She was holding her own with the barrier, though with the making faltering she had to recast it once or twice. Her eyes widened as Noelle started doing another spell. What the bloody hell and then she saw it, she saw the arm and then the other arm. It's getting in! Get the boys out of here." She yelled towards Chris and the others. They had them down now it was time to get them the hell out of this place.

She heard Char hit it with a jinx, but with Henry's words in her head she knew it wasn't enough. They needed to start getting out. Especially the younger students. They were good at magic, but it had been proven it wasn't working here. She'd do whatever she could to help everyone get out of there. She knew doing the spell Hirsch taught them to be able to hold your shield and do another wasn't going to work here, but there needed to be more then one casting a jinx at this thing.

Henry was hitting it as well. "Char and Henry keep hitting it with jinx's, get it to go backwards if you can. The rest keep the barrier maybe we can knock it back and close the hole." It was worth a shot, if they could get the barrier back they could get everyone out soon.

Suddenly, there, right in front of him, illuminated by that strange beacon of light that seemed actually so out of place here, Abey saw a face he had only just been despairing over never seeing again.

Rula.

It terrified him to see her in this place, just as much as it comforted him. He tried to cry out her name, but found he could only manage to sob out those same words he had been saying since he first called back to the group. "... w-waiting, it's waiting."

When the rescuers started severing the tendrils that imprisoned both he and Simon, Abey could do nothing but wait, watch, and hope, all the while his lips kept moving and he kept whispering his unintentional mantra. "I-it's... it's... waiting, w...w-waiting..." In spite of himself, he found his eyes fixed on the monster again as it attacked the rest of the group; terrifying as it was, he couldn't tear his gaze away for very long.

Above all of the noise, Abey very soon heard a thud nearby. He looked towards it and saw Simon, finally down on the ground. Again, a mixture of emotions overwhelmed him; relief that his friend was freed, mixed with terror at the knowledge that HE was still tied up. What if something happened and everyone had to run, and he'd be trapped here, defenceless, unable to fight or do anything? Hyperventilating was happening. Hyperventilating and sobbing and, "W-wai-... it's w-... it... wait...ing... w-w... w-waiting... it..." They had to get Simon. Abey could see him, just about, down there on the floor. He knew his friend would be unable to run anywhere - was barely able to breathe actually in fact - and he knew that someone would need to drag him out of this place just as they had been dragged into it.

How was it possible to feel so immersed in a situation but so removed from it at the same time? So much was happening, and Abey was right at the heart of it, but he was trapped; he couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't cast any magic, and it made him feel just as much a spectator as it did a participant, a victim.

As the rescuers focused on severing the remaining tendrils, Abey found himself squirming and wriggling at the same time, attempting to help free himself, to snap the weakened tendrils that held him to the wall. It was him, now, he was the one keeping everyone here, and he liked neither the idea that someone might get hurt while they were still trying to rescue him, nor the idea that he was still defenceless and at the monster's mercy, the one to be left behind should things going wrong... like... like it looked like they were now...

Desperately, Abey sought out Rula's face in front of him once again, and tried to focus on her, the familiarity of her, and the promise of home that he associated with her. Abey felt like he wasn't even close to being able to calm down his crying, but he did his best to thrash about within the tendrils, determined to leave this place with his older cousin, to leave for safety, and to leave for home.

What was Zelena saying? Someone needed to fight the monster? "No, no one is fighting the monster alone." There was a reason they were doing all these spells together after all. And they needed to stay focused on keeping it away with shields, releasing the boys, and then running the heck out of here.

Speaking of which, the severing charms were working and Simon at least was free - thank Merlin. But a quick glance back at the shouts from the others showed her that the monster had somehow broken through a weak point. Merlin, really?

The others were regrouping though, and it meant they needed to continue severing these stupid tendrils, which she did. "I'm staying with Abey." She was staying with him and Professor Stewart until he was free, so hopefully Zelena and/or the Ravenclaw boy would take Simon to the other group.

"Diffindo!" Come on, tendrils, time to let go!

Zelena helped steady Simon on his feet and quickly said, "Oculus Reparo." It resulted in his broken glasses now only having a few tiny scratches on the lens. Better than before.

"Simon, we need to go to the other group and get out of this godforsaken portal. Feel free to hold onto me as much as needed." Zelena told the first year as she firmly gripped her wand. Her eyes darting around just in case.

Something that Hirsch was proud of, even in this moment, was everyone's defensive magic being put to good use. It was uplifting to see the shield going up and growing stronger with the help of the students, whether this was done by magic or runes. It was a proud moment to see his students using spells that he, himself, had taught just this year.

He furrowed his eyebrows in an attempt to concentrate his thoughts on the task at hand and not on the slightly uplifted feeling in his chest. This wasn't hard, though, when, at that moment, the creature dropped down from the ceiling. That uplifted feeling? Gone. Because all he could think about now was how creepy it looked and, even worse, the fact that a total of seven students have been stuck in this side of the world up against this creature.

When the monster moved, Hirsch moved his wand around in an attempt to make sure that the monster was always, somehow, directly opposite it. He trusted the others to do their job with grabbing the boys and freeing them if need be because right now, his full attention was on the shield and nothing else so, essentially, the man had no idea what was going on with the rescue part of the team.

And then it got worse.

His eyes widened when the creature started pulling itself through the barrier through a hole in the barrier itself. No no no no no.... Just when the plan looked like it was working, the creature had to decide to take matters into its own hands. There was a silver lining in this situation in that Charlotte had managed to cast a Knockback Jinx and Mr Whittebrook had put Stupefy to good use, meaning that none of them had to break the shield any more. Good. Hopefully the presence of the runes near the spot of the tear would mean that the shield would heal itself.

"Charlotte, Mr Whittebrook? Try casting spells on the monster with similar effects at the same time, just in case. Whichever one works for the two of you, we just need the monster on the other side of the barrier." His voice was slightly raised so as to be heard over all the commotion that was going on. "DEFENDERS: KEEP. YOUR. FOCUS." As Mr Whittebrook and the others had said. "Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, stop casting shield spells." Protego Totalum! "Your number one priority should be to save the boys and we can only do that if we work together." Got it? Good.

"RESCUERS: We need some kind of notice, as simple as a word, when you're done so that we can all make a run for it." No pressure but they were limited on time right now, considering how close the monster was.

Chris watched as the young boy fell onto the ground. So much was going on around them along with lots of shouting. He needed to focus. It wasn't until he heard Nat shout that he felt his stomach turn but he couldn't look back. She was okay. He had to think that she was okay. He aimed his wand at the other boy and started on those tendrils making sure to watch the one that had been freed. He was going to pick him up and carry him if he couldn't move faster that was for sure. "Diffindo!" he yelled over and over working on those tendrils.

He could still hear commotion behind him but he wasn't going to let that distract him from the task at hand. He frowned as the girl repaired his glasses, though nice of her was definitely not the highest priority right now. Then he watched the boy and noticed he was having a hard time breathing and standing "Hey. You...Slytherin." He yelled trying to get her attention but realizing he didn't know her name. "Cast on the tendrils." He stopped casting and went over to the boy. "Going to pick you up. Hold on." He picked him up easily and ran back to the group.

Simon felt his glasses repairing on his face. he blinked in surprise and shock as this happened. "I. Can't. Breathe" Simon could only mutter through slight coughs, and sobs. "Get. Abey. please. please." His rasped voice shaking in fear.

She couldn't just take him and go, not with his Friend right there. She could have the strength to rip the tendrils off him, which Simon lacked.

He couldn't help but cling to the Slytherin Girl's arm sleeve clenching it tight in his fist. He wasn't sure if he could make the trek back walking on his own. "Don't. leave. Abey." He wasn't letting her go.
He wanted to leave, he wanted to be away from here, but if Abey wasn't with him. Not to Mention...The Monster, it was there. Simon didn't want to go into that Barrier the Monster was breaching.

Simon didn't want to let that weigh on him.

Before he could protest even further against leaving Abey behind someone else came over and lifted him off his feet. Getting piggy-backed now. He could only wheeze as he wrapped his arms around the Ravenclaw's Shoulders. "Get Abey, please." His fear of being closer to the Monster as it tried to fight it's way into the Barrier Simon was now in, was shown through his quick and unequal breathing.

And then to her extreme horror, the monster started coming in. "NO!" she shouted, both angry and scared at once, and she shot a Stupify towards its head. Then she shouted as loud and as clear as she could, "PROTEGO HORRIBLIS!!!" followed by a "Fianto Duri!"

Panting in between casting defensive spells, she very quickly turned to see how the rescue mission was going. Both boys seemed like they were being freed, or were just about to be freed. If only the defenders could continue casting defensive spells and not use focus, then maybe, hopefully, they would be able to run soon.

"FIANTO-" she began, but was interrupted by an unexpected burst of coughing. The strange pollen ashes had gotten into her nostrils, and in those few terrible moments her shield would have collapsed if it were not being reinforced by the other shields.

"Fianto Duri!!!" she shouted when she had regained the use of her voice. This shield was not coming down on her watch.

Olly jumped when the monster first attacked their barrier, but he kept his focus on his shield charm. He was just relieved that it seemed to be working. Except now the monster was going for their legs. Olly jumped out of the way, doing his best to keep focusing on his shield charm even with everything else happening around him. That was his job. Keep the shield intact. He thought Noelle's idea with fianto duri was a good one, but unfortunately it didn't seem to work quite so well here. There was the monster's arm, and then its head. Right above Olly. He didn't mean to scream but with a monster that close to him it was sort of hard not to. He did his best to stay out of reach.

"Protego." He reinforced his shield, cursing the alternate world for making their spells less strong and quicker to fade. As long as he kept casting and they kept working together they would be okay. They would make it out of there. Olly kept repeating that. His eyes were wide and fixed on the monster. It was so close to him. All he could do was keep focus on the shield and hope for the best. He hoped Char's charm worked. He wanted to look over and see how the rescuers were doing with the boys but he didn't want to risk losing his concentration.

Do. Not. Stop. Casting. A. Shield. Charm.

Noelle got it now. This was her part. The rescuers had their part of freeing the boys and then they all could get out of here. Safe.

Noelle pointed her wand up higher. "Protego Horribilis!!" She said willing with all her might to close any gap in the barrier. Come on. They were so close!! She heard the stuff going on around her, but she didn't take her eyes from the monster. She couldn't. She couldn't loose focus, and focusing on the monster made her will to rid themselves of it stronger.

"[b]Protego Horribilis![/b/]" She said again, trying and willing to close the barrier.

After a series of Severing Charms, the tendrils that were keeping Abraham Botros Jr. tied up got weaker and weaker. Then the tendrils lost their hold on the boy. He was free!

Now it is time to get out ... while you still can.

The knock back jinx casted by Charlotte Kettleburn and Henry Whittlebrook and Kitty Valentine's Stunning Spells weren't enough to keep the monster back. All the spell did was smack the beast in the face trice as if someone had just punched him. A low growl was heard. The monster aggressively waved one of its long arms around until the sharp nails of one of its hands made contact with one of those helping maintain the barrier (the girl who had last her focus on the barrier to cast Stupefy at it and was now casting Fianto Duri, which did no good, and coughing), causing deep cuts to take form on their face and make them bleed.

The scent drove it wild. The spells being casted made the barrier stronger, but the monster was determined now more than ever to slither through it. Pulling with all its might, it continued pulling its way through the hole in the barrier that it was now occupying. It swiped at another face, hoping that those it had scratched would be more concerned with their new look and the pain rather than the barrier.

It. Wanted. To. Feast.

Olly was trying to focus on his shield charm but it was getting harder with the monster right there. Their barrier was still holding, but Char's charm had not worked as well as he'd hoped it might. The monster was still making its way through. Olly could see its arm, and then he could feel the arm. Nails actually. With the monster right above him he was not hard to reach and there were nails scraping across his face. Olly yelled and let go of Noelle. His hand flew to his cheek instinctively. He felt the blood both on his face and on his hand. It hurt, but not as much as it would normally what with all the adrenaline running through him. In his distraction, he lost focus and his charm fell. He struggled to get it back.

"Protego." His focus was falling but he was doing his best. If they could just hold the shield for a little longer they would all be able to get out of there.

Her Fianto Duri's were having no effect whatsoever, but she had only just realized this when it was too late. The monster was coming in. Before she could cast another spell, the monster had lunged at her face and cut it. She screamed in pain and fell backwards, colliding with one of the other people putting up the shield. Her wand flew out of her hand and bounced off the ground several feet away.

Unbearable pain like she had never felt before coursed through her face. Hot blood trickled into her mouth and down her robes. She threw her hands over her face and tried to scream, but she had never stopped screaming to begin with.

Streams of tears rolled from her eyes to mix with her blood..

No, no this wasn't going well at all. Kity was it and now Olly. Nat continued to try to do the barrier spell, but that damn thing was getting in no matter what. "Professor, Headmistress we need to get people out." She looked towards the injured and took a deep breath. No way was it getting anyone else. This was getting to be a nightmare. She quickly moved her wand, the barrier was doing nothing so something else had to be done. She took a deep breath knowing nothing spell related was going to work, but she had to try something. "Diffindo" Straight at it's face she pointed her wand. If she could get it injured maybe it would move back.

It was time to play fire with fire, "Incendio" She moved closer to it getting between it and the two already injured. "Get going back to the portal. Now Kitty and Olly!" The injured needed to get their blood scent out of there and she wasn't going to listen to anything they were going to say to stay. If she got in trouble for giving orders and leaving the barrier so be it, but she couldn't just stand and let people bleeding stay in harm's way. Maybe they could warn the Healer that he was probably going to be ready when they all finally got out.

As the severing charms were cast on the tendrils that wrapped around him, Abey continued to struggle against their grip. At first, it seemed like they were never going to let go of him, and he would have to stay here forever or not even for forever actually but for as long as it took before the monster came back to eat him, and the thought only made his breathing faster and more erratic and his struggles even wilder.

But, of course, Abey's panicked thoughts were quickly proved wrong. The more he struggled, the more he was actually able to move, and then, finally-

Riiiiiip.

THUD.

The tendrils gave way all at once, and with nothing else securing him to the wall, Abey wrestled his way right out of their grip and into a heap on the floor, and though he could not feel any pain yet, he knew that the fall must have hurt. He wasted not even a second in getting up again, not even pausing to grab the fragments of his broken wand, instinctively knowing it just wasn't worth it.

As soon as he was upright again, Abey grabbed hold of Rula's hand, and started moving towards the beacon of light that was coming from amongst the big group of people. But he was clumsy, his shaking legs having a real job keeping him upright, and immediately began stumbling in his panic, veering off course. That, of course, only made him all the more terrified, because all he wanted to do was to get out of here right now, and so Abey tried, he tried so hard, to keep himself upright so he could head back to the group and back to safety, away from that horrible awful bad no good monster, and this horrible awful bad no good place; all of it was the stuff of nightmares.

Regina honestly had gone quiet. She was focusing solely on keeping her part of the barrier alive, putting as much strength and willpower into what she was doing. The woman was so in the zone, that she didn't notice what was going on until she heard Roderick shouting out orders.

It was then her eyes widened at the hole that had been made and the monster that was so desperately trying to get through it. It was clear to her that someone had lost their focus on the one job they had to do -- she wasn't sure who, but at this moment it didn't matter. She had looked just in time to see it slash at the faces of Miss Valentine and Mr. Borzekowski-Thomas. The sight of the blood pouring down their faces made her part of the barrier flicker slightly.

She gave a quick glance back, relieved to see that the two first year boys were free. It was time to leave. Now.

And then the Head Girl started barking her own orders. The headmistress's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't feel the need to bother address it right now. They did need to get out, but the fact she left her post at the barrier surely wasn't going to help considering the beast was nearly through their wall. Just because a few students were bleeding was not a good enough excuse to leave ones post. It could put all of their lives on the line.

"Everyone needs to get out NOW!" the headmistress shouted. "Boors, Rockefeller and, those who are bleeding need head upstairs and through the portal immediately. Miss Botros, please escort them out quickly. The rest of us need to get out of this room and keep the barrier up on the doorway to give them some time to get out. We will then need to break the barrier and make a run for it, all of us casting spells repeatedly at the monster to delay it."

That said, Regina returned her focus to keeping that barrier alive and started backing up toward the door. They weren't in the clear yet.

OOC: Those of you that were told to run should definitely run. Lol. Everyone else, let's back up to the doorway and keep the barrier in place for a few IC minutes to give the boys/injured/Rule group a headstart. After, start casting spells like crazy at the monster to slow it down and get out unless you want to be eaten.

Char was probably lucky to be out of the way given her hand, but then maybe the runes were sucking up all her blood and that was why the monster hasn't scented her. She was disappointed that her attack had apparently done nothing, she would think about that later, not now.

Right now she kept the runes held high and jumped in to attack the monster again and try pull Kitty back.




She darted forward and did her best to help pull Kitty back, pushing in front of her, though being sure to stay or if the monsters immediate reach. Maybe darker magic worked better in this dark place? Char slashed her wand at the monster. "Sectumsempra!"

And to play it safe she went with a barrage of spells from her dueling arsenal. "Reducto! Stupefy!"

Henry, help! They needed to work together, and everyone else was needed for the barrier!

She heard the headmistress instructions and kept casting the same spells over and over at the monster, hoping the others would run through with the first years soon so they could all make a break for it.

Chris made sure to get back behind the barrier. He looked up to see claws coming through and heard various students cry out. He adjusted the kid on his back briefly and froze when he heard Nat yell. He tried to find her but couldn't. Torn between going to find her and running out with the first year on the back he swallowed hard. You owe me for this one kid... He thought to himself just knowing his friend was doing something reckless and he wasn't going to be able to help.

Keeping his head down he ran as fast as he could past everyone trying to head back to the portal as fast as his long legs could carry him. If Nat got hurt.... he pushed that thought back and kept making his way carrying Simon on his back. "Hold on tight, mate."

It was getting easier and easier for the monster to pull away at the invisible barrier now that two more of its casters were preoccupied and bleeding. It's tongue licked its lips. Dinner would be served soon, and it, by the look and smell of that fresh blood, was going to be absolutely delicious.

The beast decided to lift its leg through the hole it had been pulling at in an effort to get the rest of its body through so it could get a taste of that blood. It was at this moment that it felt something invisible slash at its face. The cut wasn't deep, but it was enough for a strand of blue blood to slowly trickle down its face. The monster paid no attention to that. It was just a flesh wound.

The Fire-Making Spell did cause it to hiss angrily, however. Its leg retracted, and it moved its face away from the flames. Then came another series of spells casted by one of the girls, the first missing it completely and the others whacking it in the face and its upper torso sticking through the barrier. But it did not let go of its grip on the barrier walls for the flames were quick to die out and the other spells only had the affect of hard punches. It sniffed and eyed them all for a moment, pausing before letting out a loud roar and reached an arm out to give another of those humans a ruby red face so it had another chance of pulling itself through the barrier.

No.. Oh no.. It wasn't working. Stupefy had worked for Henry before, so why did it seem to have no effect? But he didn't have much time to really reflect on that as the monster was coming for them with his claws slashing at them.

He thought to cast something else but before he could, he was bumped into by an injured Kitty, causing him to stumble backwards, his wand still grasped tightly in his hand. "Kitty!" Henry grabbed her arm to get her attention and snap her out of her crying. "You're going to be okay, but you have to pull yourself together. You have to get out, now!" He knew it probably hurt, but if she didn't pull herself together, she was going to get killed. Maybe the rest of them too.

He didn't have time to comfort anyone or heal anyone injured. That would have to wait till they were all out of this terrible place. Pointing his wand at the monster again, he cast more offensive spells at it to push it back, just as Hirsch had instructed him a few minutes ago. Would Stupefy work though? Or should he try something else? He didn't know Sectumsempra, but thought that was a great spell for Char to use.

"Reducto! Stupefy!" He shouted, casting them both right after Char. Certainly, that combination from both of them had to have some effect. Plus, everyone else was keeping the barrier strong, hopefully. Then he was getting the heck out of there as it looked like they finally rescued the first years.

Olly heard Kitty's screaming and then heard the head girl yell both of their names. He managed to look over at her and find she was also bleeding. She looked like she had gotten it worse than he had. But the scratch on his own face was definitely hurting more now that the initial shock had worn off. He was focusing on the shield even after the head girl had told them to go. He was needed here. He needed to help hold the shield. But then there were the boys and they were free. And the headmistress was giving orders now. Everything was happening so fast and Olly's head was spinning, but he heard what she was saying. The firsties and the people bleeding needed to go upstairs. That was him. He was bleeding. Which meant he needed to go upstairs.

Olly hesitated for just a second. He opened his mouth but quickly snapped it shut again. He didn't want to leave Noelle but if the headmistress was telling him to go he would go. She wasn't going to be alone and the rest of them would be coming along soon. The pain on his face was increasing and he knew he wouldn't be of much help there and he didn't want the smell of his blood to intice the monster further. He cast a glance at Noelle and grabbed onto Kitty.

"Come on." She was in worse shape than he was and he figured she could use some help. Others were helping the boys get out of there. Olly reached for Kitty's dropped wand and began pulling both of them out of the room.

No way in hell was this thing coming through. She was glad to see that the monster got it straight in the face. When she saw her fire spell actually move it back she pointed her wand again. Before she hit it again with the fire spell she felt its claws hit her face. She didn't scream out in pain though she just screamed, "Protego horribilis" her wand pointed wand straight at the monster and the spot that had the hole. Maybe if she put it where Noelle's was and where it was coming through it could block him enough that they could back up to the door.


She tried to keep an eye on the ones leaving, she hoped the ones that were told to go would go without hesitation. They needed to get everyone out. Could they start moving the barrier back, where the injured and the boys getting out. She coudn't seen Chris with the choas to see if they were headed out.

The pain wasn't letting up for even a moment, and in fact felt like it was getting worse. Panicking, Kitty threw her hands over her bleeding face and sobbed more frantically, completely losing her cool. She felt someone pull her backwards (Char) but was too scared to thank her.

Nearby she heard spells being fired at the monster, but through the sound of her own screaming she couldn't tell if they were working. Dimly, she heard Natalia ordering her and Olly back to the portal. Then Henry, who she had bumped into before, was telling her the same thing, and then the headmistress.

She forced herself to stop screaming as Olly grabbed her and started pulling her to safety. She clutched his hand and, holding on as for dear life, forced herself to run with him as they retreated back to the portal.

Claws.
Blood.
Screams.
Yells.


Noelle managed to not get hit by the claws though Olly and Kitty did. But knowing that if she lost her focus again, could make matters worse, Noelle kept her wand pointed at the barrier. "Protego Horribilis!!" She yelled with everything she had to where she was trying to keep the monster at bay.

She was sorry. So sorry.


She was glad to hear the boys were freed and that Olly and Kitty were starting to leave. They needed to run. To hurry. Noelle kept her wand pointed at the monster. "Protego horribilis!!!" She yelled again and gave her everything in keeping that barrier up.

Char and Henry's spells were more than welcome and appreciated. Thank you. They needed to keep the monster at bay until they could run. Just like the headmistress said.