**
The group turned and looked at Charlotte, who was shaking terribly and facing the castle door.
"What is the matter with you? Do you want to announce to the entire castle that we are here?" Eric hissed from across the hallway.
Charlotte took one step, then two away from the door; slowly she lifted her hand, pointing to the archway above the door. "But...look...look at that..." Charlotte stammered.
One by one the group raised their heads until all were looking at what had frightened Charlotte.
"Soma..." Mina uttered and fell into his arms.
"Don't worry Mina, just don't look at it." Soma said quietly into Mina's ear. He walked away from the door and sat with Mina on the stairway, along with most of the others.
"What do you make of it?" Hector asked.
"I would say that he either knows we are here, or expected that we were coming." Julius stated, turning his back on the door.
Isaac took a place by Eric and turned to Trevor, who had his head lowered, "Trevor, is that...that couldn't possibly a human, could it?"
Trevor raised his head and nodded slowly, "I am afraid so Isaac, it comes as no surprise though."
"What do you mean by that?" Isaac asked.
"What I mean is that we are dealing with Chaos." Trevor replied.
The human in question was hanging from the archway; he or she had their throat cut. It had wooden stakes through both hands and through the feet; it appeared to be an inverted crucifixion. Blood had collected at the base of the door; every couple of minutes blood dripped from the person's mouth or throat, it was hard to tell which.
"Oh God." Yoko said, looking around hurriedly.
"What's the matter, are you going to be sick?" Trevor asked from the stairway.
"No; where are Nathan, Hugh, and Serenity? I don't see them anywhere." Yoko replied, eyes wide she walked over by Julius, "You don't think they're still outside do you?" she continued.
Still holding onto Mina, Soma stated, "Well if they are, then they should be in any minute." The group listened, for what it seemed like hours. Simon moved past Yoko and Julius and stood a few inches from the pool of blood.
"Do you hear anything, any of you?" Simon asked, gazing around. Everyone shook their heads.
"Isaac, what..." Trevor did not get a chance to finish, because at that moment someone, or something, crashed against the door. The ones still sitting on the stairs jumped up and armed themselves.
"What on earth was that?" Yoko asked, taking up a fighting stance.
"Maybe it was Serenity or Nathan trying to get in." Jonathan said through his teeth.
"No, it was something else, something bigger." Eric said walking with a few others to the door. Isaac walked, without notion, across the pool of blood and tried to open the door.
"Are you insane? Don't let that thing in!" Jonathan shouted from the stairs.
Isaac turned with a dark aura about him, "If I don't let that "thing" in, my brother and sister could get killed." and he turned back to the door.
He pushed against it, and then pulled, but the door did not move. "Damn." Isaac said and walked back across the blood pool.
"What's the matter?" Eric asked, not taking his eyes off the door.
"It seems to be stuck." Isaac said, taking out his lance.
"Great, now I guess we have to make even more noise trying to open it." Jonathan scowled walking across the hall.
"Right, if it will not open, then we just have to break the thing." Soma said, unleashing his ax.
"Do not be foolish, we are talking about Serenity, Nathan, and Hugh. They know how to take care of themselves. If we do not move now, we might not get another chance to move about freely." Alucard said, walking up a few stairs.
"But Alu...I mean Adrian, we can't just leave them. What if they're fighting Chaos out there?" Yoko asked.
"No, perhaps Adrian is right. If we are going to move, then we better do it now, before they notice." Trevor said, walking after Alucard.
"I don't believe you two, Trevor, you especially." Yoko snapped, but she too, walked after Alucard.
Eric walked across the blood pool and lightly touched the door, "Be safe you three, do not die on me." he said, then walked back to Adrian and the others.
"Wait, let's make sure who they are fighting. After we do that, we can go. But I must know before we go who they are fighting." Mina and most of the others nodded their heads.
"Very well, just make it fast." Adrian said at the top of the first staircase.
Charlotte quickly paged through her book and started the incantation for the spell that would allow them to see what was happening outside the door. Soon a large blue spell circle appeared in front of her, and within seconds, they could all see what Nathan, Serenity, and Hugh were facing outside.