stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

The warlock seemed stunned, looking down at her. Maybe he lost what sense he still possessed when he decided to take off on his own, barreling into the figurative and literal lions den. Losing himself to its deceptive halls. Not that it was hard to do.. Enough time had passed that she could not help but wonder where the man could have even ended up. Who knew that it would have been on top of her. Stunned and unseeing, recovering slower than her from that assault. There was a lot of blinking.. Too much blinking as he seemed to try to find some level of focus or clarity. Maybe it was the fact that he was rendered speechless in those moments that began to make this a little awkward. As if it wasn't awkward before. Her sarcastic comments clearly not helping the moment at all. Irritation soon turned into... a growing amusement.

Count on her to wind up accidentally in a sex position without quite knowing how she got there. She could hardly hide the amusement of her life from her feminine features at the thought that she wasn't quite convinced that her life hadn't become the butt of some far larger joke. She half sat up, propped up on her forearms, hoping it would be enough to not have her focus of his body on top of her own seeing as he wasn't exactly moving. He clearly needed a moment... the horrors of which he'd experience in the span of ten minutes seemed to have taken a toll of some kind. The moment his senses seemed to find him the warlock seemed to realize the only way either of them could go anywhere was if he stood. He placed a hand on either side of her before carefully lifting himself off from her, offering her a hand.... And quick apology slipped free, like any courteous person would, offering her a hand up.

Her gemstone eyes shifted from his hand to the blue of his eyes before placing her small hand within his own. His hand felt really warm to her, perhaps it was was one of those side effects for the flames she wondered. Just as the warlock effortlessly pulled her up she replied with a raised elfin brow. "Let's just say you owe me one." It was impossible to know if she was teasing or not as she spoke in fluent sarcasm. At least she was on her feet again.

When she found herself right side up again she hadn't expected for his own sarcasm to return in full force. Really, it was quite refreshing to be surprised by someone.. To underestimate someone. Those teasing words were aimed to wound... well more like a bitch of a papercut... but still.. It was at the moment she couldn't help but see him. Maybe it was because he went for the low blow.. Or maybe it was because he still held her hand that she had almost forgotten. Abnormally tiny?! The nerve! She wasn't that tiny! Was she? The raven-haired spitfire hardly seemed to notice the world seemed large as she moved her way through it. She certainly didn't act tiny. Didn't feel tiny... even if she had to look up at him. A sudden scoff escaped her lips as her gaze flickered with a violet fire of her own. "Abnormally tiny? Low blow, fireman. Or maybe you are just abnormally tall.." He wasn't overly tall, but his whole body could have made her disappear.

Her eyes narrowed upon him although one side of her lip quirked up just so. He thought he was being funny. Alright, maybe a little. She shrugged lightly before he could get another word in. "Or scared blind. No that doesn't sound right.... Blind panic.. That's it. That's a thing too." She rose a brow that was all too daring.

It was almost at that moment he seemed to remember that he was holding her hand, in which case he dropped it swiftly. His arms folding across his chest. He just had to go and rile her up, didn't he? She refused to move away as if to do so meant she admitted defeat.

That was when Harley commented that he lasted a lot longer on his own than she anticipated. He called her short.. Sure.. that was true but that was beside the point. If he had merely looked where he was going. However, it was the hollow, distant sound of ominous footsteps that could have belonged to anyone that caused the woman to remember just where she was standing. They could engage that battle of wills later. Not.. if either of both of them were dead... or worse.. Stuck in a cage, forgotten somewhere. The thought sent ice through her veins that had nothing to do with the perpetual basement chill that this place had. But the sound of those footsteps... seemed far enough away right? She couldn't be sure. A frown replaced her once amused look as the warlock gestured the way in which he had come. Not that way he said. Fair enough, they go deeper then. Just how deep this place went... was enough to send a little inkling of concern that she should have listened to.

Yet, avoiding more contact than absolutely necessary seemed like the logical choice. Especially with a flighty warlock, one that she needed to keep alive. Predators so loved that rapid heartbeat. She almost flat out told him to not sound appetizing. As if that could ever make any ounce of sense. As if anyone could slow his heart when in reality it would probably make it worse. Regardless, standing around in one place would do them no good. "Come on, lets keep moving." The petite woman gestured the opposite way, the way she had instinctually avoided and yet the way where the footsteps sounded... seemed infinitely worse. Hm. She had already tried some of those doors, simply using chance alone and got nowhere. The circuit breaker better not be upstairs this whole damn time. She was on her own... well along with her warlock fixerman.

That was when she told him he lasted longer than she thought, as if teasing him made her feel better. He cast her a rather dubious look as he questioned if that was a compliment. She offered him a smirk as they walked further and further into the bowels of hell, as Harley began to open up doors as she went. Nothing. It felt like a game of fucking Russian Roulette. Opening a door and hoping to fuck that nothing was on the other side. But what other choice was there? After closing yet another random door... she tipped her head to observe him in a way that was far too feline.

"That depends.. On your answer. What the hell happened that made you run like that?" She questioned, although her gaze seemed to peer out behind him as if half expecting the fucking boogeyman to pop out waving his arms and 10 knives like some psycho on crystal meth. At least those footfalls... didn't sound like.. Heels. Then they were really fucked. She couldn't tell if they were getting closer or further away. How she hoped it was the later. She would deal with that when it happened.. But it didn't mean she didn't move just a little faster, relieved to have made another turn, which meant more distance. Which really just put them further away from an exit.... And closer to being lost... sort of.. If her little theory had proven to be wrong... Then they were fucked every which way to Sunday.

The young Warlock began sprouting his tall tale... Harley could not hide the blatant look of shock. Did he not know how close to death he actually was? If he had actually made it to Risque's bedroom doors... he was very damn close. Those doors seemed far more disturbing than a ghost.. Wait a ghost? Of all the places he could have wound up. Shit. But a ghost? That sounded... a little off. Even to her. The screaming, hardly seemed to phase her in this basement of horrors. With how many people died here... ghosts hardly seemed that farfetched.. But in the middle of the day?

"A ghost? Now that is actually one thing I haven't seen around here... Was his name Casper by any chance?" That sarcasm hardly failed her even though she could not fight that impish gleam. "You said.... You were attacked?" She allowed her gaze to flick over toward him, her sweeping assessment looking for any sign of harm. "He didn't touch you anywhere did he?" She bit her lip, looking away to hide the laugh threatening to worm its way out of her. Okay.. not funny. Molestation was no joke.

That laughter died before it had a chance when those footsteps sounded louder. Fuck. This was bad..

That was when the warlock asked her a sensible question. But there was nothing sensible about this place. Surely he could gather that much by now. Would that person help them find the maintenance room? Ha. "About as likely as your ghost friend showing us the way. Let's keep moving, there are some rooms left... further down here." Harley said with a firm nod. Yet her petite legs certainly picked up the pace, full on avoiding some doors as they walked by. Surely they could skip those.

The raven-haired woman began to think of a semblance of a plan to ditch whoever was following them. Her brows stitched together in a deep-in-thought frown. One more corridor later and they were.... At the end..

The 'end'...

There wasn't supposed to be a dead end. "Shit." She cursed. Maybe they could hide in one of the rooms for a bit. But if it was a vampire. They would know.. They would smell them and follow them in. That seemed worse.

It would seem her newfound companion began to talk as if sensing the impending... doom that could potential face them. At least the man was perceptive. It was then he decided that be the ideal time to introduce himself and include his final request even though he seemed almost amused. If he was truly frightened he no longer showed it. He seemed to pull himself together quite nicely. She hadn't expected to find this request... so funny. That sound of amusement escaped her as she grinned at the prospect... "How about I paint that arrow anyways just because I know it will piss someone off." She offered. "I am going to need you to trust me, Sly" She added finally, noticing how easy it was to say his name. She wondered if the man lived up to his namesake.

An eternity seemed to pass, what felt like hundreds of steps finally brought them to those massive, heavy ornate doors. The last room at the end. Without much thought as to what remained on the other side of that door, she pulled the keycard, waving it over until a beep and a massive lock clicked open. The sound of the lock opening sounded different from the others. As if it was far more enforced. She could sense the silver within that wall. She could only imagine that it was yet another unpleasant room in an unpleasant place. Her hand reached for the door handle before pushing it open... The room was dark, save for some ominous lighting, at least there didn't seem to be anyone inside. There was no time to really look inside even though the morbid curiosity gripped her. "Stay in here for a bit... I will deal with whatever that is. Don't touch anything." She hardly cared that she came across bossy, there was no time for it. She all but urged the warlock inside, willing to squeeze him inside that room if she had to. There was no time. A luxury they could not afford. She closed the door... and it locked immediately after. It felt strange leaving him in there alone, like everything in her told her not to and yet there were no other options. It was better than them both cowering in there, like a pair of sitting ducks. If only she knew the room she locked him in was perhaps one of the worst rooms in this place. Perhaps she would have made other choices. After all, Risque's room of torture... was a room she had not seen yet. A room that very few ever left alive.

She leaned against that door, drawing forth a breath as if to make damn sure she had her head on straight when she began walking in the direction of those impending footsteps. She steeled herself a picturesque image of resilient fury, willing to face whoever head-on. There was nowhere else to go and she refused to hide. She with a ground covering stride she moved blindly toward that intersecting hallway. Just before she made it around the corner, she could practically sense the looming being near by. Hopefully, at the very least it would be someone who recognized her, knew she belonged here as much as it pissed her off to admit..

"Hey... do you know where the..." She turned the corner her astute gaze landed with the same force that Sly had crashed into her with.. She placed her hands on her hips, eyes flare in that defiant as always. "Circuit breaker is?" Worth a shot... a very blind shot... she had aimed into the dark that was unlikely to hit a target. At least she could be bypassed as little more than a nuisance. Or not. "You really make a terrible stalker... I could hear your footsteps a mile away.."

Harley Westward