Night 68: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[armoredsoul]

[from here]

For a moment Al pondered which direction to go. He'd seen other patients being led both past this block and down the hallway to another. After a moment he headed down the hallway and through the open door, keeping an alert eye out for anything odd.

[to here]

Comments

[ever_loyal_dog]

[from here]

The door opened, just as before, into a larger hallway, one he recognized easily enough from the trips he'd made back and forth with the nurses. It was empty though, devoid of life, and gave off an eerie sort of feeling.

Atavists weren't to go out at night for good reason. Their presence was practically a flashing beacon to any full-blooded demons that might be wandering about. Did the same hold true here? Demons and monsters and all sorts of experiments were said to walk these halls, but he'd yet to see proof that it wasn't just the other patients or excited nerves.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing back down the hall. One way led outside, he remembered, the other toward the rooms they used in the daytime. The Sun Room, Lingormr had mentioned, could be particularly dangerous and was usually inhabited by some sort of dangerous presence. On the other hand, he could seek out his belongings. His clothing, perhaps, his photos... If his cell phone still had any sort of charge, he might make a call, or a text, or some word to the outside world. If he didn't find it tonight, he was almost certain the battery would be gone with the morning. At the very least, he might find some kind of clue there. Something to tell him where he was, where his master had gone, and how to return to her, if it was at all possible.

He eyed the hallway ahead, training his light on the empty tile before him.

[Ryusei]

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Another hallway. The same one every night. It was nothing Link wasn't used to, with the dungeon crawling he had been doing so much of on his adventures.

This Institute was just another puzzle to be solved. Landel was just another boss to be figured out and thwarted. And the basement was the place to look for their answers.

[To here]

[complicatedliar]

[From here]

Out of the M-block and into the hallway, Loki turned right immediately and headed for the larger hallways. His feet were all but silent even in the boots.

[To here]

[fallenbeanpole]

[from here]

Another familiar hallway. The Once-ler kept moving, keeping a cautious eye out for any trouble. Running into any of Landel's 'friends' on his own fell into the category of things he wanted to avoid at all costs.

[to here]

[nobleman]

[From here.]

Guy thought that maybe he'd catch sight of Luke around here, since he knew that his room was in the southern block, but all he saw were a pair of patients who looked like they were just getting to know each other. Well, better to run into someone at random during the night than wander around on your own.

Luke's absence wasn't really all that strange, since he usually went straight to the main hall to meet Anise. Hopefully the two of them would be waiting for him by now. Since Guy didn't want to make them worry, he sped up and took a quick right at the main hall.

[To here.]

[freewill]

[From here.]

The first thing Castiel heard as he stepped out of the patient block was a familiar voice. Not intimately familiar, but recently so. It was Soushi, and while one of the things on Castiel's to-do list was to question him, it was clear he was already engaged in conversation with someone else.

Not that Castiel couldn't barge in and demand some answers, but from the looks of things, the discussion between the two of them was entirely amicable. And unlike what Lingormr had mentioned, Soushi looked exactly the same age now. Either Lingormr had been trying to mislead him (which wouldn't have necessarily surprised Castiel) or something else was going on. If Soushi could change his form, then it was possible he simply hadn't chosen to do so tonight.

Either way, Castiel needed to find Lust, so he moved past the pair and continued to half-lean against the wall as he reached the next hallway.

[To here.]

[fullmetalheart]

[from here.]

Ed looked around as they passed through the doorway. "I know I didn't say it earlier, but I see what Lust meant about it being different at night. It's creepy."

[firewhichrefines]

[[from here]]

Through hallways he could navigate blind, literally, Sasuke wondered how long it would be before the Elrics disappeared again. He expected Edward to disappear in due time, as all his roommates had.

For the first time, it occurred to him to wonder how many roommates Aidou had gone through in turn. The vampire's recent displacement had been the first time in weeks either of them had moved rooms, after all.

[knightspirit]

[ from here ]

As had become habitual, once into the next hall, Kyousuke took a short pause to scan over the area as best he could before he began walking again. He couldn't be sure how much good it did, but he was quickly learning there could never be too much caution in a place like this.

"... And you?" he asked, making a glance to Kratos. "Anything interesting?" It probably didn't matter much, but it was something to talk about. ... A distraction.

[nobleman]

[From here.]

"He's in this block here, I know," Guy said to Anise as he led them toward the southern set of rooms. He was going to have to try and drag Luke's room number out of his memory, as it'd been some time since he'd been there. He knew the number was in his head somewhere, so he just needed to find it. He prided himself on having a good memory, so he was sure it would come to him.

[nobleman]

[From here.]

Seeing how it was his third time in this part of the hall, Guy had to admit he was getting pretty sick of these white walls. Which made him wonder if it might make more sense to take the outside route. They'd tried the other way last night and while the portals had tripped them up, he still wouldn't mind a change of pace.

"Do you mind if we go through the recreational field and the courtyard to get there?" he asked Anise. "I wouldn't mind getting some fresh air." He was pretty sure the storm from earlier in the day had passed, so it wasn't like the weather would be too bad either. Hopefully.

[sixth_attack]

[From here.]

Another damn long hallway...!

Sechs grunted with frustration, berating his own legs for not being fast enough. He sprinted between fellow prisoners, not allowing any distractions to get in his way. With each thunderous step, Sechs could feel the chill within his back deepen into his spine and muscles. He knew some form of opposition -- whether it be from outside or within -- was bound to raise its ugly head at the Replica any moment now...

"Let 'em come...!" Sechs aggressively thought to himself, his teeth gashing together as he snorted through his flared nostrils. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his goal--!

[To here.]

[doctor_voodoo]

[From here.]

By now Facilier was encountering other prisoners. He sneered at them from the safety of the darkness. For all he knew, these people were on their way to ruin his plans! He had to get ahead of them without drawing any attention. Such a desire was easy for the Shadow Man; he gracefully slithered his way down the walls and dodged the bobbing rays of lights cast by the suspended flashlights. It helped that he was wearing softer slippers, as undignified as they were; it made his traverse all the more silent.

[To here.]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

L made it through the connecting corridor near his room, wary as he passed through it and into the longer hall. Scar had been attacked in the M-A hall, not the M-B hall, but it was rare for much to happen in any of the four corresponding areas near the rooms. The only real exception that L knew of had been the night when Aguilar had lost control of the Institute.

His current route would bring him past the door to the area in question, one that was familiar from when his own room had been located in that grouping.

As he approached it, he understood what else had been nagging at him about the reports on the bulletin earlier in the day.

The door was typically kept closed, so it wouldn't have been easy for a creature to wander in and out of the area, which was itself heavily trafficked. Scar had been a large, strong man, and there had been indications that the death had been extremely messy, all of which suggested that he had gone up against something big. On top of that, it had happened early enough in the evening for someone to stumble across the body afterward without running into the monster itself. Yet no one else had reported an encounter in that area the night before with anything capable of doing that kind of damage.

Why not? It was feasible that Scar could have been attacked as he opened the door, but in that case the door would probably have fallen closed. Furthermore, the hall that L was passing through now was highly trafficked, and the Main Hallways even more so.

The possibility that whatever Scar had encountered had somehow been able to materialize was ridiculous, but it had to be considered. In that case, if it had come here looking for easy victims, why stop at one? And why choose a big man when any number of the other patients were less physically likely to defend themselves? There hadn't been any indication that anyone suspected that the creature had been wounded, but if it had been, the bathroom would have been the easiest and most likely hiding place in which it could nurse its injuries. There, again, was the problem of the door.

The entire scenario -- something with the size and strength to make short work of a big man, but with the ability to be completely unseen otherwise, no interest in other victims in an area where they were plentiful, and the potential ability to open doors -- seemed extremely dubious, and experience suggested that the questions he had been asking himself were only precursors to the right ones. For the moment, it was a distraction; it wasn't safe to become too preoccupied, especially when he was still alone. Taylor seemed to have a similar idea. They could talk about it tomorrow.

A right turn put him into the corridor where the rest of the group planned to meet.

[To here.]

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

"There were other beasts in front of me, but something slit my throat from behind. I never saw what it was."

Scar had been assuming another monster of some sort. Nobody here was out to kill him.

Were they?