That's when she sees the rest of the board is gone along with what once was her living room. Now an antique space filled with dust coated furniture, including the now tipped over couch. Shaliver watched as Lou continued to bruise his shoulder to break down the door. Birch pulled the handle and motioned the two outside. Shaliver snickered at him as the three run after their friend/acquaintance.

She could now fully admire the character of what appeared to be the classic setting of a haunted house. Creaky wooden floorboards that moaned against their hurried steps. Wallpaper that was beginning to peel in a faded plum purple. Even the light fixtures who were adorned with webs had her inspired for the next set piece for her Eldritch Horror fanfiction. If it wasn't for the fact her friend was kidnapped she would be far more into exploring the hallowed halls.

She was taken out of her trance when Lou started to desperately yell. He screamed the Presely's name into the vacant halls with no response. His pale skin was somehow more white than any ghost she had encountered so far. She started to join him in yelling with hope that she was okay. Among their voices she could hear hushed chuckling just behind them. She eyed back to find Shaliver giggling to himself. Despite herself she bit into her lip. 

Arguing is the last thing we need right now.

The three reach a hallway with three possible paths, taking the opportunity to catch their breath. It finally sinks in. There is a glimmer of guilt taking shape on Lou's grim face. He brings Birch into a tight hug, trembling. Returning the gesture she rubs his back and softly says how they will find her. How it will all turn out okay. They can do this.

~GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~

Lou hugs her tighter while turning to protect her from the source. However it took looking down to see it was Shaliver, having a good laugh. The trembling stopped; with him now squinting down at the flippant feline. He wasn't the only one.

"That wasn't funny, Shaliver." Birch hissed.

He continued to cackle, "Oh but it was. You should see your faces."

"Presely is gone to who knows where and you think you have the right to make a joke out of it? Lou is not the only one worried about her. And you should be too." She escapes Lou's grip to smack him upside the head, but he catches her hand with his tail.

"All I'm doing is lightening the mood. After all you asked me to not be a downer." As her supposed friend continues Lou is baffled at the audacity of this creature. He clenched his sweaty fist as his frustration boiled over.

"Lighten the mood? Don't you dare! Feel lucky you fucked up cat that Birch even considers you something decent. Otherwise your head would be face first in a vase by now!" Shaliver slyly grins, a malicious energy about him.

~GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrr~

Any thoughts or words were stopped, all eyes glancing to the newest figure. Hunched over, their body blocking off their previous path entirely. His head grinded against the ceiling with bits of it flaking down. Even with the algae and seaweed covering their face it was clearly fixated on them. Both humans slowly back away while the faux cat saunters in front of the monster in a defensive fashion. The creature tips his head down to look at the horned kitty.

Its foot slams into Shaliver, bouncing him down one of the halls like a volleyball. Birch scoops him into her arms before dashing. Lou follows along with the beast that moves at a surprising speed. It takes one of the paintings off the wall and chucks it hard. The force is enough that as it whizes past the painting's frame gets stuck into the floor. Rolling dice clattered above, suddenly the lumbering beast started to close the distance between the trio. She frantically searched for any sort of exit. It grabs another item, a vintage vase, and whips it at them.

Shaliver peaks from Birch's shoulder wobbly before having the vase crash into his face. He is knocked out yet again. Lou points to a door at the end of the hall. The beast fingertips graze the fabric of their shirts. As the two reach it the door opens. They dive in while the monster crashes into the doorframe. Before the beast recovers, they close the door and begin barricading. With the two teen's strength, though it was mostly Lou, they tipped over the nearby bookcase into the doors path.

Once secured she ganders at their surroundings. There were clothes everywhere, on racks, on the floor, in dressers, even the chair had formal wear draped overtop. From how some were torn or disgustingly unfit to wear it was probably not like this originally. Especially with how the webbed up chandelier having parts of it dropped to the ground below. If wasn't for the shimmering bits being visible from the barely bright lantern she would have never noticed.

The hinges on the door started to screech as it warped. Thinking on her feet she keeps Shaliver close before diving into the least toxic looking pile of clothes. Lou tiptoed over to one of the dressers and somehow closed himself inside. Even if they couldn't see; they could hear the door screaming for mercy.

Wood splintered away till the it became another mess on the floor. Somehow they were able to squeeze through such a small entrance. Now they had made it inside the dressing room. They let out a long tired groan. Underneath the pile of clothes she could still smell decaying fish. With each heavy step Birch tried even further not to move. She brought Shaliver as close as she could, with him curling his tail around her forearm. With the little visiblity she had she watched the creature get closer to Lou's dresser.

Dice clattered once more, and after a painstaking minute of its presence it exited through the other door. The trio waited another before emerging from their hiding places. 

"Player 2, Player 4, and Player 1 escape the Maw... for now." Slowly they crept, yet keeping themselves from making too much noise. Birch is still hugging Shaliver, with Lou now clearly agitated with the still semi-conscious creature. Something even more scary considering his love of animals. He has a seat on one of the chairs, taking deep and shaky breaths. She puts Shaliver down before joining Lou's side with a nearby stool. Placing her hand on his shoulder his breathing becomes more relaxed. However he remained tense throughout.

Once he is collected again he looks around the room, taking interest in anything pointy or heavy. Shaliver returned to the land of the living to see the two comparing an iron to a mannequin head. "What," he grumbled, "in the hell are you two doing?"

"Oh! Good to see you awake. Right now we are trying to find out what would be the best weapon. I was thinking of sticking the dummy with pins, needles along with everything that has a point." Lou just scowled at the faux-cat. This prompted him to return it with a malicious grin, which Birch attributed to him liking the idea.

"So what do you think?"

"Yes and no. Yes, since seeing a man killed with that would be hilarious. No, because you clearly can't carry that thing forever. Maybe you're sleep deprived friend but you? Very much not." She puffed out her cheeks as she put the mannequin away.

"Maybe see if they have some scissors in the cabinet over there," Lou points over to the cabinets on the other side of the room. She nods and heads right over. Taking the oppertunity he gets in close, looking down on the furry devil even while on his knees.

"If something happens to either Birch or Presely because of you, consider yourself dead CAT." His breath is hot on Shaliver's fur, yet his voice remains cool. "Those two are my best friends. We've known each other for most of our lives, to the point they are basically family."

Flipping out a pocket knife he brings the point to Shaliver's abnormally long neck, "You are not. Cause any more trouble and you will be the first to be sacrificed if necessary."

Shaliver just keeps smiling with an amused gleam. "I'm the trouble? Wasn't it your game that caused all this in the first place?" Lou did not stop looking down into the creature's pure white eyes. "So now we are all stuck in this death trap. Birch always told me you had a good sense for danger. So how come you didn't see this coming?"

"No one could have-"

"-Then you failed at your job. If you intended to protect your friends you have failed. None of this would have happened if you hadn't come." Lou began clenching his fist. Birch turned around just in time to catch him preparing to punch his lights out. Before he can swing he feels the cool hands of Birch pausing him. He begrudgingly complies. Shaliver is about to victoriously chuckle when Birch gives him a good slap over the head.

Before he argues Birch interrupts, "Rule 5! Can you not get along for once!"

"I didn't start it so any-"

"-Yes you did!"

"Then where's your proof?"

"Rule 5!"

Shaliver pointed to Lou with his tail, "How is that proof? So what if he is a little mad, that doesn't mean anything."

"If you had gotten to know him then you would know why." She motions to Lou, "Out of every person I've ever known he is by far the hardest to anger. And whenever it happens, it is always with the right reasons. Or the right people."

She then points at Shaliver, "Meanwhile you pick fights with literally everyone. Mom, Dad, Me and even the occasional stray for what you consider fun. Despite you doing it less you have somehow found a way to piss off the one person I told you to be careful about. Presely may be able to take it well but you have clearly been digging into him."

"But all I was saying was how this is technically his fault. So everything happening here is indirectly his doing. So no fault on me." That's it. She pulls at one of his long ears. Making the smug cat whine in pain.

"No more finger and/or paw pointing. No one is at fault, and right now it's irrelevant. We can resolve this later. If you make one more snide comment there will be retribution." Birch raised his ear higher before he could retort. "Not one." She drops him. Not even attempting to help him up. Lou sticks his tongue at him before Birch comments, "That goes for you too Louie." He gives her a shocked look but she is clearly not taking any more fighting from either side. Exhausted, she takes the initiative and opens the other door. The two silently follow behind now only being able to throw insults with their expressions.

To be continued in Act 2...