The theme of the day seemed to be black. The floor was polished black, the walls were dull black, and the air was foggy black.

Not that Katrina minded the black, but after a while it became a bit boring.

Finally the tunnel-like corridor ended, and Katrina found herself in a huge hall.

Unsurprisingly, it was entirely black.

At the center of the black hall, sitting on a black throne, there was a black woman.

Not "black" in the "african-american woman" sense, more as in a "white girl fallen in a vat of black paint" one.

She was completely naked - or maybe she was actually wearing a thin layer of black paint... It was impossible to tell, really.

The black woman looked at Katrina. Her eyes, of course, were black -- well, not solid black, but the iris was so dark it was impossible to distinguish the pupil.

"You are not going to stop Him, you know." The woman smiled, and her teeth shone impossibly white between her solid black lips.

"Join Him. He asks nothing but your love."

An instant later, impossibly, the Black Lady was just at Katrina's side: "Join Him now, before it's too late!"

---

Katrina woke up with a start. That was probably the most bizarre dream of her whole life, and that was saying something...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:21, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

Lashowe followed the steps forward, keeping with each of the steps of the dream, following each of the little markers that she knew would occur. Black was the dominant color, a color she loved, of course, but what else was there more pure then black? It was the absence of all light, allowing a pure base.

This was not pure.

The girl bit down on her right lip peircing, makig half of the panda kisses that were upon her black lipsticked lips, though here she could feel no pain, only fear.

The fear was not pure.

But, then there was the black lady, speaking of Him. She could only mean the Lord, right? But the way she spoke! It was all quite disturbing. Then she awoke with a start.

------

Her black hair was a mess, dangling into her face. She noticed the day old clothes still on her body as the first thing, then she gave herself a quick shake, making sure that everything was okay. "What was that...?" she stood up and rubbing her shoulders as she gave a bit of a shiver again.

"I...I gotta shower..." the goth chick added, moving toward the bathroom and looking into the mirror as she stripped her makeup from the night before.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:45, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

The hot water washed away the last remains of the disturbing dream.

Katrina was almost ready to close it and go back to the world of the living, when she saw a shadow through the shower curtains...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:50, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

It was a routine shower, filled with the fresh smell of pomegranete and a bit of honey as she tussled out the knots that had formed in her hair. She made sure to get the razor out and even shave her legs on this day. It was all another time for her to do her best in the world. Kat finished with her legs when she saw the shadow.

"Who the..." the girl was akwardly stunned. A shadow was awlays around her, but this one was moving almost with the speed of a dark entity that was about to haunt her. She did beleive in demons, the Bible told her so. Thus, she closed her eyes and uttered a quick prayer before ripping the curtain open and gazing out at the bathroom, her black hair matted agianst her face. "Who's there!? Come out! she demanded, looking from side to side.

There was nobody else in the room. Nothing out of the ordinary, either.

But if everything was perfectly normal, why was Katrina suddenly feeling chilled to the bone?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:22, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

Kat didn't look in the mirror, nor did she even stop for a moment in the bathroom. Instead, she moved out of the steamy tiled room and right into her bedroom, a towel wrapped around her waist. She knew her room-mate worked graveyards and said she was heading out of town, so the apartment should be empty.

Kat gave a shake of her head as she got the last of the image out of her head and moved toward her clothes, drying off in the process.

"It's just a test... the girl said to herself. She repeated that same line thousands of times before. It was just a test to get her pure. To get to black, one needed to purge all the impurities out.

Katrina got her work uniform ready while simultaneously packing her backpack with her cell-phone, bible and a change of clothes. She was headed to a party tonight and may not have a chance to hit home.

Best to be prepared.

---

Kat climbed onto the number 5 bus, her work uniform on as she leant up against the glass, leaning back agianst it with her eyes closed and a bit of music ringing in her ears from the radio. All it was was rain outside.

Kat loved it when it rained, everything was smoother. The gothic girl knew that the town was always better in the rain, smooth, fresh, smelling amazing from tip to bottom like it always did.

Wal-mart was waiting for her. The rain was waiting for her.

Her life was waiting.

And He would walk besider her as her strength and guardian.

"Lord, please bless me, that I may become stronger, wiser, better in my day."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:10, Tue 23 Sept 2008.

As she left the bus, a strong stench of boiled cabbage assaulted Katrina's sense of smell.

The rain was gone, but the sky was overcast with dark clouds... Kinda purple, actually. Not a good color...

Thankfully, inside the Wal-mart the air was clean, and the neon lights gave the place an aseptic, reassuring aura.

Jeremy from the sports department was waiting for Kat with puppy-dog eyes, an awkward smile, and a cup of fresh coffee.

"H-hi Kat-Katrina. How are you?" He pushed the cup toward her, almost spilling the coffee in the process.

Kat moved out from the bus at her stop and let the rain was over her and sniffed in that disgusting stench of cabbage. While the girl didn't mind cabbage, she did mind the horrid stench that was coming over her nose and ripping her face open, practically.

She hurried inside and shook the water off, making sure none stayed near her peircings, and she looked up to the hand that held out the cup of coffee. It was decaf, no sugar but still creamer. Just the way she liked it.

Jeremy was the only option.

"Hi, Jeremy! Thanks for the coffee!" she said, smiling a bit as her hand clutched the corner of the mug and inhaled the scent. "Gooooood..." she said, laughing softly as she patted Jeremy's hand. "Bless you, Jeremy," she said, nodding a bit as she advanced forward toward the breakroom to drop off her bag with her clothes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:10, Tue 23 Sept 2008.

"S-so, I h-have these t-t-t-tickets..." Jeremy didn't normally stutter when talking to customers, but with Katrina was different - unfotunately.

After months of watching her from afar, apparently he'd finally found the courage to ask her out - well, try, anyway.

"Tickets?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked alongside her somewhat of a friend. She'd known Jeremy long enough, and she knew he had a bit of a crush on her. The Lord must have been smiling on Jeremy that day as Katrina smiled and nodded a bit. "...and you want me to go with you somewhere?" she brushed some hair from her eyes and sucked on her peircings for a moment.

"Th-that w-would be g-great, if y-you c-could c-c-c-come!" He pulled the tickets out of his pocket and showed them to her: sure enough, he'd done his homework.

"You got tickets for Reliant K?" Kat asked, laughing a bit as she looked to the pair of tickets that sat before her in Jeremy's outstretched hand. She loved the Christian Rock scene, as there really wasn't a Christian Metal scene to speak of way out here. It really didn't matter anyway as she squaled a bit and gave Jeremy a tight hug. "You have NO idea how much I love these guys..."

Katrina shook her head as she plucked them out and looked at the seats. They weren't front row, but they were close. Those had to have run Jeremy a whole bunch of cash.

"Jeremy...you didn't have to do this..." she said, shaking her head as she patted him a bit, but she smiled anyway and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'd love to go with you!"

Jerry went through the whole Pantone palette of reds as Katrina hugged him.

In truth, Jeremy did have an idea how much she loved them, and a pretty good one too: he'd worked for weeks on the perfect way to invite her out, and saved the money even longer.

He smiled awkwardly and replied: "My d-dad always s-said..." He took a deep breath: "If it matters, go for it."

His eyes veiled for a moment as he added: "He w-was a wise g-guy, m-my old m-man. Wish you c-could've m-met'im."

Jerry's father, an experienced construction worker, had died in a site accident a couple of years earlier.

He had been a good man: a man of his word, who knew the value of hard work and knowledge. He'd never been able to study, and he'd worked the most horrible hours to allow his kids, Jerry and his younger sister Ada, that luxury.

Those who knew him would say that he'd had but one fault: his early work experiences had left him with a strong prejudice against South American immigrants. Sure enough, Jerry remembered, the accident that had killed him - and forced his son to drop out of school to help the family - had been the fault of an illegal Mexican worker.

Shaking himself out of those reflections, Jeremy added brightly: "N-next week then. W-when should I p-pick you up?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:52, Fri 26 Sept 2008.

"Humm..." the goth put a finger on her cheek and looked up to the ceiling for a moment. She didn't know Jeremy's dad that well, but if Jeremy said it was good, then it was good.

"We'll go with 5, okay?" Kat added, smiling a bit as she patted Jeremy on the shoulder. "A date...okay? Reliant K is reeeeeally good, just don't expect too much for a crowd..." Kat knew that there was a bit of failure on the part of crowds to respect the better half of Christian Rock.

Jerry's smile widened: "P-perfect. I'll-"

"Brockman! Lashowe! I don't pay you to chit-chat!" Technically, the manager didn't pay them not to chit-chat, either, seeing how it wasn't his money in the first place, but pointing it out to him was probably not a good idea.

"I'll s-see you later." Muttered Jerry.

"Lashowe, Brown called in sick. I need you to replace her." Martha Brown dealt with complaints, not exactly the most beloved  duty in the house...

Katrina waved Jeremy off, then looked toward her manager. "Course, boss!" Katrina said, moving toward the Customer Help desk and sighing gently.

The first thing she thought about was how much she hated Brown, but the second thing was how much she enjyoed the Customer Help desk...especially because there weren't that many complaints these days.

It didn't matter anyway. She stated a few prayers to the Lord and took her position behind the counter.

Waiting at the desk for Katrina there was a tiny old lady.

"Well, dear, it was about time." She greeted Katrina - then stopped for a moment in a fit of cough: "I have been waiting for a while, you know. When I was your age, being timely on the job was very important."

She took a faded scarf out of her bag: "Now, dear, what does this look like to you?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:37, Wed 01 Oct 2008.

Katrina laughed a bit as she shook her head for a moment.

She understood. After looking toward the woman, and then at the scarf, she smiled gently.

"It appears to be a scarf, slightly faded...a bit old, maybe. Did you buy it here?" she asked, inquiring more to the question as if it were THIS store that she bought it from as part of the Wal-Mart chain.

"Well, of course." Replied the old woman. "Only a couple of weeks ago. I washed it just once or twice, and.." She started coughing again.

The scarf didn't look like anything Katrina had ever seen in the shop. Granted, it was a big shop, but it still seemed a bit too worn for something bought only a couple or weeks earlier.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry if you're...sick, but fading of color occurs regardless of what the fabric is," the girl said, craning her neck closer a bit as she sucked on her lip-peircing inquisitivly. "We don't have a return policy on simple fading," she added before nodding gently.

Katrina stepped around the counter for a moment, making sure the old lady could still stand. However sick she was, she was still a human, after all.

The old lady waved away Katrina's comments: "Nevermind my health, dear... You sound like my son, always telling me to quit smoking. What does he know? College kids nowadays..."

College? This woman was at least 70, no way she could have a kid in college... And the scarf looked quite old too... Katrina was starting to connect the pieces.

She opened her mouth to reply... And a huge crash made her turn. People were screaming and running everywhere.

There was a... Creature, for lack of a better word. It looked like a flayed human being, with burning coals for eyes and tentacles coming out of its back.

Without a hint of fear, Katrina stepped forward towards it, reciting verses of the Bible. Those were familiar to her, but she couldn't quite recall why she'd chosen them.

The creature turned around and looked at her, cocking its head sideways, listening intently...

Then the vision dissolved, and Katrina was back to reality.

"...not a week old, I tell you. It's obviously a manufacturing defect, and I will not leave until I get it replaced."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:43, Mon 06 Oct 2008.

"Not our policy, ma'am..." Katrina seemed distant as the old lady started to shout at her more sternly. The girl just didn't find herself caring that much as she made sense of the vision. But...that passage. She knew that passage. Ezekiel.

And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.

It couldn't be...could it? Was that creature a demon? Did she just see herself bind a demon in place?

The gothic girl sucked on her peircings thoughtfully once more, then looked toward the small woman again. "You'll have to call the manufacturer and talk to them about it. I'm sorry, but it's all we can do."

"Now listen carefully, young lady..." The old woman started, bt then was interrupted by a fit of cough much worse than the previous ones.

Katrina was beginning to worry a bit: "customer dies at wal-mart" isn't exactly the kind of headlines her boss would want to see... And then something large crashed in another section of the store, and people started screaming.

It was somewhere around the sports department...

"Sorry, go home. You need rest...I'll be back..." the goth said as she clutched the bible in her pocket and dashed toward the sports department without a second thought. Her vision had to have been sent from God. This was a test...a test most Holy for her, and she needed to prove her worth to become a true prophet.

She recited the lines over and over in her head...before she started to mutter them...over and over.

"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers."

The cause of the commotion apparently wasn't a demon, but a crazy guy. He was throwing scaffolds to the ground, and trying to punch and bite people.

A man of the shop's security had already been injured, and now his left forearm was missing a bite-shaped chunk.

People were running away from the area, toppling stands and sending all sorts of stuf to the floor in the process.

Someone get the first-aid kit from the office! Kat shouted as she looked around for a moment to get her bearings. This guy was NUTS! He'd bitten one of the security specialists...and Lashowe knew that those guys were actually pretty tough.

Jerry! Did you sell any of those net-guns? Can we use one of those maybe?

Another security guard approached the madman - but this time it wasn't for a gentle request to leave the premises.

His sidearm trained at the crazy guy's chest, the guard intimated him to kneel on the floor. When the guy lunged forward, the guard tried to step back, and at the same time shot him: the recoil and the movement caused the bullet to hit the guy in the face.

Ignoring the missing half of his face, the crazy man bit the forearm of the security man, forcing him to drop the gun.

I can't let this happen...maybe those visions... Katrina stepped toward one side as she moved, getting to an angle where the crazy man wouldn't be able to charge at her should this not work. She placed her faith in Him, and extended forward one arm.

"And I shall strike down upon them with great vengance and furious anger, those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers! she shouted, pointing toward the crazed man. Death seemed not to stop it, so faith had to work.

It would work.

She was a prophet, her word was His Word. His strength would banish this menace.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:58, Sun 26 Oct 2008.

Half-face stopped and looked at Katrina. Arms limp, head cocked sideways, a strange, low growl coming out of his throat.

"S-Sorry, I couldn't f-find the net-guns..." He pump-loaded a shell into the barrel of the Mossberg 590 he was holding: "But I t-think this will do."

He aimed the gun at half-face - handling it with remarkable ease, one might add - and intimated: "D-don't move.".

"Jerry. He is a demon sent from Hell. The Devil gives him the life beyond life. He is dangerous! Destroy him!" the woman said, pointing that accusing finger at the zombie. Seemingly God had given her a gift. Maybe she had the righteousness inside of her. Maybe the LORD was granting her a power she had not before. "Jerry! Quickly!" she managed, not knowing how long the zombie would be bound in place.

Jerry looked at Katrina for a moment... Had she gone crazy?

But then it registered with him that, by all rights, a man who had just lost half his face should not be standing. Most importantly, a man who just lost half his face to a gunshot wound should be bleeding all over the place, and this guy definitely wasn't.

He jumped over the counter, pointed the shotgun square in the guy's chest, and pulled the trigger.

Half-face was propelled back by the blast, bounced against a shelf and landed face-first on the floor.

He was still growling...

"Ack...Jer...Jerry! Again!" the woman shouted, gripping her head as a new vision forced its way into her mind. She cringed, feeling the sight come to her.

It was a new truth, a great worry on her fragile mind, but still a shining point that, out of darkness, Light will come.

A knight, in full emblazoned glory, stood over the body of a dragon, bringing the weapon down the stab into its back. Jerry may be the Knight, or, perhaps more accurately, someone else who actually had a sword could be the Knight. Either way, it was a good omen, and thus, she felt better about herself and her mission.

Following Katrina's directions to their extreme, Jerry walked up to the fallen undead, pushed the shotgun against its head and pulled the trigger.

Then he repeated the process with each arm, and finally both legs.

The torso was still moving, but with no limbs and no head it wasn't much of a threat anymore.

"That'll do." (And he didn't even stutter...)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:13, Fri 07 Nov 2008.

"Unghh..."

Katrina felt a little woozy after evoking the Word of the LORD. Her body quivered in fear of her newfound power, but her mind accepted it. In her heart she knew that these demons would keep coming, but needed to be stopped.

She looked toward Jerry and smiled, before starting to move toward him.

"Did you see that...? Did...did you see how he held still when I invoked Him?" the girl said, sucking on her peircings.

She knew that it was time to pray, but the first issue was to call 911.

"Someone get an ambulance over here!" she shouted over the remaining crowd.

Jerry looked around: only a few people were left, cowering in fear.

He went for the phone, but when he dialed 911 he got only a busy signal - not even a mechanical apology and a reassurance that someone would answer as soon as possible...

He looked over at Katrina: "I think w-we are 911, right now."

Hooking up the phone, Jerry went for the nearest first-aid kit: "I'm n-not very good with this s-stuff, but..."

"Alright...alright..."

The woman gave a few steps forward as she rested against the palm of her hand upon her head. Evoking the Lord felt amazing, but the Euphoria had started to wane and her head started to hurt. Each moment she waited was another little pin in her forehead.

"Ge...get the wounded to the backroom."

Katrina wanted to keep the wounded as far away from the creatures as possible.

"Jerry...we need to go get help. We can't do this on our own..." she looked around the room for a moment before she stepped toward the door to the backroom and propped it open. "We need to go get help, Jerry, but I'm not sure how we can know those things aren't out there. The Lord has given me a gift, but I need you to help me weild it..."

Katrina rested a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps we can find solace at the police station or the hospital?"

"Does anyone have any vehicles in the area? We need to get to the police station or the hospital!"

Jerry, who had retrieved the first-aid kit and was moving to help the wounded guard, stopped and approached Katrina: "Hey, a-are you okay?"

The guard had partially recovered from the shock, and presently looked up from his arm, panting: "Kids? A little help here? We can use my car, but I don't think I can drive..."