Demons in the Shadows

"Death...it accompanies everything....Life?...It's just there. Everything revolves around the two. They are always together. In one room a baby is born, in the next, a true love dies. They are cruel in their game. Giving and then, just as suddenly, taking away. Laughing. Mocking. Always near."

~Misty; My Brother Soda

In a world where a minute of failure could determine the life or death of a nation, there is no room for mistakes. In this day and age, an evil stirs, Death roams the Earth. Quite literally. His forces are moving, killing mercilessly so as to expand his empire, and ultimately, to bring all mankind down to burn in hell for the rest of eternity. But there are those who have been chosen to stop Death. Or at least put him back into his place. His minions scour the land, searching for anything and everything that they can claim for their master. What looks like a disease to some is actually more than that. But the untrained eye cannot see the demons hiding in the shadows. They see glimpses out of the corner of their eye, fleeting images, but it is always just pushed aside as a figment of the imagination.

You have been chosen, but you do not know it. To you, it is just another day in the life. Until they show up on your doorstep and they strip you of everything dear, to come face to face with your worst nightmares, and perhaps even Death himself. Who are they? Well...you'll just have to find out and hope that Death doesn't find you first.

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Setting: Summer day in the park.

Character outline:

Name
Age
Appearance
~hair
~eyes
~frame
~skin
~clothing
~other
Personality
History

I'm going to request ^ that, unless you have a picture, which is fine. I just ask that you still put "frame" and put the general height and such. Please, be descriptive. This is just to try and get away from things like "tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, buff." Like it or not, those still pop up every once in a while.

The Grid:
The Grid is a separate dimension that hovers between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. It’s sorta, not realy, like platform 9 ¾. Only those who know it’s there can go there, and the only way to get there is to, in a sense, die. Most people get there by shooting themselves. Those who work there, never feel the pain of the death unless they do something stupid like slit their wrists and wait to die. Some get more creative, like 27, and jump in front of an oncoming train or something. Most sucide deaths that you hear of are people going back to The Grid. It is headquarters for /them/. Those people that come and rip you from your life, train you to fight demons, and then send you out into the world of nightmares where you may or may not get your soul ripped from you by Death or his minions. The head-honcho is Life, aka Teresa. She likes fighting with Death, she finds it a game, and actually has many flings with him. (just a side note)

Death and Teresa will be played by me...although I won't put up a description of either of them because that's just to much work and they don't come up to often....hopefully..


Demons you'll encounter:

Searchers- Creatures that range in level, level 1 being the strongest. They steal souls from the body, resulting in coma's, vegetable people, and things of the such. Death doesn't really care about the body actually dying, he just wants the souls that inhabit them. Searchers vary in size and description. The creatures from The Village are just about the closest you'll get to trying to describe them, but few have the spikes in the back. They hide beneath their cloaks and walk unseen among the people.

The Questing Beast- It has the body of a leopard and the head of a snake. Its venom is highly poisonous, where one bite means certain death. Keeps mostly to the woods, attacking hikers and such. Only one Questing Beast can exist at a time.

Baykok- a walking skeleton but with a thin translucent skin and fearsome red eyes glowing from the sockets in its skull. It preys only on warriors and kills either with its club or invisible arrows. It is most commonly found in wars, or even on army bases.

Afanac- http://merlin.wikia.com/wiki/Afanc

Fucanglong- Dragons of the underworld, they usually guard the entrance and the treasures to be found there.

Wraiths- Creatures brought back from the dead with the promise of getting revenge for their death if they complete the tasks given them. Zombie-ish looking.

Wendigo- Creatures of covenant. To become a Wendigo, you must kill the one you love most, and eat their heart. Their forms are that of a man and can be seen by people. Although, the longer you are a wendigo, the more your form twists and mutates to look like a dog. They are the personal servants of Death and will be the most common of those that you encounter, along with Searchers.


More demons will be added later.



Alright, now for the part you hate. Rules.


1.) Have fun
2.) This is a chat made for "one liners" in a way. Me and Ella were talking, and we missed our old chats before one liners were looked down upon. We had more fun, and our muses were less...um....burdened. As long as it's workable, I don't really care. I just want to have fun again and enjoy chatting...I mean think about it. It's like chatbox, in an actual chat form....just don't do the chatbox "Will: *goes does stuffs*" type thing.

3.) Ask before you join
4.) Characters should be 16 or older. I suggest that if your character is sixteen, they are sixteen almost seventeen.
5.) Ask before you put a character as "Them," by them I mean those who go around picking out the chosen. Please pm me.

Last but not least, I will have more information about the demons and such that will be faced later when I've had a bit more time...my internet was down all day so bear with me.

Name: Sam Foster
Age: 18
Apperance:
Frame: Is somewhere around 5'5" and is well endowed.
Personality: She is very opinionated with a deadly temper. When she is mad, you can only tell because she becomes frighteningly silent. She has a very wild personality that loves to go for the thrill of adventure, loving to almost get caught yet get away. When she is in these moods, she is a very hardend "bad girl." She does have a kind heart though and is a sucker for sob stories.
History: Sam's life was spent in a very controlling, very abusive house hold. She was to do everything she was told, and if she didn't, she'd be locked in the cellar for days on end without food. Because of this, she has a deadly fear of the dark and spiders. She was taken from her family at the age of 15 and managed to get in a private school, but was told by the social worker that she wouldn't make it far because she was good for nothing but her body. That she would end up in some trailer park, with a husband that beat her, and five kids she couldn't care for. She doesn't believe this, but deep down she's very afraid of this future. Despite this, she has been a party girl but some how manages to stay on top of, and even excel in her school work. She graduated just last week, and is now trying to find a place to live so she doesn't end up on the streets or something. Since she is 18, the social workers will no longer care for her and she can't be in foster homes any more. At least that's what her social worker told her.



Name: Carl Knight
Age: 19
Looks:
Frame: Lean and fit, standing at a height of 6'1, though he is muscled, they are not extremely defined.
Personality: Carl tries to be mature, though sometimes the capacity to do so escapes him and he finds himself making/laughing at crude jokes. He is very kind, loving, and loyal. He won’t tell you he likes you, but you’ll know it when he starts making joking comments towards you that are somewhat…harsh. But there is an obvious difference between him joking and being actually mean. There is no way to mix the two up.
Bio: Carl was born blind and has therefore grown up somewhat oblivious to what’s in the dark. But, just because he can’t see it, doesn’t mean he can’t hear it. He often hears the hissing and clicking of the demons, but shakes it off as his mind playing tricks on him. He grew up in a house on the rough side of town as an only child. His life has not been easy, but it wasn’t devastating.


Name: Misty Garwin
Age:17
Looks:
Frame: Is around 5'1" and is more on the skinny order.
Personality: Misty has no self confidence, nor does she think herself anything special. The only time she did, was when she was with her older brother Soda and he managed to convince her. But now he's gone, she can't seem to keep herself together. She's jumpy and keeps to herself, and will most likely scream if she sees a snake or monster of some kind. She's kind, and can be sort of brash, but if you insult her or something she'll just give a weak laugh and retreat as far as she can. She hates confrontation, and may just take the insult to heart.
History: Misty lives with her Tio Marco. She loves the old man to death and couldn't see herself living with anyone else. She was born on a dark and stormy night to a hooker who was on Heroin. She was conceived by Soda's father, the event happening while he was away on a business party. Through out most of Misty's life, her mother abandoned her in different places all over, but Misty would just come back to take care of her mother, running away from foster homes and such. Finally, Misty was abandoned at her Tio's but this time she didn't chase after her. Her mother had gotten high the night before and tried to rape and kill her daughter. After that, Misty quit trying to come after her. Two months later, her mother showed up dead and as a jane doe. She never went to claim the body. Now her brother, the only other person besides Tio that she trusted and loved, is dead having been taken by an incurable sickness.

Name: 27 (Real name= Manus, but he won't tell anyone that's not on The Grid)
Age: 19
Looks:
Personality: He is quiet, reserved, and comes off as completely emotionless. He keeps to himself most of the time, but does his job as he should.
Bio: 27 was taken in at a very young age and is now one of /them/. He is the one they send around to gather the chosen, train them, and send them on missions.

Not much is known about 27...so I'm sorry his is so short...and small...and stuffs

Name: Ali Marcus
Age - 19
Appearance - Ali has dark, dark brown hair that trails down to the small of her back. Her eyes are dark brown as well, and her face has the build that is normal for a Native American girl, the high cheek bone, ect. She stands around average height, about five-two, and has tan, a bit darker than olive, toned skin. She normally were's a soft brown, or pink, skirt and nice cami for a top when around her family. when out she normally changes into a pair of jeans and a tank. On her shoulder she has a tattoo of a rising sun, and hawk coming out of it.
Personality - She's very quiet, and watchful, but has a rebellious side to her. She doesn't really take orders very well, but won't out right tell you off. She's more the kind of person to just watch and wait for her opportunity to undermine whatever she's been told to do. People aren't really her thing either, she'd rather just.. avoid them altogether if possible.
History - Ali was the unwanted child, her mother being tricked one night at a bar off of her reservation. Unable to face her family upon finding out she was pregnant, but also unable to bring herself to rid herself of the child, she moved away from her friends and family to have and raise the child, Ali, on her own.
She never made an effort to hide from Ali that she wasn't wanted, sometimes leading Ali to wonder why she bothered to have her at all. Things were halfway okay, tense around the house and always pressure on her to do well, but it was okay... then her mother died of some disease. Since then she's been on her own, that was actually three years ago. Ali's okay with it though, never letting on that she has no one, she prefers it like this.


Name - Mitchel Dons
Age - 17
Appearance - Has shaggy, black hair with red highlights dyed in. His eyes are a light amber like color, that sorta matched his hair before he dyed it. Mitchel is a little above average height, more around 6'3". He's a bit on the pale side, more of the scholarly type than athletic. He normally has on some ratty jeans and an over-sized hoodie. He has tons of them, so he always seems to have one on. He also always seems to have his book bag on him, complete with laptop, kindle, and school books.
Personality - He isn't exactly unfriendly, he loves being around people, but has problems connecting to people. So even though he attempts having conversations with people, it normally ends with them walking away muttering about how he's crazy or something. Mitchel tries to pretend it doesn't matter, but he's very.. lonely.
History - His parents have money, like.. never have to worry about if they can have this, or have that kinda money. Although they never seem to have time for Mitchel, they get him whatever he seems to want. In his mind, its a halfway fair deal. Although sometimes he wishes that they'd at least hang around for dinner, before rushing off to some fancy fundraiser party.

27-

I watched the people as they wandered the well lit park in their innocence, not noticing the demons that walked among them. My eyes narrowed as I saw one reach for a small girl and made my way towards her. Without causing much of a scene, I...rid the world of the creature, handing the girl a small doll. "I believe you dropped this," I muttered to her. Of course she stared at me as though I was an insane creeper but took the doll. Humans were always so untrusting of kind deeds, yet seemed to throw the whole of their trust into that which was dishonest.




Misty-

I sat beneath a tree, my sketch pad on my lap as I stared at the whole of the park. I couldn't shake the feeling of how alone I was. Usually, it was me and Soda under this tree. But now...it was just me and an empty sketch pad. Nothing more, nothing less.



Carl-

I flinched slightly as I heard the clicking of an unusual beast somewhere close to me. I'd been hearing them for a long time, most people thought I was crazy, the psychiatrist told me I was a skitzo. Oh how I hated stupid people. I listened to the sound around me, my dark eyes somewhere in the direction of what I hoped was the ground. My luck it would probably be some poor lady's ass. It wouldn't be the first time I got slapped for not being able to tell where I was looking.

Ali-
I was walking back from work, eyes just wondering every which way when they settled on the park, and I felt a bit of want settle on my mind. Surely I could rest for a moment, just enjoy the nature and not feel the need to do anything else besides that. Smiling a little I stepped into the park and just walked the pathway, looking up towards the sky and just enjoying the day.

Mitchel-
So, the flowers were pretty and all, but I really didn't see the purpose in them. They didn't seem to have any real reason for being there expect to be seen. If one wanted a pretty flower, they could have chosen something more tasteful than a wildflower. Perhaps planted some roses, or maybe some kind of creepy thing. All things considered, there were so many more choices than these wildflowers that just spring up wherever they like, and have to be mowed down. Nodding to myself I sat back on the bench, jotting something down in my notebook before looking back up as I thought I heard a noise, something strange. Frowning I sat the notebook beside me and tried to decide what it had been. After all, when you begin hearing things in you head, as I had been doing for a very, very long time, one may consider the possibility of your being mad. But I am not mad, just.. different. Very.. different.

27-

I glanced at the file in my hand that held the names and faces of the new chosen. I really hated this part of my job, but it had to be done. I was suppose to interview them in a way that would keep from grabbing people's attention. Ha. Like that would happen. I hated coming off as some creeper, it got so annoying after the first five times, now over 200 years later here I was...and the annoyance hadn't lessened. I hoped that perhaps I could catch them in a grouping or something, but I never was that lucky.

:\
Do you guys still want to do this?

I will

okai. Sorry about *flails* that.

Ivy
I sat on the grass, taking in the sounds of the park around me before completely plopping back on my back with a sigh.
What a day.
It was like nothing and everything was wrong at once. I know, I know, that sounded crazy. But everything felt... off. Maybe I'm just crazy. That would probably make more sense. But I had to get out of that godforsaken house today, and the park seems pretty normal, right? Besides, it's nice out. A bit of vitamin C would do me good, and get me out of lunch. Win win.
I squeezed my eyes shut and let the breeze wash over me, taking in the sounds of normality around me.

27-


I stared at the warmunger, a large beetle like beast that seemed to have taken pieces from other bugs as well and mashed them together, that followed a girl to the grass and frowned. Man these things were everywhere. I made my way towards it, my sword by my side. Luckily, no one could see me any more. I was as invisible as the demon itself. No one could see me unless they were actually trying to. I lifted my sword as I edged closer, walking by a group of humans. I recognized the three from my folder that I had tucked away for safe keeping. They were to be interviewed. Splendid. Just what I needed.

Ivy
The sun felt nice... And the grass was surprising comfortable. So much so that I could actually see myself drifting off for a nice nap. A nap... I really liked the sound of that. And for a few moments, I felt myself drifting off. That was until that unsettling feeling returned. I knew that feeling well. It's what kept me up at night, what had me afraid to go into certain places alone and constantly had me looking over my shoulder. My shrink called it paranoia, but I couldn't help but to wonder if it was something more.
"Of course you can't," she'd respond whenever I'd voice my concern, "if you knew it was fake, you wouldn't think it was something more that in the first place!"
...Maybe she had a point...

So I tried to ignore it. I tried to push it to the back of my mind and drift off again. But I couldn't. Despite my best efforts, the feeling kept growing and growing till it gripped my every thought. It had me fearing for my life and demanded I open my eyes.
Unable to fight the urge anymore, I opened my eyes.
The sight before me drew forth a sharp scream. I saw a man approaching me with a sword. A sword!
I fumbled back, blinking then staring around me, confused.
...
The park seemed to have fallen silent, even the birds stopped their songs,And every person in a 50 foot radius of me turned to stare at the odd girl screaming at empty air. Why empty, you ask? Because the man before me, the one about to kill me with a sword, well he was... gone.
...I'm loosing it.

27-


I made my way up to the girl, a smirk on my face because she could not see me. Fortunately, the place around her wasn't crowded. Humans had a natural tendency to move away from demons or make space for them I had noticed, and seeing as how the warmunger was at least the size of a giant tortoise or bigger, there was plenty of room. I then went about ignoring the conversation around me and drew the attention of the warmunger to myself, bringing my sword down on it. All of the sudden the girl screamed. I blinked and realized she was staring right at me. Crud. Now what was I going to do when I tried to interview her?

The warmunger caught my sword in it's pincers, catching me by surprise, and I grunted as it tried to yank it from me, nearly ripping my arm from its socket. I narrowed my eyes and gave my sword a good twist and yank to the side, slicing one of the pincers in half. I winced as it gave a shrill scream, but didn't let it distract me for to long. I turned, moving away from its other pincer which was now flailing wildly trying to catch me, and brought the sword straight down into its skull. I watched as it screamed and writhed before it finally disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

Ivy
It felt like my chest was closing in on itself. I couldn't breath. I could feel a panic attack creeping up on me.
I-I...
It felt like my world was crumbling down around me. The meds weren't working. Why?
I was seeing things. I couldn't breath. I was shaking. I was petrified and paranoid and-
A shrill, ghastly scream filled the air, piercing my ears.
My hands flew up, wrapping themselves around my head to protect me but it's no good, I could still hear it. I turned and stumbled around, trying to find the source but... there's nothing around that could make that noise, just the on lookers gawking at the crazy girl.
Finally the noise died away and I'm left quivering on the grass, my eyes wild.


"Are you okay?" A voice asked.
I startled and dared a look at it's owner. A timid old lady dared to approach me, holding out a hand in concern.
Okay? ... Yeah. Splendid.
"F-fine," I whispered, not accepting her hand. "Just-" I cleared my throat, making myself sound more convincing, "- just feel asleep on the grass... Nightmare, that's all it was. A nightmare." I forced a smile and she eyed me for a moment before accepting my explanation all to eagerly and walking away, cradling her purse with dear life.
Soon the small crowd around me dispersed and the park jumped back to life. Everyone went on their merry way and I was left to quiver in the grass alone.
... A normal day at the park... that was all I wanted.

Carl-

I had heard the girl scream and I had heard her explanation, but I also had heard the clicking and the shrill scream. I slowly made my way towards where I though the girl was until I was close enough I could hear her breathing. I continued to hide in my hood, not exactly caring how I looked to someone passing by. I felt sheltered, and that was what mattered. "You heard it too, didn't you?"

Ivy
I startled, still shaking slightly as I stared at the hooded figure. Was I imagining him too? No... others were looking at us funny. Key word- us. Their eyes lingered between both of us. Though the second they noticed I saw their stares, they dropped their eyes and walked quickly away.
...How I must look to them.
So he was real, covered in strange garb, and asking me about... heard what too? Surely he couldn't mean...
I swallowed hard, hesitantly nodding. "Y-yeah..."

Carl-

I felt out for the grass and sat down, adjusting my jeans and hoody so neither slid down. "Ya, I hate when they do that." I sighed and shook my head. "Good to have that clicking gone now though. Bugged the hell out of me."



27-

I watched the two interact for a while then slowly moved away from them. I'd let the girl calm down before I went to her I guess. I glanced around and tried to find others on my list of potentials.

Ivy
I doubletaked, scooting to the side a little as he sat besides me. "W-what? You see them too?" I glanced around nervously, the panic attack slowly calming.

Carl-

I smirked and shook my head. "I can't see them," I said gesturing towards my eyes. "I'm blind. But I hear them. All the time." I felt her scoot away and glanced in her general direction. "Don't tell me. You're shirnk tells you you're crazy and now you think that I'm crazy too."

Ivy
I blinked, straight out gawking at him. "I, erm... well.. it's only logical I'm crazy... and you too. Except, we happen to be crazy about the same thing. Which is highly unlikely and would only make sense that we are not crazy. Which is.. confusing and... Unless, that is, you happened to notice my freak out and are now just messing with my mind like some sick bastard and- Wait... how did you know I see a shrink?"

Carl-

I smirked and pushed my hood back, letting the sun warm my face. "I don't. I guessed. I've got one too, mine says I'm skitzo. But I don't have voices in my head. I hear the things around me, there's a big difference. Like the thing following the heels to our left and coming around front. Those pointy ones, you know that are like golf pegs?" I sucked at the whole shoe naming thing. "There's one of those hissing things following her. I bet if you looked out the corner of your eye you could see it." I stared straight ahead, not seeing a need in turning to look at her since I wouldn't see anything but black anyway.

Ivy
... He's bluffing. He has to be. There won't nothing there. The meds will make sure that I /don't/ see anything there.
I eyed him, still trying to convince myself he was just messing with me.
... He played a very convincing game.
And, I mean, after all... why would he bluff if I could easily look and prove him wrong.
That feeling was already fulling me again. I felt myself tense slightly as I listened for the sound of the heels, then hesitantly peered through my hair at her feet.
"HOLY-!" I skirted backward, a full blown panic attack finding its way back to me.
I couldn't breath, I couldn't think straight. I was shaking and freaking out. Somebody, /please/, make it stop.

Carl-

Oh great, she flipped. I reached out and gently pulled her back towards me. I then wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her arms, muttering comforting words. "Hey, calm down. It's alright. They don't bother you if you don't bother them. Besides, the boots and swords usually take care of them. Either that or the really nice dress shoes...you know the kind that sorta squeak when they walk?" Sure, I sounded nuts, but how else was I going to describe the people? It's not like I could really see them.

Ivy
Usually, I'm not up for strangers touching me, but these were unique circumstances and for once it felt nice to be in the presence of someone who saw them too. Or heard. Whatever. But he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and his arms were pretty sturdy... the combined two made me feel significantly safer.
Then he started spouting random reassuring and I started to doubt both our sanities again. Do you blame me?
"W-what's going on?" I demanded, trying to stop my shaking as as I looked back at the women to find the thing gone.

Carl-

I looked down in the direction I though was her face and gave a small shrug. "Beats me, all I know is, something is stopping them, whatever they are. So I figure.."I paused and frowned slightly. "Well I don't know what I figure. I just know I'm not crazy, and you're not crazy. How often do you find people being crazy about the same thing?"

Ivy
He just used my words against me...
I sighed, biting my lip as I regained my composer. "Not often..." I crinkled my nose, giving the facts a hard look over. "...If we both aren't crazy," I begin, fully composed again, "then explain to me why I can't see them right now. They keep coming and going. All the signs point to hallucinations."
Well, not all of them. Like he said, how often are two people crazy about the same thing?