"You can't run from me!" The once gentle voice of the boy was now replaced by the Tall Man's deep throated, threatening tone as he continued, "I have eyes everywhere in this city; hiding is futile you slimy brat!" "Not if I can help it!" I yelled back, trying to outrun the darkness coming towards me. The man laughed cruelly, and said in a sing-song like way, "The time of my reign will flourish, and the hour of death is nigh! You and your feeble friends won't escape in time as I tear apart this hunk of junk planet piece by piece, and soul by miserable soul. What earth is there to save from ME!" "Children are persistent, and resilient, though I wouldn't expect such a miserable foulque like YOU to know that!" I retorted, and the codger seethed lothesomely, "Ma chérie, tu oublies que les jeunes enfants sont des êtres volages! Je ne m'attendrais pas à ce qu'une fille faible, pitoyable, et naïve reconnaisse qu'on la joue comme une imbécile." "You DARE use my own tongue against me after ALL you've done! You deserve to be spat on and trampled like the weed you are." I growled, climbing my way up broken fragments of buildings to get away from the Thin Man's ceaseless pursuit. "Doesn't matter anymore you sly fox! You and you're little toys aren't going to survive to see tomorrow, and no matter where you run I'm ALWAYS watching!" He snarled, and he reached his hand out to claim me when I was abruptly awoken by a massive shake! "CLAIRE! WAKE UP!" "Wh-Wha? What's going ON?!" I panicked as I heard a shattering of glass from the corner of the disheveled room. "The Thin Man comes! We MUST leave!" Six exclaimed, running towards a window sill, and launching herself over the edge with pristine agility. "Come on!" Leo ushered, pulling me over to the window to hoist me over the edge before clambering over himself to meet us on a sort of balcony. "Where are you, you vile brat! You can't hide from your fate forever!" Thin Man's voice boomed, and from below, a hand grabbed the metal grate of the floor, attempting to pull it out from beneath the three of us. "CLAIRE! YOU'RE THE ONLY ON WITH SHOES! STOMP HIS FINGERS!" Leo shouted, and I gave them both a look of shock and disbelief when Six reiterated, "STOMP HIS FINGERS, OR WE ALL DIE!" begrudgingly, I ran over to the portion of the grate he had hold of, and with all my might, I slammed my foot against one of his fingers, causing him to reel his hand back in pain as he howled. "WE NEED TO DISCONNECT THIS T.V. DOWN HERE FROM THE CORD!" Leo yelled, pointing to the dangling television where the arm was produced. "WITH WHAT?!" Six asked, panicked as he took back hold of the balcony and cried,  "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HONESTLY RUN AWAY FROM WHAT'S BEEN FORETOLD?! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN SIMPLY REWRITE WRITTEN TEXT AFTER IT'S BEEN PUBLISHED BY AN AUTHOR?! THIS IS MY STORY, AND YOU'RE JUST THE BACKGROUND FLUFF ADDED TO THIS "HEROIC TALE" OF YOURS!" "YOU'RE WRONG! MANY GREAT WORKS CAN BE REWRITTEN WITH THE BRILLIANCE AND THE PATIENCE TO DO SO! IN THIS REWRITE, I WILL FIND THE BOY AND STOP YOU SINGLE HANDEDLY WITHOUT SO MUCH AS EVEN RAISING A BLADE TO YOU!" I screeched, and I stomped his finger again with burning fury as Leo slid his way down the cord with his dagger in hand. Once he severed the cord, the television dropped to the void below with only the sound of static for screams, and Six and I peered over the edge down at Leo as he used the cord to swing into another window. I looked up at Six, who simply scoffed before making her way down the cord, and following Leo's lead. Once I had joined them, we looked around the room to find an alcove with a broken, electrical current, a flooded, smokey gray, tiled floor, and a boarded up, dark oak wood door at the far end of the hallway, rattling as though someone was trying to break in! "Tread carefully you two." I said, taking a step into the freezing liquid before splishing my way up to the alcove. "Hey, girlie! What do suppose is behind the door?" Leo asked, running up to the alcove to join me. I shrugged as I replied, "Whatever it is, it must be enormous!" "Of COURSE it's enormous. EVERYTHING here is enormous!" Six grunted, meeting us at the top of the alcove. "Well what do we do? There's no way to topple it so I can stab it!" Leo said, looking around the room. "Unless it slips in the water, then you've got an open advantage." Six suggested, staring at her reflection on the water's surface. "PLEASE, you two! Let's just talk to the creature; see if we cannot find some common ground before getting into the action, yes?" I suggested, causing the two to turn to me, one with disdain, and the other in pity. "Claire, you don't know if these things CAN talk. Alerting it would be suicide!" Leo replied, rubbing the back of his head. "But they were once human, Leo! If we can get in touch with them, then prehaps we can tap into the human side of them to get more information, or even help. There's been too much death, and it frightens me that I shall find myself numb to it should I see more!" I replied, taking Leo's handsin mine as I remained locked in his gaze. "Pah! For SOME, being numb to little inconveniences and misfortunes like that are a BLESSING!" Six huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then you may as well disregard all qualities that makes you human." I replied, looking her way. Through this entire adventure it's been nothing but kill, hide, escape, and survive! Are we not of man in this world? Have we turned to savage beasts in the time the world had stopped? No, I REFUSE to be a heartless, savage beast! After a few moments of silence, I let go of my dear friend's hands, and made my way through the water, and toward the door. I could hear screeching, grunting, and snorting coming from the other side; different from what I was used to on the Maw as I tried to copy the lingo. "E-Excuse me? Hello?" "What?! Who's there!" A growly, raspy voice asked on the other side as I continued, "I-I'm Claire LaBouvier. You may not have heard of me, but I'm from the Maw in the West!" "The MAW?! You must either be slumming it, or you're just mad to enter a place like this. Oh, but you sound so young, and tired! You can't possibly be filth scum; hadn't been any around these parts that the pompous bloke on T.V. didn't nab." He replied, and I pressed my ear to the door as I asked, "What is "Filth scum"? And who's this "Pompous bloke" you speak of?" I asked, to which the masculine voice replied, "The filth scum in their fleshy bags, always pester, pester, PESTER! They change the channel, and it makes me ANGRY." "Well were different from the ones that you've seen, if you'd only just-" "FILTH SCUMMMMM! FFFFFIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLTTHHHHHHH SCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!" the voice screamed, pounding harder on the door, and sending landing into the water beneath me as it began to splinter the boards and door before me, sending shrapnel flying, and scratching me in the face as I bolted back up to make a dash for it. "CLAIRE!" Leo called, holding his hand out for me to grab, and once I was pulled up onto the platform of the alcove, the door gave way, and Six flipped the switch, electrifying a mangled up, tubby looking man who was balding as Leo placed me behind him protectively. "Yes Claire, let's talk to a beast that's brain has been sucked out by an evil T.V. man. oh how much harm could it be?" Six berated as she pulled the lever back to cease the electrical shock. "DO NOT CHASTISE ME! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I KNOW! WHAT I'VE SEEN IN THEM!" I squealed, attempting to run towards her menacingly as Leo held back my rage taken body before I crumpled to the ground sobbing. "To be fair, it was worth trying." Leo said sheepishly, still keeping hold of me as I cried. "Yeah, at least we KILLED it because of said "Attempt"." Six spat, keeping her eyes on him before shaking her sorry head at the two of us. After she bounded ahead, Leo stood me back up, and I seethed quietly, "I want her to dissappear...." "Come now, don't go shooting your gums off. If she dissapeared, you'd be just as distraught as you are now!" "No I wouldn't.... I want her to dissappear...." "Claire, that is enough! She hurt your feelings, but that's no reason to be wishing someone away." Leo scolded, taking my shoulders as I continued to look out toward the splintered hinges where the door once stood. He still had no idea of what she put me through, and I still didn't wish to break the bond of trust he formed with her! I looked back at him as he slid his hand down my face, and I could feel nothing but helplessness and shame as my lip began to quiver. He brought me too him just as Six called coldly, "Let's go! We can comfort the baby some other time." Leo sighed, and patted my back before ushering me to leave the room with him. Once out of a small hallway, we spotted Six looking down an elevator shaft, and she sighed. "Can't catch a break, can we?" She asked aloud, to which I snapped in response, "There's no rest for the wicked. Besides, we just left from a break!" "Who asked?" "Nobody, but I thought I'd interject my two cents, especially since you like filling the jar with YOURS when you can!" "Will you two STOP?! You're worse than a fight between two drunks where I'm from." Leo commented, rubbing his neck tiredly. We shot him a glance before turning our attention back to the matter at hand, and to be honest, she wasn't kidding! "Hmmmm.... maybe if I could use my powers to draw the lift up to us like with that rope in the starting room, we could progress no sweat!" I suggested, placing a finger to my lip in thought when a loud buzz flickered to life! Six and I turned in time to see Leo thrust a brick into a television screen, and he ushered quickly, "He's coming! If you gotta use your powers, now's the time!" "H-HURRY!" Six whimpered, and I focused the burning of my body to one area as I winced. The lift began to move on it's own, and it wasn't long until we saw the top part of a screen, with the silhouette of the Thin Man on the front drawing closer! I flipped the lever again, grunting in pain as I made it decend once more, and the three of us leapt aboard the top, making our way to the second floor below as a loud screech of frustration sounded. "L-Let's move!" Leo shouted, scooping me off the floor like a pancake, and placed me on his back as carefully as he could as I writhed uncomfortably. "It hurts again! Why is it hurting so much!?" I winced through gritted teeth as he ran. "Just take it slow, and don't end up cooking yourself alive!" Leo ordered in plea, and crawled through a vent behind the Raincoat clad girl as a pair of heavy footsteps quickened it's pace to no avail. We found ourselves in a dimly lit, beige colored lavatory, flooded, and crackling with electrical sparks! "It's a wonder there's no fires starting." Leo breathed, adjusting his hold on me as he observed the area. "Well don't jinx us now!" Six scolded, looking around to see what was there to work with. There was a flicking heard, followed by a bzzzt, and we all became alert as a mangled, animalistic scream was heard. A woman rounded a corner, dressed as a doting housewife, with her hair all done up in curls, and a bun! She would've been a lovely lady, and a loving mother if the Thin Man hadn't of stripped her of any sanity, or humanity she had left. The woman took a step, and I raised my hand to call out to her when she made contact, and began to twitch uncontrollably. She now lied a lifeless, corpse on the floor at our feet, and we were plunged into darkness as the current seemed to have stopped. I bitterly set my hand back down, and the three of us traversed into the next room over. "Look! A door!" Six exclaimed, making a run for it as I slid myself off Leo's back, and attempted to make my own way to the door with his help. "I'll give the boost! Claire will open the door, and we hopefully will be out of the woods for a little while." She said, getting on her knees. I placed a wobbly foot into her palms, and she threw me up to the door handle to grab it with trembling hands. The door swung open, and I couldn't hold on anymore as I slipped, and tumbled onto something slightly firm, and wet to the touch as I heard Leo exclaimed in horror, "CLAIRE!" he peeked over the edge, looking for me as he called into the darkness, "A-Are you okay, kiddo?!" "Never better, I su-" I stopped in my tracks as my voice got caught in my throat, and I sat frozen in shock at the sight I beheld. "Claire? What's wrong?" He asked nervously,  hopping down to my side before following my gaze, and becoming equally as stunned in fear! "THERE you are! I was beginning to-" "Six! Keep quiet!" Leo pleaded fearfully. "You two were just fine, then stopped-" "SIX! HUSH!" I ordered quietly before continuing, "Look there, in the alley!" Raising a brow, Six turned slowly to look into the alleyway, and she gasped as she stumbled backwards. There, illuminated by a small screen, were about fifteen veiwers standing side by side like sardines. I stood up, leaning against Leo for support as I observed the show on the television, flicking between a talk show, to the weather, to a western comedy, but the only difference was the genre. I could hear his voice, playing the actors and actresses, the weather man, and the talk show host, questioning his guest about the topic of family. It was ALL him! "That slimy bag.... He's altering his voice; pretending to be anything and everyone like a grown child!" I hissed, catching my breath from the impact. "I don't know. I think you just have a problem with the T.V. people, love." Leo joked as I wobbled my way across the surface before managing to drop gracefully to the wet pavement below; rain battering at my hood as I held on to keep the wind from blowing it from my head. "Where are you going NOW?" Six asked exasperatedly, but I continued to slink my way across the street towards a busted out window. "I-It's a convenience store!" I exclaimed, as the other two ran up from behind, to which Leo prayed aloud, "Wouldn't I do ANYTHING for some grub." "I don't see why you would, the food in there is probably molded, mildewy, and smelly by now. In fact, I think that's EXACTLY what happened, blech!" Six commented in disgust. The store did reek of rotted meet and mildew, and it was all I could to hold back what I had for myself as I turned away for a breath of the rain scented alleyway. "Mold is just penicillin; the food can act as a medicine!" "Or a fine, diamond path to food poisoning." "Well, in ANY regard, this is one of the many trials we must pass through to get to the black tower, and fix this mess. Let's go! Before we catch our death." I said, sliding into the rundown building. The sound of crackling was very prominent, and the smell even more potent than it was outside, forcing me to shield my nose from the overbearing odor as I creaked my way across a dusty, wooden floor. The other two slid in behind me, Six gagging at the smell, and Leo breathing in utter fascination by the contents inside the decrepit store. "What do you suppose are in these packages?" He asked, curiously picking one of the smaller parcels up from the dust covered floor. "Judging on the size, I'd say jewelry." I replied,  observing the package with him. "Can't be! The package is too flat." Six added, looking over my shoulder. She was standing so close that I could feel her heart beat, and her cool breath on my cheek. I pushed myself from her, and continued to observe the area we found ourselves in; rain pouring from above us through a gaping hole in the ceiling, making the second floor below a flooded nightmare that sizzled with blue sparks! "Mon dieu, this place in it's prime must have been bustling with busy employees and customers! Now it may as well be a piscine mortelle." "A what?" "A deadly swimming pool." I translated, looking around the bottom floor. Off somewhere near us I could hear a T.V., and I was kind of glad that the floor was an electrical trap. "Alright cheif," Leo began, looking around, "What now?" "Hey! There's a trolley over here!" Six called, and looking at the setup, an idea popped into my head. "Six! Bring the trolley here, and push it down this ramp!" I ordered, settling my sights on a power switch. "What are you planning?" Leo asked, placing his hands on his hips. "Well," I began, looking up at the hole above us, "I'm hoping to use the switch in the corner to disable the power, then we can utilize the toys hanging from the rafters to swing our way to this hole above, and climb our way to the roof!" "Why can't you just fly us out?" Six asked, heaving the heavy looking trolley our way. I shook my head as I replied, "I used too much, and I still feel a little raw. No, I'm afraid we must work our way past this one!" I helped her push the buggy down the ramp, and into the second floor as it reverbed from the wall it hit, and settled between the register, and a counter. "Let me handle it. You've worked yourself quite a bit, and now it's my turn to shine!" Leo claimed, hoisting himself onto the counter. It took quite a bit of patience, energy, time, and falling before we finally made our way through the roof, and I stuck my hand down to pull Six up with us. "That sucked! I'm aching all over." She whined, lying down on her back breathlessly. "Well, we shan't stick around here. Let's get down to the street!" The three of us made our way to the edge of the roof, and the sight nearly made my heart leap from my throat.... There, in a fenced off alley, was about a THOUSAND of these mangled, screeching, mesmerized creatures, all affixed to one screen! "Holy dooley! We aren't the only ones with the idea to hit the boulevard, are we?!" Leo breathed. "Y-You're making too many jokes. This is SERIOUS!" Six stammered, nervously  taking my shoulders, and crouching down behind me. "Sniveling about it isn't going to make it better.... COME! And be cautious." I grabbed a drain pipe, and slowly made my way to the ground, finding two more veiwers in the open, and I crouched to avoid being seen as the other two clambered their way down. "Th-That building there looks well lit. Maybe we can bust a window to get inside?" Leo suggested, messing with the strap on his satchel in unease. I looked around, found a pebble, and threw it to the pavement behind the two creatures, making sure they stayed affixed to the T.V. as we snuck our way over to the next building. Finding a brick, Leo slammed the glass with what he could muster; causing the glass to shatter instantly for us to go through, and explore. "It's a booze house!" Leo cried, looking around excitedly at the bottles of wine, and rum lining the shelf behind a counter. "Don't you DARE! Not ONLY are you much too young, but we're on the doorstep of danger." Six scolded, punching him in the arm. "OW! I wasn't going to drink one, I swear. Just looking, is all!" "Better be "Just looking", cuz I'm not carrying you like you carry Claire!" She exclaimed, but I was too busy to respond as I inspected an inoperative T.V. set. Leo showed up beside me, and asked nervously, "Should we REALLY be this close?" I held up a severed cord for him too see, but before I was able to say anything.... "Attention all Viewers!" The Thin Man's voice boomed, but his tone sounded cheery like an enthusiastic host as he continued, "Today's weather is looking to be quite gloomy the next five months, with a sixty percent chance of thunder storms, and cold fronts. In other news, I have come up with a splendid new game for us to play, fittingly titled, "Where In The Pale City are The Kids?"! There are three children lurking about the City, your homes, every nook and cranny there is. One will be dressed in white, with shining, blonde curls, a red headed boy, and a girl in yellow. Do what you please with the other two, but remember folks: the blondie is MINE!" I looked at the now live footage on the screen before us, and I saw for a split second the beastly man stand from behind a makeshift desk. He came closer to the screen, and leaned down to reveal his grayed, wrinkled, and cracking face as his blackened eyes pierced the camera roll, and the regular, threatening tone rung out maniacly, "Have fun." before flickering back off once more. I dropped the cording horror, and exchanged glances with Leo before turning to the window behind us. My blood curdled at the new sight of the zombie mob the Thin Man created, pressing their mangled appearances against the glass as the two of us stepped back in terror. "GUYS! WE HAVE TO LEAVE!" Six screeched, setting in motion the snowball effect that was a chase straight out of a sci-fi novella! The Viewers pounded the window brashly, and I found myself being dragged by Leo as we made our way to the main room. With the shattering of glass, the sickening cries, squeals, and growls of the Viewers bounced around the room, and into my skull as we booked it up the bar, and back onto the floor beside Six. "Th-This way!" She called, going around a corner, and Leo and I ran as fast as we could as the rushing footsteps, and slapping of flesh against tile were roaring in a sea of cacophony! Rounding the corner, we found ourselves in a sort of hall, and the shelf beside us collapsed as the Viewers kept giving chase, and we heard Six scream as she backed away from something. "WE'RE TRAPPED!" She cried as we kept running, and it was then that I thought back to the light I gave to the patients in the hospital. I ripped myself from Leo's grip to his shock and horror, and turned to face the mob as I held up my hand and shouted, "STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPP!" my voice rung throughout the room so loudly, that the glasses around us shattered to the sand from which it was made, and a burst of light left my body to fill the room. Like I commanded, the creatures had stopped their chase..... their cacophony..... I collapsed tiredly to the ground, looking up at the frozen statues before me as they softly clicked. "Whoa! THAT was awesome, Claire!" Leo breathed, looking around at the golden, glittering light around us, but I had no energy to respond as a dizzy rush filled my head, and a terrible ache in my chest as well as a burning like fire raging through my body! I blacked out.... the only sound being was that of ringing.......