Extraction [Cody, Scarlet, Rose, Amanda]

[Marisol Ramirez]

 Rose held her hand up to stop Scarlet, but when the woman glared at her she just put it over her mouth, trying to hold back more crying or screaming - and even vomit, when she started carving into Alex's arms. All she could think of was that they weren't going to get out of this alive. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. Stealing a glance to the other side of the room, which had gone scary quiet, she realized that Jeremiah had taken both Amanda's and Cody's voices and was... torturing them in horrible ways. Right then he was digging his fingers into the hollow below Amanda's collarbone so hard she could see blood through her shirt. Rose turned back quickly to Scarlet.

Five letters. He's one of them? She didn't know. "R?" she asked, left eye squinting a little bit. The most common used letters in the English language were R S T L N E; she knew THAT from watching Wheel of Fortune. That they happened to almost spell popular children/teenage author R. L. Stine's name was sheer coincidence, of course.

She silently prayed.

[Scarlet]

It was really a shame that she couldn't read Alexander's thoughts, especially since Jeremiah had taken his voice, but she wasn't sad enough to ask him to give it back; Alexander was dangerous, and she had him in a good spot just the way he was.  Still, when she really started carving into him, it would be less satisfying not to hear him scream.  Of course, with someone like him, she wasn't even sure if he WOULD scream, so maybe it was better to drink in the little details, like the way the muscles in his jaw tightened as he understood exactly what was happening.  Scarlet would bet that he knew the answer to the puzzle, and that was another good reason for him to be without his voice.  No hints.

Rose's correct first answer made her narrow her eyes at the silent man beside her, but he'd tilted his head at the girl's voice and Rose seemed too uncertain about her answer to have been tipped off.  That was the vampire's guess, anyway, and she'd be watching for cheating.  It would not be dealt with lightly.

"We do have an R, chickadee," she informed the girl, leaning slightly over Alexander's arm to slowly and carefully carve the capital letter onto one of the dash marks. 

R _ _ _ _

Believe it or not, Scarlet did NOT know Wheel of Fortune, so she didn't know what Rose was doing when she started spitting out letters seemingly without much thought, but the S?   WRONG ANSWER!  Scarlet almost cackled, she was so pleased with the idea, and she beckoned the girl closer. 

"Poor dear, there isn't an S, and in this game, that means a consequence.  Here, take the knife," she instructed, offering it to the girl with the kind of gleam in her eye that made it clear that she was going to snap Alexander's neck with the first sign of aggression out of his little girlfriend.  She'd tightened her grip on the belt, pulling it taut against his windpipe without actually choking him.  Yet.  "Here's how the 'bad stuff' is going to work.  You're going to pick a spot and then use that sharp little knife I gave you to cut away whatever suit is in the way, don't worry, he doesn't have any choice in the matter, and then you're going to pretend you're peeling yourself a nice, juicy apple.  Anywhere you want, go ahead."

She grinned, more than pleased with Rose's look of horror and near-pukage.  See?  This was fun!

"Oh, and I'm going to start tightening this belt very soon, so you have about ten seconds to pick a spot and start cutting.  If you're not done by the time I choke him out, his windpipe will eventually be crushed and he'll die.  Just saying," she offered gleefully, watching like it was some movie and she was on the edge of her seat.  THIS was entertainment.

[Amanda Force]

 Jeremiah had eclipsed the event horizon finally, after a near-steady hour of torture between the Force siblings. He took a rather dull knife from the kitchen, and, slapping Amanda across the face, waved it in front of her. "Ever seen someone scream as loud as they can with no sound? You're about to."

He'd fed on her briefly, glad he'd made the choice to do so. She tasted wonderful, like a spicy Bloody Mary. He definitely felt she would be a keeper after he did away with her annoying brother, who kept trying to tell her everything would be alright with his meaningful stares - even if he was blind. Jeremiah gave him his sight back, if only because he wanted the boy to see exactly what was happening to him when it happened. With a final grin, he plunged the knife into Cody's chest, intending to cut his heart out with it. It did take a lot of effort, too - the knife was really dull.

Cody's expression transformed into one of total agony. He was actually crying now - legit crying, not tears of pain - and perfectly justified, knowing that everyone in the room was about to die and he couldn't stop it. The last thing he saw was Amanda start to seize in the chair, and then everything around him faded out.

Amanda began to convulse uncontrollably, so much so that Rose, in the middle of being ordered by Scarlet to start carving on Alexander, couldn't help but look up to the commotion. That was right before she began to vomit, of course, because she couldn't handle what Scarlet was telling her to do.

Jeremiah left the knife sticking out of Cody's chest, his job far from finished (the boy had passed out, that was all), and hit the girl with a backhand so hard that he knocked the chair over with her in it. When she didn't stop convulsing, he thought for a split second that she might have been epileptic. Funny, he didn't think they took retarded hunters. He bent down as he heard the sound of something snapping, and let out a surprised choking noise when one of her hands shot up from the chair, a broken-linked cuff still attached to her wrist. She grabbed him by the throat, standing, despite all of the blood and bruises (and broken fingers which she wrapped around his throat now as best she could).

"Scar - GURK" he managed. She was holding him dangerously close to her face, and for a moment her eyes clouded over completely, turning as black as his own eyes were naturally and then some.

"Remove him from your hold," she commanded.

Suddenly, Jeremiah felt compelled to do anything and everything that she had to say. He nodded, and with a feeble wave of his hand, Cody's voice returned to him - but he was still unconscious, and bleeding out, so it didn't help much. With a cry, Amanda threw him across the room, sending him crashing into the entertainment center with a horrible noise. She knelt down before Cody, hands held over the wound, inches from actually touching him as though she could not figure out what she needed to do. She turned to look at where the vampire had gone, and crossed the room at once, as though the others were not even there.

She picked him up again like a ragdoll. "Kill your friend, and then take us to the hospital. NOW."

"Yes, mistress. Absolutely."

Jeremiah turned towards Scarlet.

Scarlet reeled back with indignation, then snatched the knife from Rose. "Fuck you, Jim Henson!" she shouted to Amanda. "Let the hospital fix this too, while you're at it." And with a sweeping gesture, she slit Alexander's throat so thoroughly that blood sprayed out and coated the wall in a thick, viscous fluid.

"Annnnnd scene!" she said, bowing her head. And like that, she was gone.

Rose was screaming. Cody was bleeding. Alex was dead. Amanda was radiating with rage and some creepy power. Jeremiah was on his hands and knees, begging her for forgiveness.

And then Samantha kicked the door in with one big cup of "WHAT THE FUCK!" with her gun drawn. She saw Alexander and steeled her nerves, though inwardly she wanted to just... die. She stepped into the room and snatched Rose up by the arm. "Get up," she commanded. "You can cry later; we need to leave."

"Grab him," Amanda ordered, pointing to Cody. Jeremiah got up so fast he tripped, crawling on his hands and knees through the wreckage of the apartment to where Cody was. He stood up finally and grabbed him like a baby, looking back to Amanda for guidance. She reached out and took his arm firmly. "Hospital."

And they vanished.

Samantha looked at Rose incredulously. "You know she could do that?" she asked, then proceeded to drag her towards the elevator.

"I don't know anything," Rose said, collapsing to her knees as the metal box descended.

"Yeah," Samantha said bitterly. "Right now, neither do I. I do know one thing, though. We're getting the fuck out of here."