me out. "We have the bait, now we just need to set the trap, right?"