Fantasy Hotel California

[egghead]

There was no time to theorize which sort of abomination they were dealing with. After being hoisted from the ground and dragged along the length of a constantly shapeshifting hallway, Glen did not dare glance back. An eardrum-rupturing shriek provided enough assurance that the atrocity was rapidly closing the distance between them.

Ssss...

One of its lethal spitballs propelled with frightening precision but missed moving targets by mere centimetres. Whatever solid matter that was struck dissolved upon impact with a sputtering sizzle. More hissing reverberated throughout the area as it prepared another attack.

Ssss...

There were no doors or perceivable escape routes in sight. Glen screwed bloodshot eyes shut as a frenzied run decelerated to an almost complete halt. Ready to accept his (un)timely fate, he anticipated the sweet release of a second and final death. Except...it never arrived.

Instead, blurry vision returned in time to witness a flaming bottle majestically soar across the corridor, then collide with the grease beast. Upon impact, a massive fireball completely engulfed every inch of slime. Raging inferno poured from the ceiling as if a portal transported hell itself into a cramped space. The only noise louder than an agonized howl were hysterical cackles.

Waltzing through the pyre, flames and molten ooze raining down all around, Rachel revelled in deliberate chaos. “Y’know, I don’t like wasting a perfectly good drink, but you shitwits obviously couldn’t handle Obsidian’s mutt on your own.”

The dead man simply gawked. “What...What are you doing here?”

A razor-sharp smirk stretched wide enough to slice the great soul destroyer’s face in half. “Aw, missed me that badly?” she sneered. “In case that senile old brain forgot already, I saved your sorry ass! If it weren’t for me, the rest of your arm would be looking like that!”

Her crimson-tipped talon pointed at Glen’s left meathook, which now appeared more like a cheap Halloween prop than a hand. Flesh and muscle had been cleanly stripped away, leaving nothing but bare skeleton. Though it was not the worst ordeal thrown his way, the withering wimp still screamed.

 

[buzz]

She couldn’t bear to look at him without feeling embarrassed. Still, she was quick to take a lone cup on the nightstand to fill with bathroom tap water. “Sorry, this is the best I can do...” Katrinne, now seeing his physiognomy reverted back to what she remembered, smiled. She opened the door to the bathroom and twisted the aging faucet into a steady stream, holding the unexpectedly clean glass with a firm grip underneath. The water seemed to glisten, and Katrinne squinted to look closer. Then, a loud shriek.

•

Vincent eyes scanned the bookshelves that boasted artisanal covers and impossibly well-preserved pages. None were yellowing and, he thought, it was to be expected considering how stuffy the library was. “Is there a librarian?” His inquiry echoed into the rows of literature, responded to only by itself, leaving Vincent more scared than he was running from a giant fart cloud. There were doors, rolling ladders, all of which he was hesitant to touch. He finally mustered the courage to swing a door open and was greeted by a plethora of romantic texts. With a roll of the eye, Vincent stomped through until he reached another door.
“This better be good!” He turned the knob and swung it open, greeted by a familiar screech. Vincent stepped into the bathroom and watched the door close behind him. It subsequently dissolved into the wall’s tile pattern. He looked at the now deathly silent Katrinne and shrugged. “Well, anyway...”

He moved past her into the room, Katrinne following behind him with a careful hold on the water. She knelt beside Sisceal, clasping her hands over the priest’s as if he was still too weak to manage a sufficient grip. Her expression was warm but somber. “I’m glad we came just in time... Who knew what’d happen if you were left on your lonesome,” she spoke mellowly, “I’m pretty sure that’s what he wanted to happen.” Katrinne shook her head, afraid but nonetheless indignant.

Vincent, meanwhile, was perched on the edge of the bed with furrowed eyebrows. “Who?”

Axeykins

 

[Axeykins]

"Oh my GOD Glen!!! The hell is...?" He stared wide eyed at the man's hand. That was new. That was definitely new for him. He'd seen a lot of things of course and knew it was possible with the level of technology he knew but to see Glen with bare bones on his hand was jarring. "Er. Come on, let's get that wrapped up for you or at least let me look at it. Don't want the circuts and outer casing to get damaged further." He picked up his hand and looked it over well...damn this thing looked so real. He must have gotten some top grade stuff!

It took a moment but he finally realized the other body in the room. Whipping his head around to the direction of the cackles he laid his eyes upon the sharp toothed grin of a face he never though he'd see again. Or at least that he thought he had? His head hurt too much to recall it too well but seething anger broiled in his gut. "Back off bitch! The Hell is your problem picking on a defenseless old man! He did nothing to you!" Aaaas far as he knew at least. Glen was a lamb last he remembered.
egghead



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's okay. There's not much you can do really...not with something like this." He lifted his shirt to wipe more of the black off of his face. Smiling softly as she went off to the bathroom. Her scream near sent him through the roof with how jarring it was. He was about to call out or even run to the bathroom best he could, but thankfully she emerged with her friend in tow. It was a relief to see him doing alright.
"I'm glad you did as well. I'm afraid I would have lashed out more at Glen in the hall there. Done something regrettable." Sisceal chuckled nervously. Sliding a hand out from Katrinne's gentle touch to take the water. Lord Almighty did it feel amazing on his throat. It was exactly what he needed. He then turned his attention to the young man's question.
"His name is Obsidian. The host of this hotel and someone you definitely do not want to meet. Though, not like you'll have much of a choice in it. He's going to make sure you know who he is sooner or later whether you like it or not."
buzz

 

[buzz]

Katrinne said nothing. There was no point speaking adamantly and not having actions to enforce the vitriol. Vincent, in his typical contrarian fashion, shook his head. “I want to meet him. If it’s going to happen, let it happen!” He dismounted the bed and stood lithely in the center of the room, confidently exclaiming, “Take me to him!” He sauntered towards Sisceal, feet practically slapping the floor with every haughty step.

Katrinne was visibly glum, glaring at Vincent with such contempt that the noodle-shaped man stopped prematurely. “Vincent,” she started, “do you really want to risk turning into what Sisceal was?”

His pretentious grin contorted into a stretched frown. “A wrinkly, stinky, slimy, old, old, man?”

Katrinne rolled her eyes despite being accustomed to his exaggerations. Though, perhaps such exaggeration was the best deterrent of his naive bravado.

Vincent, instead, laid a heavy hand on Katrinne’s shoulder and attempted to discreetly soften the embarrassment of his retraction. “Well, we can still go breathe some fresh air out there! I’m sure the fart tornado passed by...” He opened the hotel door enough to peer into the empty halls with a single eye. “By the look—and smell—of it, we’re safe to leave. So, whenever you guys are ready...”

 

[Axeykins]

"I'm only forty six you arsehole!" He protested. Raising an eyebrow as the young hothead proclaimed loudly and boldly how much he so wanted to meet the host. Poor boy was so naive, loud and stupidly brave. Not like he could criticize though seeing as he had been there before years ago. In fact it was almost scary how much it felt like he was nearly looking into a mirror of his past.

"No matter what he's going to come find us so I don't care what we do. If it makes him feel more comfortable going out to try and find him we may as well try." The old priest shrugged. Gently rubbing the back of Katrinne's hand with his thumb. "He shouldn't try to do anything like what he's doing to me to either of you. Or at least not to him." He motioned towards Vincent with his head. "He likes to target those who he knows a bit better or who would hit hardest on everyone to do this to. Though he'll definitely be on his worst behavior with how bold your friend is, he'll be fun to toy with. I can feel it." He made it sound as much as a warning as possible. Directing it towards Vincent to see if that may help quell his behavior.

"Can you help me to my chair Kat? It'll be faster if you help me get there than trying to walk with my back. Much as I hate to risk it as well, some fresh air somewhere else may do us all good...as well as try to find a change of clothes. Then we can wander about as much as we can until he tires himself out, hopefully." He chuckled. "I'm sure after getting all of his questions answered he should."
buzz

 

[buzz]

Katrinne couldn’t resist a wide toothy smile seeing Sisceal with a semblance of his former pep.

She helped prop the priest up to carefully reach the seat and stood behind him, gripping the handlebars straddling the back of the wheelchair. “Here we go,” her upbeat tone then switched to a more crass one: “move, Vincent.”

He was preoccupied by peculiar sounds echoing outside and was hesitant to move but did so anyway. He followed them out and closed the door gently behind them so as to not make a noise. The door creaked loudly before settling into the wall. Vincent winced at the sound and quickly tiptoed to Katrinne’s side.

“Well, where can we get some good clothes?” She murmured, glancing at Vincent’s straitlaced suit. “Where do you get your stuff?”

Vincent snorted but loved the subtle compliment. “Oh, this?” He acted caricature-like in his bashfulness and elicited another eye roll from the demon. “You just have to look in the right places!” His terse steps were replaced by a characteristic sashay as the trio continued down the hall.

 

[egghead]

“WHATDIDYOUJUSTCALLME!?” Manic squawking and grinding teeth melded together, creating an unbearable tune. Lurching forward and stomping with enough force to cause miniature earthquakes, Rachel cut down empty space between herself and the robit until their noses nearly touched.

In addition to a good whiff of fortitude-enhancing booze, she also bestowed a verbal lashing. “Do you have any idea what you’re messing with? This “bitch” has been around a helluva lot longer than almost everyone here. If a scab like you wants to see tomorrow, know your place!”

Despite a hazy liquor-induced filter obscuring his features, the perpetual party girl recognized her adversary, but could not place where or when they could have first met. Another familiarity an alcohol-muddled mind comprehended was contempt. For whatever unknown or forgotten reason, she hated this supposed stranger with every fibre of her body.

“Why do these things always happen to meeee?” Glen’s infantile whining slaughtered the tension. Expression twisted in a grimace, the daisy-pusher made a fist and flinched. As disturbing as it was watching his bones scrape against each other, nothing could be more tragic than the fact that at least one of his hands would never experience a french manicure.

Hanging his head, only a millisecond of mourning ensued before something odd caught the zombie’s attention. Several feet away, smouldering remains of smelly jello twitched ever so slightly. Then, gradually, hundreds of slug-like chunks began to stir awake. Miraculously, the sludge creature had survived the fire, and was advancing on a group of sitting ducks in a fun-sized, extra crispy form.

Glen, without warning anybody about the threat, broke off into a half-stumbling sprint and barrelled through both of his companions before abandoning them entirely. He had even trampled a certain redhead a little bit. What a gentleman!

 

[Axeykins]

"Wheel me to a door and I'll get into my room. I have clean ones there. Then we can continue on our way to the library." He jingled a heavy old key dangling around his wrist. The usual room key that would instantaneously turn into the room of the guest it was gifted to. The only surefire constant in this terrible place and way to some solitude. "I don't think I have and suits like yours but I've at least got some old outfits to wear. Some casual shirts and more formal robes from the old church I worked at." He laughed softly. "And before you complain, it should only take a moment." He looked to Vincent with a slight frown. "So...what else besides the host are you going to look for in the library here?"
buzz


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know what I called you. Bitch." He put extra emphasis on the B. Making it pop. "I don't care how long you've been here! You leave him alone or I'll kick your ass. " He got more in her face. "I may be small but I can garuntee I can take you!" He snapped. Attempting to get closer when Glen decided to play a game of human bowling. Spinning him around in place. "Geezuz Glen what the Hell??"

His eyes caught the many masses of slime forming and slithering their way after them rapidly. Lucid gulped and didn't even attempt to help up the nasty woman on the ground. In fact, he more saluted her to the new problem in her life and bolted after the geezer. Thank goodness he was slow enough to catch up with fairly easily. Even with the halls around him beginning to rock back and forth again.
egghead


~~~~

A blinding flash, even in his unseeing eyes, washed over him. Every inch of his body was in pain, flesh melting away. Bones turning to ash as a scream ripped through his throat. The burning glare of several beings piercing though him. He couldn't see them but he didn't need to to know they were there. Marius awoke with a jolt. Back to the familiar blackness. It was comforting after that...whatever it was. What was that? It felt familiar, like he had lived it. Heaving a hefty sigh he ran his hands over his face and down his neck and chest. Feeling over a massive scar that ran from the bottom of his neck all the way down to the middle of his abdomen. From what he could tell it ran all the way down to the middle of his back as well. A more recent and puzzling appearance for him in this place. Least from what he could currently remember in all the time he'd spent there. Every once in a great while his memories shifted. Lives he didn't know if they were his or another of....him. A different version somewhere else bleeding into his existence here. But this felt different, felt more, real.

 

[Fateless]

It is worth noting that when one thinks of a Hotel there are often a select few things about their experience they forget; namely the staff. But in the case of this one particular hotel that is how it should be. When a guest thinks on Hotel: California the one thing that should be forgotten is the staff. After all, Azmodial has gone to great lengths to ensure that the guests of his masters hotel never remember his staff. Being the "General Manager" of Hotel: California does has it perks; namely being a demon who is god knows how old. But it also requires a great deal of work to ensure that every guest has a pleasant "Stay". And yet, occasionally, Obsidian will task his oldest employee with jobs not fitting of a general Manager; and Az will simply nod, perhaps chuckle a bit, and respond with "Right away, Obs.". The nickname Obs being a right solely reserved to the oldest employee of Hotel: California.

And today happened to be one of those days where Az received a task that is not part of his normal duties. Obsidian handed him a picture of a current guest inside the hotel and tasked Azmodial with tormenting him a bit; for what reason only Obsidian knows.

Az has some unique abilities one of which is the ability to dredge up old memories and play with them. It is truly one of his favorite means of torture, something about the way p[people writhe when you dig up the memories their ashamed of just bring a smile to his face.

As he stood in front of the guest he was tasked with torturing he chose to assume the image of a memory that haunted him the most; this one happened to be a young woman. "Why Marius? Why did you leave me? I trusted you and you abandoned me to them."

 

[Axeykins]

That voice. He hadn't heard that voice in so long. It was like a dream! Or...was it a nightmare. He didn't know why but it itched in the back of his mind. The briefest flash of something locked away. Something that made his stomach churn. "Roxy? Is that really you? What are you doing here?" He responded in a rather cheery tone. Pulling the sheets of the bed up to his chest as his head swiveled around to pinpoint the location. To get better read on if she was truly there in the room and not some illusion. He didn't feel anything off from this. "Um...what do you mean Rox? heh. Last I remember you were back safe and sound and with Alpha. Happily letting your little brat run around with my little brats?" He gulped. That was right wasn't it? Right? That's what he remembered?

....sort of.

It was a thing had before but it always felt off. Like it was something that wasn't his to keep. He also felt, something else. More often than not if he truly kept tabs on it in this place. No matter how much he forced it down it came surging back up.
He tried to shake if from his mind but searing guilt surged up in every word she spoke to him. Why the Hell was this memorry creeping in again and again? It wasn't him! Least not the him that was here."I-I came back for you! I know I did! Did the right thing as need be and came back for you after...you know."

Fateless

 

[egghead]

At the furthest end of the hallway, wide open double doors materialized, seemingly appearing from thin air. A blinding beam poured out and bathed everything in a glow similar to sunshine. Calling it suspicious would be an understatement, but the only alternative to walking into a possible trap was running, and Glen was no athlete.

Gangly limbs flailing, the coffin-dodger gravitated towards light like a moth. He was so adamant on arriving in (almost) one piece that the string of curses and threats uttered by his least favourite woman became dead air. With open arms prepared to embrace heaven, he floated through the entrance...

...and crashed into a hard surface. Plummeting to the floor and dragging down several encyclopedias with him, Glen sat in a daze before realizing he had collided with a bookshelf. A quick glance around revealed dusty cabinets spanning countless aisles; a maze within a maze. No doubt about it, this place was some sort of library.

Glen would have admired the grandeur longer if a hissing sound had not reminded him that he was in the process of being hunted down. After slamming both doors shut in the faces of his so-called friends, the despicable cur began slooowly pushing a desk in front of them for extra locking power. WHAT A GENTLEMAN!

 

[buzz]

“I don’t know, maybe the exit?”
Upon hearing that, Katrinne couldn’t stop herself from laughing. Vincent ignored her and wheeled their recovering companion to the foot of the first door they encountered in the hall. It resembled each and every other hotel room door perfectly. “How do you guys remember which rooms are yours? I know Katrinne’s smells like unwashed, four-day old dog corpse but this one just looks the same!” This time, Katrinne ignored him, “Sisceal, do you think you can...do it yourself? If you need, Vincent can help you while I wait out here.”

 

[Axeykins]

"WAIT! DON'T SHUT THE....door." Lucid's face was met with a heavy oaken door smashing into it. Making him stagger back. He had barely missed slipping into the room with him. By mere seconds!! and now it was shut tight and held firmly with something. God knows what the old timer did to get it to stick but it was effective. "Shit!" He hissed under his breath. His head swiveling around as he searched for another entrance. Rushing down the hall and yanking on each doorknob until one finally gave way to another room. It was tiny, had to have been a broom closet but least it was out of the rampage of the burning slimes.

~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~

"We don't need to, We just use the keys we're given and it opens up to our room." Sisceal demonstrated by unlocking the nearest door with it. Revealing a quaint little hotel room. Decorated in a comfortable modern style....and possibly a hundred or so empty bottles of booze scattered about. All over the floor and any shelf space visible. The room also wreaked of alcohol something fierce. "Ah...um...sorry about the mess. We won't be long in here. I can get myself dressed no problem okay? Just wait here a moment." He led them inside and patted down the bed sheets. They were folded neatly back into place at least. The old man then got himself up with much strain, grabbed a simply outfit of a white tanktop, button down shirt and pants and headed into the bathroom to change.

The peace, however, did not last long. The room made a sharp snapping sound as it suddenly shifted. Going completely dark before popping back to existence. Bottles smashed onto the ground and reformed from the shards into old, musty pages. The bed frame creaked and moaned as it turned into a cushy sofa. All of the walls fell away into bookshelves. Every last one of them.

egghead buzz

 

[buzz]

Vincent couldn’t muster another irreverent word upon entering the disheveled room that, more importantly, smelled terribly. He gagged behind the purposefully indiscreet hand that covered his mouth. The hedonist eyed Sisceal as he moved into the bathroom with what inexplicably was, to Vincent, a pauper’s look. Again, he found himself perched on the bedside after carefully avoiding the countless bottles that lay haphazardly scattered on the floor. His soles were too thin to save him from shattered glass—or anything remotely penetrable.

Katrinne hovered around the room, kicking bottles with varying amounts of leftover liquid around as she took the time to sort through Sisceal’s room while he was busy in the bathroom. There was no one there to judge her for being invasive, and the priest intrigued her. Vincent was invasive enough himself to have no authority to judge, she thought.

“I thought your room was bad,” his voice was muffled but still unequivocally whiny, “but this may be a close second. At least it looks nice, I mean look at that—...” Vincent immediately froze. Katrinne felt the room shudder although it was slight enough to be missed if she had actually found something to be fixated upon. The shudder then rumbled, the Hotel California pamphlet she placed on the modern shelf flipping into the wall and a packed bookshelf emerging in it’s place before her eyes. It was like an illusion except the closeness of the spines of the literature to Katrinne’s face was unmistakably real. She took several steps back, slipping on a bottle in the process, and landed on a pile of papers.

The bed rocked and stretched to morph into a rather luxe couch. Vincent, surprisingly not instantaneously shrieking at the sight of yet another eerie magic trick, laughed as Katrinne wobbled before hitting the floor. “Hey, at least it’s convenient!”

She desperately wanted to hit him. It was like he reacted incorrectly to everything! She remained fuming on the floor before remembering the reason she wasn’t eating the man.

“Sisceal!” The siren rolled off the floor and stumbled onto her feet, looking around dumbfounded while Sisceal was in a bathroom that transformed into something unknown. She kept calling his name, afraid, while Vincent giggled in the background.

Axeykins egghead

 

[egghead]

Fantasizing about the cruel ways she would torture those who dared not obey, Rachel chased after her future punching bags. Luckily for them, half a bottle of gin and stiletto heels halved her speed. She only managed to catch up to the tin man before he disappeared behind a wood barrier. “Whatever happened to ‘ladies first’, huh?!”

Yanking the (surprisingly) unlocked door open, she leered into the darkness with one wild, unblinking eye. Steeping inside, it became apparent how tiny the space actually was when her form pressed against a hunk of scrap metal. Regret began setting in when the only exit suddenly and inexplicably banged shut, and would not budge.

Growling with agitation, Rachel squirmed around in a useless attempt to find a comfortable position. “Ugh! Just my luck, getting stuck in here with some dirty toaster.”

ー

Staggering away from the library entrance, Glen watched and braced for any attempt at breaking through his makeshift barricade. When nothing happened, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before an abrupt laugh split apart pallid lips. “It’s...it’s over. They can’t get me.”

With a borderline physical effort, he repressed guilt stemming from his treachery. Those two could have been in cahoots for all he knew. Or manifestations of old memories, sent to torment him with the past. Maybe losing everyone’s trust was what he wanted; it was better to betray than be betrayed.

Voices drifted in from across the book labyrinth, cutting short a pathetic celebration. Once again on full alert, Glen seized a hefty dictionary and held it up, ready to swing. Tiptoeing towards the noise, he called out to the unseen source in a serious, big boy tone. “W-who’s there?”

 

[Fateless]

Az lowered the temperature of the room to create a more chilling feeling; like the dead coming back to haunt someone. Sure it was cheesy, but he has always been one for theatrics.

It was clear to Az that the man called Marius was starting to be affected by his taunting. So he made this "roxy's" voice closer to his ears and louder so that it would echo throughout his skull. Ringing from ear to ear like church bells.

"You never came back Marius. You left me alone with them to suffer, and how I have suffered Marius. Everything they have done to me; for what? What was so important to you Marius that you would betray me like that. You were my best friend and you threw me away like I was garbage."

 

[Axeykins]

"NO! DON'T LOOK!" A beat red Sisceal shouted at the top of his lungs as he saw her looking all over for him after the room's sudden change. Desperately pulling his boxer briefs up as quick as his body would allow. It made his back pop loudly and hurt something fierce but he managed at least that. Saving her and anyone else around from catching him fully in the buff. Nobody needed THAT much more scarring in this place.

"OOooooooh my Gods!" A sultry voice echoed through every inch of the space. Resonating through every book, shelf and wall. A sleek man dressed in all black with gold adornments stepped forth from the shadows. Hands clasped together and pressed up against his chest in glee. His smile wide an sharp. "It's a Family ReUNION!!!" He threw his arms out into the air as he spun around. Giving them all a very enthusiastic smile before planting himself in place once more. Putting a finger to his mouth in thought. "How long has it been now? Tsk, oooh even I can't remember. You've all been so elusive to me! or maybe it's me who's been the elusive one? Bah, no matter!! You're all here and looking sooo, Wonderful." His tone had a far more sinister inflection to it as he hit the last word with a bit of hiss.
egghead buzz

 

[Axeykins]

Marius shivered. Cupping his hands around his ears and shutting his eyes tightly as his head spun. "NO!! YOU'RE LYING!" He snapped. Shaking his head as the voice echoed through it."I....I don't know who you are or who you think you are but I betrayed no one. NO ONE. I. May have turned you over to them to save Aimee but came back immediately, I know I did. Alpha and the others would have done who knows what otherwise" He laughed nervously. Morphing into a far more manic one as a wave of memories hit him again. Feeling even more realistic than before. Making the fresh scar on his body burn like Hellfire.

This had to be a trick of the hotel. Had to be. Getting into his mind again with lies and deceit. Making him realize things he didn't want to. "Stop it!!! Make it stop!!! Obsidian, I know it's you! cut it out. I know this isn't real! Y...You can't fool me!"
Fateless

 

[Axeykins]

"Hey HEY! Room for only one in here!" Lucid glowered. The intruder pressing him back into the wall even more, shoving whatever was stuck in their with them farther into his backside as well very very uncomfortably. "Do a beauty a favor and go out there and distract them will ya? Maybe they'll make you their queen or something, you've got the face and body odor for it."
His face contorted to a disgusted sneer. He pinched his nose shut in mockery. "Go on! Get! Shoo! Or did you screw up the door now too eh? Haven't known you for long and don't care to but at least I know you're good at something already."
egghead

 

[buzz]

Katrinne’s body turned to the source of the noise before her face, thankfully, and Sisceal’s sanctity remained in her mind for another day. Vincent was agape, staring motionlessly. It was unclear whether from shock or interest, but the fascination didn’t last long. His head snapped to another voice, his mouth closing to allow a large gulp; although he didn’t know what it was, he was afraid of it. The presence intimidated him, and for once, he felt sharply inferior. The silhouette became opaque and decorated in a beautifully opulent manner, much to Vincent’s chagrin. He looked to his demon companion for an explanation. She, however, stood stiffly with her back to the approaching figure. Her hands lay weakly at her side, the palms noticeably slick with sweat from ostensible fear. The sight didn’t surprise Vincent though it did concern him. The man’s demeanor and accoutrements were delightful, so he shrugged it off. “Hey! I don’t want to intrude but,” he spoke unbridled and could faintly hear Katrinne scoff in frustration with his now possibly fatal antics, “we’ve never met and, well, I’d love to be a part of this...family!”

She rolled her eyes and shut them tightly, hoping this was a terrible nightmare. Of all monsters, of all things that scared her, Obsidian was the one that ambushed them at the worst possible time. Sisceal, defenseless, and an idiot who was about to talk them all to death—literally. All she could do was stand there, hoping she’d be the last to go.

 

[egghead]

Thud. An improvised weapon impacted with hardwood floor the very moment Glen’s moth-eaten heart sank. Emitting from everywhere yet nowhere, a disembodied voice broadcasted the arrival of the hotelier. His violator’s presence alone encapsulated him in a fear cocoon that cemented a decaying meatsuit in place. Trembling legs could no longer walk in a straight line, so he crawled towards the edge of a nearby bookcase.

Peeking around the corner, an ungodly sight refuted any hopeful doubt. An inkblot splashed amongst dull greys and browns, the shadows themselves seemingly merged to create the sleek and slender figure hovering before an unsuspecting crowd. Darkness parted to frame porcelain smooth skin and a pearly white grin exclusive to the most reviled creature within the hotel.

Glen’s jaw hung in a silent scream. Praying that he had not been seen, he began to stealthily inch away from the so-called family reunion...

ー

Snatching the golden boy by his shirt collar, Rachel slammed him against the wall with enough authority to show that she was no longer in a playful mood. “Listen, pal. In a place like this, nothing’s stopping me from crushing you, so you’d better watch that tongue before I rip it out!”

Releasing him after one last throttle, she glanced around the claustrophobic closet, searching for a secret latch or knob—anything that appeared to not belong. After her vision adjusted to the gloom, she spotted a tiny spider. With a devious smirk, she jabbed an index finger at the arachnid, intending to squish a defenceless critter. Instead, it collapsed like a button.

Following mechanical whirrs, bricks shuffled away to reveal a hole large enough for an adult human to crawl through. After peering into the cobwebby passageway, Rachel nudged her new buddy hard enough to leave a bruise. “Hmm, doesn’t look safe,” she shoved him again. “You go first. That’s an order, soldier!”

 

[Axeykins]

A large encyclopedia came flying across the room to nail the grinning host across the face. The force of it knocking his head around and leaving a very nice red imprint of the lavish spine decor on his cheek. Nothing but dead silence filling the room. Sort of, dead silence with the occasional moan of Sisceal as he clutched the side of a bookcase and his back. He'd wrenched around far to fast.

"Ffffffiesty! Good to see you're still kicking." Obsidian laughed wildly. His smile hadn't diminished one bit terrifyingly. With a snap of his fingers he restrained the old man. Wrapping him up snuggly in a bounds of his black tendrils with his arms at his sides. Better safe than sorry seeing as he wasn't quite as broken as he thought. "Many apologies for that good sir. You say you want to be part of this family hmm?" The host sauntered up to the bold individual. Staring down at him from the end of his nose. "I've never had someone ask to be part of the family, it's quite amusing! Something different from the norm. Particularly since I haven't met youuuu yet mister. Care to introduce yourself?"
egghead buzz
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"Psht! Go ahead, I can just get a replacement." He glared at her, huffing a breath of air through his nose. She certainly gave him a few bruises just now but he wasn't going to back down. Not to this bitch! Lucy didn't back down for nobody. "Go ahead and keep flapping your jowls, I don't care. All you're doing is becoming more of an annoyance to me."

He hissed as he was forced down to his hands and knees at the mouth of a filthy dark tunnel. "Why should I go first on a mistake you made huh? Some bullshit if you ask me hun." He glared back at her. Testing to see if the bulk of his shoulder pieces would fit through the tunnel. They scraped at first but the stone seemed to stretch around them just enough to allow passage without getting a scuff. Creeped him out. "Don't know how far this thing goes but have fun staring at my ass the entire way ya harpy. No way of passing in here."
egghead

 

[egghead]

A mere snort escaped as a reaction to insubordination. “Whiny little brat, aren’t you?” Rachel scoffed. “No wonder why you’re friends with that pathetic excuse for a man. Bird of a feather really do shit together, HA!”

Impatiently tapping her foot while her lackey squeezed into a much tighter and tinier space than a closet, she spent some time racking a gin-soaked brain for answers. Where or when had she felt this intense loathing before? Thinking about anything too deeply, especially the past, gave nasty headaches, so she stopped before the first pangs started.

Crawling into the hole, her bare skin received spider webs caresses. Completely dark, not much of anything could be discerned in the tunnel without night-vision goggles or a cats eyes. She only knew Lucid was still nearby because of his loud shuffling. “Hurry the hell up! Stop talking about your ass and start moving it already!”

 

[buzz]

Vincent’s eyes widened, mouth hanging open in clear shock. This was not what he was expecting, and the scene was, to him, completely unreal. His supercilious ego retracted into his gaping mouth with a gulp, the towering figure’s stare too intimidating to meet. Then, it struck him. He looked to Katrinne’s embarrassing capitulation and the constricting black extremities that held Sisceal’s weakly body. “I’m Vincent, and on second thought...” He raised a pointy chin to look at the monster before him. “...I’d rather not join this, uh, family. If you can really call it that.” He motioned towards Sisceal. “Are you supposed to be Obsidian?”



Katrinne’s audible breathing hitched, then shivered in a staccato rhythm. Her cadaverous fingers followed, and she quickly clasped them together to still her movement. Tears welled in fear, or maybe anger, as she briefly glanced at Sisceal. She heard shuffling in the distance, a somewhat loud thud among the shelves, and detached herself for a moment. A crawling figure caught her eye before it became out of view. “What is that?!” She screeched, hoping Obsidian would find it more interesting. Katrinne felt her soul escape her body in disbelief that she was actually doing this, but she was doing something. And it was better than nothing. Vincent couldn’t help but grin seeing the siren’s antics.

 

[Axeykins]

"Don't call me a brat! I'm eh...." He had to think on it for a moment. "twenty nine? Thirty?...damn I wish I could remember." Scrunching his shoulders in as much as he could without pain to fit better. It was rather fortunate that she shoved him in first. As with his cybernetics he could see in the dark pretty well. Enough to see dangers before they got there and as an added bonus they lit up a small area in front of them as well.
"Oh shut it and just enjoy the view. I can't see an end yet but we are getting somewhere."

Lucid shuffled forward for what felt like an eternity. Knees and shoulders fully scuffed up now and hair covered in cobwebs he was pining for a bath. Which, to his dismay. Came in the worst possible way. He turned his head to tell his unwilling partner in crime they may as well head back when the ground below him ended. It wasn't a very high fall but it was directly into a large tank of water. Thankfully not too deep too seeing as Lucid immediately sank like a rock up to his chin in it. Causing a flurry of small fish and odd creatures of some sort to flee to the nearest coverage.

egghead

~~~~~~~~~~~

"My dear boy, unfortunately you have no choice. Nobody who wanders into my abode does. You'll all be part of this great. Big. Happy. Family." He grinned. Gleefully turning the poor trapped priest upside down several feet in the air as he spoke, leaning ever closer to Vincent's face. Smile widening beyond what should be physically possible for his perfect porcelain face.
Vinny boy was only saved from further attention from the Host by the sudden scream. Obsidian hadn't even done anything to her so was very much curious as to what thing she was referring to. "My dear, where has this thing scuttled off to hm?? Last I recall you're not one to easily startle, to hear you shriek is for lack of better words, startling? Shocking? To say the least." He mused. Tenting his fingers as he turned to approach her.
buzz