:Sandy huddled in a corner of the library, feet tucked under her, back against a wall, nose buried in a book she wasn't even really reading. Darwin had been right. There were monsters here, and they did...rape...the girls of the school. Girls like her. She winced and placed a hand on her lower belly, still sore from the loss of her virginity to one of the beasts. A tear slid down her face, leaving a dark mark on the open page as it fell. She scrubbed at her eyes, trying to focus on the book, trying to lose herself in fantasy, anything better than the real world she was in now:

The Library held a bit of poor memories for Darwin but, she had to go now & then but, each time she went it was in her usual fashion. Flattened chest man's clothes & her practiced voice. usually she found a corner to sit and read in but, it seemed someone else was in her usual spot.

"Sandy? Hey are you alright there?"

She asked as she moved closer to the girl, close enough to notice the tears on her face. Instantly She'd skid to her knees and examine the girl as best she could.

"I know that look... Sandy it's alright calm down Tell me what happened..."

:she looked up, face now streaked with tears. She scrubbed at her eyes on her overly long sleeve, sniffling. How could she tell the boy that he had been right? Her face burned with the shame of what had been done to her, and...how in the end she had almost...enjoyed it:

H-happened? Nothing...nothing happened...I just went for a walk last night...and...and....

:she couldn't handle it, couldn't maintain the facade. She broke down into sobs, The Princess Bride falling to the floor as she pulled her knees to her chest, burying her face between them:

You were right! You were right, you were right, you were right! T-t-there are...things here...m-m-monsters...

:her words were broken up by her sobs, her slender frame shaking with her cries. She nearly whimpered out the words, rocking in the chair slowly:

it hit Darwin like a ton of bricks and she was compelled to embrace the girl to try and comfort heras best she could, she herself hadn't needed the comfort, years of acting like a guy had defended her mentally from her first rape so she had no idea how sandy was feeling.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to help you but, warn you If I could have I would have stuck by your side to help protect you... I can't stand this just having to let it happen to people I try to make friends with..."

She pat sandy on the shoulder softly hoping this was helping the coffee adict at least a little bit. Darwin hoped sandy would forgive her... even though this wasn't her fault... even just a little.

:Sandy continued to sob, flinching as Darwin tried to embrace her, shaking free and pulling into a tighter ball:

No! :whimpers quietly: P-please...don't t-touch me. I feel...I'm not....

:she couldn't put into words how deeply the attack had scarred her, made her feel fragile, dirty. In her mind, Darwin was a boy, just like Ichigo, seemingly nice and kind. She couldn't bear to be touched by someone like that at the moment. She took a few deep breaths, trying to pull herself back from the edge of hysteria:

I know its not your fault...I...I should have listened to you...maybe then...:she trailed off, eyes red and puffy within their perpetual dark circles:

Darwin looked at her friend's reaction and just stared eyes sinking along with her heart seeing how deeply this event had bothered the poor girl. She was assuming now that sandy had been a virgin, it was the only explination that would make sense to her.

"Still... I should have tried harder & I promise I won't hurt you, Swear I'm just a human nothing more nothing less just flesh & bone like you... I have no strange powers or appendages coming out of who knows where."

she couldn't help wanting to take responsibility it was how she had taken her personality how it grew from the first day she took on the role of the 'perfect' guy. or at least her vision of one.

:she shook her head weakly, biting her lower lip. It was her own fault, for not listening, for walking alone down that dark path. It was her fault, for being broken, being the way she was. A wave of fatigue washed over her, causing her to sway in the seat, shaking her head as black spots danced in her eyes:

I believe you...I do...I..I just-

:she started to slump forward, catching herself on the arms of the chair and leaning back, groaning. So tired...so tired:

*The sound of voices in the remote corner of the library attracted attention, and not a kind either of the two girls truly would ever wish to gain. A small figure peeked through the nearby door to the disused annex, shutting the door silently behind itself as it scurried quietly away down the unseen corridor. It needed to inform the master.*

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*deep within the rooms, the puppet watcher had found his master at rest in his study, reading over a much worn copy of Pinnochio. The tiny doll chittered excitedly up to the teddy bear flipping through the pages slowly.*

"Master! Master! Girls, master! Two of them! Just outside the door!"

*The teddy bear turned from the book, pulling an incongruous pair of spectacles from his single eyed face, setting them both aside. Akki cast out his senses, feeling for the humans just outside his lair. What he felt made him stand up in shock.*

"Fetch the professor. We will be having guests shortly, and he needs to go and fetch them."

"Sandy you alright? Come on don't fall asleep now, at least stay up a little bit, so we can get you a place to lay down. Can't carry you I'm sure & don't forget I won't be able to help if you're unconscious if something attacks!"

She panicked a little though her voice didn't miss a beat as she lightly tapped sandy's cheek desperate to keep her awake for at least a little while.

"Come on sandy I know you can do it just keep awake."

she continued to beg standing to frantically pace back & forth trying to think of a way to help her friend with this little problem for the moment.

:the thought of something attacking her in this state sent a tremor of fear running through her, snapping her awake. She nodded to Darwin, rising from the seat unsteadily:

Alright...I'm just...:a wince: sore...and...and tired...and...

:she couldn't finish the sentence, not even sure what she was saying at this point. She needed to move, get away. Darwin said...but why trust Darwin...he could be another trick like the boy Ichigo:

Why should...how can I...Darwin...I'm...scared of you...I can't be...

:she groaned miserably, her mind whirling in paranoid circles. Darwin had been a friend, the first to greet her, help her on her arrival. Had it been genuine, or a trick? Why was he the only young man she had seen since arriving?:

"Sandy if I were a monster I could have let you fall asleep and raped you... hell I could have grabbed you the first time we met I wouldn't have just warned you, I'd have taken you right then & there... the monsters treat virgins like a delicacy Sandy I've been pummeled by enough of them to know."

She had to make up someway she knew about it; and it would make sense at least that they'd beat a guy trying to protect students to unconsciousness so they didn't have to trouble themselves.

"I don't know how else to prove that I'm trying to help sandy if you don't want to trust me fine but, I'd really do anything for one of few friends I don't have very many that just want to be friends for friendship's sake & not to get into my pants."

*A clattering noise came from the tops of the bookcases surrounding the two girls. It sounded like countless wooden feet slowly approaching atop the wooden shelves, moving like a large centipede toward them from both angles, trapping them in the corner. Quiet, inhuman laughter reached their ears, high pitched and harsh.*

"Ke ke ke ke! Get them! Take them! Make them ours!"

*The hellish little voices grew louder, the footsteps sounding now like a strady downpour as they grew closer, closer. Suddenly, the nearby door swung open, a white haired head sticking out and turning this way and that, orienting on the noises above and the voices of the two girls.*

"God's blood! What are you two doing here? Run, run, in here hurry! They'll tear you apart if they catch you!"

*The voice was old, human, and tinged with a Greek accent. The girls might recognize the sunglasses wearing man as a blind professor of History, who also worked at the library as an archivist and bookbinder. He waved one hand in their general direction, holding the door wide.*

:at the sound of the approaching footsteps, Sandy jerked back against the wall, eyes wide in terror. She cast her gaze upward, hand jerking to her mouth to stifle a scream. Not again, not again! The wicked voices reaching her ears sent thrills of renewed terror down her spine, nearly driving her to her knees. Any fatigue was banished by the sudden surge of adrenaline coursing through her system:

Darwin, what do we do?!

:her eyes jerked to the open door, and the man leaning through it. She recognized him from her brochure for the History department, professor...her terror stricken mind couldn't bring up his name, but he was a teacher! Without another thought she grabbed Darwin by the sleeve and scampered toward the open door, tugging the boy along behind her with fear driven strength:

given the choices Darwin probably would have made the same one even if she didn't quite trust the teacher it was obvious much less trust would be given to what sounded like possessed toy soldiers and the fact sandy trusted that she wasn't controlling the attacker was a bonus in her mind. for once these things seemed to be going her way... of course the key word being seemed. She struggled to keep her balance and regain her footing as she was dragged but soon caught herself enough so Sandra wouldn't have to pull.

"Too bad we didn't have a third option..."

she said to mostly herself as they slipped through the door with the teacher darwin was sure she didn't like this situation nor that this teacher was helping... she'd never seen a teacher help.

*As the two cleared the door, the elderly professor pulled it shut, slamming down a bar with shaking hands. The sounds of sharp impacts against the heavy steel door followed soon after. Scratchings, growls, screeches of hellish outrage slipped through the cracks around the frame as the door shook on its hinges.*

"Give them back! Ours! Ours old one! You know not to interfere! Give them back!"

*The old man ignored the tinny voices, fumbling a key attached to a zipcord on his belt to the lock, needing a few tries to find it by tough, his white gloves patting at the steel until he found it, locking the door and the bar down. He turned, gasping and clutchig a hand to his chest with one hand, the other clutching a thin white walking stick tightly.*

"Are you two alright? Did they touch you?"

*The man's voice sounded tired and concerned, touched with honest fear and compassion.*