A Rude Awakening - Dex

[Dex Travers]

“I’ll get her out,” Dex said, immediately.

He gave the man another hard stare, eyes fixed and face stony. It was the sort of stare men gave each other in prison, a slow, deadly regard that was all the warning anyone usually got.

With a grunt of effort, he moved the sheet of glass aside and leaned it against the wall where hopefully it wouldn’t break. David’s shirts were not really enough to cover their junk, much the less their feet, which would be vulnerable if the glass shattered.

Dex turned to the woman in the coffin, the one who looked so much like Ashley. Yet she didn’t look exactly as he remembered her. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She looked like a lovely young woman in her twenties.

He still didn’t know if it was really her or not, or if this were some sick demon trick. Dex reached out to touch Ashley’s forehead. He didn’t know if he was expecting her skin to be warm, or cold.

“Ash? Can you hear me? It’s me. Dex.”

[DM Aberrant]

Chris mumbles Of course you will...Have to be Prince Charming...Can't touch her... He still watches you closely, making sure if he couldn't touch her, you didn't either (He'd call you a perv and necrophiliac if you did...)

When you touch Ashley's forehead, it's cool to the touch. You know she's not dead...Yet...She lies in the coffin the only thing moving on her body was her chest slowly up and down, letting you know she was breathing, but very slowly and her breaths were shallow.



We really should get going dude. If someone called the cops from seeing the smoke, we're going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Meanwhile...Back on the ledge...{Cues Batman music}



A woman looks down at David & Jeff, she sniffs the air and looks at the stairway down. She slowly walks down the stairs. Violet? Violet...What did you do this time?!

[Dex Travers]

Dex spun, tensing.

The chill from Ashley’s skin lingered on his fingertips. She had been so cold, like she had fallen into some kind of unnatural hibernation state. The sensation seemed to spread from his hands down his entire body, licking ice down his spine.

He looked at the other man and nodded with his chin, gesturing for him to circle around to a point that would not be visible to someone coming down the stairs. Dex moved in the other direction.

Who is that, he mouthed to the man, then mimed a stabbing motion with his knife questioningly.

He was wondering if they should just try to kill the unknown woman, or if it would be possible to capture and question her.

[DM Aberrant]

Chris looks at you and moves behind a wall so he wasn't seen. When you ask him who it was, he shrugged and mouthed Housekeeping... and moved his arm like he was vacuuming. Chris seems to think about what you just said

Because Chis is Sneaky...1d8=8, 1d8=4, 1d6=3

Tactics...And apparently smart... (1d8=7, 1d8=2, 1d6=5)

He motions for you to stay there and he'll distract her to come down to him, so you can attack her from behind.



Violet...If you are trying to scare me...It's working...



He stands inside the cell and acts like his wrists are cuffed behind him. Hey...Who's there...Can you help me? I really need some help....



The woman practically runs the rest of the way down the stairs and right by you before stopping outside the cell Who are you?! What are you doing down here?! She seems surprised by the man in a cell but also the prison cells itself. It's as if she had never been down here before.

[DM Aberrant]

[The woman is about five feet in front of you with her back to you]

Dex, as you stand there, your spidey senses kick in.

Danger Sense (1d6=6, 1d6=3, 1d4=2)

You also notice a change in the air. Which lets you know a door was opened somewhere up above.

Perception (1d6=2, 1d6=6)

[Dex Travers]

Dex’s hand was clenched tightly around the knife. His eyes were narrowed on the woman’s back. She was the last threat standing between them and escape.

The other man had been a quick thinker, which was good. Now they had a decent plan and a chance to get out, depending on how difficult the woman would be.

Dex moved forward with quick steps on quiet bare feet. When he closed to distance, he raised the knife and plunged it down toward the side of her neck. He was going for the carotid, a quick kill.

[Josh Corbett]

Josh did not know all the Shutzhund hand signals. Iphigenia was a pet, not a working dog, and though he admired Shutzhund skills, he had personally never trained one. He was left at a loss for a moment. Then he put his finger to his lips and made a downward gesture with his hand. He hoped that was enough to convey the twin requests of quiet and stay low.

He glanced back at the two unconscious men. He hoped they stayed down and unconscious for the duration of whatever was to come next.

Josh started to move down the stairs, stepping quietly. He kept his gun in front of him, cradled in both hands. Dallas moved at his side. As he moved, tried to tell if there was a spot ahead where he would be exposed to the room below before he could see anything, or if the staircase was enclosed.

He was ready.

[DM Aberrant]

Dex & Chris

Dex, you wait until the woman passes you and she doesn't seem to notice until it's too late.

Surprise Attack (1d6=4, 1d6=3, 1d6=6, 1d10=2) [I forgot about the surprise attack on the first roll...Sorry.]

The woman out in shock and then screams in pain while trying to pull the knife out of her throat. Blood is spurting everywhere and it runs down her chest and back. She tries to continue to stand, grabbing on to the bars of the cell.

Josh



Dallas stayed by your side, his teeth bared as you both continue down the stairs.

You hear a woman's cry and then scream as you make your way down the stairs. You can see her legs and she's having a hard time standing.



Once the woman screams, he suddenly darts ahead, practically jumping down the stairs to the bottom.

Dex & Chris



Dex, you see a German Shepard practically jumping from the stairs and growling and barking at the woman with the knife in her neck.

[Dex Travers]

Dex’s teeth were bared in a feral snarl. He reached out and yanked the knife from the woman’s neck then stabbed it in again.

He was peripherally aware of a large German Shepherd snarling and barking. There was also the sound of pounding footsteps coming from the stairs. He couldn’t be sure that it was David or Jeff. The dog had come out of nowhere.

Dex yanked the knife from the woman’s neck again. His hand and forearm were coated with bright arterial blood, and there was blood splattered over his neck and bare chest.

The woman had not been a vampire, he noted vaguely. But that was secondary to the next threat. A man with a gun had rushed down the stairs.

He spun, bloody knife in hand, raised in a backward grip.

[Josh Corbett]

Josh ran down the stairs after Dallas. He heard a woman screaming, a horrible, high-pitched keening. People did not scream that way unless they were in terrible pain. He had heard it before.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and spun to look around, taking in the situation, gun held out in front of him.

The area appeared to be something like an underground prison. He saw hard stone floors and cell bars. The woman clung desperately to the cell bars, screaming, bleeding. The wail of her terror and pain hit Josh right where he lived. Josh saw the spurt of bright arterial blood.

He ripped his gaze away in the next moment as he registered the threat: a naked man with a knife, his arm and chest splattered with crimson. He was holding the knife in a combat grip. Josh had the impression of wild eyes and bared teeth. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another naked man. He was outnumbered.

The naked man surged forward.

Josh pulled the trigger.

[DM Aberrant]

Chris immediately ran for Dex as soon as he saw the knife and the woman. When he saw a man coming down the stairs with a gun, and then Dex going at him with the knife, it seemed as if time had suddenly played out in slow motion in front of him. He watched the gun come up and heard the fire of the bullet, he screamed NOOOO!



Dallas also watched the events in front of him. When he saw Dex coming at Josh with a knife in hand and Josh with the gun pointed at Dex, he tried to jump and knock Dex over.

Jumping on Dex (1d8=3)

Dallas just grazes Dex's shoulder as the bullet is fired.

Attack - Gun (1d8=8, 1d6=2)

Damage (1d8=6)

Josh shoots Dex in the shoulder, missing his heart by a couple inches.

Dex, you are in a lot of pain as the bullet lodges in your left shoulder.



Chris is suddenly at Dex's side and looks at you, Josh, not realizing it's you yet. NOOOO! Don't shoot!



All of you hear howling like all dogs do when someone dies.

[Dex Travers]

Dex cried out, a growl of rage and pain. He staggered and toppled. The knife fell from nerveless fingers.

The pain was blinding, a deep stabbing lance of heat through his shoulder. His vision went white.

Dex’s fingers went to the wound. He felt hot, wet blood and torn flesh. The contact made him scream anew and he writhed spastically on the ground.

[Josh Corbett]

Josh’s eyes were wide, the gun still clenched in his hands.

He took a step back from both men, holding his fire.

“Dallas! Come!” he called, not wanting the German Shepherd to be anywhere near either man until Josh figured out what the hell was going on.

His eyes flew around the cell area, going to the wounded woman, then back to the man he had shot, and the other naked man.

“Keep your hands where I can see them! Who are you people? What’s going on here?”

[DM Aberrant]

Dallas howls several more times before stopping and coming over to your side and sitting. He cocks his head to the side as he looks at both men.



Chris takes the shirt off that was covering his...manhood...and puts it on Dex's wound to try and stop the bleeding. Here...I'll have to take that bullet out... He looks at Dex a moment Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gun fight... He shakes his head.

He looks at Josh The man you shot is Dex. I'm Chris. It's not what it looks like.

Does he recognize Josh...Yes...(1d6=5, 1d6=3)

He shakes his head and laughs I'm officially adding you to my stalker list dude...I mean I know you lust after my body and...Other things...But seriously dude...Did you have to shoot Dex He moves his head towards Dex just to see me naked? I mean seriously dude, you could have saved the bullet. You could have just asked...

And to answer you're other question...There was a vampire down here. He looks at the woman with blood all over her That must have been one of other minions...Dex killed her thinking she was a blood sucker too. Can you put the gun away now...Or are you going to shoot me because you're jealous I am better looking and still have a better body than you...

[Josh Corbett]

“Chris?” Josh stared as he recognized the other man. He definitely recognized his attitude.

He lowered his gun.

“Oh, shit. Shit. God, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. He had a knife – ”

Josh broke off. He felt a little shaky and sick. His eyes flicked to the woman on the ground.

“It looked bad, you know. All that blood. I only had a second to react, and it looked like…I thought he was coming for me next.”

He shook his head, trying to clear it, and took a tentative step to Chris and his friend.

“Is it bad?”