16438/Dark Willow: A Shadow in the Box

Dark Willow: A Shadow in the Box
Date of Scene:	16 July 2024
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Bad things lurk around the box and the vampire grimoire is missing! What on earth happened?
Cast of Characters:	Faith Lehane, Thomas Raith, Harry Dresden
Tinyplot:	Dark Willow

---

Faith Lehane has posed:
It's a dark and stormy night, which is odd because two seconds ago it was quiet and calm, sunny skies, cool breeze, bright cheerful as un.

Stranger yet, the storm seems localized, like hanging right over The Magic Box. Which is strange, because for one thing the store is closed right now due to a staffing shortage, and the current clerk is on a lunch break, clearly she did not take her break on site as she surely would have noticed the chaos.

When Faith arrives she's totally drenched from the heavy downpour, struggling to find her key to the back door without being blown away.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith had come to the Magic Box hoping to see a woman... wait that sounds bad... He was hoping to find his brother's girlfriend alone... wait that's worse... Look Harry's birthday is coming up and he was looking to compare notes with Willow. Still the... odd weather catches his atttention, as does the soaked form of the Dark slyer trying to get in the back. So he parks behind her, pulling his own keys out and tosses them to her. "Red tag!" He calls out, staying in the car till she gets the door open.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane curses under her breath, recalling that those keys were a loaner since *some* people still don't trust her enough to let her have her own set.

Thankfully Thomas is here and she grins, catching the keys effortlessly despite the wind and rain though rolls her eyes as he opts to stay in the warm dry car while she dies all the work.

Not waiting to see if he'll follow she bolts inside water to get out if the storm but keeps the door unlocked in her wake.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith follows her a few moments later. The few seconds he was in the rain causing his hair to get slicked back and his white t-shirt to cling to his chest like he just stepped off the cover of a dime store romance novel. He holds out his hand for his keys back and looks around. "Looks empty." He comments redundently as he squeezes water out of his long hair.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane rolls her eyes, peering around. it's oddly dark and she tries the switch but it doesn't work. "Well ain't that creepy." she smirks, "I thought Lucy was working today, guess they're really short staffed if they just have the one girl working reduced hours today.."

She tosses the keys back to Thomas and oddly enough the door behind him clicks locked. On its own. Yikes, how did that happen?!

A moment later there's a strange sound like footsteps moving across the floorboards somewhere near the front of the store.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith turns to look at the door, eyes narrowing slightly. "You know, if we just walked into a horror movie, I'm worried that I would be killed first... I mean I am both prettier and the bigger slut.." He says as he pulls his kukri out from behind his back..

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane just rolls her eyes and elbows him playfully. "Geeez you are such a douche bag sometimes, you know that?"

Still she follows suit, pulling out her clawed gloves, flexing them on her hands as she peers around.

"I heard a mouse from the front of the store..Come on!" and she moves quickly towards the front, only to get a. shelving unit shoved against her, burying her in a pile of books. "Oof!"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shrugs, "Yeah I know... but tell me I am wrong." he says giving the hooked blade a slight twirl and following her a few steps behind. When the shelves collapse he manages to jump back slightly, dodging to the left and moving to chase whatever pushed the shelf over.

Faith Lehane has posed:
The store clerk who was minding the store is nowhere to be seen thus far, but as a bookshelf topples on Faith, she is buried under an avalanche of books and currently non responsive.Thomas wastes no time in pursuing the shadowy figure, but it's fast! One moment it's in front of him, the next moment it a behind him, taking a swipe at him with deadly sharp claws...Wait, how many more are there? Another shadowy figure pops out of nowhere, he's now surrounded by three lightning fast shadow figures, each armed with deadly speed and claws!

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith is fast. Supernaturally fast in fact. And the thing still manages to get a rake across his back, leaving three slashes across his shirt and just the faintest hint of pink raiseing from his skin. His eyes going silver white immediatly as he taps into his Hunger..

Harry Dresden has posed:
A stop at the Magic Box. Just what he didn't need tonight. Supplies are a thing though. He makes his way to the door and pauses for a moment. He reaches for the door and frowns for a moment.

The shield bracelet drops in place as he realizes something isn't right in there. He opens the door and doesn't kick it in. Better to get an idea of what is happening. He is mindful of his surroundings as he moves in furthur.

His blasting rod comes to hand from within his duster. Eyes narrow as he draws magic to the bracelet.

Faith Lehane has posed:
A lot of things are going on..Three shadow creatures circle Thomas, lashing out with fast random movements, deadly sharp claws glinting in the semi darkness of the unlit room. A fourth seems drawn to something towards the cash register, and a soft groan escapes a girl who is presumably the store clerk for the night shift.

Faith seems to be completely knocked out and unconscious from having a heavy bookcase collapsed on her, and a fifth shadow fiend slowly makes its way towards her..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith is doing his best to keep the shadows at bay, lashing at speeds faster then most human eyes would be able to keep up with. That said it is still three on one, and that is not even counting him tossing one of the kukri at the back of the shadow stalking towards his lover. There is none of his normal showboating, this is savage fury.

Harry Dresden has posed:
A soft sigh and Harry places the blasting rod back in his pocket. Fire in the book store. It might be the final option, but not the first. Instead, he focuses his will and grinds his teeth. This is a lot of work without his walking staff.

"Forzare!" he growls and pushes the forces through and though it strikes wild, it hits the back of the one closing on Faith. The strike is higher than maybe intended, but it hits the thing in the head instead of the back. Probably worse anyway.

Faith Lehane has posed:
The creatures utter an ear piercingly horrifying screech and one of the three after Thomas falls, disintegrating into shadows and smoke. The two remaining slow down in their attacks, clearly reaching their limits but they continue to dance and strike, trying to slow him down..

The one after Faith touches her briefly, surrounding her in shadows before Harry blasts it, sending it flying against the wall, crackling with dark energy, weakened and quivering but not completely destroyed. The last fiend hovers over the unconscious store clerk, reaching out to touch her face, not mindlessly killing her but seemingly..Absorbing her energy, or perhaps tainting the girl as it surrounds her in dark shadows.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith is burning the candle at both ends, his skin literally glowing as he draws deeply on his reserves, but if the shadows are slowing then his own actions seem to pick up. His attacks becoming more offensive as he tries to create space to get to the other girl. "Harry! Behind the counter!" he bellow, in case his brother cannot see the girl... Of all the days for Harry to leave the dog at home..

Harry Dresden has posed:
So much for no fire. Well so it appears. His blasting rod appears and in be growls,"Infrigia!". Instead of fire leaping out, a blast of focused cold washes over the thing. Since he is focused, he is able to aim this one better.

The poor girl on the floor probably feels the chill, but is in no danger over the wave hitting her. New trick from the wizard's bag or just something he hasn't used with anyone here seeing it.

Faith Lehane has posed:
The second fiend hovering over the store clerk seems less pained by the cold than the one hit by fire was. It does growl angrily though, turning to face Harry, then leaps at him like a wild cat, claws outstretched!

By this time Thomas has significantly slowed down the remaining two fiends, inflicting a fatal wound in one of them although wounds don't so much cause these creatures to bleed so much as crackle and fade a bit..Are they even alive? Magic constructs perhaps? One tries to leap onto his back while the other raggedly stumbles away from him as if to flee, it's energy almost completely spent.

The final fiend is also in bad shape, clearly badly damaged from the fire although it limps towards Faith, attempting to reach out and touch her, surrounding her in darkness once more.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Of all the times to leave his shotgun in the car.. Thomas growls as he is simply unable to get away from the shadows attacking him to get to Faith. Having slipped into the role of the monster he tries hard not to let show... He's going to have to feed later... allot.

Harry Dresden has posed:
The plan was simple enough. Get the monster away from the girl. Don't burn down The Magic Box. The monster lunging out that could get any number of blasts at it. Force wave, fire, ice.

Instead, Harry shakes the bracelet and growls,"Defendarius!"

The field rises, surrounding him with defensive energies. Rather than meet the creatuer head on, he decides to angle the shield so that the creature hitting the pure mystic energy skims off of it and sending it flying off in an unpreparable direction.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Harry's fiend s here he as it goes flying...Crashing Right through a nearby window, and into the pouring rain outside. Through which is suddenly vanishes. Thomas quickly finishes off the two fiends after him which rapidly evaporate into crackling dark shadows, and before the last fiend can completely engulf Faith in darkness, she wakes up suddenly, stabbing it through where it's heart would be with those silver claws. It screeches and evaporates in a cloud of darkness like the others. Faith coughs a bit, wiping off the strange ashen dust from the fiend and climbs to her feet, uttering a string of swear words. She's bruised and irritated but no worse for wear..

"The hell was that all about?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself, but he is literally glowing with his Hunger. "No clue... but I don't think those guys were here for Eye of Newt..." he says as he picks up his thrown Kukri and slides them both into the shethes on his back.... He doesn't touch her to help her up... Right now he'd feed on her in the middle of the store.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane frowns, noticing the glow in his eyes, "You look like you've been fighting for your life.." she shivers, smirk slipping, "And I suddenly feel cold and really depressed and mad..What the hell were those things? What did it...?" and then it dawns on her, noticing the restricted section is disturbed. she wastes no time running up the steps, checking on the vampire grimoire. "It's...Gone!"