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gjnhjfdhns: Part FORTY-ONE: Converted

He had been caught, and all we could do was watch. The man from the plane was behind Andrew, with that oversized claw held up, one point knuckle-deep into the back of Andrew's neck. It seemed like the end, but I had a feeling that something else was just starting. The feeling of loss was present, but it wasn't extreme, because Andrew was still there, Andrew was still breathing, but Andrew was /changing/.

It started in his pupils, something stirring within the pools of ebon, something not as dark but darker. It pooled in the darks and bled into his irises, and then into the whites. His eyes were engulfed in something that seemed darker than black, but had a hint of something else, too- brown, maybe? Flashes of Andrew back in that room, holding those rusted hooks, swinging them, attacking, eyes hollow and not, and then being captured by the wall's arms and-

"No..."

The man behind Andrew smirked, seeming to be satisfied, and yanked his claw out of Andrew's neck. Its tip glistened with blood, and I suddenly knew what that underlaying color in his eyes was.

"Aw, f-ck!" Kevin muttered. He began to raise his gun, but froze as it still pointed toward the ground. He made eye contact with the demon man, and I could sense nothing but grudging obedience. The man left us with a smirk and retreated into the darkness behind him.

"Why didn't you shoot him?" Mitchell yelled. "Did your boyfriend tell you not to?"

"F-ck off, man-"

"He might've hit Andrew!" I cut in. "And... And then- Yea!"

"What happened?!" Marina cried. "What- Oh my God-!" She pointed at Andrew as she stuttered, not being able to find the words to say.

Andrew had started laughing, and was now clutching his abdomen, overcome with chuckles. He staggered forward, shoulders shaking, and suddenly was nose-to-nose with Kevin. He took hold of the gun, pointed it at himself, and stopped laughing long enough to whisper "/bang/." Then he collapsed with giggles again, making a quite disturbing image- Laughter was always fun, but not in such a morbid situation made only more frightening by the absence of white in his eyes. He stopped so abruptly that we noticed his attack before we noticed that he had stopped. He took a swing at Kevin, who in turn socked him in the stomach with the butt of the gun.

"OhmyGod, don't shoot!"

"GO!" He shoved Andrew down and took off. "GO!"

We followed him, not once ignoring the sound of the footsteps that were behind us. We ran and ran, and I fought to keep up- I wasn't a runner by nature or by any means, and the fatigue was setting in at such a late time. My breaths were getting ragged, and the footsteps were getting louder. We had turned a corner and weren't in Andrew's sight, but that would last long. I veered into SportCheck, jumping the stairs and diving into hiding. I crouched by the stairs, catching my breath at the same time I was trying not to breathe. I watched the top of the stairs, praying that nothing would come down them.

Andrew walked past, dragging his feet. I held my breath as best I could. He didn't come down. After a few more second of complete silence, I let out a huge sigh of relief, and caught the air my lungs needed so desperately.

Oh, good job, stupid. You ditched Mitchell and Marina and Kevin. Now you're alone and they're under the impression that you're as good as dead. F-cking idiot.

I hit my forehead against the stairwell, groaning. I thought I was smart, but there I was, alone in this warzone by /choice/.

Footsteps...!?

I spun around, eyes wide, searching the darkness for whoever (/whatever?/) was walking around. I grabbed a baseball bat from a nearby rack and readied myself for attack. Into the light walking Brian and Jerome- looking, for the most part, unharmed.

Thank you, God, you're the best.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, letting the bat hang at my side. "Were you being chased?"

"Uh, /duh/." Jerome said. "He went after /us/."

"Yea. And after Marina, right? And he was there after me, too. And I just saw him get Andrew."

"But- But we just owned him! In the head! And then he disappeared!"

"What?" Brian looked incredulous. "There was more than one?"

"Apparently. And now Andrew's doing his bidding... His eyes are all black," for lack of a quicker word, "and he's going after Marina, Kev' and Mitchell."

"Kevin's here?"

I forgot that they hadn't seen him, and that they didn't know he was working for that scary, scary man. I think. "Yea, and... He shot two of those guys."

"Ain't that nice," Brian said, "shooting people."

Jerome opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Shut up, I know what you're gonna say is gonna be inappropriate, somehow."

"Hey, man, lay de fack off, I was just gonna say that you-"

"Shaddup!" I mussed up his spiky hair.

"Okay, okay-!"

"No rough housing."

We froze, finding ourselves an audience- The store was suddenly full and crowded, except all the people were horribly mutilated. An armless man with his mouth sewed shut halfway wore a uniform and was looking at us. "No profanity." They began to walk forward.

"Holy sh-t! What the f-ck is this?!" Brian sputtered. A three-fingered hand grabbed at him, leaving deep, red nail marks on his arm.

We started backing up the stairs. "Okay, at the count of three, run for your lives...

"One... Two..."