Ashlyn and the group dashed away from the onslaught of phantoms starting to circle around them. As they neared the house, Dominique noticed a couple phantoms closer to the banner household than themselves, starting to run towards the group with jeering grins.
Dom looked toward them, throwing her staff and piercing two through the head, watching with cold eyes as their body's slumped to the ground. Ashlyn sent a thankful look back to Dom, clicking a button on her vest and setting off a light trap to catch the rest of them. Logan, from above the bus, commented that there were a couple coming from the east side of the house, which was the direction they were running in.
Dom held her hand out, her eyes flashing as her staff reacted to her, throwing itself to her outstretched palm as spun in slightly, slicing a phantom through its midsection and splitting another's neck in a powerful swing.
As the group arrived at the jeep, they let relived relieved smiles slip past their lips; Taylor shouting happily at the fact that they hadn't tragically failed in their mission.
But- it seemed she jinxed it.
As Ashlyn pushed her finger down to unlock the jeep, it didn't budge, causing her to pale slightly.
"I thought you said you left the keys inside!" Tyler shouted, stressed at their current situation as Ashlyn run her hand through her hair.
"I did! One of my parents must've grabbed it or something!" She countered, slamming her hand onto the side of the car in defeat and cursing slightly.
Logan reached for his walkie-talkie, informing Dominique that the group seemed to be having problems getting inside the jeep. As she peered over, she noticed Ashlyn pointing a finger toward her house and gesturing to the rest of them; saying that they would be going inside.
Dominique swung back around from the abode, focused on picking off as many phantoms as she could to buy the group as much time as possible. Deciding for efficiency over style; she spilt her staff back into two halves, running through the phantoms and using the shadows around her to add strength through her swings. Right now, she wasn't aiming to kill them. She was trying to incapacitate as many as possible to stop them from reaching Ashlyn's front porch.
A couple moments later, Dominique had finished slashing through a phantoms legs before her walkie revved to life, static cackling lightly through it as Logan's panicked voice rang through.
"DOM! THE ROOF! I CAN'T GET A CLEAR SHOT!"
Dominique whirled around in panic, her eyes seething as she gazed over a phantoms figure, straddling a barely-conscious Ashlyn as Aiden collapsed on the porch, holding his ankle in pain as he desperately gestured to the roof from Dom to see.
Dominique's hand reached behind her, her eyes flashing as she fired a blast of shadowy energy from her palms, knocking the rest of the phantoms back into the light of the graveyard, watching as they screamed and disintegrated.
Dominique kicked into a sprint, twisting the two halves of her staff back together and swinging it over her head. As she neared the house, she slammed the blade of her staff down on the ground, firing energy into the glass and launched herself into the air, shadows pushing any looking phantoms back from around her as she landed on the roof.
Stabling her footing, she raised her hand, twisting the staff through her fingers and setting her eyes on a struggling Ashlyn.
"DOMINIQUE!" Ashlyn pleaded, her sight switching frantically between the phantom above her and a wide-eyed Dom. Steeling her nerves, Dominique ran up the roof's tiles, keeping her gaze on her incapacitated friend.
Ash was panicking, her strength was giving in on her and she could feel the phantoms slimy breath fanning her face, and its wide, glowing eyes gazing manically into hers. Her gaze was spinning and her head dropped with crimson blood, pooling around the roof's tiles and dripping off their edges.
Ash looked up to the phantom, her arms shaking as she closed her eyes. Her limbs finally gave out on her, and just as the phantom leaned down, aiming to take a bite out of her skull, she could feel it still.
She opened her eyes, confused and slightly relieved.
And that's what she saw it.
A glowing, pointing tooth sticking out of its chest, hovering just above Ashlyn's heart. She peered up, spotting a cold-eyed Dominique staring down at the deceased phantom with a glare.
She ripped her staff out of its body, kicking it down the side of the roof with the swing of her heel. Ashlyn stared up at Dom, looking with thankfulness coating her gaze as leaned up slightly.
"You okay, Ash?" Dominique asked, worry coating her tone as she leaned down, holding her hand out to Ash who sighed out, nodding lightly and reaching for Dominique's outstretched hand.
But that's when she felt a tug at the loop of her pants.
The phantoms claw had gotten tangled in the belt look of Ashlyn's cargos, and as its body fell, it pulled her down with it.
Panicked, Ashlyn desperately reached her hand for Dominique's; who leaned down, her eyes wide in horror.
Their fingertips brushed.
"NO!" Ashlyn screamed, clawing at the tiles of her roof, trying desperately to stay on top. She saw a frozen Dominique, and she shouted for her, tears falling lightly from her eyes.
"DOM!"
Ashlyn felt her fingertips leave the roof, falling through the air as she reached upward, trying carelessly to cling onto anything that could break her fall.
Ash could've sworn she felt time slow around her, starting up to the blood-red sky as her vision blurred. She could feel the wind rushing around her figure, her hair flailing around her and coating her head in a ginger halo.
She closed her eyes, tears falling from her eye-ducts as she cried out.
But, she felt her body jolt at the feeling of a hand grabbing her arm, pulling her from her fall.
She opened her teary eyes, gazing down at the horde of phantoms gathered around where she would've fallen, looking up at her with hungry, soulless smiles. She clung her palm desperately around the other holding her as she hung, suspended over the phantoms as they roared.
Hearing an anguished cry from above her, she gazed up to see a panting Dominique. She had stabbed her staff into the side of the roof, jumping down after Ashlyn and grabbing her arm, grazing her other hand over the cool metal of her staff and holding them both in the air.
"Dom..." Ashlyn whispered out, looking at her with wide eyes. Dom let out a cry, pulling Ashlyn up with all the upper-body strength she could muster. She could feel her hand slipping slightly on the metal of her staff, as she grasped her fingers around it with all her strength.
"Fuck." She panted, grimacing as she finally managed to pull Ashlyn's fingers around the tin of the gutter running around her roof. She saw Ashlyn pulling herself onto the tiles, scooting herself away from the edge and pulling her knees to her chest.
With a grunt, Dom managed to pull herself back up onto the roof, standing up on slightly shaky legs and pulling her staff from the house's complexion.
She let out a breath of exhaustion, rolling her shoulder lightly and closing her eyes, feeling the air tickle her skin as she smiled greatfully.
She felt arms wrap around her waist, a shell-shocked Ashlyn burying her face into the girls side with shaking fingers. Looking down with a soft smile, Dominique slid her staff into her hollister on her back, scooping Ashlyn up in her arms bridal-style and pressing a soft, comforting kiss to Ashlyn's forehead, whispering against her lightly.
"I've got you."
"She needs help." Dominique stated, handing a dizzy Ashlyn to Aiden, who breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of the two.
Aiden's arms wrapped around a conscious Ashlyn, who pulled herself through the window with a grunt, backing away and making room for Dominique to make her way through.
Ash wrapped her upper arm around Taylor, who supported her weight as Dominique made her way through the window, cursing under her breath as she felt her shoulder swell angrily at her movement.
"Hey. You okay, Dom?" Tyler asked, his fingertips brushing over where Dominique held her shoulder in discomfort with her opposite hand. He gazed into her eyes as she replied with a small smile, waving off his worry.
"I'm okay, Ty. We need to get out of here ASAP. You got the keys?" She looked around the group, her eyes stilling on Taylor; who held the Jeep's keys up in the air with a satisfied, relieved smile.
"Tyler, you carry Ashlyn. And Ben, you carry Aiden. Either of you can switch with Dominique if you need. Dom, you still okay to drive?" Taylor instructed, then looked toward Dominique who smiled in reply.
"Yes ma'am."
As Taylor turned away and blushed lightly at Dominique's words, the group was interrupted when a loud crash of glass sounded from downstairs in the household. Taylor quickly chucked the keys to Dominique, who stuffed them into one of the Velcro-slipped pockets of her cargos.
She reached behind her, pulling her staff from its Hollister and holding it beside her waist as she glanced around the unnerved group.
She tore her headlight from her head, walking toward Ashlyn and securing it around hers, assuming Ash's had fallen off from the fall on the roof.
"We walk in a formation. We have every angle concerned with light as we make our way out the house. Does everyone understand me?" Dominique spoke, walking towards the door of the room as everyone nodded, refastening their flashlights and sending a look towards Dom, admitting they were ready.
Dom kicked the door open, impaling a phantom between its eyes when she heard it shuffle through the wood of the door, not deciding in giving it any chance to react. Taylor came up beside her, pointing her flashlight toward another clinging to the ceiling as it shrieked at the exposure. Dominique nodded at her, gesturing for Tyler to cover the window as another phantom broke through the glass.
"Well this is intense." Aiden intelligently addressed the situation the group had found themselves in, swinging around to cover any phantoms that Tyler couldn't with his own light.
"On me, guys!" Dominique ordered, steeping out of the room and slowly making her way down the hall, spinning her staff between her fingers and building up velocity to kill any other phantoms the group around her couldn't cover.
As the group circled each other; Dominique let out a noise of disbelief at the amount of phantoms that had ransacked and accumulated in Ashlyn's living room.
"Holy shit." Taylor spoke up from beside her, eyeballing the figures that stared at the group with wicked grins. Dominique squeezed Taylor's hand comfortingly, nodding toward her and letting her quivering hand go.
Dominique stepped forward, slashing the front three or four phantoms blocking the staircase through their stomach's, grunting lightly at the pain that rose in her shoulder. The group quickly stepped forward, covering the new ground and pointing their flashlights in every possible attention, trying to avoid the possibility of their massacre.
The group inched their way out the house, reaching the car as they gathered around it. Dominique motioned for Tyler and Ben to place Aiden and Ashlyn in the backseat.
They backed back out, covering for Taylor to get into the front passenger seat. The three stood against the car, not noticing a phantom crawling onto the roof of the jeep, jeering at them hauntingly.
They stilled as a loud bang cut through the atmosphere, looking toward where Logan had his scope raised in the direction of the deceased phantom. As the other creatures gazed at where the shot had come from, Dominique opened the drivers-side door, taking advantage of the phantoms distraction and shoving her staff into its hollister over her back, shouting for Tyler and Ben.
"GET IN!"
They quickly clambered into the back seat, crawling over Aiden and Ashlyn and finding squishing into the seats. Smirking, Dominique slammer the gas pedal to the floor of the car, shielding her gaze with her forearm, shouting for the group to duck as Phantom claws pierced through the windows of the car, splashing glass through the jeep.
Dominique threw the steering wheel to one side, drifting against the pavement of Ashlyn's driveway and speeding away from the horde. Ashlyn raised her walkie to her lips, pressing down on it and shouting.
"LOGAN! THE BUTTON!"
"O- okay!" He stuttered through, panicking and rising from the roof of the bus, sliding down the ladder and planting his feet on the grass. He raced over to the wall of of the graveyard's compound and slammed his hand down on the button. As he breathed out, he raised his walkie to his lips and shouted back through.
"COME ON, DOM!"
Just as the door to the graveyard swung open, a manic Dominique swerved her way through the gate, slamming her heel on the breaks and watching as Logan pushed his hand back down on the button, gazing as the doors swung back closed behind the jeep.
Dominique's door squeezed open, pieces of glass hanging from the window falling to the floor. The group watched as she made her way out of the drivers seat, laughing lightly and cheering her fist in the air.
"FUCK YES!" She shouted, smiling into the air as Logan made his way over, fastening his arms around her in relief. Dominique lifted him up, swinging him though the air as he smiled, crying tears of joy and burying his face into her side.
Taylor made her way over next, crashing into Dominique and sending them both tumbling to the floor, laughing in bliss. Dominique's hands fastened around her hips, picking them both up lightly and watching with amused eyes as Tyler rushed out of the car, holding his hand over his mouth and emptying the contents of his stomach behind one of the abandoned buses.
Aiden limped over, tumbling into Dominique and snatching the keys from her hand, holding them up in the air and whooping with happiness. Dominique reached her hand around his shoulders, laughing merrily and messing his hair around with her hand.
"WE FUCKING DID IT!" Dom repeated in disbelief, tears of joy stinging her eyes as she laughed with no worries in the world. Tyler wiped his mouth with his hand, his eyes fondly gazing at Dominique and breathing out his own sigh of relief.
"Yeah. We were pretty great, huh." He chuckled, watching as Taylor ran over to him and ruffled his hair, pulling him around by his shoulders.
"Great?! We were awesome!!" Aiden shouted, leaning against Dominique slightly. Dom guided him back to the jeep, where she spotted a relieved looking Ashlyn. She quickly stood Aiden against the car, walking over to Ashlyn and lifting her hand to her jaw, tilting her head from side to side and assuring herself that she was okay. Ashlyn's hand reached up, placing itself against Dom's and gliding her thumb against the back of her palm, sending an assuring smile back to Dom.
Dominique nodded, sliding her another, more hesitant glance before walking over to Ben. She smiled, wrapping her arms around him; Ben bringing her into his chest and kissing her forehead lightly, running his hand through her hair. She leaned up, whispering into his ear.
"You okay, Benny?" She asked quietly, receiving a gentle hum from him only she could hear. She sent him a surprised glance, looking him over with shocked eyes as he just shook his head fondly, bringing her back into him and stroking the back of her neck with his thumb.
"Fuck, Dom. Remind me to never piss you off with a staff in your hand." Tyler shivered as the group blanched, nodding in agreement. Dom just chuckled, pulling away from Ben lightly as she looked over the group, placing a hand lightly over Ben's heart behind her. Ben bought the pad of his fingers to his lips, peppering them in a kiss and placing them against Dom's hand; who smiled in response, pulling her hand away from him and looking back toward the group.
"I don't need a staff to fuck you up, Tyler." She smirked at him, watching as he flushed slightly and looked away from her figure, his mind fluttering over the suggestive nature of her words.
Aiden made grabby hands for her staff, to which she chuckled and pulled it off her back, drawing her sheathes from one of her cargo pockets and placing them over the blades, tossing him the weapon. He grasped it between his hands, laughing manically and swinging it around, trying to imitate Dominique's fighting from earlier.
"I didn't know you had gotten such a handle on that shadowy stuff, Dom." Ashlyn spoke up from her seat, glancing at Dominique with a curious gaze. Dom just shrugged, stretching her arm slightly as she felt her shoulder pop again, the pain subsiding slightly as she sighed in relief.
"I didn't, really. I kinda just imagined it as an extension of my movements, or a burst of energy." She replied simply, holding out her palm and watching as small shadows sparked to life. At her bleak response, Taylor sighed out dramatically, racing back over to Dominique and pouncing on her, giggling childishly.
"Still, Dom. There's no way we could've pulled that off without your skills. You're really incredible."
Dominique looked down at Taylor in disbelief, the group shouting out in agreement- or in some cases, nodding.
Dom looked over to a quiet Logan, who had one of his arms strewn over his chest and a saddened look over his face. Dom tapped Taylor on the shoulder, shooting a glance to Logan as she nodded in understanding.
"Personally, I think Logan was pretty amazing. A prefect shot through the head of that phantom on top of the car, I saw it with my own eyes."
Logan looked up with a shocked gaze as Dominique stood beside him, pushing him lightly into the centre of the group as everyone showered him with praises.
"We wouldn't have made it out of there without you, Logan." Tyler addressed Logan, looking toward him with grateful eyes and a thankful smile.
Logan just flushed at the praise, waving his hands in the air and mumbling.
Ashlyn looked toward a smiling Dominique, a thoughtful peer painted over her face.
'Without Dom, I would've-'
She cut herself off from thinking about the what-ifs. She had made it out of there with the help of everyone, even if it was especially Dominique. She had saved her.
And she couldn't be more grateful.
"We totally gotta do something to celebrate!" Aiden cheered, chucking the keys of the jeep into the air and catching them again, everyone looking toward him with sparkly gazes.
Noticing Ashlyn's gaze, Dominique looked over, walking toward where Ashlyn sat in the backseats of the jeep. She wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pulling her up with her strength and looking down at her.
"You okay there? Pretty quiet, Ash." Dom questioned, looking down at the girl in her arms with a slightly concerned gaze. Dom heard Ash chuckle, before looking up at the group with fond eyes and a light blush dusting her cheeks.
"Never better. Just a bit-," she paused, stumbling over her feet slightly as Dom started to panic, feeling her weight slip from her frame.
"Dizzy." She finished, breathing out slightly and falling forward. Thankfully, Dominique caught her and looked her over with distraught eyes.
"Ash?!"
fin. (Finally)
3325 words
that was so long I actually can't (this took me 4.5 hours to write)
I'm devoted to my craft what can I say.
ALSO!!! DOMINIQUE'S ENERGY/SHADOW ATTACKS/BLASTS LOOKS LIKE MR. NEGATIVE'S FROM SPIDER MAN PS4/5
PLEASE LOOK IT UP IF YOURE HAVING A HARD TIME IMAGINING IT- IT WILL BE EASIER TO DESCRIBE THAT WAY!!!!
THANK YOU!!!