Night 57: Main Hallway, 1-East

[inherited]

[from here]

As far as Riku knew—which wasn't a reliable piece of information in the least—this was approaching new territory for him. It was the first time he tempted fate by going somewhere without one of his friends since he first woke up in this place. If it wasn't Sora or Kairi that was there with him, it was Naminé; to some degree, each one had been there for him on the various nights that passed. Before, it hadn't been a guarantee for success; maybe part of the concern was that there were too many feelings involved. When he worked before, cloaked with the blindfold that hid his worries and fears, he was weighed down by the need to do something for his friends, if not their actual presences.

It was a thought that he needed to stall immediately. That was agreeing with the Shadow, after all. Then again, that Shadow wouldn't have expected him to have gained one still unknown comrade for the night. His impression of this guy wasn't fully made up yet, but it was getting there fast. Even if he had a gun and he was young—which, for anyone else, might actually make them stall, but Riku had been promised heroic adventures at the age of five by a stranger with brown hair—he still had a head on his shoulder and an obviously distinct way of being.

Riku realized that as they grew closer to where this med wing was that if he was getting here with Sora or Kairi, he wouldn't be trying out the drugs for a change in his experience. Neither of them would let him, and his own guilt would be overridden by his sense to accomplish something. But they weren't here tonight. He had no way of knowing if they were even still in Landel's. Any plans he could make were based off maybes, so he had to focus on now.

He slowed considerably to glance down toward Albedo. The guy still had a question to answer, and it seemed wise to get that out of the way before they had these drugs in their systems.

Comments

[mirthful]

"I just did what the motherfuckin' ringmaster said. Jump through the hoop and get a prize, right? Weren't the only one who did." But then he hadn't seen any others looking like he was. Perhaps all the options were different and he'd just had bad luck with his. Should he still try and tell them not to go on?

He stepped a bit closer still and reached an arm out toward the closest. "I can't be dead though, right? I mean, I didn't all feel it. My body ain't all layin' nowhere that I seen." Of course, having not died before he really had no idea how that was supposed to work out. Maybe he couldn't see his body, or it was back somewhere he'd already passed up without realizing it.

"One of you motherfuckers can do somethin' for me, right? I gotta get better or whatever so I can see my best friend. I can't all do that like this!" There were tears welling up in the corners of his eyes now, and he wouldn't even be able to tell that they weren't the usual indigo. When was the last time he'd cried over anything?

[vitale.livejournal.com]

Why was she worried about her when it was clearly Lana the one that was in trouble? "I'm fine, but we need to get out of here right now," she hissed to the unnamed girl, panic clearly beginning to form on her face. Why hadn't Lana listened -

Suddenly, the boy was moving towards Lana, and Bella moved instantly, even as he reached an arm out towards the older woman. Reaching out, the teenager grabbed onto the elder's arm hopefully hard enough to at least pull her away from the boy, looking at Lana with wide eyes. "We need to get out of here, right now. No, really. I mean it. I will explain later but we need to just get away from here before he starts to freak out. Trust me on this, okay? Please?"

The last thing she wanted was to go through that shit again. But even if they didn't listen, she just ... couldn't up and leave the two of them alone. That just wasn't fair, especially considering they were all still stuck in the same place. Even if the boy was a prisoner just like them, right now he was dangerous, and they needed to get the heck out of the dodge.

"I don't know what's wrong with you," Bella told the boy, frowning. "Maybe ... going back to the Med Ward or something will do you some good. You know. Find some. ... Medication that helps being ... invisible. Or something like that."

[fourstonewalls]

Lana swallowed, and summoned confidence she didn't feel. What good was too much experience lying to everyone, including children, if it couldn't be put to good use, after all? Bella was grabbing her, but she braced her feet against the floor and stood her ground.

"These things rarely span more than a night, but I doubt another dose will improve anything. You'll be fine in the morning." And if he wasn't, he'd have someone to be angry at that he could actually confront. Anger was a healthy reaction, but bottling it up would just result in bitterness and eruptions of rage, neither of which would help anything.

She put a hand over Bella's. "I wasn't aware that he could affect us, beyond a little chill. But if you're worried, go ahead. I'll catch up."

"I do hope this has made you reconsider taking any yourself," she added, still directed at Bella. She'd planned to stop her by whatever means necessary, though she hadn't expected them to walk up to the party.

[ultimagi]

So were they... running away now? Between Lana's encouraging dismissal and Bella's nearly frantic gestures, the girl could only assume that leaving was the path before them now.

She could determine if the boy were alive or dead--just one spell could do that--but it looked like they wouldn't have time. Not if they were leaving now. The girl looked to Bella with a weak shrug to her shoulders. She was the one who seemed so desperate to get away; in that case, she could lead.

What were they so afraid of?

[mirthful]

They were moving away from him. They didn't want him to touch them. This bothered Gamzee more than any threat they possibly could have posed him. He didn't want others shying away from him. He needed help, not to be left alone in empty hallways when he couldn't even lay his hands on anything without them passing through.

One of them said he'd be alright in the morning. How would that work, though? He supposed he could believe her, given how they all woke up in their beds after a certain period of time as if nothing had happened. He wanted to believe her, that miracles would come and fix everything and he'd no longer be this ghost form of who he was supposed to be, but it was just so hard to do that right now.

The troll sniffled a little. "Let me come with you, yeah?"

[vitale.livejournal.com]

Panicking. Bella was panicking. Lana obviously didn't believe her, which instantly caused anger to well up in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want this girl to get hurt, but if she refused to listen -

She moved away from the older woman and the ghost child quickly, moving back towards Miss No Name. The last thing she wanted was this new girl, unknown to everything, to get those horrible burns that she had received those few nights ago. What an outstanding first impression she would have on the two of them then - unable to save her from the dangers of the institute, even though they were the ones who had been there longer.

Just then, the ghost boy asked to travel with them. Oh god oh god oh god oh god, Bella's internal monologue cried out, and the girl kept her back to Lana and the ghost, looking towards the floor with wide eyes. They couldn't say no, could they. He was still a patient like they were - right?

And she couldn't just up and leave Lana, either. I'm so sorry, Edward, she thought to herself, shutting her eyes tightly before opening and sighing, looking up to the blonde with a worried expression, fingers reaching up to run into her own hair so she could push it out of her eyes. "I guess we shouldn't go to the new place, then. I don't know where else to go, though. Sorry."

[fourstonewalls]

"I don't see much harm in observing the situation, though." It might jog Jane's memory; hadn't amnesia been part of the last round? When Ema had gotten so frightened, and Lana had made things worse by tripping over shadows.

"You don't have to stay with us, Bella, if you're too frightened." It wasn't a kind thing to say to the girl, who wasn't that much older than the boy, but she couldn't watch over three people at once, and she did have a little experience with teenagers.

"Do you want us to go in there with you?" She stepped closer and looked down at the boy. Then she stepped back, unconsciously; it was cold. "See if we can find anything more about what's done this to you?" Aside from a wide-scale criminal organization specializing in medical savagery, that was.

[ultimagi]

She had no idea what to do. Between Bella's reactions and those of the ghost, she felt uncertain. Why were they acting the way they were? Bella seemed so frightened of the thing, but why? And he seemed so upset by the idea of being alone. Why? They weren't things she understood at all.

Lana, at least, seemed the most steady in feeling, if not in action. Why did she move forward and back like that?

Casting her attention between the three of them--the shaking, terrified Bella, the depressed, mournful ghost, and the caring, careful Lana--the girl called Jane simply looked confused.

"If...," she started, her tone uncertain from simple uncertainty alone; neither fear nor the obvious chill seemed to have hold on her. "If Bella's going... and Lana's staying... what should I do?"

[mirthful]

It looked like he was causing trouble for them. That wasn't what he'd meant to do. He hadn't wanted them to separate on his account. At the same time, Gamzee couldn't get himself to leave them alone. Anyone who acknowledged his existence was a lifeline.

"I won't all hurt you none. Promise. Look, I wouldn't even be able to touch a motherfucker." He reached out toward the wall then, and his hand passed right through as if it was merely an extension of the air around them. An illusion. How could they expect him to be able to cause any real trouble now? There was nothing at all solid about him.

He couldn't feel the chill around him anymore and therefore had no reason to believe he'd cause any of them any harm should he come in contact with them.

[vitale.livejournal.com]

Leave? Bella frowned, turning to look at Lana over her shoulder. "I'm not leaving," the teenager told her in a grumble, letting out a sigh. "Just. Worried. Because of past experience."

She just had to hope for the best. Maybe things would be fine. They had to be; she couldn't think otherwise, or else she'd be paranoid and twitchy the rest of the night, and no one wanted that ... especially herself. Maybe the ghost boy wouldn't freak out and scream at them like the little boy she had seen had done. Maybe things would be all right.

"Besides," she continued, running her fingers through her hair. "It's best to look, anyway. Especially for future reference. This is kind of ... a rare thing, right? I've never heard of the Medical Wing being open, and I've been here for ... at least almost two weeks."

How could an entire wing of somewhere be closed, especially when it dealt with health? It made no sense.

[fourstonewalls]

"We'll go together, then." It seemed to be up to her to lead, even if they were walking into something she had no business taking a bunch of minors.

She couldn't help curiosity; she hadn't been here quite as long, but that wasn't an obstacle. And she had no concern over resisting the temptation to consume anything they found there; if brainwashing or coercion was involved, they could have just as easily plucked her directly from her bed.

She spun on her toe and marched towards the door before any of them could lose their nerve or raise another objection.

[to here]