And Then There Was Badness

who: everyone at the bonfire!
when: around 11pmish
where: wetmore's landing

Lullaby was still worried about Joshua. And a bit about the rest of the bonfire, too. It was really kind of a hugely disappointing thing for some adult to come crashing then publicly humiliate her...cousin? Whatever. It kind of left a mark on the proceedings. Either way she was trying very hard to smile and still play hostess for everyone, which included having brought Thom a soda. She'd seen him around before, but this was the first opportunity to meet him properly. She'd mentioned that she'd wanted to see their band play, but hadn't made it last time and wanted to make sure she caught the next show. Witness her being pro-active and optimistic, damnit! September wasn't ruining everyone's night, not if she had a say. And she did, it was her bloody bonfire.

Thom wasn't exactly being a great target for pro-activity and optimism, all things considered, but Lulu wasn't the only one who was trying. Thom was as well - he and Leija had agreed to talk tomorrow and dammit, he refused to spend the entire night brooding on the situation - that would just have made everything totally pointless. And witness him actually not spending every moment of the night glued to her side. Though, in all fairness, his position had been chosen carefully where he could keep an eye on both Leija and Kaysen. "So, it was a brave move, allowing people to invite other people - could have totally backfired," he joked. And didn't look at Chance. Not at all.

Lullaby laughed a little. "Yeah, could've, but I think it's worked out well." she said. "I've gotten to meet more cool people, present company included. So I'm calling it good, mission accomplished." She gave him a genuine smile, even if she realized he was kinda distracted seeming. She wasn't going to mention it.

"Right - sometimes you just gotta take a chance in life, hope that it plays out," he agreed. He leaned back and looked around, the dancing light from the bonfire casting everyone in an oragey glow which also lit the water's edge as the waves lapped against the shore. "I'd forgotten how nice it is out here - it's been a while."

Lullaby looked around appreciatively as well, then turned her attention back on Thom. That was one of the things about being mostly deaf. You couldn't look around at the scenery as much as other people could. "It's gorgeous, I've always loved it, I kind of sneak out here as often as possible, and it's far enough away from town that we're not bugging anyone with the fire or noise or anything. And I don't know how often you've seen sunrise over the lake, but it's beautiful."

"Not that often," Thom admitted. "A few times, but not for years. I take it that you recommend?" he posed, looking at her with an eyebrow cocked.

She grinned. "I do. But if you stay the night, you can see it in the morning." she pointed out. "It's great. It's huge and sort of looks fake, it's so bright and big?" she suggested. "But right before then the skyline's gorgeous too, the horizon on the lake and all. It's worth it."

"Assuming that I don't just sleep right through it, of course," Thom added with a smirk. he doubted he would though - it would be a shame to miss something like that - and there wouldn't be that many sunrises to see once winter closed in. "But, okay - you have me sold. Did you need another soda?" he asked her.

Lullaby shook her own, then nodded. "Yes please." she said, thinking she genuinely liked Thom so far. Both he and Isaac seemed to be pretty solid guys. Which was funny, since band members weren't exactly famous for that sort of thing. But they were cool.

"Back in a minute then," Thom said, hauling himself up out of the sand. He looked off into the darkness for a minute, making out the shadowy, half shapes that were the tents - his night vision was completely ruined by staring at the fire. Not that it mattered, they were the only people for probably miles around. It was nice.

Lullaby looked around while she waited, sort of half wishing that she could hear the rest of the party. To know if it sounded like people were having a good time or not. You could tell a lot from body language, but it was damn dark, so that cut out a lot of that. Either way, she looked over at her party and smiled to herself, oblivious to the fact that there was rustling in the bushes behind her.

Thom wandered around the fire, weaving his way between small groups of people laid out. The drinks were in a cooler on the far side of the fire, or at least, that's where he remembered them being - course, someone could have moved it. He was intent on his purpose and as such totally missed the furry form which slunk closer to the fire, keeping well away from the water's edge. It moved silently, seemingly stalking the group - and it wasn't the only one, though there was no suggestion that the others which slowly began to materialise out fo the darkness were working within any kind of structure.

Finding the cooler, Thom grabbed a couple, together with a bag of marshmallows, and started back again.

Lullaby grinned at him when she saw he brought marshmallows. "You've brought sugar! Therefore you're awesome. It's official." she said with a grin. "Or I'm easy to please. Maybe both." she added.

"Aww, come on - everybody knows that it's an impossibility to have a bonfire without toasting marshmallow - it's practically law," he joked, throwing her the bag of marshmallows. He suddenly had a thought. "Damn - but I forgot sticks. See, I'm useless..."

"My god, that's horrible! Whatever will we do!" Lullaby said. "It's not at all like we live in a town in the middle of the woods, and have woods surrounding us at all times!" she mock gasped. "Oh. Wait. We totally do. That and I have a plethora of bamboo skewers laying around somewhere..." she started with a grin, standing up. "I'll grab--" she started, and that was when she suddenly felt pain. Pain in the form of something that knocked her a few feet forward as she stumbled, almost knocking into Thom, and it was all centered on the backs of her legs, where it felt like ribbons were being torn out of her skin.

Thom saw the cat that jumped Lulu just before it hit - enough to think 'what th...' but not soon enough to do anything other than move to catch her as she stumbled, the cat mewling and hissing as it ripped at the backs of her legs. Not knowing what else to do, Thom brought his foot round, centering on the cat as he caught it in it's belly and kicked it off her as hard as he could, sending the thing flying into the darkness. "You okay?" he asked - and then there was a scream from the other side of the fire.

Leija had gone back toward the tent that she and Thom supposedly were going to share, intent on getting some Chapstick out of her backpack. Fire-heat tended to dry her out when it was real and not emanating out of her back. She knelt down with her back to the bonfire, setting her soda down carefully before proceeding to start digging through the pockets of her backpack. Her eyes were attempting to properly adjust, and she didn't see them until they were on her. Two arge, heavy, furry things seemed to hit her from the left, toward the woods. Leija shrieked in surprise as she was bowled over, instinctively curling and covering her head as that whole side of her erupted in scratchy-bitey pain.

Journey had been sleepily enjoying himself, mostly listening to the conversations now, not really talking much himself. He was full of food and sugar, and the party was going great so far. He was looking forward to going to sleep and getting in more girlfriend snuggling. He'd been keeping an eye on the distant shadowy figures of Lu and Thom, mostly out of paranoia and a little because staring intently at the fire for another minute would burn out his eyes, and being blind would probably suck... And hey, had Thia just fallen? He squinted and pushed himself to his feet, fully intending to head over and check on her, when he heard the scream.

Oh, hell no. That sounded like all kinds of bad. Journey's head shot around to where the scream was coming from, to Leija, and... cats? Two wild cats, attacking her. What the fuck! He stared blankly at her, at the cats, the cats biting and scratching, trying to comprehend... before his body went into autopilot. He ran over to Leija, and using the momentum from his near-sprint, swung out with his foot and kicked one of the cats off of her, hitting it hard in the side and sending it toppling off with a yowl. The other cat he kicked in the stomach, sending it flying into the tent.

He reached out and hoisted her up to her feet automatically, because being prone on the ground with those things trying to eat her? Bad idea! He quickly pulled her back, away from the tent, moving to stand in front of her. Nobody was getting eaten in front of him. It was a new personal rule.

Leija had been fairly certain that she was going to die. It was her turn, and it would make sense that it would be so soon and with so much still unresolved. Utterly useless against the assault, she just screamed and tried to protect her face as she felt razor-sharp claws and teeth rip through clothing. One of them got a good bite in on the back of her neck, and some part of her that she didn't understand knew they weren't normal wild cats.

Then there was pained yowling and furry confusion, and she was being hauled upward. It was hard to get her footing on the uneven ground, but she managed not to fall. She clung to Journey's back instead, sobbing and terrified. Not normal cats, she reminded herself as every scratch and puncture started to burn. "We have to go!" she cried, starting to tug on the back of Journey's shirt. "We have to go now!"

He'd never, ever done well with crying girls, and in the distance he was fairly sure he heard someone--Lullaby, oh God!--screaming. He kept his eyes locked on the tent, on the cat, shit, cats, because he saw more shadowy figures approaching, now that he was looking. Fuck, were there really that many or was he just seeing things?

Journey stepped back with her as she pulled on him, trying to gather his thoughts and common sense and what little wits he had. "Fuck," he muttered. Okay, priority one? Leija needed to be safe. Or at least safer. His eyes darted around before landing on Tensiel's truck. Okay. That would have to work. And seeing as the cat he'd kicked off of Leija was stirring... He would have to work fast.

He swept out his leg again, his right foot slamming into the wild cat's head with a satisfying crack just as it was rising to its feet. He sort of dimly began to wonder if backlash counted with animals, too, but he didn't have time to think about that right now. Safety. Leija. Truck. He whirled around and grabbed her gently by the shoulders. "I'm going to take you to Tensiel's truck," he stated calmly, even as he pushed her back towards it, skirting her around various obstacles in the way. "Sit inside, keep the doors shut unless someone else needs in, oka--"

He felt a heavy weight slam into his side, and then holyfuckingshitthathurt! claws and teeth and pain. He saw a second cat approaching out of the corner of his eyes, looking ready to pounce, and he made his decision quickly. Journey shoved Leija forward towards the truck before turning to face the second one coming towards them, shifting to keep himself between her and it. He struggled to yank the cat attached to him off before its' partner got too close, letting out a little yelp of pain as he did so. Okay, that? Hadn't been the smartest thing he'd ever done. "GO, Leija!" he shouted, yanking free cat number one by the scruff of its' neck (and what felt like a good deal of his own flesh with it). He tossed the hissing thing away from him, watching the almost comical and completely unintentional (but still pretty fucking cool) mid-air collision as the pouncing cat was knocked off course by the one he'd just thrown.

Yeah, it would have been a lot more fucking awesome if his side wasn't screaming in pain and bleeding...

Leija was letting Journey push and direct her on where to go, not even giving the blood-tears that were streaking down her cheeks a second thought. She wanted to take to the skies and flee, but ... but there were people here she cared about. She was nodding and then Journey was getting pounced. She let out another thin scream as he pushed her and stumbled a couple of steps toward the truck, wide eyes locked on him as he started to fight them off.

But Leija didn't go. Hell no. She looked around in a panicked sort of way for something, anything to use as a weapon. She had to help, he'd helped her. The valkyrie snatched up a stick that was roughly the size of her wrist and pivoted just as another cat launched itself at Journey. With a teeth-grit grunt, she swung as hard as she could. She felt the impact all the way up her arm, but the cat fell.

Unfortunately, she wasn't any sort of warrior, and the action opened her up for attack from the side. The cats took advantage of it, another one leaping claws-first and latching itself onto her thigh. She shrieked and tried butting it in the head with her stick, but the damn thing wouldn't let go.

Journey went to grab yet another cat that had launched itself, this time at his abdomen, but fuckingow! He let out a quick yelp of pain of his own as the fucker ripped through his shirt, dug claws into his skin and then took a bite out of his stomach. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck... He could hear Leija shrieking, fuck, and it had him acting quickly. He reached down, grabbed the cat by the head and twisted until he felt something crack. The body dropped limply to the ground and he sprinted for Leija again, ignoring the screaming bleeding pain in his stomach.

"Why didn't you get in the truck!?" he demanded, yanking the stick out of her grasp. That? Could be useful. "I'll be fine," Journey insisted. His burning, throbbing stomach wound said otherwise, but fuck that noise. There were people in trouble, and Lullaby just happened to be one of them. And where the fuck was Jezebelle!? He reached out and grabbed the cat latched onto her by the head and twisted viciously, tossing the corpse back behind him.

He grabbed Leija by the shoulders again and began to forcefully guide her to the truck, because, yeah, heroics were nice and all, and he was grateful she'd taken one out that had been heading straight for him? But the cats kept leaping at both Leija and him like they were tastier than roasted marshmallows. Or tuna. Whatever demon cats from hell ate. Maybe babies? Ughhh, what the fuck was wrong with him!! Now? So not the time!

"Please, Leija, stay in the truck," Journey pleaded, letting her go long enough to open the door. "They're heading straight for you for some fucked up reason and I have to find Lu. I'll be back as soon as I can, just don't get out of the fucking truck, okay? No matter what," he emphasized, because now he just wasn't sure she'd stay put if she saw someone else in trouble.

Leija didn't have an answer for why she didn't get in the truck. Except the irrational one that said that wasn't where Thom was. She looked around wildly as Journey guided her, trying to get a glimpse of him, but couldn't with all the firelight and shadow and some people running around and where was Ten? This was her truck, wasn't it? She heard the thump of a cat-body as it hit the door Journey just opened, and Leija got in the truck. Pretty quickly. Panting and not really able to form words, she nodded at Journey's command to stay in the fucking truck. She was half-tempted to try and pull Journey in with her, but she slammed the door instead.

The keys were still in it, and she turned them enough so that light flooded the camping area again. Which might not've been the best of ideas, because then she did see Thom. And he was bloody. And wielding a huge knife. And stuck right on Isaac's ass. Oh god, he was hurt.

An unexpected wave of dizziness and nausea hit her and she swayed a bit in place. Oh ... wow. That wasn't good. "I'm here," she murmured, as though he could possibly hear her. "It's okay." Even though her body disagreed. Everything burned and hurt and she didn't feel well at all now that she wasn't moving.
~*~*~
It was past eleven, and even though she'd left a message for Dorian on the house phone that she was okay and out at the party a little earlier, Tensiel thought this was the proper time to be heading home. Not that she didn't want to stay longer, she was actually having a good time and didn't too tired, but it was important not to stress out Dorian any more and definitley not to stress out Caleb.

She'd hopped into her truck and turned on the ignition, headlights flaring light at an angle a few feet to the left of the bonfire's glow, a parcel of snacks on the seat next to her and a spork in her pocket for Caleb when she realized she'd forgotten to say 'goodnight' to Lullabye and Leija and everybody. Not good practice at all! So she left the keys in and slipped out her truck, telling him to behave while she said 'bye' as she gently shut the door - catching her reflection in the wing mirror.

It was that reflection which probably saved her life. Tensiel jerked her head and shoulders down and gasped just a half-second before the silently snarling cat which had been lunging for her caught her in the back of the neck. The animal slammed into the wing mirror with a shattering of teeth and glass above her head and Tensiel darted forward just before it could fall and land on her. Spinning on her heel she saw the thing twitching back to its feet, ruined face glistening with blood, and was too shocked to move as it tried to lunge for her again.

Luckily (if you took Ten's view of things) her truck was prepared and the wing mirror fell off its weakened and rusty joints and cracked the cat's spine mid-spring, knocking it down again.

Tensiel did not need saving twice. Especially not after she looked up and saw one, then two, then... what might have been dozens of glittering pairs of golden eyes shimmering with lethal malfiescence in the darkness she'd been about to reverse into.

She could feel in every part of their stare that these things meant her harm. Meant her death. And not just her.

There was time to get into her truck, lock the doors and run. But she couldn't do that. Just couldn't.

With a scream of fright she bolted back towards the thinned crowd of camping teens and screamed at the tops of her lungs. "Wild cats! Everybody we've got to get out of here!"

And right behind her, moving faster than she could, the cats stalked in a snarling mass through the grass and onto the sand.

There was so much screaming going on that Jezebelle couldn't follow it all, but when Tensiel came running through, Jezebelle's attention turned to her... and the cats that followed her. She quickly scrambled to her feet, eyes wide as she took off on her feet alongside Tensiel. "Run! Go! Scram!" she yelled, both at the people and the cats, though she was ineffective in both cases.

She didn't even consider running for the cars. She didn't like them to begin with and had never considered them a safe place to hide. Instead, she ran towards the woods, grabbing Tensiel's hand to pull her along. "Hurry!" she screamed in her whispery-soft voice. "They're almost here!"

Opening her mouth to yell again, Tensiel coughed hard as Jezebelle's hand closed around hers and began to pull her along. Her breath was suddenly gone, along with her adrenaline-fuelled co-ordination, and she suddenly felt a snapping, tearing pain in her stomach that nearly doubled her over in pain.

But Jezebelle's grip was firm, and with her free hand clamped over her stomach, Tensiel had to keep running after her towards the trees and out of the fire's light. A foolish glance over her shoulder showed her that those cats were fixed on her for some reason and that Jezebelle was right - they were only a second behind them.

"J-Jezebelle, I'm gonna slow you down," she coughed out, squeezing the other girl's hand tighter. She meant to tell her to keep going, to let go, but all that came out was another pained cough. Oh gods, she really had hurt herself moving so fast.

It was the tree line she was aiming for and Jezebelle refused to let go of Tensiel until she made it there. Tensiel's coordination may not have been that great, but Jezebelle's was perfect and always had been. She scooped up a stick as she ran, occasionally taking the opportunity to bat back at the cats with it. Cats weren't supposed to act like this! Animals usually liked her! But they were attacking everyone, so she wouldn't take offense.

"I'm not leaving you!" she said, panic hitting home as Tensiel began to cough. They weren't going to be able to out run these things, not if they weren't both at full strength. A few feet into the woods, Jezebelle turned, raising the stick over her head as she began to attack the cats. It seemed so wrong, batting at them like golf balls, but Jezebelle didn't see any other choice.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked, screaming as one bit into her calf. They were running out of options.

If she hadn't been so busy trying to keep moving, keeping on lifting her heels so they didn't get bitten off, Tensiel would've been pissed she couldn't grab a stick and beat back the cats too. But she couldn't bend over, could barely walk any longer, and she just yelled inarticulately and tried to keep pushing Jezebelle into the woods as she stopped.

"W-what? KEEP GOING!" she managed to get out, scrabbling in her pockets and wavering as she half-leaned, half-pulled on Jezebelle to get her further into the forest. Nothing, nothing, nothing! She didn't have any weapons!

When Jezebelle kicked up her leg to shake off the cat biting her, Tensiel lashed out with her foot and caught it hard enough to break the neck - at a cost. A violent cough tore out of her, a reaction to the pain in her gut, and she doubled over - exposed. A hiss, a lunge, and suddenly there was cat's fangs in her baggy hoodie sleeve, clawing up at her. Snarling in rage, and so close she couldn't help seeing the evil in its eyes as her hand closed on the only thing she had to fight with.

Tensiel snarled back and sporked it in the brains.

"Jezebelle, run! GO!" she hissed, shaking the body off, stumbling back, feeling fire run up her arm where the claws had scraped through to her skin. Feeling rage begin to build under the fear of these insane ungodly animals and struggling to control it.

There was no more time to waste. If she left Tensiel, she'd be mauled to death. That wasn't an option, no matter what the risk of staying might be, especially when Tensiel was saving her as well. Jezebelle bashed the nearest cat away from Tensiel, then backed behind her, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist. She couldn't even tell her to hold on before she took off into the air.

The moment they rose, her wings were there, her seeming completely gone. That wasn't her biggest worry though. It was still the cats. The jumping, hissing, biting cats and the weight of holding onto a girl her own age. Jezebelle's wings weren't meant for carrying another person. They were thin, spider-like, fluttering at twice the speed she'd need to keep herself afloat, yet it seemed like they were rising at only half the speed.

Maybe, if she could get high enough, she could set Tensiel on a tree branch. All she had to do was keep going. Cats could climb trees, yes, but they'd have a narrowed path. They could beat them down from there. Just five more feet. She could make it...

With a tiny 'ulp!', Tensiel suddenly felt the sensation of lift, and the she had to grit her teeth to keep from crying out as pressure exerted on her belly near where her stitches were. But she concentrated on tucking her legs up as another cat lunged and missed, tears swelling in her eyes from the hurt in her arm and stomach, fingers clenching around the bloodied bit of cutlery in her hand.

Wait. Wait... Jezebelle could fly?

Wait. WAIT... so could she! Tensiel gasped at her own stupidity, why hadn't she just flown?! Even if it'd torn her stomach open again she could have gotten them somewhere fast. And now, since Jezebelle wouldn't leave her behind, they were both flying but slowly upwards and she couldn't get her wings out without them both falling again.

But Jezebelle was flying fast enough, high enough. So Tensiel scrambled inside to control the pain on her, and the rage in her, tried to keep the other girl safe from an outburst and reached out to grab at a branch soon as they got close enough. It was slim and small, but so was she - and it could hold her weight...

Once Jezebelle had helped her on, she wiped at the tears blurring her vision and blinked at the beautiful, strange person who she still recognized as the whispering girl. "W-whoa..." What beautiful wings... and I'd better not stare on account of both impending death and being rude. "T-thanks, Jez--"

The rest of her words were drowned out by pained coughs, which were still coming from her gut but were quickly being upstaged by the burning hurt in her arm... oh gods, it hurt. It hurt. It burned inside, like it was eating at her essence in little tiny bites. And the cats were going to climb, and all she had was...

"I've g-got a spork..." she rasped out, waving it vaguely. "Can totally h-hold them off... jabbity."

As soon as Tensiel had a hold on the branch, it was like Jezebelle could breathe again. She helped her up, then looked at her nervously, chewing on her bottom lip in the process. "Don't be scared," she said, knowing that she wasn't exactly the perfect vision of fairy goodness.

Her skin was white as snow and seemingly paper thin, for her veins could be seen through in some places. Jezebelle's eyes, always blue, were brilliant in the night, like two shining lights. Her wings shimmered, glistening spiderwebs, and they fluttered with each breath she took. In her hand she held a stick, her only weapon.

"I've got a stick," she said, holding it up as Tensiel held up her spork. "I can hold them off for a little bit. Then we should move. Are you okay?" she asked, worried. "You look hurt."

While she had a bite herself, it hadn't really set in yet. Compared to everything else, it should be nothing. Just one bite.

A stick and a spork. Okay... well, Tensiel knew how to be a realist. They were probably going to die once one of those cats got across the branch to where they were. At least, Tensiel herself probably was. She'd noticed the cats kept coming for her, and she knew Jezebelle was getting hurt because she was in the way of that.

The cats were only seconds away, Tensiel turned on the branch, wincing hard with pain but keeping her balance, turning to the beautiful apparition Jezebelle suddenly was. Getting ready. "I'm fine," she ground out, trying to focus on the amber eyes coming towards them. "C-can you fly to the side? Hit them from where they can't get you? I think they're coming for me."

She was right. As the first cat came up into range it sprang like a bullet for Tensiel - only to be knocked into the air and darkness by Jezebelle's stick. The next one and the next one repeated the same thing; blindly striking for the angel and ignoring Jezebelle if she wasn't a direct obstacle. So these things knew what Tensiel was and wanted to kill her.

What else was new? Tensiel was really, really getting mad now - but she actually remembered what Mya had said to her earlier: she had to use who she was and what she was together and then she'd be strong. She was too weak to even bless the metal spork in her hand, there was no way she could spark fire in it like against that demon, absolutely no way she could use any of her stronger powers. But she could use who she was and what she was - and on both counts she was an angel with wings and she loved to fly.

Jezebelle lashed out preciseley, and sent another cat stumbling back, but it regained its footing and lunged again. Tensiel managed to jerk the spork up into its throat, but not before another scratch landed on her - neatly nicking her own neck. There wasn't time, they were overwhelming them both even one at a time.

"Don't need to ask if you can keep a secret," Tensiel gasped, giving the other girl a sharp little smile before pulling her hoodie off her back - exposing the bloody mess seeping through her t-shirt without noticing. Her own wings, feathered and spanning hugely out to either side swept out and she didn't care if the other girl could see. This was it. She grabbed Jezebelle's hand, clapped her other, still clutching the spork, over her belly, and kicked off, sending the pair of them shooting up for the sky. "Let's fly!"

Jezebelle gasped, fluttering in mid-air as her jaw dropped open, looking up at Tensiel's beautiful wings. Huge and white and feathery, they looked so soft to touch. Not now, though. This was not the time. Jezebelle laughed as they took to the sky. It felt so good to fly. She'd been on the ground far too long.

"Sometime, when we're not escaping killer cats, you have to tell me," she told Tensiel, looking at her in admiration. Angels were things she knew so little about. Theories maybe, stories passed down, but Angels were a different sort of being entirely.

"We need to get back to the others. We need to get out of here," she told Tensiel, worrying more over Tensiel's wounds than her own little bite.

Relief flooded into Tensiel as they hit the open sky above the trees, leaving the cats behind in howling fury. It hit her so hard she felt dizzy, almost giddy, her hand falling away from where it'd been putting pressure on her popped stitches with a limp shift of her arm.

Wait, no. That wasn't relief, that was poisoning or exhaustion or something. Oh gods. She had to keep it together! Tensiel let go of Jezebelle's hand, letting them each take full control of their flights, too focussed on survival to focus on the fact that whatever Jezebelle was she could see her wings (or maybe it wasn't about her species... maybe Tensiel just didn't have the energy left in her to make them invisible). Peeling away in a sharply graced angle of her wings, Tensiel agreed with Jezebelle and set off like a shot for the others. As soon as the campfire and the evacutating cars and kids were in view the angel had no doubt they'd all be way too busy staying alive to be looking up.

A blonde head that had to belong to Journey Winters disappeared into her truck, the last vehicle on the scene. "Journey's down there! Follow me, and hide yourself!" she called, voice clear in the air - but audibly weak and creaking. She knew Jezebelle could find a way to go back to how she'd looked before; and even if somebody else saw her wings (could see her wings...) she could say she'd carried the other girl up and keep hiding her like she'd protected her.

"Hide myself?" she asked, following Tensiel towards the ground. There was one problem here, that being the moment they landed in the back of the truck, someone was sure to see them. Jezebelle's wings were at least dark and blended with the night, but Tensiel's wings stood out like a beacon. Maybe she could do something about that though...

"Turn around," she called, just needing to see Tensiel's wings completely at least once. "I can make them black, just for a bit. Maybe they won't see them as much." It was a hope, at least. She could switch seemings in an instant, but she wasn't sure where Tensiel was going to put those wings.

It was so easy to change the color. Simple, even. Suddenly they blended in with the night sky. The only thing that would be off about the situation was the fact that they would literally drop in on the others. Hopefully the situation would be too dire to ask too many questions. "I'm ready!" she called back. "Let's go!"

Tensiel swept her wings back, looked to Jezebelle for a fraction of a moment, and went into an angled fall she'd graced a thousand times, but never like this. Heading straight for the back of her truck, to the flatbed, the only safe landing place as the cats began to swarm again.

They had to beat them to it! Here they went!

It was all happening so fast and the previously peaceful camp descended into chaos. Thom dived for his bag, grappling with the zipper as he wrenched it back and reached in for the knife he'd been given that morning. He pulled it out as another cat came flying into the firelight, hissing and spitting.

Lullaby had been going to answer Thom, but she didn't have a chance to before he was getting armed. Oh god, that was a huge--her thoughts on the size of the knife were cut off by another cat latching onto her arm, and she fell over. She had the presence of mind to try to land on it, and she felt something crunch beneath her elbow, though it also drove the thing's teeth farther into her flesh. She let out a scream then, and with no internal volume control, it was loud. Not long, but short and high pitched.

Thom saw as the cat attacked Lullaby, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Kaysen. He looked round wildly, trying to find her in the flickering light, but he had no idea where she was. He dragged Lullaby back, pulling her up and pushing her back. He grabbed at the cat and pulled it off her with little care for how deeply its claws were in her as he stabbed at it inexpertly with the knife. It seemed to do the job though and blood coursed down his arm as he let the kitty-corpse drop to the floor before taking off without a second glance at Lullaby. She'd have to take care of herself. He had to find Kaysen. And Leija. Oh god, Leija.

Isaac had about thirty seconds -- which felt like an eternity -- of full-on WTF as the screaming started. He'd just been sitting around the fire, drinking a coke and then suddenly badness from both sides. There were girls screaming, and that was never good. He got to his feet, staring around wildly, looking for his sister. He caught sight of the Journey kid kicking stuff away from Thom's girlfriend, then Thom ... gutting a cat over there ... a cat? Some other girl -- Tensiel, you met her his mind helpfully provided -- was shouting about getting out and wild cats ... Oh! Cats! Well holy shit.

"Kaysen!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, moving away from the fire to get his eyes to adjust better. Cue big brotherly panic time. "Kaysen!"

Thom heard Isaac bellowing and headed in his direction, jumping a bag that someone had left when they'd obviously ran, or something. It didn't matter. He caught sight of Leija with Journey and made himself discount her as being taken care off. Anyway, she was an angel - surely that came with major perks. He slid to a stop by Isaac, still looking around for Kaysen. "Where is she?" he asked, trying not to sound like he was freaking out.

Kaysen had been kind of talking to Charlotte, until the other girl had had to go to the bathroom, and she'd been sort of floating around the edges of the party, including talking to chance and stuff. It had been really weird for her to not be getting whispered about and all that stuff. Then? There had been something that had plowed into her side. It had dropped her, and it was tearing at her arm. Unfortunately, she'd taken her hoodie off earlier, since the weather had been nice and well. Fire. Now that appeared to be a very poor decision.

She hadn't screamed, however, until the stupid cat had bit her! Teeth down into her wrist and a Tasmanian-bloody-devil like flurry of claws were shredding her forearm fast. Then there was screaming going on. Lots of it.

Thom heard the scream and his head whipped round, spotting Kaysen. He took off like a shot, not stopping to check that Isaac was with him - though he assumed the guy would be. Cos, well, sister. All he could think was ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit - and he may well have actually been muttering it as he ran, knife in hand, his only thought to get that cat off her and get her to safety. Somehow.

The first part was easier - sort of. He grabbed at the cat's fur, pulling it away, and possibly knocking Kaysen off balance as he did so - and the moment he did that, the damn thing turned on him, going straight for his face. Thom fell back, tripping over something behind him. He and the cat fell to the floor, the damn thing still clawing at his cheeks. He could feel blood dripping down one cheek as he brought the knife round. The one thing that managed to get through the severe screaming panic was that the blade was longer than the cat was wide and if he stabbed it right now, he'd as like kill himself. Or at least injure himself. So, instead, he use the handle, the dusters over his knuckles adding strength and power to the blow as he knocked the cat off himself.

Isaac was right behind him. Even though this was total chaos, he knew his sister's screaming through all the others, and he was just a step behind Thom. As his best friend got the goddamn thing off of Kaysen he grabbed her and hauled her upright. Years of baseball and wrestling had at least honed his reaction times to Better Than They Could've Been, and it came in damn handy when another cat bounced up out of nowhere. He pivoted to put himself between it and Kaysen and bodily knocked it out of the air. He brought a sneaker down with all the force he could muster on the thing's head.

"Get in the car!" he yelled, even though he was still holding on to Kaysen's arm. He started shuffling her in that direction, not about to let her go alone.

his shoulder and he rolled, attempting to crush the damn thing under his bodyweight. The cat yowled and let go - but only for a moment. It was clearly injured, yet it came at Thom again. Fuck it, these things really have it in for me! Thom thought as it leaped - and he brought his knife round and up and the thing impaled itself on the blade - which was more down to luck than skill on Thom's part.

Kaysen was trying to go where she was supposed to. She just wasn't the most graceful girl in the world, and with all the chaos around them she lost her balance. This had her falling backwards--straight into the fire.

Isaac could hardly believe it as tons of sparks flew up around his sister's body. That was bad. That was very, very bad. Isaac reacted before he could tumble completely into screaming panic. He was closest to her -- had very nearly tripped over her legs, in fact -- and didn't think twice about lunging forward. He grabbed her by the front of the shirt that was starting to catch and pulled for all his was worth. He fell backwards with her and rolled on top of her, in an unthinking attempt to smother the flames. On his baby sister.

Kaysen had had enough time to realize that the light she was seeing above herself was fire. That there was the black sky overhead, and the bright, orange and yellow light all around her. Licking up overhead. Oh god I'm on fire oh god I'm on FIRE ohgodohgodohgod Then she was pulled out, and she was being rolled into the sand. She could feel sand against her back where her shirt had burned away, and she was screaming. Because she'd been on fire.

It hadn't occurred to her yet that it wasn't from pain.

It hadn't seemed to Charlotte like she'd been in the bathroom that long. Really. She had just started to head back when she heard screaming. And not the screaming in laughter and fun party sort of screaming. There was that seriously bad screaming, and that distant buzzing in her head like too many voices were going at once. Okay, that was weird.

She ran back to the bonfire and stopped dead once she got there. Cats were everywhere, and attacking people. Okay, so, that was the buzzing. She was thinking about trying to pick one 'voice' out of the buzzing, maybe she could calm them down, maybe she could help, and then Kaysen fell in the freaking fire. Charlotte screamed and started to run over, but stopped dead once she realized that Kaysen wasn't actually burned.

Isaac got to Kaysen before Thom did, thanks to kitties various and Thom made himself not throw Isaac off and take care of Kaysen himself. It was the difference between the rational part of him and the part who was really no good at letting go. It took him the longest time to realise that she wasn't actually hurt though...

It took Isaac a minute himself, even though he was right on top of her. Once it didn't look as though her clothes were on fire anymore he grabbed her arm and put it three inches from his face. No blisters. Okay that was good. It didn't register in his brain as impossible. Not then. A cat ran at him and attached itself to his arm as he pulled himself up. Isaac shook it off hard, and it took what felt like a bunch of skin with it. He scooped Kaysen up, not even giving her the option of her own feet and whirled around. "Get to the cars!" he yelled at the people he could see. Thom, Lullaby, Charlotte.

Kaysen wasn't arguing. Not at all. She shut her eyes, clung to her brother, and held her arm tight to her body as it bled. God, this had to be the scariest thing she'd ever been through, and that was on top of all the teasing and taunting over the years. This was up there with the time she'd been locked in the science closet at Graevaraet and forgotten there for most of the night. At least that hadn't had bleeding involved.

Isaac ran, though he made a vague attempt not to jostle her too much. He got to the car and yanked the door open, shoving both of them into the back seat. He slammed the door shut, assuming that Thom would get int he front and get them the fuck out of dodge. Hopefully. But Kaysen was his main concern. He pulled her forward to look at her back, which was what she'd landed on. "How bad is it?" he was demanding. "What's hurt?"

Thom, meanwhile had done exactly what Isaac had assumed he'd do. Having seen that their group had all gotten into the car, he'd jumped into the drivers seat and then they were out of there as he threw the vehicle in reverse and set off at speed for a few yards before he found somewhere to turn. He was tense with suppressed panic - between the fact that Kaysen was hurt and Leija was missing (the definition of missing being anywhere where he wasn't and he didn't know where she was). All in all, it was a good job he had driving to do, because it gave him something to concentrate on.

Kaysen was still catching up with current events. Her shirt was burned, she could feel the breeze on her back, but it didn't hurt. "J-just my arm." she said, holding that in close to her chest so she could protect it. It was still bleeding. Her brain was still reeling. "Are you guys okay?" she asked, belatedly getting to that in her mind.

Cats. Cats. He hated cats to begin with, but it struck him as strangely amusing the amount of shrieking going on over them. Of course, the papers had been filled with stories about rabies, and wild cats...and from the looks of it, they had been dead on. These things were everywhere, lunging at people, biting at them. Everything had turned into chaos in seconds.

In the panic, Chance grabbed Jordan's arm looked quickly for Kaysen, his heart pounding in his chest. He relaxed only slightly when he saw Thom and Isaac at her side and he hauled Jordan unceremoniously to her feet.

"Get in my car," he demanded. The last thing he wanted was Jordan to get hurt. "Now!"

Confusion was clearly a shared emotion at the moment. So much screaming and yelling had interrupted the serenity of the night. Of course being yanked to your feet did nothing to help sort through what was happening. What the hell? As Jordan stumbled to her feet with the force of Chance's haul she quickly pulled free of his momentum to grab up his trench coat that she'd removed to sit on.

As she did she noticed the grey furry monsters that were causing all this commotion had started to stalk their way in their direction. They were getting ready to strike. Quickly Jordan back-peddled the few steps back to Chance, turned, grabbed for his hand and started to run. She knew in the logic center of her brain that running from a wild animal could be stupid. After all they run faster from you, and the fear you show in running just makes them attack sooner. But staying there would have had the same effect, and at least running prolonged the attack. Why did she have to be a goth who didn't carry a knife everywhere she went?

He let Jordan pull him, then quickly gained speed to pull her. Chance dug into his pocket to pull out the keys to his jeep before he turned to kick at one of the cats that had caught up to them. It shifted its attention from Jordan to him and hissed. Loudly. Sharp, gleaming teeth greeted him, the cat prepared to lunge and he shoved the keys at Jordan. "Get in the car," he told her again, gritting his teeth as he kicked at the cat again. "Fucking cats!" Bears. Wolves. Whatever! But cats?

Shitshitshit there were screams and shouts coming from all the groups being attacked. Jordan fumbled with the keys. Why the hell did she have to turn into a horror movie cliche right now? Just hold the keys and grab the car key, put it in the lock, turn and get the fuck in. That's when she found herself wishing she could allow herself to talk, she'd be screaming at herself. Just as the blonde in heels, who decided to run from the homicidal killer through wet grass, gets her shoe stuck in the mud and falls flat on her face- Jordan dropped the keys. Damn.

Turning away from the cat he had just kicked several feet, he hurried to Jordan's side to help her. "Where're the keys?" he asked breathlessly, wanting to get her into the jeep before the cats lunged again. He knew Kaysen would be okay with Thom and Isaac and other than Jordan, he didn't care about anyone else at the moment.

Jordan stooped down and picked up the keys. It was funny you always think that you'll never be a cliche in situations like this, and here she was... dropping the keys. She got a firm hand on the car key and shoved it into the lock, turned and opened the door. She gave him a quick apologetic look just in time to see more cats. How many were there? She started to climb in part of her admiring Chance for being this 'brave guardian' type person for her. She was almost in when she felt a weight on her leg. The cat had come up from behind, it had flanked them. It was a plus that she was wearing boots, but it was starting to climb up her leg. Crap, crap, oh just great! She kicked her foot, against the ground, car, trying to break the cat free. It's head cracked against the door frame of the car and she broke free as it let go in a brief dazed moment. It stumbled back, but wasn't fazed for too long. By that point Jordan had scrambled all the way into the car and was waving to Chance to join her as she climbed over to the passenger seat.

Chance climbed into the car, cursing loudly when the cat bit at his ankle, it's teeth sinking deep. "Fucking...son of a goddamn bitch," he growled, reaching down with both hands to pull the cat off of him. He felt his flesh tear, but didn't care at that point. Adrenaline pumped through his body and he threw it from the car the best he could before leaning out and grabbing the car door, slamming it shut. He gripped the steering wheel, grimacing against the stinging pain. After a second, he looked over to Jordan. "You okay?"

Jordan nodded, pulling her leg up, her boots had deep slashes in them from the cat's claws and the bottom of her jeans were torn. It looked like she had managed to get away without a scratch, at least by the cat. She had a large bruise developing on her leg from her door and some scratches on her arm when she caught it on the seatbelt buckle clasp when she crawled into the car. She quickly reached behind Chance and pressed down on the door lock, she -knew- a cat couldn't open a door handle, but it made her feel safer.

Jordan leaned back in the seat and took a shaky breath in. Fear inspired sweat beaded on her forehead. She looked out over the beach, and spied Kaysen, Thom and Isaac. Placing her hand on Chance's arm, she pointed to them. 'Help?' she questioned, not wanting to just leave anyone.

Chance followed her gaze, swallowing hard. She was safe now, at least in the car. He knew he couldn't just drive away and leave people there, if they needed help. Still, his ankle hurt. Bad. Fuck, Kaysen was right. He WAS a wuss.

"Stay here," Chance ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Do not get out of this car." He left the keys and pushed open his door to get out. Slamming the door behind him, he ran back into the fray to help.

Oh god he left me-- was her first thought. After Thom was gone, Lullaby was trying to steady herself, to help people, and ignore the fact that she was hurt. She wasn't hurt so bad she couldn't move, right? Right?? Chaos was reigning around her, and she could hear the screams. She could hear them. Dull, and it lacked everything else so it was like muffled high pitched tones, and that more than anything made her want to cry. People were getting hurt, and it had been her party. She'd just wanted people to have a nice time--there hadn't even been any booze or anything! Just...a gathering! And now...fuck she was in pain.

Some people were getting moved off towards cars, and she saw someone fall into the fire then get yanked out again. She started off towards the fire again, looking for Journey, needing to know he was okay, but she didn't see him. She spotted Charlotte, however, and decided to go for her.

This was a great plan until another cat came running up through the sand, little sprays of it visible from the firelight, and she had time to bring one arm up before it was on her, clawing at her arm, shoulder and neck.

Spotting Lulu alone, and hurt and with a damn cat clawing its way into her flesh, he ignored the others who seemed to be okay on their own, and reached her using one arm to pull her toward him and grabbing the neck of the cat with his other hand. Gritting his teeth, because the fuckers were strong, Chance pulled it off of her and threw it toward the fire. She was bleeding so he slipped his arm around her waist. "Can you run with me to my car, or do you need me to carry you?" he asked breathlessly, wanting to hurry her along before the fuckers regrouped and came after them again.

Unfortunately, Lullaby didn't catch any of that, because she barely managed to catch up with the situation of being rescued by Chance, she really didn't have time to read his lips. "I'm sorry, I--is Jordan--" she started, not even sure if she was speaking loud enough to be heard. She always had a lot harder time communicating at all when she was under stress, and she was in a lot of pain, bleeding from what felt like everywhere. She saw more movement, and she started pushing Chance back towards the cars. "Go go go..." That much was audible. "Journey--!" she had to call, couldn't possibly not, but she was staying with chance too, looking around for more people. "Charlotte!"

Oh. Right. The whole signing thing. Frustrated, but not willing to stop and face her, he scooped her up to take her to his car. She was already hurt, and was going to get hurt again if she stuck around. She couldn't hear the things coming at her, like he could. He could help the others himself.

His ankle hurt, but it wasn't that bad, and she was already scratched to hell. He felt the bite marks in his ankle again, the weight of a cat dragging itself up his leg and he stumbled, falling with Lulu to the ground. He pushed her away, toward his jeep. "Get to my car," he told her, knowing she couldn't understand, but his hands pushing her that way hopefully conveyed the message. Pain, icy hot, raced through his leg as the cat bit him again, its claws dug deep through his jeans into his leg. Chance felt dizzy for a moment before he reached down to try and pull the fucking thing off of him. It was official - he hated animals.

Okay, Leija was safe in the truck, and it looked like most everybody else was heading for the cars, thank God. Even better, he saw Lulu, even if she was being carried, and even if it was Chance doing the carrying. Maybe he didn't trust the guy (well, he hadn't before, but anyone helping Lulu was obviously trustworthy), but he knew he could hold his own in a fight.

He ran over to them, just wanting to make sure she was okay, and was only a few feet away from the two of them when he felt weight thud solidly into his left shoulder. Now claws were tearing into his flesh again, fuck! He could clearly feel fur against his neck, which meant now he had one going for his jugular. Another body thudded into his hip, claws digging into his skin along with yet another deep bite, right against the bone. Journey grimaced, but bit down hard on his lip to keep from making a noise, his face paling from the effort to keep quiet.

But, of course, then he felt teeth sink into his neck, right at the junction between it and his shoulder. The pain shot all through him and he let out a sharp cry, eyes widening from the sensation. The stick slipped uselessly from his grasp, and one hand shot up to the cat, fingers digging into its' mouth to pry open its' jaw. With his other hand, Journey yanked the cat harshly off of his shoulders, feeling the claws rip forcibly from his skin and the burn and fresh throbbing waves of agony from the tear and the bite go all through him, making his knees go a little wobbly. He flung the cat to the ground, bringing up his foot to stomp viciously on it's ribcage and head until it stopped moving completely. Fuck, that was too close.

The cat feasting on his hip came next, and he ripped it off of him, not really capable of biting back his cry of pain as the claws and teeth tore out of him. He flung it away before it could do more than scratch his arms. Journey leaned down and quickly grabbed the stick again, just in case, despite the flare of pain that shot through his stomach at the bending motion. He jogged over to them, cursing under his breath with every jarring step, and grabbed the cat gnawing on Chance by the neck, twisting sharply. He'd worry about the fact that he was getting good at breaking cats necks later. "Fuckall. You okay, man?" he asked breathlessly, shooting Lulu a wan, though reassuring looking smile. 'course, the blood trickling down his neck and soaking through his shirt completely ruined the attempt. "'sokay, Lu. We'll all be fine." As soon as he stopped bleeding, anyway.

Chance felt his head thunk back on the ground once the cat fell limp and released its grip on his leg. "Fuck." Wincing, he rolled over, using his palms to push himself up despite the shooting pain. "Yeah, I think...what the fuck..." His hand instinctively went to his leg where his jeans were becoming soaked with his blood. He looked over at Journey. "Thanks, man." And then to Lulu. "My car...if you need a ride, best to get in now."

Lullaby was looking at both boys, and she caught most of what Chance said when he looked over at her. "We have to make sure--both of you, get to the cars, I'll--I'm--just go, I'll make sure people--" Finishing thoughts wasn't the easiest thing to do when there were cat demons, and Lullaby grabbed up a heavier branch they'd picked up earlier to burn but it hadn't made it into the fire yet, and she ran forward towards the boys and took a swing at a cat that was trying to go for them, cracking it hard and sending it skittering off into the darkness. Unfortunately it totaled her makeshift bat too. But she could see Journey was bleeding too, and Chance...damnit everyone needed to be inside five minutes ago.

Chance winced as Lullaby swung at the cat, torn between horror and being impressed at the strength of her swing. He was sweaty, and tired, and yeah, bleeding, but that didn't mean he was going to let Lullaby continue to try to help people. Panting, Chance turned to Journey. "You need to get her into a car. And from the looks of it, you need to too."

Yeahhh, uh, no? Journey just shook his head. "Can't," he said shortly, keeping his voice raised for her benefit. He grabbed Lu by the shoulders and forcibly began pushing her to the cars. What the fuck was with people tonight, trying to play hero? Hm, there was probably irony in there somewhere, but he was just a little bit too focused on getting Lullaby in a car, any car, he didn't give a shit what car at this point.

Journey glanced over his shoulder at Chance. "Could you take her to my house? She can tell you the address. You can get patched up there, too. My uncle's cool like that." He still had to find Belle, and he'd told Leija he'd go back to the truck and like hell was he just going to hop in a car and leave her wondering now. She might get paranoid and do something crazy like get out of the fucking truck if he did that. That so wasn't allowed.

"I gotta find my girlfriend," he explained to Chance. "And I left Leija in Tensiel's truck, told her I'd go back there when everything was settled down." And yeah, he was in a mess of a state, but for some reason, it didn't really bother him. The pain was certainly awful, but adrenaline was still rushing through his veins, and he just wasn't going to leave anyone behind. Fuck that noise.

Chance nearly argued with the guy. He was bleeding worse than Chance, and frankly, Chance thought it was crazy to try and take on the damn cats on his own. But he understood Journey's need to find his girlfriend and help the others he had in whoever's truck. But Jordan was probably scared, and Lullaby was bleeding, and if she needed help, Chance wasn't going to leave her in pain his backseat so he could go out and get mauled some more.

"I'll take her," Chance agreed, hurrying to his jeep to open the back door.

Jordan was frantically searching the jeep for a weapon, or anything that could be used as a weapon. Her heart jumped into her heart as Chance came to the back door, thinking it was another cat. Too big to be a cat she reached over the back seat and unlocked and pulled open the back door for him. God he had Lulu, she looked bad too. This wasn't good, really not good.

People had started driving away before the shock of Kaysen's fall had really worn off on Charlotte, and once the shock did give way, it was to panic. She'd been dropped off. She needed to get a ride with somebody. She ran over to the group with Lullaby, though she didn't remember everyone else's names at the moment. She felt like her brain had been taken out, shaken, and then shoved back in backwards. How did something like this happen?

"Charlotte!" Lullaby called from the truck, trying to get her over there, she didn't want anyone left, as she looked around, she didn't think she saw anyone left, but she had to be sure. God, where was Journey?!

Charlotte had heard Lullaby shouting for her earlier but she hadn't been able to get to her. But, she could get to her now! So she ran over to the truck, trying not to look wide-eyed and panicked as she did. "Are you okay?"

Chance got into the jeep and turned the engine quickly, impatient with the girls now as it didn't seem the damn cats were leaving anytime soon. "Let's go," he demanded. "They'll be okay but we won't if we don't get the fuck out of here."

~*~*~*~

Things were losing their coherency very rapidly. There was still noise going on outside, but Leija couldn't make sense of it. Everything hurt on her, and the rest of the world was spinning around very dangerously. She'd thought she caught sight of the car she'd come in drive off, but she couldn't concentrate on it. Couldn't concentrate on anything. Her stomach clenched and she bent over, puking all over her shoes and the floorboards of Ten's truck. It didn't make her feel any better.

Wondering fuzzily if Thom was okay and if Journey was okay and if anybody was okay, she slid down into a prone position on the seat, shivering violently. I didn't get my chapstick, she thought, and seconds later she was unconscious.

Using the last bit of his energy, Journey managed to sprint the distance to Tensiel's truck, dodging past the cats trying to leap for him. How many were there, anyways!? He knew he wouldn't be able to take on another one, if it managed to latch on. He'd be fucked. Eaten. Whatever. It wouldn't be good. He didn't have enough fight left in him to take on one more. He was in pain, and as his adrenaline ebbed away quicker and quicker, the waves of agony just made him more wobbly on his feet. Fuck, what good would he be to anybody if he died!?

His heart sank when he saw Ten's truck and no Leija. Oh God, surely she hadn't left. He'd told her. He'd told her! Fuckfuckfuck, if I go looking for her I'll get eaten and she'll get eaten and Belle will get eaten-- Journey thought wildly, running for the truck and yanking open the door, just to make sure. Maybe she was laying down? God, he hoped so.

...okay, maybe that was a little extreme. He'd wanted laying down but conscious, damnit! Journey gaped at her prone form openly. "Oh shit," he whispered, noticing the puke on the floorboards and, oh, yeah, the fact that she was unconscious! He clambered inside, yanking the door shut behind him (like hell he was letting one of the fuckers inside!), reaching out with a shaky hand to check for a pulse. She was alive, but... but what!? He didn't fucking know! "Leija?"

There was a loud thunk as Tensiel crash-landed in the back of the truck. Hitting on the balls of her feet and then her knees, it was a fast and harsh landing and she didn't have time to care. She'd landed right behind the cab and reached to wrench open the window, gasping and eyes bright and watering as she looked for Journey. A flash of Leija's red hair caught her eye, the smell of vomit and blood, and she didn't waste a second: "DRIVE!" she yelled, knowing the cats were coming and trying to winch in her wings fast as she could, knowing they were like a flag. "Journey, drive! GO!"

Jezebelle couldn't swoop to the ground the way Tensiel could. Her wings didn't allow it. Instead she had to flutter, wings nearing exhaustion, and once she was about ten feet above the cab of the truck she stopped flying altogether. Jezebelle switched seemings and she dropped, landing hard but on her feet, and beat on the window, wishing her voice could make it through the walls. At least Tensiel was loud about it. Jezebelle echoed her words. "Go! Hurry! They're coming!" If he could just get the car moving, they could outrun the cats. Hopefully the car wouldn't kill her instead.

Journey turned his gape to the girls. Because what the fuck, they'd both just dropped into the back of the truck, and apparently from height, if that impact had meant anything. "What the fuck!?" he demanded out loud. "Where the hell have you two been!?" And he didn't care at this point if he was shouting at his girlfriend and a girl he barely knew. He'd been worried. He'd been resigned to getting fucking eaten to go look for Jezebelle!

...but they were exposed, being in the back of the truck like that, so he started up the engine and peeled out, heading for town proper. Fuckfuckfuck, he didn't know how to drive a standard! Looked like he was gonna learn tonight, though.

The truck croaked resistance as Journey shifted all the wrong ways, but at least they were moving and when he got it in gear and slammed on the gas, Tensiel was jerked backwards though her hand was still latched to the inside of the window into the cab - eyes flicking too fast though the sights of Journey's bloodied side, Leija collapsed in the dark and looking straight through the windsheild to the swarm of amber eyes lit by the headlights and coming closer.

Oh hell. Tensiel slammed the rear window shut, protecting Journey and Leija from the cats if they got in the back - until they broke the glass, anyway - and managed to finish winching in her wings before she tumbled backwards into Jezebelle. "A-are you okay?" she wheezed out, words jumbled and stuttering as they rattled loose in the back of the truck. Tensiel's hand dropped the spork and scrabbled for purchase on the metal, ironically grabbing to a piece of police-tape still tied to one of the eyelets in the flatbed. She tried to find the other girl's hand and pull it to the tape. It'd hold. "H-hold this. Don't let g-go." If one of them fell out - a very likely occurance - they were going to get killed, and Tensiel was not letting that happen.

Jezebelle opened her mouth to answer Journey, but then they were moving and that was even better. They could talk about that later, once she came up with some kind of explanation for him. The truck jerked around, bouncing her in the back, and Jezebelle squeaked, looking for something to hold to. "I'm okay," she nodded, and then Tensiel provided her something to hold to. Jezebelle's hand wrapped around the piece of yellow police tape. Her other hand, she found, was still holding tight to her stick. At least she'd have a weapon if something attempted to jump in the back of the truck. Jezebelle held it up, ready to protect Tensiel as Journey drove them away.