Shadow Reapers

*sorry, I did warn you I'd be inactive...*

Stella-

I smiled. "Well, if you're going to make me," I said to Sally.

"I am," she said, grabbing me and throwing me down on her bed. "We have to do your hair."

"Maybe I should go blonde, like Kes says, what do you think?" I said, looking in the mirror.

Kes smiled. "I think I'll go back get changed then."

"Do you want us to come with?" I asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I can do it."

"So we'll meet you in, say, half an hour?" Sally asked, clipping my layers onto the top of my head.

Kes smiled. "Sure." She made her way slowly over to the door, opened it and went quietly down the hallway.

"She's nice," I said.

Sally grinned. "She can help me this year, since you got help last year."

"Yeah. Do you reckon she'll be okay though?" I asked a little nervously.

"'Course she will. We'll be helping her."

"How does seven sound?"

"Seven's fine."

"Alright, I'll meet you here around that time." Kai came in close to give Audra a kiss. The kiss was chaste, a light brush of lips, but the gesture still made Audra's heart race. "Until then," he said before turning and leaving Audra to get ready.

She looked at the flowers Kai had given her. She'd have to find some place to put them.

(The only way I could have posted more is if I skipped to when the two of them are on their way to the resturant, and I want to give Ayumi a chance to post something before then.)

Kestrel

Kes carefully made her way down the hallway, struggling a little with the key, but once she was inside her room, she found that it already felt comfortable. Kestrel opened the wardrobe door slowly and stood for a while, considering which outfit she would wear. Black dress she decided, after recalling Sally's words.

Kestrel reached towards the right hand side and counted the first three hangers before taking the forth out and laying the black dress across her bed. Then she undressed, placing her current outfit away in the exact position it had held back home - jeans two hangers from the left and top seven from the right.

Once dressed, Kestrel located her small, black hand-bag with some measure of difficulty - between the red and the black, only the clasp was different and she was having trouble remembering which was which - and then slipped on some shoes and headed back to Stella and Sally's room.

Name: Professor Hill
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Subject taught: English (Philosophy-ish also) (seemed general enough)
Appearance: tall, blondish hair, blue eyes, wears khaki pants and sweater vests and occasionally glasses.
Personality: Smart, sarcastic,
History: has seen ghosts since he was a little boy (they were the things in his closet he was afraid of), he never told anyone and decided to live a normal life and become a teacher like he wanted to, but also learned a lot about the "paranormal"

*Sorry it took me so long to post the profile the website wouldn't let me log in! So sorry and I won't flake out-promise. Also if I understand correctly most of them can see ghosts or will be able to soon so I figured he could kind of be the guy they all go to-like he could help them with their abilities-kind of like Yoda lol...also could someone bring me in? That'd be great.*

(I'll have to think about that. I actually had an idea for a character who would have that job in the story, but we'll see where it goes. I'm posting with Ayumi so can someone else bring in Rory's character?)

Is he the type to maybe have a drink or two? Only, Stella and Kes could see him while they're out if that's the case and seenas Kes is going to be studying English, Stella could point him out...?

Audra

What to wear, what to wear, what to wear? I sighed, wanting to slap myself. Why was I so frantic? I'd been on dates with him before, and it shouldn't really matter what I would wear! I might end up taking it off at the end, depending on our mood!

I still looked through my closet one last time, finally settling with the plum plaid capris, a lavendar, off the shoulder shirt, a black belt, my black Converse, and my black arm warmers. I looked in the mirror and scowled. Everything looked fine except for my hair, as unruly as ever! Now that it had grown out to almost my waist, the golden mass was hard to keep in check.

I was still brushing the tangles out as six thirty passed and grew closer to six fourty-five. Great. Fifteen minutes, and he would be there. Fifteen minutes to do my oh-so-simple but attractive make-up. I looked at my perfectly straight and smooth hair one last time before moving to my make-up counter.

And, right on time, Kai knocked on the door as I finished with my gloss; black-eyelined eyes, purple eyeshadow blends, and neutral-pink gloss made my blue eyes and full mouth stand out the way I knew Kai couldn't resist.

"Audra?" Kai called after a moment.

"Coming!"

And I bounded to the door.

*That should be fine..about the drink or two...thanks for offering to bring me in..*

Stella-

Sally forced me into my denim skirt and black tights, and let me borrow her purple halter-neck. I was just putting the finishing touches to my make-up when Kes came into our room, dressed beautifully. I grinned.

"That dress is really good on you," I said, and Sally nodded in agreement.

"Hey, we can walk across campus and we can show you where your lectures and stuff are on our way? It's a bit dark, but..."

"But it won't make any difference to me," Kes said with a smile.

Oh yeah," I said. "Dammit!" I shouted, jumping over Sally's bed. "I forgot!"

Sally rolled her eyes and explained to Kestrel "She needs to ring home, the whole time difference thing annoys her."

I clicked number two on my speeddial and waited for the machine to come on.

"Bonjour Maman, bonjour Papa, ca va? Sorry, I know I said I'd ring later, but we're going out tonight, and I know nobody's home at the mo, so yeah. Anyway, a new girl's moved into Annie's dorm, her name's Kestrel, say hi!" I said, holding the phone out.

"Hello," Kestrel said.

"In any case, I'm not going to be home til late. So, all is well here, not much of interest really. Oh, I nearly forgot, Damien's actually flying over next week, I was talking to him, so we were wondering if you could give him some of my stuff that I left behind to bring over, my scarf and stuff? Um, yeah, just say yes or no and we'll organise that all. So yeah, I hope you're all well, I guess I shall talk to you whenever you get this message. G'night, love you."

I put the phone down. "Let's go," I said, grabbing my coat and making for the door.

We walked down the stairs and out of the building.

"Over there is where we have lectures," Sally said. "To your right."

"Who's our professor?"

"Professor Hill- there he is actually. He's a real sarcastic type, you know? But he's well enough liked."

"Must be why I hear you complaining about him all the time," I muttered to her. She nudged me.

*there you are Rory, all you have to do is walk over, or follow us to the club or whatever...*

<Rei>

I sat by the fountain again, tounging my lipring whilst staring at the bland sketch of Rupert. He just wasn't looking himself - which, considering I'd made him up a few hours ago, wasn't a good thing.

I looked around. Already there where people going out, including three beautifully dressed girls. One was the blind student, Dad told me about her. A little way behind them came Professor Hill, dressed quite smart for a late afternoon walk. Coming out of the girls dorms where two people who I assumed to be on a date. One of them was the man who talked to lamp-posts.

I wondered what it was like to go on a date. Hanging around a college campus, I don't get to meet many people my own age. Then again seeing what the college people are like on dates, I'd much rather spend time with Rupert.

Perhaps tomorrow would be more eventful.

Audra opened the door to see Kai standing in a crimson dress shirt and black slacks. His hair was done up in a ponytail. his hair was long enough for him to do that and still look handsome. Seeing hime like this brought back memories, because it was exactly how he dressed on their first date together.

Kai smiled and said, "You look beautiful."

She smiled back. "So do you."

"There's just one thing missing." Kai wandered into Audra's room over to her jewelry box. He opened it up and pulled out a silver chain necklace with a ring hanging on the chain. He came back to Audra and put it around her neck. "Perfect," he said.

Audra looked at the ring on the chain. Seeing it brought back memories, too. The ring used to be Kai's, given to him from a friend when he was in Japan. During their time together in high school they got into a fight because Audra thought Kai was cheating on her. He gave her his ring to show just how much he loved her.

"Ready to go?" Kai asked.

Audra nodded. "Yeah." She took Kai's hand and let him lead her out the building.

On their way to the parking lot Kai noticed a girl sitting by the fountain. She was the girl he had seen earlier that day, the one who supposedly saw him talking to the ghost. He didn't quite believe she saw the ghost, anyone could have shown up and overheard his conversation. She might have just been messing with him.

"Kai?"

Kai turned back to Audra. "Yeah?"

"Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing." His car was in the parking lot. Once they got in Kai started driving to the resturant.

(In your next post can you have them talking to each other over dinner at the resturant, Ayumi?)

Audra

I sat across from him at a couple's table, watching him carefully. He had been too silent too often...of course it could be subsidding shock of being shot and nearly dying, but that was three years ago! He had to be over it by now!

He'll tell me when he's ready. I know that much.

I perked up. "So, how's college been for you?"

He jumped slightly but played it off. I let it slide. "Great. What about you?"

"It's good. It's actually a little easier than I thought, but that doesn't mean I won't stop by occassionally." I winked, and he passed me a smirk. I giggled for a few seconds, then sighed, stabbing the remnants of my salmon fillet. "Thanks for bringing me out to dinner, Kai."

"You know I like to. Our dates are always so much fun."

I smiled. "Yes, they are. And I'm glad it's you and not someone else."

"I wouldn't have anyone else."

I smiled again. That was good to know, even though it was quite obvious.

And we kept talking about random things, laughing, and enjoying our time together.


**All I've got.**

(Perfect, now to set things in motion...)

They ended up spending an hour and a half at the restaurant before they decided it was time to go. Kai paid for the meal. Audra had offered to split the bill, but Kai told her it was okay. Kai had parked the car a few blocks away from the restaurant. The closest parking lot was full, so he had had to find another one.

Audra had her arms wrapped around Kai's right arm as they walked through the quiet neighbourhood. She couldn't help but notice the houses lining the streets. "Hey, Kai?"

"Hmm?"

"These houses look so nice. When we get married, let's move into a house like one of these."

Kai looked around and smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Kai felt something in the back of his mind. It was like a soft pushing sensation, as if something from far away was calling out to him. The sensation caused him to stop and look around.

"Kai, what's wrong?" Audra asked, worried.

"I... don't know." He continued to look around for the source of what he was feeling. He had felt something similar to this feeling before when he was in the presence of ghosts, but it was never this strong.

One of the nearby lampposts began to flicker on and off. The surrounding lamps around the street did the same until they all died out. "That's weird," Audra said, "looks like a power outage."

That's when he heard it, the howl of a creature he had never heard before. It was long and low pitched, as if whatever was making that sound was calling out to something. The ground began to shake as the sound of giant footsteps could be heard around the corner of the street.

The creature that was making all the racket finally came into view. Kai had never seen anything like it in his life. Dark leathery skin, large clawed hands and a mask to hide its face. It stood as tall as the surrounding houses and it had a hole in its chest. He could see the moonlight shining through the hole in the creature's chest. Its eyes glowed from behind the mask with an eerie red light.

Kai was frozen in place with fear as the creature turned its head to look at them. It let out another howl as it lumbered toward Kai and Audra.

(Just so you know, Ayumi, your character can't see or hear this thing.)

**Umm...I have no idea what to do, so...if I mess up, just fix it in your next post.**

Audra

Things were too weird. Kai started his weird fazing again, looking around pointlessly yet...attentively. The whole street went black when the lamps went out, almost simultaneously. Then Kai froze.

He serious froze, stopped moving, went tense in fear. Fear was an understatement; horror was closer to his expression.

"Kai? Talk to me!" I grasped his arm, lightly shaking him.

He was out of it. He acted like he didn't hear me.

"Kai!" I finally settled with slapping him across the cheek. "Snap out of it!"

He looked at me, eyes wild in fear and confusion, and took my hand. Before I could say anything else, he snatched me across the rest of the parking lot, into his car, and, within seconds, we were speeding away.

"Kai, what the hell was that? Are you sure you're okay?!"

I knew he wasn't. That much was certain.

"What the hell is going on?"

*help! I'm having a hard time finding my place in this *Still wants to be in this though*