Night 65: Sun Room

[unpriest]

[From here]

Abandoning the relatively often traversed hallways, Seishin cautiously followed Silvestri-san into the Sun Room. The sky had cleared up, it seemed, the moonlight coming in from the glass ceiling seeping the lounge in an eerie glow. Though it was not the first time the novelist had visited the area during the night, the difference with its relaxing atmosphere during the day was a striking one.

The sun room was wrapped in complete silence, making the tense air more ominous than it already was. He looked around the area, but the shadows that stretched over the carpet and the walls did not stir at their arrival. Unable to find anything out of the ordinary, the novelist raised his gaze to balconies above them. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make out anything beyond the railing.

At leas the coast appeared to be clear. For now.

Comments

[avengingfists]

They didn't have the cover of clouds and darkness to hide their path, so Ilia didn't even bother trying to turn off her flashlight. If their presence was made known already, they wouldn't have much of a chance once they got into the center of the room anyway. Still, Ilia wasn't going to let them linger if she could help it.

"Let's keep going," she whispered. Reaching out for Seishin's arm, she put a little speed in her steps, hoping to hurry them across. If they could get far enough, whatever might have been lurking here might be too late before they reached the kitchen.

If they weren't so lucky, at least she had Seishin keeping up with her. She could tackle whatever came their way and make sure he made it through before joining him.

[unpriest]

Seishin nodded, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings as he allowed Silvestri-san to lead him through the Sun room. Indeed, it was best not to linger in a place like this. Hopefully, they were able to leave before something would attack them.

[To here]

[skeletonenigma]

[From here.]

With the moonlight shining down into the room, there turned out to be almost no need for the flashlight. There hadn't been moonlight before, had there? Maybe the thick waves of hair had been obscuring the glass ceiling. Either way, the clear night sky tonight was a mixed sign; good in the sense that Skulduggery would hopefully see anything before it attacked, but bad in the sense that anything hiding in here would also have seen him by now.

At least the two people from earlier were nowhere to be seen. No dead bodies or entrails. They could, of course, have disappeared without a trace, but Skulduggery chose to believe they'd made it through just fine.

And then, exactly like when he'd been sitting here this morning, the dreaded rattling sound of that woman's attack seemed to bounce off every single wall, originating from nowhere, ringing in his ears. Skulduggery stopped, shining the flashlight into each corner, preferring not to leave anything to the chance that he might still be hallucinating.

"Do you hear anything?" he asked Rita over his shoulder.

[overlimit]

“There wasn’t much to choose from,” Rita mumbled in response to the comment about her backpack. Had the light been better, one might have been able to see a tinge of redness in her face.

She followed the man inside, pointing the flashlight around to make sure the coast was clear. Although… after last night, she knew she couldn’t trust her eyes alone.

… And sure enough, she could hear it. That eerie rattling sound... there was no source that she could see, but Rita knew what it indicated. When Skulduggery asked if she heard it, she knew it couldn’t be her imagination. That thing was near, and it was surely going to come after them again. “No way…” she hissed, tightening her grip on her flashlight. “I am not doing this again!”

She took off for the Library door, readying her sword whip in case she needed to tear through another wall of hair to get through it. But as the door came into sight, there was no sign of the monster from last night. Nothing but that sound. Rita wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip away; she immediately threw herself at the door, which opened easily, allowing her to dive safely into the Library.

[to here]

[doctor_voodoo]

[From here.]

The Sun Room was silent and empty so far, but that didn't ease Facilier's distrust of the place. He kept close to the entrance, almost hugging the threshold as he carefully craned his head out into the open to scan the area for danger. His Shadow soundlessly stretched itself out upon the wall nearby, just as cautious and attentive as the Bokor.

A few nervous moments later and the room was deemed clear. Despite the lack of monsters, brainwashed patients and outrageous drag queens, Facilier kept close to the wall as his long legs quietly carried him towards the other side of the room. Reaching the exit to the imposing Sun Room brought relief to the Bokor and both he and Shadow helped themselves into the cafeteria.

[To here.]

[doctor_voodoo]

[Back from here.]

Once again Facilier found the Sun Room to be quietly empty. He skulked across the room, keeping to the darkness while avoiding the moon rays cast by the numerous windows. Meanwhile, Facilier's pillow case full of loot seemed to float off his shoulder behind him as the Shadow's long hands took up most of its weight. Despite the help from his shadowy counterpart, Facilier knew he needed to put his newly found goods away soon before any surprise obstacles could pop up on him.

More than halfway across the Sun Room, Facilier had his mind on getting back to his room, but paused when he caught the bulletin board in the corner of his eye. A malicious thought sprouted inside the Bokor's head and he made a bee-line for the board. A twisted smile curled his lips as he snatched up a pen and paper to leave a nasty message for anyone else going through the Sun Room.

It was true that Facilier had chosen the "good doctor" role in Landel's virus scheme, but why not have a little fun while he was at it? Landel wanted him to spook his herd of "sheep" into a self-destructive frenzy, right?

Satisfied, Facilier left the foreboding message behind and exited the Sun Room without a trace.