Demons in the Shadows

Ivy
I eyed him cautiously, unsure if I wanted to accept said paper. The last girl to take a paper from him ended up running away like she had seen a ghost. And I was barely holding on to my sanity right now as it was. Would this set me over the edge?
Then Cal put his arm around me and I found myself feeling a tad bit safer. I swallowed hard and reached out, accepting our papers and readi-...
Was this some sick joke?
I felt myself shaking, but couldn't regain myself. "Wh-who are you?" I choked.

Carl-

I frowned slightly, not liking the girl's reaction. "What is it?" I asked, turning my head in the direction of the paper. "What does it say?"

27-

"My name is twenty-seven. If you can answer those questions with a yes, you are the people I'm looking for." I stuck my hand into my pocket, the other holding to my cane. "You are Carl Knight and Ivy, yes?"

Ivy
I didn't answer the strange man, instead I turned my attention to Carl, I guess was his name, retreating further into his arms. "He's knows about us," I whisper, staring at the paper in horror. My shaking had only gotten worse now, and I could feel my throat closing in on me. Please, please. Not another attack. I cant do this anymore.

27-

"What you are seeing and or hearing, are demons," I said as I watched them, continuing on despite the fact that the girl was now ignoring me.


Carl-

My arm tightened around Ivy, apparently that was her name, a little protectively. I listened to the man who called himself 27 and did my best to calm Ivy at the same time, which let me tell you isn't exactly easy. "He's the one you saw?" I asked in the same whispered voice, pretending as if he wasn't there. It was easy, especially since I couldn't see him.

Ivy
Demons?!
My throat closed in on me and pathetic gasps filled the air. I'm not crazy, apparently. I just suck at holding myself together.
My thoughts were racing, swirling, going left, right, every which way direction. My heart was pounding in my ears as irrational fear filled me. Or at least, I told myself it was irrational.
...Demons?
"Y-y-yes," I managed, trying to overcome the hysteria.

Carl-

I gave a small nod and rubbed her arm gently. "It's alright, promise." Ya, I had my arm around her and was promising her things and yet I didn't even know her. Call me whatever you'd like...but I couldn't help finding this a little heroic of me. But what could I say? I was a pretty nice guy...most of the time. Besides she was flipping out all kinds.


27-

I crouched down in front of them both and looked at them, my eyes mostly on Ivy since I knew Carl couldn't see me. "I can help you to understand this, and even defeat these things. But you have to trust me."

Ivy
I stared at the mysterious guy as he kneeled before us, fighting so hard to not seem like such a wimp and fall apart.
If I wasn't hallucinating, and these things were real, and he's offering a real solution to make it all stop, when the meds couldn't, then... I had to take it. I just wanted to be normal.
I continue staring at him, calming significantly as I grasped onto the hope of something, someone, fixing this. "Trust you?" I whispered, "I don't even know you."

27-

"You do not know Carl, yet you trust him," I pointed out. "There will be repercussions, such as you will not be able to return to your families. If you come with me, your entire existence will be wiped from the Earth and no one will remember you. But, in return, you will learn about these demons, learn how to slay them, and protect others from the deadly fates that await them."

Carl-

I blinked a few times, my brow furrowing. Man did this sound like something out of a cheesy action/horror movie. But then again, what did I have to loose? I was the only one in my home and my parents were never home. Besides, if they couldn't remember me, how would they miss me? "Alright," I said with a small nod. "I'm in."

Ivy
Trust Carl? What?
I blinked. I guess I did... but that was just because we had something to bond over. Like seeing demons.
But... then again... this guy did just save me from said demons so...
Then I heard his proposition, and Carls acceptance and my head snapped to Carl in shock.
"What? You can't be serious," I exclaimed to both of them.

Carl-

I gave a slight shrug, my head turning in the direction of Ivy. "Why not? It's not like I have anything else to do. Besides, I doubt it would hurt me any, seeing as how I basically have no family."

Ivy
This.was.crazy.
Was this a prank? A joke? Did my mother hire an acting squad to show me just how ridiculous my hallucinations are?
This was not funny.
I turned back to the man, taking in his words cautiously.
"... You can help?"

27-

I gave a small nod. "I can teach you how to defend yourself against them, and how to see them fully. Not just as fleeting images." I ran a hand through my hair, hating giving this alternative. "But if I do this, you will be erased from the Earth. You will be able to decide whether you stay and help defend the world against these creatures or go back to the real world, but no one will remember you."

Ivy
What a heavy price... But... no one remembering me, the crazy girl. And... having a chance to start anew once I have control of it all... A chance to be normal... well that all sounded pretty darn appealing to me.
"...Alright. I'm in."

27-

I gave a small smile and watched the two for a moment. Well, that was easier than I had thought. "Alright, I shall come for you tonight. Meet me at the bench." With that I stood and began to make my way through the park crowds again in search of the others.

Carl-

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to Ivy as I listened to the man's steps fade. It was all kind of...weird and hard to process. So I just sat there with my arm around her quietly, waiting for her to be the first one to say anything.

Ivy
That was all... a lot to process. I looked up at Carl, giving a nervous chuckle and looking around.
"... Still sure about the 'two people being crazy about the same thing' theory?"

Carl-

I thought for a moment then gave a small chuckle and a nod. "Yes, I'm still pretty sure. Why are you starting to second guess?" I asked as I looked in her general direction with my milky eyes.

Ivy
I crinkled my nose, looking away. "No, but... that explanation doesn't seem so out there compared to the alternative... This just... doesn't seem like it could really happen to me. Being insane is much easier to wrap my head around."

Carl-

I chuckled and gave a small nod. "Ya..but it doesn't help the self-esteem any. Honestly I think I'd rather believe this than that I was insane...makes me seem at least somewhat normal as odd as that sounds."

Ivy
I snorted, slowly stretching out of my fetal position. "Normal. What is that, exactly?"
I glanced around at the park. Everyone was going about their marry ways. To them, nothing had changed. It was so odd to think that life continued even when yours seemed to be falling apart.

Carl-

I blinked at her question and smirked. "Good point," I said, my arm still around her. Now that everything seemed to have simmered down a bit, my thoughts wandered to other things, such as what she looked like. "Ivy, I gotta question for you."

Ivy
By now my shaking shaking had stopped and I could breath normal again. The attack was over and my thoughts were no longer hard to form. So naturally, now that I could think straight, I began to realize what /exactly/ had just happened.
I freaked out in front of a total. Stranger.
...
I felt heat fill my cheeks as I peered up at him, raising a brow. "Hm?"

Carl-

I felt her skin get hot and debated whether she was getting a fever, or if she was just blushing or something. I knew fevers didn't come that fast, but then again...there were those exceptions. I rolled this around in my mind for a moment before deciding that I'd wait till I heard her talk to decide what exactly it was. "What do you look like?"

Mitchel

I rose a brow, glancing at what she'd pointed out then furrowing my brow a little as I thought this over. Pulling the notebook back to my I pulled the pencil from my ear, cursing on the end slightly as I considered her. Flipping to a new page I marked down the date of the sounds she'd pointed out then glanced back up at her.
"Can you describe it better?"

Ali-

I didn't hesitate as I quickly exited the park, making my way home and glancing around nervously before stepping inside. The old, run down house was exactly as I'd left it, clean and Broken. And free of creepy guys. Releasing my grip on the paper I hesitated only slightly before dropping it on a table and going into the kitchen for some kind of snack.

Ivy
I doubletaked, blushing deeper. Why did that feel like a personal question? He was blind. It was only natural for him to wonder, right? I mean, we've been talking for what? Thirty minutes now? It was a perfectly reasonable question. Still though, I couldn't help the blush. "Um... nothing much. Like a girl? You know, with the hair, the eyes... a face. Two legs and a torso..."

Carl-

I raised a brow. "You suck at descriptions...I'd only pay you half wage for following me around and narrating." Of course I was teasing, but still it was slightly frustrating. "Do you mind..if I touch your face?"


Sam-

"Um...looked like a rhino beetle and was about as tall as a lion and had a scorpion like tail and...umm...lots of legs like a centipede." I shivered at the thought of it. "It was shedding its skin when I saw it," I muttered.