Things that Go Bump in the Night

[Doctor Nationis]

Woe to those that anger the creatures in the shadows!

Iugo was in the hallway at this moment, a dead, cold gaze stuck in his brown orbs. The boogie was walking slowly down the halls, his lips twitching every so often t form a crazed smile, before wiping away and returning to his gaunt trudge. A heavy looking lump hung over his shoulder, a dark crimson trail following in their wake as he went to make his trip. A manic giggle left his lips occasionally, a pattern not yet formed with this erratic behavior. But the boogie knew what he was after tonight. A warning.

The things that lurk in the cloak of night never tire of the screams of those they hate.

The boogie moved around the South wing, popping in room, knocking valuables over and disappearing again before the slaves woke up, tears in their eyes as they saw what little they had was gone. Good! The little bastards probably deserved it! Pausing at one dorm door, Iugo tilted his head, looking at the wood for a moment, before a wicked grin grew slowly on his pale lips.

The evil the dwells in the dark know the souls to torment

Phasing through the door, the boogie silently floated over, his dead weight not effecting his floating in the least, the boogie floated over to a bed, examining who lay under the sheets. Nope, not her... Then the next bed. No... The third one... Definitely not. And the fourth? Oh yes! The man's face seemed to stretch to accommodate the huge, evil smile that crossed his lips. Letting out a sigh, he slumped the weight off his shoulder, the corpse of a mangled boy landing on Piper's sleeping form.

" Good evening, filthy human! " Iugo hissed, floating closer to the bed as he spoke. He wouldn't harm her... But he would scare the hell out of her!

[Piper Wren]

Piper's sleep had been rather disturbed of late...she kept having horribly vivid dreams about her short time in the Widow's Trap intertwined with her final night at her old home, being held down onto an unmade bed with that music drifting up from her crooked floorboards whilst Robbie had pushed her hands above her head and forced her legs apart.
In her sleep she gripped onto the pillow hard and curled into a tight ball beneath the covers in a subconcious way to protect herself...little did she know that things would be just as bad when she woke up.

A weight next to her on the bed?

"Good evening, filthy human!"

She was jerked out of her nightmare but didn't open her eyes for a moment...but when she did, Piper found herself face to face with the empty, dead eyes of the mangled corpse Iugo had dumped on her bed. Roughly shoved it off and instinctively scrambled off her bed, clad in a long, black T-Shirt and shorts, pushing herself up against the wall, her pallor immediate was drained of colour as she noticed who it was.

"What are you doing here?!"

Piper hadn't seen Iugo since the Widows Trap and still had the bandages around her wrists and ankles from struggling against the bonds that Iugo had tied her down.

[Doctor Nationis]

Cackling, quite loudly, Iugo grabbed the leg of the once living boy aggressively, swinging the body above his head like a toy lasso. The boogie then threw the body at Piper! ...Psyche. He purposely aimed above and to the side of her head, as to only instill more terror in the already fear-stricken girl. The body would hit with a wet slap-thud as it bounced off the wall and squished upon impact of the ground. She wouldn't get another word out of him as long as he was visiting this night. And the other nights to come! Though he'd need to be more creative than throwing bodies! It'd get old after a while, resulting in less fear, resulting in an embarrassing attempt to horrify the girl.

Why should she be more afraid of this boogie? The boogie looked absolutely deranged. His hair was matted down with days worth of blood, his shirtless torso covered in patches and blots of various shades of crimson, dried after days of being spilled. The man hadn't bathed in days and the smell of death and decaying skin was all around him. The stench would be horrible those you weren't used to it... or those who didn't thrive on it. Iugo was one of many who loved it to this degree. Cackling again, he took his trusty rusty knife out of his pocket, turning it over in his hand as he swayed from side to side, eyes menacingly looking over the girl's body. Her fear was so delicious...

[Piper Wren]

'Oh God...'

When Iugo threw the corpse at her at reflex she moved quickly to the side, both arms above her head for protection until she heard the wet thud of the corpse land next to her. Piper's breathing had sped up considerably and her heart was pounding in her chest hard enough to feel like it was creating an indent in her skin. Iugo looked suitably more deranged since Piper's last encounter with him inside the Widow's Trap...and when he moved closer to her with that rusty knife she caught the smell of old blood, decaying skin and death, it was enough to make her gag but she willed herself not to be sick despite the hideous stench.

As he swayed from side to side she tried to fathom which would be the best side to get past him...the door was a good 8 paces away but it seemed like a mile after being forced into a corner by a pyschotic boogie. Adrenaline pumped through her and she made a sudden decision, Piper leapt up on the bed, intending to make a jump over the headboard and get to the door that way...

And go somewhere, anywhere but here.

Those words were all too familiar.

But she wanted to get away from him at any cost, so far in Wonderland this was the one Boogie that made her blood go cold inside her veins and strike her with fear and panic. Worse after her latest experience with him...now that he was coming to her room who knows what he might do.

[Doctor Nationis]

The crazed man continued grinning, seeing the sudden movement. Of, he could've stopped her. Very easily, the girl could've been caught, gutted, and left here, there, and some over there if the boogie had so wanted to. But this was a game, and this was only the first round. In fact, Iugo stepped away from the fleeing Piper as she made for the door. She could run, but there was no place she could hide from the demented man that wanted her to jump at every shadow, flinch at every movement, scream at every voice that she heard. This damn human escaped his grasp because of Tristan, and because she allowed this to happen, she'd suffer more than any trip to the Trap. The girl would plead to be taken there to ease her suffering.

Iugo chuckled darkly as he watched the fear in the girl build. Turning his head away from the door, he looked at the corpse. Phasing through the bed and any other obstacle in his way, to stand next the body. Before he would chase Piper, he would leave her something to remember this wondrous night. With a strong arm, swift slashes, and accurate pouring, the boogie tossed the empty sack of skin aside, looking around the small room now covered in blood. Walls, ceilings, bed, floor... Bones littered the floor and symbols of death and words of evil on the walls. The organs were left scattered all over her bed sheets, leaving an overall terrible mess to clean up if she ever returned to this room.

[Piper Wren]

Piper flung open her door and ran out of the room barefoot, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her...she didn't care where she went, she just wanted to be somewhere that Iugo couldn't find her! Every shadow on the wall was making her heart pound that much harder and every little sound forced her to go on...until she lost her footing and fell, bashing her knees and ribs especially hard as she hit the floor. Piper lay there for a moment, unmoving and breathing hard.

She didn't know where she was in this dark palace but she wanted somewhere to go where Iugo couldn't stalk her, the young woman staggered to her feet and glanced around....nothing, was she safe?

'Please...Please...Please...'

The young woman leaned against the wall and hung her hair forward so it covered her face like a black curtain while she wrapped her arms around her own body in a pitiful effort of comfort. She felt hot tears pricking in her grey eyes but she held them back, she was not going to cry...she was not going to break down...she couldn't.

'Someone please...help me.'

[Doctor Nationis]

All was quiet in the halls, not a creature was stirring, not even an over-sized Wonderland mouse... Or was there? A sudden movement down the hallway! But... it was only a child, running quickly to their room before they were caught and scolded for being out so late. What time was it, anyways? Two in the morning? Three? Something around there. A human really shouldn't be out this late. It would be dangerous for them to... What was that?! A dark chuckle echoed through the halls, surrounding Piper in a maelstrom of dark laughter. But... where was it --

Iugo's head suddenly phased next to Piper over her shoulder through the wall she was leaning on. She wouldn't notice the phasing as much as the freakishly high-pitched scream that emitted from his mouth as a hand came around the other shoulder, wrapping around her and keeping her pinned to the wall as he continued to let out his ghostly wail straight in her ear. The fear he knew this would bring... The terror that would run through her... The cold chill he would send up her spine! YES! This was the best feeling, causing unimaginable fear to one single being in one night. And there would be many more to come. Many many more...

[Ryan Cardwell]

Iugo was wrong, there was something stirring in the halls. A large creature, one that was far out of place in this world. As it passed everything scattered from its path and hid, boogies especially. The creature struck fear into their black hearts, just as much if not moreso than the black beasts of the Labyrinth. The huge white wolf silently padded along, on her way to the South Wing. Tristan was making quite a few enemies of late, and seeing as he was still confined to the hospital, she had taken it upon herself to ensure the safety of his humans. Her nose suddenly caught an overpowering odor of death, causing her to cringe. But being as intelligent as she was, she knew what that scent belonged to, and she could pick out another within it.

Setting off at a trot, she reached her destination within minutes, her sensitive ears easily picking up the high pitched cackle. Without a sound she was next to the girl, fangs sinking into the arm that was holding the girl. Either he was going to let go, or he'd be learning how to function without the limb. Might have to anyhow.

[Piper Wren]

Piper struggled in Iugo's grip, that high pitched, ghostly wail tearing through her head like a knife. She tried to remove his arm but to no avail...and the smell was making her feel like she wanted to be violently sick. The young woman tried not to scream, she couldn't give him the satisfaction! She wouldn't! Suddenly she saw Moon appear beside her, Tristan's familiar! She remembered the white spirit wolf from the Widows Trap, Piper felt a rush of relief course through her body as Moon sank her teeth into Iugo's arm. Piper took the opportunity to wrench herself free from Iugo's grasp and land hard on the floor, panting heavily.

After a moment's recovery, Piper scrambled to her feet, keeping away from the far wall...just incase Iugo managed to get away from Moon.

'How did she know?'

Not that Piper was at all complaining...although she was currently doing her best to stop trembling and she wanted to change, she could smell the stink of death and decay on her clothes now after being so close to Iugo.

[Doctor Nationis]

Iugo's eyes widened as the silent hound came up and latched itself onto his limb. Screaming loud, not from agony, but rage, the boogie phased, finishing his pass through of the wall and escaping Moon's maw. Now his own crimson blood would be added to his body's collection. What was special about his blood, especially now that he was phasing, also made what blood fell intangible. One could step in it and feel the same cold shiver when Iugo's whole body passes through them. And only when one shifted between realms could they clean the mess up. This boogie sure as hell wasn't going to come back and get on his hands and knees to clean up the ghostly blood.

Snarling as he held his arm, he grimaced, invulnerable with his ability active. But Moon and Piper wouldn't have any signs to see he was still phasing as the boogie's rage increased exponentially. This... damned devil dog! Holding his hand up, the boogie's eyes held an inner fire that would burn through someone's soul if they made direct eye contact. Clenching his fist, he stopped the wounded arm from shaking, turning his head to look at Piper. The look in his eyes said something like: 'That was not very pleasant. I will now have to resort to more drastic measure tonight, and every other night when I come to visit. You will regret this.' Of course there could be a difference in word choice if Iugo spoke now. But instead, phantom blood dropping from his arm, he charged Piper, still able to phase while he closed the distance between them. The boogie was letting out a howl of rage as he bull rushed the poor human. Piper wasn't gonna get off that easy.

[Ryan Cardwell]

Moon's fangs gnashed against each other as her maw slammed shut. Unlike most would have when placed in a situation such as this, the wolf wasted no time wondering where her prey had gone. She knew his tricks, she had seen them before at the Trap. Needless to say it made it difficult to actually attack him, she'd only managed the first strike because he'd been unaware of her presence. But now he was fully aware, and he was angry.

That made little difference to Moon of course, this wouldn't be the first boogie she'd brought down. Despite her amazing intelligence, she did still maintain her more primal instincts. She loved hunting boogies, they were such interesting prey. One simply never knew what they would find with one, nor what sort of unique threat they may pose. Their talents were an inherent danger, but that only increased the thrill of the hunt. It took far more skill to kill a boogie than it did some run of the mill labyrinth beast. Those foul creatures were all instinct, but boogies could think and plan. That made hunting them down far more interesting. And of course, seeing as they never worked, they had such soft and succulent flesh.

As the boogie moved, so did Moon. She took up a position between him and Piper, blindingly blue eyes staring straight into his own fearlessly. When he came forward she snarled at him, revealing the daggerlike fangs that she would soon be using to rip apart is corpse. However, when he charged, she did nothing. She knew full well that he would have to rejoin the material world in order to harm Piper. And when he did, he'd be her's.

[Piper Wren]

The look Iugo shot to Piper had frozen her where she stood, she had read it all to clearly and now her muscles weren't obeying the orders her brain was screaming at them. When she saw him coming closer she crossed her arms reflectively over her face and screamed...but nothing hit her. When she looked down she realised that Moon was now between her and Iugo...protecting her, it seemed that the white spirit wolf knew no fear. Piper's thoughts were a mixed jumble as she trembled, her body chilled from the cold sweat.

Even if Moon stopped him this time...she couldn't be beside her every night, Piper knew all too well he would come back again. Obviously still sore at losing a slave and Piper now belonging to Tristan which was far preferable. After all he had rescued her and now his familiar was protecting her. The young woman hung her head to avoid Iugo's cold, penetrating gaze which was making her go cold inside and out.

'Just leave me be!!'