A Bitter Pill To Swallow

"No you don't!" Eva cries as she sees Dave helpless, being held down by the monstrosity, and that same monstrosity about to violate the man in ten different ways. The needles, the probes, the incising blades and disgusting little sample-taking instruments -- the young woman knows them all too well and her skin crawls as she bounds to the corner of an intersection and grabs a stop sign. Her muscles flex and she tears the thing from the ground so that she can wield it like a club... no. Not a club, she thinks as she turns the improvised weapon in her hands, so that the edge of the sign will act like a blade. An axe!

There's a box truck stopped in the middle of the street, the driver long fled, and the blonde jumps atop that before briefly gauging her next move -- a flying, howling, two-handed overhand slash with her weapon, which her muscular legs then propel her into with impressive power. She's trying to chop the thing's arm off at the elbow!

Outside 11C

"Tell me, what do you see? Should I break in?"

Seeing Melissa's hesitation, she acts. "I'm going in!" and bursts through the door, a compact and savage ball of fury.

"Well then..."

But it was the right move. They couldn't just dilly-dally outside waiting for what exactly she wasn't sure, so she rushed to the door, right beside her bitchin' goblin friend.

Inside the building, the Augoblin smashes through the flimsy door of the apartment. It's more cardboard than wood, cutting cost at the expense of security. The atmosphere inside the apartment is oppressive, almost physically pulling the two women down as they make their way into the bedroom, the center of everything.
The scene is identical to what Melissa saw through the walls. A man - they may recognize him as Brock Kaminski, one of the regulars at Dave's group - is cowering in the corner, unreactive to your arrival and looking petrified. At a glance, you get the impression he's not conscious, though he hasn't collapsed, his muscles completely tense and his expression one of pure terror.

On the bed is another of Dave's regulars, Anna Darwell. She's wearing cheap and old pajamas, her hair is messy and she looks deathly pale. Her eyes are open, but unseeing, grey as if she was blind. You can feel power coursing through her and just looking at her frightens you, even if you can't pinpoint what about her is so terrifying. Unlike Brock, she appears conscious, but barely. And she's definitely not in control of herself. It's maybe not exactly the same, but Melissa is reminded of that evening when Dave's friend Danvers walked into the department store, barely able to keep himself from tearing the entire building down.

---

Outside, Eva's attack strikes true, severing the creature's limb. The being doesn't let go of Dave, but its grip on him loosens.

"Ow, fucksticks!" Eva growls as some of the acidic fluid burns through her clothes, and into her skin. "Dave, work with me buddy, find that get up and go! It's not safe here! YO! Dave!"

Fending off a few swipes from the giant with the stop sign, the woman targets the limb holding the man down and swings her on-edge weapon powerfully, hoping to slice and chop until Dave can make an escape...

"How would I know? My God I feel like I'm wearing an elephant on my head."

Melissa is hunched over as if she is and then she notices something through the heaviness and fear.

"Hey, I recognize this. The department store. She's in the same trance as that guy was. The one that wrecked the store. Do you know these people, Augusta?"

"Brock, and that must be Anna. He's in the group. OUR group!"

Augusta feels the rage bubbling up, and she nearly launches herself at the woman on the bed. A sharp blow to the side of the head, or the solar plexus and she won't be able to think anymore. After all, violence is the solution to most problems that began with violence.

Outside, Eva and Dave are battling some unknowable nightmare, something that might harm them and that they might be unable to affect. She tenses up, ready to pounce.

Would I want that,? She freezes, then stalks forward.

"Anna I'm here to help," she says. As she lets go of the rage, the fear digs in deep. Tears leak from her eyes. She takes Melissa's hand. "Trust me," She whispers as she climbs onto the bed, pulling Mel with her. "Anna, you're safe, come to us, let us help," and presses her lips to the woman's, taking her hands in hers. She tries to exude tenderness and intimacy, rather than lust.

Everything inside Augusta bristles against approaching Anna and she has to fight her own fear as she bends down to take the woman's hand and kiss her, but she's strong enough to push through.

Melissa almost recoils from Augusta's hand. Nothing is making sense and now the goblin is kissing Anna. A snap decision has her indeed having faith in the woman, as Augusta's monster side gently kisses the prone woman and Melissa tentatively crawls in beside them on the bed.

Augusta melts away the goblin oni body, leaving her normal self. She places Anna's hand above her breast.

"A friend. Of Brock's. We need you to relax, and calm yourself. Feel to my heartbeat, and breathe. Everything will be okay. We'll explain what happens soon. In with good air, and breathe out your fear. In. Out. The world is mist rising away."

Melissa still can't used to the idea of her friend shifting into a goblin and then out again. It makes her a little uncomfortable because her visage is frightening as hell. She has to remind herself that it's Augusta or she might run away. Then her friend is kissing this chic and Melissa's on the bed and it's all so ludicrous.

She'd trust her because Augusta asked her too but it was a struggle nevertheless.

But then Anna tears up and that tugs at Melissa's heartstrings.

"You're among friends. You'll be fine."

One hand on Augusta's heart, which is still beating faster than it should due to the remaining fear pressing against her mind, Anna tries to follow the woman's instructions, slowing her breathing to match the rhythm Augusta is suggesting. She turns her teary eyes to Melissa when she speaks and slowly, the fear pressing against the women's minds fades entirely.
Then, a thought occurs to Anna and there is a brief pulse of fear again. "Brock!" she says. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

---

Dave and Eva watch as the retreating creature now fades, disappearing entirely as the fear is also lifted from their minds. Instead of the monster, their attention is now drawn to two police cars and one TANC armored vehicle that turn the corner onto this street, sirens blaring loudly on the police cars.

Suddenly thrust back to the surface and with the psychic pressure lessening, Dave manages to put the overlay of deep ocean nighted depths and Graybridge city street into some sort of coherent context. He and Eva are out on the street with trouble headed their way fast. "Let's get a move on, Blondie. Fuzz is on the way and nobody should be here when they arrive..." he yelled at Eva. "Let's take this dance upstairs, grab everyone and vamoose otherwise we're probably going to the TANC."
The big man picked himself up, shakily, from the sidewalk and rushed into the apartment building. Getting his legs under him, he took the stairs up to Anna & Brock's apartment two at a time. The sirens gradually grew louder as he bounded up the stairs.

Casting aside her makeshift weapon with a heavy clatter, Eva keeps an eye on the distracted creature as she following behind the man and she'd Call Out, "What's upstairs?!

Dave and Eva quickly make their way up the stairs and towards the broken down door of apartment 11C. Entering it, they find Augusta and Melissa in bed with a confused and scared looking Anna while Brock is cowering in the corner of the room, unmoving.

"I..." Dave threw a concerned look at the three women in bed together. "...think you drastically misunderstood what I meant by 'love tap'." He grabbed a heavy skillet out of the sink of dirty dishes as he strode through Brock and Anna's kitchenette. He made his way over to assess Brock's condition. 'Cops and a crew from the TANC are just down the block. Put your pants on because we gotta go... Like pronto!" he told Augusta and Melissa. "These two need to go with us too or they'll end up like Belinda." he shook the skillet at Anna and Brock.

"She's under my protection, Dave, go make an omelette at someone else," Augusta says, and then points at Brock. "Pick him up, we'll get Anna out the back."

To Anna, she says, "Don't mind him he's a teddy bear. But I think he also knows what happened to you. Come with us, we'll keep you safe and help you feel better."

To Melissa, she says, "Grab her a dress and her purse and phone, we'll find somewhere for her to change later."