Alex was staking the location out. He was going to convert this place into a temple to HIS god. Some skulls were around the perimeter watching as well, as Alex prepared a stun grenade.

*Backs into this thread with a truck and drives away*

Just as Alex prepared a stun grenade an arm would grab onto his shoulder. However, it was not the arm of one of the cultist and neither did it seem to be the arm of anyone normal. The arm would be covered in blood in certain spots and Alex might feel a terrifying magical presence behind him. Despite the almost maddening magic presence a calm voice would speak from behind him. "Hold off on that for now. You'll ruin all the fun and it's just begun too." Many cultists would be speaking quietly among themselves regarding this event but their words may prove somewhat vague on the subject as well as if they as well didn't understand exactly what would happen. Cultist A: "You think the ritual today will please them? I've heard someone already see they saw someone who fit the description. It might just be a fanatic though." Cultist B: "Our Lord would never appear normally, it is only through the offering of blood that they will appear to offer their gift. Don't get your hopes too high up."

(A sacrifice of blood? So... they mean to take the life of someone in order to receive a reward from a higher power... Hah, maybe I shouldn't have gotten myself involved.) The shakes her head with a smile, pulling down the brim of her cap. Without much to do but wait, she decides to get a better viewpoint for once the doors open. She slowly makes her way forward, gently attempting to make her way through the crowd to a few rows of people back from the front.

The cultist would continue to speak amongst one another in excited tones before being interrupted by the creaking of the temple door as a man with unnaturally dark red hair would begin smiling. It almost looked as though he used blood to dye his own hair. One of the odder things about the man would be how his eyes glowed with the same light as the odd beacon over the temple and how his teeth seemed unnaturally sharp. Cultist A: "Oh, that's the head priest of the temple. His hair seems much messier than usual? Is he still dying his hair with leftover blood? There's such a thing as too much devotion..." Cultist B: "Better keep your voice down about that. Most may share the sentiment but if one of his personal agents heard that you'd be asked to offer a little more than some of your blood." Despite the ongoing conversation most of the cultist would quiet down, only whispering to each other occasionally. They'd begin walking into the temple as a crowd as the head priest walked further in.

Shotaro lowers the brim of his hat to cover his eyes as he watches the priest step from the open door. His ears would also perk up as he overheard some cultists speaking about the priest's odd fashion habits. "Ah mou... I didn't hear anything about this..." He sighs softly as he begins to follow behind the large group of cultists. He knew it was too late to back down, he couldn't let something this potentially dangerous go unchecked.

(Yuck, blood as a hair dye? No wonder it looked so... crusty.) Due to her placement at the front, a sudden bump from behind would make Valentina forced forwards into the temple, although she'd quickly begin matching their pace to keep herself from looking suspicious. Once inside, the first thing she'd do is take a look around the inside, for what's ahead, then for any upper levels or other fixtures on the wall. If this was some type of sacrifice, she'd need to be ready.

The hallway within the temple would be somewhat narrow causing the crowd to slow down in its movements but after finally getting out of the hall everyone would enter a large circular room that seemed to be at the centre of the temple. All the walls and floors seemed to be painted black and any light there was would be dim making the temple seem darker the further one got inside. The large circular room had four pillar in the middle that seemed to surround stairs that led up to a stage with a large cauldron on top. The liquid inside the cauldron seemed strange. It was dark like ink but it seemed to be moving. As all the cultist seemed to gather around the stage the head priest stood on top to deliver a speech of sorts. Head Priest: "It seems you've all arrived, plus additional guests. That is fine, our temple is always open to new followers or those who would simply wish to observe our ways. It is not the easiest of tasks always for people to learn to accept the "true" god but I'm sure after what you witness here you'll realize that our Lord can be the only true god who watches over this world. As many here know, they are admittingly young for a divine being but it is in our belief that the creator has already abandoned and neglected us. A god who does not care for their people is no god at all so our Lord is the only one we have to rely upon. As always, we will attempt to have them manifest before us once again. We know they are watching but it is yet to be seen if they truly think we are yet worthy of further guidance. All who wish to make an offering to our vampiric lord, step forth and place one hand inside the cauldron. Once you begin offering your blood you may step away to allow others to do the same." Many of the cultists within the room would already begin stepping forward and placing their hands inside the cauldron. Whatever it was that was inside the cauldron it would be hard to see from a distance even as some of the cultists already seemed to be walking away holding something within the sleeves of their robes.

Slowly move forward in the line, Valentina eventually ends up with her hand over the cauldron. She slowly lowers it down right above the liquid, stopping before she'd put it in. She looks over at the people who'd already dipped their hands, then back to the cauldron. (Well, why not.) With that, she plunges her hand into the cauldron, letting the eerie black liquid take it from sight.

Shotaro's brow twitches in annoyance as the priest calls him out in his speech. But that was fine, he was basically given permission to observe... "I don't like it..." He couldn't help but feel like that statement held absolute confidence. It wasn't something he was unaccustomed to, but this felt... much more dangerous. Against his better judgement, he slowly made his way to the cauldron and looked inside it. He then looked back up to the priest and bowed his head before following the rest of the cultists.

Valentina at first would feel nothing from the cauldron, for the most part, it just felt like normal, cold water. Then, suddenly the water would begin moving as if the darkness within was trying to swarm her hand. She would feel something latch onto her hand as a sudden pain flowed through her. The people who'd already dipped their hands in would seem to pull some of the darkness out of the water and into their sleeves but it would be hard to tell exactly what it was they were pulling out as their movements would be much faster than anticipated. The priest would smile back at Shotaro, showing off his sharpened teeth. Within the cauldron would be a dark swarm but it didn't seem to actually be part of the water but more within it. There would also actually be no blood within the water. Shotaro would suddenly feel a tug on the back of their shirt. It wasn't very strong, almost like the pull of a child. Though no children would've been seen among the cultist before. The tug was followed by a fittingly young but calm voice. "Not a follower? Then maybe you'll find what happens next as interesting as I will."

Without turning to face the one tugging on his shirt he simply lowers his hat once more. He would answer the source of the voice in kind, keeping calm despite being thoroughly vulnerable. "Ah mou. What gave it away? It's the hat right?" He pauses. "I'm not sure about that. But as an observer, I ought to give it a chance now don't I?" He fixes his hat back on top of his head before speaking again. "Got a name, friend? Wouldn't do to watch a show without being properly acquainted. You can call me Joker, should it strike your fancy."

The tug on the back of his shirt would seem to stop as the hand in question would just seem to hold onto Shotaro. It would begin answering him calmly as well. "You don't follow what the others say so you are not a follower. I see so many who willingly commit such idiotic acts for attention. It was funny at first but now it's boring. Putting yourself in pain on purpose removes half the point of it. It's refreshing to meet one who would rather watch. A name though? That's something I haven't often given out. You can call me Totsu." The hand would seem to let go of Shotaro finally. The creature on Valentina would seem to be removed rather easily but along with it, blood would drip from her hand, blood that the creature seemed to be trying to suck out. Oddly enough, as if following her example, all the cultist would pull out knives and stab down on their hands but rather than trying to remove the creatures they almost seemed to be trying to open a wound to allow the creatures to suck out more blood. The head priest would smile more as the glow in their eye actually seemed to light the room up. Head Priest: "Yes, the ritual will now soon be complete. I can feel our Lord coming. Their power fills this room!"

"Totsu, huh? Well I can understand your point about not seeing the value of inflicting pain upon yourself... but I'm a bit lost. Are you a follower or no? Your words seem to leave you in a place I can't quite figure out." Feeling the hand let go would prompt Shotaro to try and turn around, but he stops himself. He didn't have time to face the person behind him anyways, not with the priest's declaration. "I suppose the show is about to begin then... get ready Philip..." The last bit of his statement was uttered just under his breath as he lowered his hat to block the growing light.

After stowing the knife, Valentina looks back towards the cauldron, and at the man seemingly talking to himself as well as the Head Priest. She decides to make her way over to him, leaving the group to circle around the room until she returned to the stairway up to the cauldron. Once there, she lets out a quiet "ahem" as she walks up to Shotaro, trying not to startle him him. "I'm going to assume you're another 'guest'. Not having fun?"

A sudden change would occur in the head priest as if something suddenly snapped together in his head. The cauldron's water would also begin turning to a blood red and then to a deep crimson as a red vapour began floating out of it, like a stream of malice. The priest would begin laughing as the whole room seemed to turn to a shade of red as well. The strange black creatures would burrow into the flesh of the cultists as they began screaming in agony. Cultist A: "No! No! I would offer my blood but I-" Before he could finish his sentence his body seemed to destabilize as he melted into a puddle of blood full of the black creatures. The others would soon follow one by one, each reaching the same fate. The head priest would just keep laughing as blood began to drip from his eyes as well. Head Priest: "I-I get it! I must be the crimson god, right? That can be the only explanation! The voice I hear, it is mine! The blood they offer, it is mine! This realm of existence, it is mine!" He'd begin pulling out a golden dagger and slowly walking towards Shotaro and Valentina. Valentina would've clearly noticed by now but there was no one behind Shotaro.

Hearing a woman's voice come up from behind him he'd turn to face her. "Er, something to that effect. Just really intrigued by all of this stuff you kn-" His train of thought would be lost as the cultists began screaming out. He spun around just in time to see them become nothing more than puddles of blood. There was a ringing in Shotaro's ears as his brain tried to comprehend what exactly was going on. Was it actually something occult? Was it possible a Dopant was at the bottom of this? His head was spinning faster and faster until he heard the priest speak once more. His breathing became steady and his eyes turned to focus on the man approaching him. In this moment, he knew nothing mattered but protecting the lives that remained. "Not sure about this voice you're hearing. But that blood and this realm of existence... they don't belong to you. Hate to break it to you, but my role as an observer is done." He puts his right hand on his hat to adjust it and with his left he'd make a finger gun to point at the priest. "Now, count up your sins." With the pose and catchphrase out of the way, he would rush forward and attempt to grab the arm holding the knife.

Alex was suddenly bored, waiting for anything and getting nothing really sucks. He entered the building with a small posse of skeletons around him, shouting "Skeleton army!!"