Night 68: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

It was still early in the night from the looks of it--the main hallway was totally clear as they moved toward the Sun Room. It was true the route they were taking was normally guarded, but there was no guarantee the rec field wasn't, and with a group this large, they would stand a better chance at breaking through anything that might await them.

She glanced back at the group. "If there's someone in the Sun Room, try to focus on disabling the attacker and running. I don't want to get held up in a pointless fight."

Comments

[fullmetalheart]

Ed froze for a moment at her stare, staring back into her eyes. He didn't remember ever seeing someone with that much anger before although he'd run across plenty of people in the past that came close.

Lloyd's command snapped him out of it and he nodded and grabbed for Al to pull him free.

He didn't want to fight this thing any longer, just get Al and run. He was completely out of ideas for how to counter it, the one idea he did have failing spectacularly.

[deathrattling]

Inside the cocoon of hair, where Lloyd and Ed had no line of sight, the intent of the darkness was shifting, changing: seeking in the boy it had entrapped a vessel as much as a victim. Even as both other patients struggled, the hair found Al's open mouth and writhed in through his screams, filling his throat until only the barest slivers of air could sliver through, strands crawling their way down oesophagus and deeper.

The rattling quieted as it did, as Lloyd's attack sheared through the thickest wind of hair: Al's body thudded to the ground along with the mass of hair surrounding him, but it was rushing into him at a rapid rate, releasing him at the same time as it suffocated him.

[redcladidealist]

Exhaustion hit him even as the last of his mana flew free, and it was only adrenaline and desperation that kept him from staggering or falling to his knees. With a sense of finality and dread, he knew that that was it. He wouldn't be able to hurl anything else at this monster except for steel and fists, and up against this, when he was so shaky and tired he wanted to drop...

Lloyd shoved the thought away. It wasn't an option. Instead he half-lunged, half-stumbled toward Al and grabbed one of his arms to help haul him up, pushing, pulling, whatever it took to get him away from that thing.

"Run!"

They had to get away before it reestablished its grip!

[armoredsoul]

Alphonse was gagging, choking against the mass of hair forcing itself down his throat. He grabbed his throat by pure instinct and panic, his move to then grab the mass of hair interrupted by Lloyd taking hold of him.

Thin cuts bled freely along his arms and legs, not deep enough to impede but still painful and needing tending. His perception was beginning to return from the fight-or-flight panic he had been caught in before, and he scrambled to get up and back away from the creature.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed stepped back to obey Lloyd when he stepped on his flashlight and it rolled under his foot, causing him to go down with a yelp.

He scrambled back up to his feet, flashlight in hand, and turned to flee with the others.

[deathrattling]

Hair clung to them as they moved, but in ever-thinning quantities, until the strands were easy to break as they dashed for the exit. It might have been encouraging for the patients: except that the reason it was disappearing was because of where it was disappearing, thick wads of it clawing down Alphonse's throat and into his body, strands seeking entrance even through his nose and eyes.

By the time the patients escaped, it would all be gone: but the darkness had found its place in a victim, even if he could breathe again, and it would not be gone for long.

[redcladidealist]

It was hard enough to focus on his steps, hard enough to ignore the way his vision was trying to gray at the edges. He didn't see where the black strands of hair went, and frankly didn't think to care. The important thing was that they were gone, finally allowing them to flee from the hall.

[To here.]