Not so Ordinary World

[Kwokinator]

Maki was going to yell something about her writing on the carpet, but at the girl's tone, decided it would probably be better for his health to obediently obey, and takes the offered hand to move to stand behind her.

"What's going on?"

[Liddo-kun]

Your question is answered moments later as the procession finally reaches the front of your house.  The sound from before is louder this time, rattling all the window and seemingly the very foundation of the house with its intensity.  It's mercifully short though, and comes to an end, but it brings a period of uncomfortable silence.

That's when you see it.  The white stucco wall near the window bubbled like the surface of a lake until eight fist-sized bulbs defaced the once flat surface.

Larger and larger they grew, until the wall began to convulse and shudder.  It stretched and bowed inwards like soft dough, until eight distinct entities pulled themselves free and stood shoulder to shoulder in the living room.

One stood front and center.  He was the color of porcelain from head to toe and wore a smooth and featureless mask.  The other seven who stood around the White, wore masks of freshly stripped human skulls still tinged pink and red in places.  The tattered black rags they swathed themselves in smelled of rotted meat and stale water.

[Kwokinator]

After seeing the grotesque sight of the eight figures in front of him, Maki's first reaction was to recoil and back away.

But the vision of the girl's earlier nervousness flashed through his mind and filled him with a sudden bravery, and he stepped out from behind the girl and stepped in front of her.

"What do you want?"

[Liddo-kun]

When the girl sees what you're trying to do, she clamps a hand over your mouth and slams you back against the wall with a fierce look.  "Do you WANT to die?!" she scolds in panic, shaking you by the fistful of shirt she's grabbed.

She glares at you fiercely, before stealing a quick glance at the eight creatures, and to her dismay, the faceless one was staring directly towards where you both were huddled.

As if operating on a silent command, one of the black robed figures approached, only to stop short of the pictogram on the carpet that glowed white in response to the creature's presence.

It stared at you in particular (at least you thought it was you anyway) as it let out a throaty growl that raised your hackles.  The girl took off the mask affixed to her hat and quickly covers your face.  "Do.  Not.  Take.  This.  Off," she tells you, punctuating each word as firmly as a whisper allowed.

"It can smell your life force with every breath you're taking.  That's why they came to your house."

[Kwokinator]

Maki nodded, quickly assessing the situation.  Those beings seemed to either not be able to see beyond the pictogram, or could not go past it.  Either way, they seem to be safe for the moment.

"Wait..." he whispered as something occurred to him. "What about you?  You don't have a mask."

[Liddo-kun]

"I..." she begins, pausing oddly, as if considering something for just a moment.  "Don't need it."  So saying, she untucks a pair of necklaces from under her shirt that now dangle in front of you.

"Spirit" and "Contain" are the two characters of her necklace.  They were also glowing the same white hue as the compass rose on the ground.

"No worries," she assures you with a bemused look.

A high pitched wail from one of the black robed creatures in another room is followed by a scream from a familiar voice and it sends a chill through you when you mentally place it with your father's.

[Kwokinator]

"Shit!" Maki swore.

"That's my dad!" he looked at the girl. "Do something!"

[Liddo-kun]

Her expression grows grim and crestfallen.  "I can't," she tells you sickly, wishing she could give you a better answer than that.  She avoids making eye contact with you, but you can see the guilt written plainly on her feature.  "I'm able to hide us here like this, but--"

The faceless one leave to join the others in the next room and you watch helplessly as your father is lifted a good two feet from the ground by his neck.  He thrashes about wildly, kicking and scratching at it, trying desperately to get free.

[Kwokinator]

Maki grit his teeth and clenched his knuckles white as a single tear fell down his cheeks.

There may be nothing he can do right now, but if he could hide from them, that meant they have weaknesses.  

Sooner or later, he will have his revenge.

[Liddo-kun]

There's an odd sound.  Like bones grinding or breaking, at first you thought it might have been your father, but it's not as he's still alive and struggling.  That's when you see the white robed creature's face split open and a lower jaw jut out.

The girl, on seeing this suddenly throws herself on top of you to shield you.  "Brace yourself!" she says suddenly.

[Kwokinator]

Maki doesn't quite know what to brace himself for, except a possible slap to the face when the girl discovers a certain biological reaction to a compromising position.

However, a lower jaw popping out of the split face of the white-robed creature led him to believe that it would probably be a good idea to cover his ears, so he did.

[Liddo-kun]

A loud keening wail issues forth from the depths of the creature's throat and shakes the air violently.  The only thing you've ever experienced to describe this properly was getting sucked under a strong wave and being pulled in a myriad of directions by vicious currents.

It was just like that as it feels as if the air is trying to tear into your body and rip out...

You could see a brightly glowing blue orb being forcibly dragged from your father's convulsing body.  When fully extracted his body grows completely still.

...your soul.

The Faceless One (as you've come to think of him in your mind) clutches the blue crackling ball of energy between his hand as if some entranced admiration.  He flings the limp, hollow body of your father to the side to free himself to frame the soul between both taloned hands.

The Dark Ones (another nickname) begin to ravage the discarded corpse and you can't help but shake uncontrollably with a mixture of conflicting and warring emotions.

The girl still has a loose hold supporting you.  "You don't have to look," she tells you consolingly.  "You shouldn't look," she adds.

[Kwokinator]

"On the contrary", Maki replied, an intense look in his eyes. "I should.  I need to know what I'll be going up against."

[Liddo-kun]

The sound of joints being displaced followed by the sound of soft tissue being sloppily masticated echoes loudly in your ear as the seven figures descend on the remains of your father.

You see one of them handling the scarred skull of your father.  There was a pair of gashes that marred the bone itself - a parallel and subsequently bisecting one.  The others seem pleased to be afforded the chance to gorge as they were and it seemed as if it would continue for some time, but the rhythmic beating of drums a fair distance away ceased their activities.

The Faceless One lifted a bony, taloned finger to the wall and that's when he and the seven Dark Ones exited in the same manner they'd entered, leaving no trace of their having been present save the most obvious one.

[Kwokinator]

"Alright, so who are they?" Maki looked at the girl.  He didn't pay particular attention to the remains of his father; it was too late.  There is nothing he could do now, and crying or mourning would not help anything.

"Who are they, why did they come to my house, and why haven't I heard of anything like that before?"