After everything was said and done she was more tired than she had been this afternoon. Although she should have seen it coming all things considered. There would be someone that wouldn't leave well enough alone and would force tensions to rise unnecessarily. Sleeping had become a faint memory now and so she didn't sleep at all, instead the woman laid awake in her room, watching as the moonlight reflected off of the surface of the river waters as it rain into the ocean. Fresh water mixing with the salty sea. Her heart ached, it ached for the situation that her group was now in and it ached for the decisions that she had to make. She didn't think that she was doing the right things but then what else was there to do? Let them run all over them? She didn't think she could do that and there had to be necessary evils now but at what cost? Slowly the leader exited her home, making her way along the boardwalk. Blood still marred her body, a shocking contrast to the coffee cream and tan of her form. Though at the moment she hardly exuded confidence and strength. There was a heaviness to her steps, a tiredness that dragged at her limbs the more she tried to move on forward and forget the mess she was in.

If only she could forget. Blinking exhausted green eyes the hellhound shifted herself and started to make her way to the beach. Maybe looking at the denizens of the tide pools might soothe her soul and allow her to get a few hours of sleep in. She could only hope that her idea worked. Cream colored paws felt the ground change and shift, from thick grass to the fine grains of thick and wet sand that was familiar to her. The sea breeze brushed through her thick pelt allowing her to cool down and stay calm right now. The ocean was always a comfort to her and being this close to it seemed to put her weary mind at ease. Even so she felt so torn down right now and she struggled to keep her mind from wandering down paths of negativity. Sinking down to her haunches the hellhound would let out a rough sigh, tails shifting against the sands as she allowed her head to lower and peer at one of the tidepools. Yet a reflection off the surface of the water caught her attention.

There was a darkness, thick and unyielding in the air and skimming over her form. Her breath ghosted up in front of her face and she had to wonder how she had not realized how cold it had gotten and so suddenly. Whatever it was seemed to be effecting her as a sudden sharp terror seized her, caused her throat to seem to close up on her and she struggled to let out any kind of sound as it slowly wrapped around her. Thick tendrils of black that ensnared and wrapped around her muzzle as her eyes slowly began to roll into the back of her head. It forced her mouth open and those same tendrils began to slid down her throat, a gagging and gurgling sound lifting up into the air from the intrusion. The darkness seemed like a figure, ever morphing to fit it's own needs and it was trying to take hold. Blood welled up and spilled out of Marina's eyes and a pain began to erupt in her chest as more and more of the wraith pushed into her body. It was trying to posses her and the faint thought of this seemed so quiet in her mind. There was a lull that perhaps she should just let it happen...then she wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

But then what of her friends? What of the family she had come to know and what of Pincher? What would it do to them? A coldness was seeping into her paws, turning her limbs numb and she collapsed on her side. The impact a light thud as her mind grew ever darker but she couldn't just let this thing win. She couldn't. Her back legs kicked harshly and she started to cough violently, digging her claws into the ground with such savage force that it caused her body to buck up. No, no, get out! Her ferocity seemed to work even if it was more weak than it should be and the wraith made a high pitched keening noise as it started to lose it's hold on her body, spirit, and mind. It had been drawn here by her weakness and it seemed it had not to think she might have some strength left in her. Like a whip it withdrew from her a scream echoing into the darkness as it vanished. It left Marina with a soul sucking hollowness, empty and devoid of emotion. She felt sick and leaning over against the ground she vomited, a thick black substance she couldn't even begin to understand what it was. Eyes barely open she just laid there against the sands of the beach, water washing over her fallen form and gaze locked on nothing, seeing nothing.

"SPEECH"