Night 67: Main Hallway, 1-West

[ofthemotions]

[from here --and waiting for Ryusei!]

There still wasn't a lot of people in the halls, and it was starting to make him nervous. Maybe he should try to find someone to hang out with tonight. Snow and Celty had insisted on how Mikado shouldn't be alone at night--it wouldn't hurt to take their advice. But it would be strange to just go up to someone and ask to walk around with them.

...Wouldn't it?

He made a face, and paused in the hall, looking around. He was more aware of the bandages covering his eye in the dim, and even wearing his own clothes didn't negate that uncomfortability. He was suddenly starting to think he should have just stayed inside.

Comments

[earthling]

Claude didn't really see what was so embarrassing about how long it took to make the sheath. Being trapped here wasn't like traveling across fields and forests and having time to work beside a campfire for the night. But before he could say anything, they ran into Luke and Anise.

He smiled at the two, pleased to see them both in one piece. Of course, once he caught wind of the heavy atmosphere between his friends, he grew concerned along with Guy, and his grin faded.

Well, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened, he supposed. Claude just hoped they didn't have another major crisis on their hands. What if Anise's symptoms had returned? His eyebrows anxiously furrowed together.

"You're not feeling sick, are you?"

[gald_digger]

Killed? Anise's eyes widened, but she knew better than to make a big scene. That turned out to be the right thing to do, as Luke went on to voice his suspicions in a hushed manner. "A patient? You mean... who did it?" she asked in a harsh whisper, eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure?"

It wasn't unheard of; Anise only needed to remember Sync and Dahlia to understand how horrible some patients could be to one another. But it wasn't just the fact that someone was dead that disturbed her. The fact that it happened so early in the night... did someone plan that, or was the victim just really unlucky? Although, there was the chance that they were sick and changing, and whoever did it had no choice...

Before Luke could answer, however, they were joined by Guy and Claude, who (just like Anise) seemed to be in good spirits until they picked up on the mood. When Claude asked about her health, Anise quickly shook her head. "No, it's not that." Actually, she wanted to ask Claude how he was, but it was probably best to let Luke clear things up first. Besides, if Claude was smiling on his way there, it was a big hint that things had gone well for him. They could share the details about their recoveries once this was out of the way.

[dispersive]

"I think--!" Out of the corner of his eye, Luke noticed Guy and Claude were making their way over. Their conversation had been interrupted, but it was for the best. If he had to bring them all up to date then he may as well do it only once. When Anise gave him a silent go ahead, he turned his attention to the two blonds. Despite the bad start of the evening, he was happy to see Claude doing well.

"Well... There was a body left outside the hallway--My hallway. I was telling Anise that it was messy, like a pack of monsters got to it, you know? But..." Luke had his doubts. They weren't big enough to make any real declaration; however, it would be foolish of him not to gauge all angles. "... There were no prints on the floor. Doesn't that sound kinda suspicious? I mean, wouldn't you have to plan for that? Animals don't plan..."

His eyes met each of his friends, hoping they could connect the dots. He didn't enjoy insinuating that another person would be heartless to kill a fellow victim. But he also didn't want to run blindly through the institute without considering the possibility. "Then again, this place is so bizarre... Maybe the monster had wings, or--Wait!" Luke called out suddenly with a serious curiosity. "There aren't ghost around here, are there?!" That could have been it! What if some vengeful spirit had grabbed the guy and slaughtered him? How could they protect themselves from something invisible. "That must be it... Ohh, man... Maybe! Maybe it's watching us right now!"

In a matter of seconds, Luke thrust his light up at the ceiling and around the walls to catch any ghostly eavesdropping.

[nobleman]

It was a good thing that Anise immediately assured them that her illness had nothing to do with their moods, but the actual reality of things wasn't much better. As soon as Luke explained what had happened, along with his suspicions, Guy sent a quick glance around them. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but if a patient really had been involved, then they would have gone to great lengths to make sure they didn't stand out. After all, leaving a dead body out for everyone to see was a pretty bold move.

Luke's initial guess was probably right, but Guy wasn't surprised when Luke tried to find another explanation. There were other things that would be easier to swallow, but Guy figured that they needed to face the reality of what had happened.

Then again, he had heard some stories... "I've heard people mention ghosts before, but I don't think it's that common," he said with a sigh. "Whatever or whoever it was, it's probably long gone by now." In fact, Guy's guess was that a transformed patient was to blame. That thought made him sick, but it seemed the most likely, especially if the body had been torn apart in the way Luke had described.

"We'll need to keep our guard up, even more than usual. I'm not sure there's anything else we can do." Except for maybe moving the body out of view, but if there really was something dangerous wandering around, the corpse would serve as a good warning. Which was a morbid thought, but Guy was practical when it came down to it.

[earthling]

Out of all the things he'd expected to hear about (a roommate getting hauled away for experiments, some more drug trials, a friend who had been "released), a body hadn't been that high up on the list. Really, he wasn't sure why he was surprised. It wouldn't have been the first time a patient got brutally killed, and it likely wouldn't be the last. Still, he didn't exactly stumble across a fresh, bloodied corpse everyday, either.

"That's horrible..." Claude grit his teeth as his gaze wandered to the tiled floor. Considering the strange "illness" going around, he wouldn't have been all that surprised if it had been caused by a transformed patient. But he'd seen enough horrible things, both outside and inside of Landel's Institute, to know that it ultimately could have been anything.

Part of him wanted to investigate and try to hunt down whatever had torn that person to shreds, but he needed to be realistic about this, too. Guy had a point about it probably being gone by now. Their time was limited, and there was only so much they could do.

In the end, he had little choice but to agree with his friend.

"You're probably right," Claude grimly said. "But if that's the case, what should we do? Do we need to head to the greenhouse to collect more herbs for other patients, or did anyone have something else in mind?"

[gald_digger]

Messy, huh. Anise was starting to feel glad it hadn’t happened in her block. Luke was starting to get a little weird with his theories, but fortunately Guy was there to be the voice of reason. “Yeah,” Anise chimed in, a little uneasy with the gory mental image, but she was staying calm enough. “We don’t know anything for sure, but there’s nothing we can do. Let’s just be careful.”

As for what they should be doing… that was a good question. There were those caverns they’d been exploring up until recently, but maybe that wasn’t a good idea when two of them were recovering from a serious illness. That, and Luke didn’t have a bracelet.

“Hmm… maybe the Greenhouse wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she offered, arms crossed as she mulled over her thoughts. “I mean, the Head Doctor knows that people want to go there tonight, so it wouldn’t be weird if he put a trap there. Maybe we could make sure there’s a safe path for people who still need help.” He did say something about getting lost, after all. Maybe he was going to make it so people couldn’t reach the cure so easily.

[dispersive]

Luke slowly dragged his light from off the ceiling after the lack of positive feedback he got on his theories. They would be sorry if it was a ghost and it overheard them! They were supposed to be bad tempered, right? It wouldn't take this pessimistic attitude lightly.

But the group had a point, and there was no point in dwelling on the unknown. Animal or person/ghost, it was long gone so they might as well do something productive with their night. Claude's suggestion wasn't bad, and if what the Head Doctor said was true they should probably help out where help is needed.

"Then we should definitely go help!" Plenty of patients here were civilians on top of being sick. That was a bad combination if Landel knew they were coming for a cure. "Shouldn't take us too long... Come on." Directing his light down the hallway, Luke lead the team toward the greenhouse.

[To here]