Fuel for the Fire! (Open.)

Annabella let out a small hiss at him, picking up her pace a hair. It would help if she had- snake! One just entered her control range. She wondered if it would be any quicker. She doubted it, it was one of the slower snakes around here. She sighed. She could at least give it a shot. It did gain a speed boost. She slowed for a moment to gain control over it, talking to it mentally. She smiled and sped back up.

The snake slithered its way toward the point of communication, just as the voice it was hearing had asked of it. It felt like it was being helped and had additional speed for some reason. It wasn't bothered though. It went faster as it got closer.

Bolting up two flights of stairs is not the easiest thing in the world, but Jonah managed to do it just in time to see a fifteen year old boy engulfed in flames run out of the nearest hallway screaming in agony run mindless into the stair railing, flip over it head first and fall down the gap between the stairs. After a few seconds, he heard the all to familiar crunching of bone after hitting the ground from a number of floors up. He really doubted that the kid survived the fall.

Carefully stepping towards the hallway the burning kid had just run out of, Jonah eased his head around the corner to see what was there. Poor bastard number two was sitting against one of the walls, a pool of blood forming around where he sat. Glancing towards the opposite wall and spotting the small, nail sized holes in the plaster, it was tragically easy to see just what happened to him.

The body was not alone. A figure that was deathly gray stood above it, parts of its 'flesh' burnt off completely. Turning to face him, Jonah saw that only the ghosts left eye had been untouched by the burns, a unnaturally wide smile on the shades face caused by the lack of skin to change its expression. The eye narrowed in a hate filled death glare. Deathly energies started to glow around a light fixture in the hallway, the thing being ripped out of the wall before it was flung at Jonah's head.

Ducking his head back to avoid it being taken off completely, he bolted towards a second hallway leading to be different part of the floor. Just to be certain that the specter would remain focused on him, Jonah closed his eyes long enough to picture a key in his head. Turning it slightly, his body started to glow with a ghostly fire of its own. Those unable to see the paranormal wouldn't be able to see it, but it would act like a bright light in the dark for the ghost.

Annabella's eyes widened as she saw the kid fall down the gap. She heard the crunching of his bone and shivered a bit. She kept going as fast as she could, passing the hallway Jonah was in. She continued up the steps. She felt the presence of the snake she has control of close. Pretty fast for this kind of snake. Lets just hope it will be faster than her.

The snake entered the building and started to slither up the stairs quickly. It figured by now it was being controlled but by someone kind to snakes. It didn't mind it plus it gave it a boost in speed. At least that was all it knew it gained a boost in. The someone had offered food, too, so that was some extra motivation. It soon noticed a girl who was slightly cooler than most humans. It figured that was the girl who was controlling it. It sped up a bit of what it could.

It was funny. Back in school, Jonah wasn't known for being one of the sports people. He wasn't unfit by any means, but he didn't dedicate his life to improving his body. As he managed to duck a door knob that had been torn from its door and flung at his head, Jonah couldn't help but be proud of the fact that right now he was probably breaking a few high school track records for sprinting and hurdles.

It was clear that he had the ghosts attention focused fully on him. It was up to the weird cowgirl who hissed a lot now... that thought wasn't comforting. Not in the slightest.

The snake passed by the hallway. It slithered up to Annabella's side. Annabella held a soft smile. She nodded upward to the snake and it slithered past her and up toward higher levels. It was definitely faster than her at the moment but Annabella was about done digesting her food. It wouldn't be long before she was pretty fast for running upstairs.

The snake slithered past her as the girl slowed down some. It could sense rat on her but it would only get it if the snake did as asked. It was asked to go up to the roof. It was going to do as told. It didn't seem to have much choice. It soon reached the roof. It looked for something that had a lever. A box or something of the sort. It soon found it and rose to attack it in order to pull it down.

The power soon switched on inside and Annabella slowed down. She walked quickly into the nearest hallway and got to the elevator. She tried it out. The light on the button came on. She smirked as she waited for the elevator. It was a bit slow but soon came. She jumped inside, quickly pressing the basement level button. She held the close door button until the door closed. She knew she need to hurry. She hoped this elevator would do so.

As the lights flickered on, Jonah managed to take a moment to catch his breath. He had managed to run through two hallways and discovered a second staircase which he took down to the third floor. He had also found the body of the teenage girl who had been with the boys on the staircase, a shard of what looked like broken glass stuck into her neck. From how pale she was and the trail of blood he had followed to find such body, it had hit something vital and she had bled out trying to get help.

Noticing another door knob begin to be engulfed by ghostly energy, Jonah decided his break was over and took off again, keeping this game of cat and mouse going to give cowgirl the time she needed. He had a pretty good idea what would happen if this ghost shifted its attention to her while she was in an elevator.

Annabella bit her lip softly, wishing it would hurry. She felt her the snake getting further away so she knew she was going down. But she could also tell how slow she was going. She tapped her foot impatiently. She licked her fangs softly.

She finally reached the basement. She looked around for things that looked really old. She closed her eyes to concentrate on feeling. She opened her eyes after a quick flick of her tongue and spotted the object. It was a dusty brush, not touched in a long time. She picked it up and stuffed it in a pocket, climbing back into the elevator. She hoped nothing bad would happen while she was in there.

Jonah panted as his feet touched the second floor, his shoulder throbbing painfully as blood slowly soaked into his jumper. One of the nails that the ghost in question was throwing around like a drugged up gangster with a semi-auto had managed to punch right through his shoulder. From the feel of it, it had managed to hit a more fleshy part instead of striking bone. Despite that silver lining, it still hurt like hell.

Limiting his curses to his head in order to save his breath, Jonah noticed the sudden silence that filled the air. Nothing was being made charged to shoot at him... in fact from the fact that his blood was starting to get less chilly the ghost seemed to be moving away from him. The only reason it would do that was... Jonah blinked for a moment before renewing his efforts, running down the stairs as fast as he could while holding his shoulder in an attempt to limit the pain a bit.

The cowgirl had the ghost's anchor! And no doubt the ghost knew she had it!

............................

As the elevator made it to the ground floor, it suddenly stopped climbing with a sudden jerk. Up far above, a horrible noise filled the apartment complex, the sound of tortured gears and metal that were brand new being forcefully twisted and bent into unnatural shapes. With each tortured groan the elevator jerked some more. Just how long could the elevator withstand such an assault?...

Annabella's eyes widened as she heard this. Not good. She pried her fingers through the door and tried to pry the stupid thing open. It wasn't budging. "Come on you stupid door. Open!" she yelled, trying with all of her strength. It started to open but only opened a bit. She gritted her teeth, trying to open it more.

Her breath was quick, her heart racing. No snakes could help her now. Not even her fangs. Just her will to survive and not be killed by a ghost.

Reaching the ground floor, Jonah froze as he heard the tortured squealing of gears and metal. Not having the time to waste, he moved with haste towards the elevators, noticing that one of the doors was being forced open by someone inside it. Bracing himself against the elevator door with his good shoulder, he placed his foot into the crack before throwing his own strength into helping to forced the door open wide enough for whomever was inside to get out.

Annabella could tell the guy from earlier was helping her out with the door. She put a little more force into it and slipped through the crack just large enough for her to fit through. She fell onto the floor as the old brush fell out of her pocket. She hit it over toward him as she stood, brushing herself off. "Thanks. Here." she said as she focused on other things, the snake.

The snake started to slither down the side of the building. Why hadn't she done that in the first place? Annabella had forgotten that was possible. It was hard to do without falling off but possible. The snake made its way down the building slowly, Annabella wanting it to.

Annabella looked over at the guy she had given the brush to. "You better know what you're doing buddy. Or things won't turn out pretty for you." she threatened. Her fangs showed up in her mouth where her canines were. She licked them a little as a warning before they disappeared back in her mouth again.

Without having to hold the door open anymore, Jonah removed his foot and stepped away, allowing the door to close behind him. With one final tortured groan, a loud scream of heavy metal filled the air for a few seconds as the elevator plummeted past them, slamming into the ground with a heavy thud as the safety brakes squealed in their attempt to slow it down.

Taking a deep breath, Jonah looked at the brush that the cowgirl had managed to retrieve. Even before he saw it he knew that it was the right item (The ghost wouldn't have reacted the way it did if it wasn't) but as he turned his gaze on it, he could feel the bitter rage that was pouring off the thing. He had done his research into the group of people he believed this ghost to have come from and this item and the ghosts appearance gave him a pretty good idea of who it had once been. But that could wait until later!

Kicking the brush back towards the snake girl (Questions for later!) Jonah began to unzip the front of his jumper, reaching inside it for something while ordering the girl to "Snap that thing in half and cross the pieces on the floor. Now!"

Annabella flinched as the elevator gears broke and the elevator plummeted. It was a good thing she got out of there when she did. Otherwise she may have never been standing here.

Annabella caught the thing with her foot, bending over to pick it up quickly. She stayed away from the boy as she brought her knee up and the brush down. She had to do it several times before it broke. She rubbed her knee a bit as she set the pieces down. How exactly was she suppose to cross the pieces of a hair brush? She tried several different ways but just gave up and put the broken handle piece over the bristles.

While he waited rather impatiently for the snake girl to finish the task he had given her, Jonah held an item in each of his hands. In his left was a small white bottle with a label that had some writing on it but the words 'Lighter Fluid' stood out. In his right hand was a cheap, disposable lighter. The kind brought at gas stations.

The moment the girl was clear of the wooden brush, Jonah squeezed the bottle, spraying it with a strong smelling liquid while his right thumb kept trying to bring a flame to life. After the forth strike, the flame caught. Without a moment to lose, the Sin Eater brought the flame down, causing the fluid soaked brush to burst into flame.

For a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of the flames crackling in the silence of the night... then it started. It started at the edge of hearing, but the outcry of vindictive, spiteful rage quickly became a powerful roar that rampaged through the building, cracking and shattering the glass in the windows and shaking the features for a good five seconds before everything went silent.

This silence was different. As it descended, the shadows in the room appeared brighter and the chill in the air was gone. The night seemed... indifferent instead of outright malevolent. After a few moments of this blissful silence, Jonah let out a sigh of relief. "For what it's worth, thank you for helping with this." Was all he said to the snake girl. At least for the moment anyway.

Annabella jumped back, hissing at the flames from startelement more than anything. She looked around as the sound started but ended up covering her ears best she could by the time it quit. She looked around. Great more glass in her skin. This was gonna be fun to get out when she got home. Also known as the junkyard.

Annabella nodded. She chuckled a bit. " When I came in here to chase down my prey, I didn't expect to be hunted by a ghost." she said. She sat down softly, dusting off her jeans and wiping her forehead off. She licked her lips a little with her snake-like tongue. It was forked like a snakes but a bit bigger than a snake tongue. She blinked some sweat away.