THWACK!

The back of his head stung from the sturdy slap. Lou whipped his head back to hiss at his trailing shadow. But it was simply Shaliver who didn't give him a response, instead he just sternly glared. Before the hissy fit could continue Birch pointed ahead to a set of double doors. This wakes him from his bloodthirst and has him racing ahead. He swiftly opens them, all three making the sharp turn inside. He dives in just before slamming it shut, making sure to jam his sword through the handles. Then with no help effortlessly lifts the couch and other items to block the way in. Presely, fascinated, clapped as he worked. Monsters growled, moaned and screaming yet the double doors remained closed. Dice crashed against the ceiling as something annoyingly grumbled.

Lou joins the group to see something laying atop the fireplace, an unnoticed addition to the modified living room. Above the crackling fireplace was a copper key, the most plain looking of them, ready to be claimed. Presely took the first brave step towards it. But with each step she was a little higher off the floor, along with farther from the key. Birch and Lou try to join her but the room breaks down around them, the floorboards separating in chunks. Objects floating in a stormy sky. Game pieces, dice and cards were mixed in with the chaotic mess. And above it all was a spiral eyed figure cloaked in darkness. His voice tettered between insanity and frustration.

Dice clattered in his invisible hands before landing on double sixes. Furniture, along with Lou, flew as the monsters broke in.

"Stop them! Maim them! No more play!"

The girls began jumping from board to board like possessed frogs. Shaliver extends his tail outward to catch the flung Lou. Before he can get him up to the fireplace a barrage of arrows forces him to throw the boy to the nearest platform. His tail narrowly escapes from becoming two halves of a whole. The boy lands on the loveseat, thankfully not sending both of them farther in the process. Lou cradles in the chair, mouth being covered again.

Presely dodges the incoming dice in an ever more frantic manner. Yet from the corner of her eye is able to spot Birch getting closer to the fireplace. "Hey!" She yells to the freckled friend, "CATCH!" The Egyptian Key flies through the air, Birch just catching it with her fingertips. As she examines it she finds her friends are farther behind, and struggling to make it. She is about to go back for them; however Presely gives her thumbs up and a wink. Birch hesitates but nods as she keeps her pace going upward.

Presely calls out for Lou, who is now trembling in the loveseat. He scratches at his back with sharpened claws. The skin on his back feels like they're being pulled by invisible tweezers. This fades, along with the last of Lou. From his shirt sprouts a set of batlike wings that were twice as big as him. His fangs scratch his chin as they extend from his mouth, his ears growing with them. What once were his normal feet were replaced with talons that tore the chair easily. The enormous wings launch him high into the air as he triumphantly screeched.

Sweet yet spicy, like a cinnamon heart.

PReSelY.

Plunging at her at full speed the only thing she could do was close her eyes.

Just one...

Presely felt the floor leave her, Lou destroying what was once her platform. Screeching he tries again only to be thwarted once more. From her allevated position she could see the horned kitty dangling her through the air like a doll. With each few platforms he climbed he would goad Lou up the same. No matter the angle he seemed unable to reach or even touch her. The three maneuvered up in unison while Birch prepared the keys at the top. However she can see the monsters also closing in on them.

Almost there, just a little more. He had the girl swerve through the air, avoiding her vampirized friend. Birch just needed to put in the last key and they would be out. But as he neared he felt as if gravity had shifted sideways. Claws digging into the wooden planks he could see the floor being pulled back with him.

Something whispered, "Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell, Go to hell, gotohellgotohellgotohell~!" Over and over again in his head.

With it the monsters were breathing down his neck in hungry anticipation. Including airborn Lou who was eyeing the faux-cat with a glint in his eye. Birch glances behind to find Shaliver struggling to make another step forward as the monsters start reaching him. Presely screams at Lou to stop. His head tilted but didn't respond. Instead he continued to watch as the faux-feline failed to take another step.

Shaliver takes in all in. The monsters. Lou. Presely. There was no other way. 

The strawberry blonde watched as she got farther and farther from the bootleg cat. Till she was placed next to the panicking Birch. Ignoring their cries he turns to around. He growled at the incoming creatures while Lou silently watched.

The knight pulled his arrow back, locked in at the grounded feline. However his head rolls over before he can make the shot. From the incoming darkness he sees the hunched creature be tackled into the abyss below. And the gold-gilded mummy coming apart in ribbons as it was tossed at his headless body. With the last light in his eyes he catches the vampire having its heart ripped out of his chest by a winged silhouette. Their heart being bitten into like a plump apple.

The rest fall into the abyss with them. Lou screeches victoriously before scooping Shaliver into his arms and joining the others at the top. At first they trembled. Only at first. Both sighed in relief after seeing the returned softness in his fully purple eyes. Together the four placed and turned the copper key at the center. As the fireplace transforms a giant levitating hand flies at them. The group backs up but the exit is not entirely opened. Birch reaches back into her invisible pocket and pulls out the shovel. With its sharp metal tip she stabs it into their palm. It recoils as the announcer bellows out his last painful cry. Behind them the portal sucks them in; the world collapsing in on itself. Lou takes a hold of everyone as they are flung through the vortex.

He curls his wings around while they all close their eyes. The last thing they hear is static crackling in their ears.

They wake up on the floor, splayed around like discarded toys. In front of the machine was the VHS smacked down on the board with the monster pieces toppled around it. Rain softly pattered against the windowsill. The only light came from the unoccupied television that was clearly left on for a while.

"He he," Lou tiredly snickered. The girls looked to find he no longer had purple eyes, or bat-like wings, or any sign of vampirism. Cheering, they start insulting the game and how they couldn't defeat the "Dream Team" after all. This didn't last.

GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~