Night 72: Library

[overlimit]

[from here]

Rita stumbled as she threw herself into the room, rolling forward and quickly hopping back to her feet. Once she confirmed she was past the threshold, she gave a heavy sigh, followed by several more deep breaths. She turned to see that Taura had made it too.

"He better not come in after us..." she muttered. Generally, monsters and brainwashed patients didn't chase people from room to room, so unless this was an unusual situation, they were probably safe. Still, it was hard to feel all that safe knowing that an enemy was so close by. Best to get this over with quickly.

Comments

[thecamellia]

"Ed? You fought him then?"

She paused in surprise. Korra had run into the boy while she'd been brainwashed? Jeez, who would've guessed such bad luck was possible?

"That's bad news... Thank goodness we were able to do something tonight before anyone got badly hurt!" she said. The boy hadn't looked like he was sporting any injuries from Korra, and in the morning when he was back to himself he would probably understand what they'd had to do to subdue him. "As long as you're okay."

That was the bottom line, though with that in mind, Tsubaki had no clue what they might be facing the further they went. She glanced around the library, peering down the dark aisle in front of her. They'd only just made it past the Sun Room; beyond the library was unfamiliar territory.

"Looks like we're the only ones in here. I can take a look over here," she continued on before creeping into another aisle on her left.

[rebonding]

"Yeah," Korra said shortly, letting her arm drop to her side once again.

Following Tsubaki's words, Korra split away from her roommate to look for the book.

"I hear it's just a lot of stories in here. So maybe it'll stand out," she called across the room. Maybe not the best idea, but it made Korra feel less scared, less surrounded by the dark. She started with the shelves along the walls. If something was going to pull a trigger, it would be along the wall, right?

[thecamellia]

Oxford... Oxford...

"Do you remember what it was called?" she asked. From a combination of Sora's help and her own recollections of skimming the books in the library, she knew the book had to be the big collection of English verse. "The Oxford Book of English Verse, I think..."

But where had she seen it before?

[rebonding]

"Yeah!" Korra perked up the moment Tsubaki mentioned the proper title. Not a dictionary, a book of verse!

...Whatever that was.

"It'll probably be along the walls, if it's a secret switch or something." Unless there was fancy wiring or something... Which they could think about if they didn't find it along the wall.

Korra began looking through the easternmost shelf, squinting in the darkness.

"Hey, is this it?" She tipped her head sideways to get a better look at the spine. The Oxford Book of English Verse. Seemed right.

[thecamellia]

"I suppose so!" she agreed. Only Sora and Tsurugi had seen the secret passageway for themselves; Tsubaki had no idea what it might look like with the level of technology the Head Doctor had at his disposal.

Korra's cry brought her away from her side of the room and to Korra's side, where the other girl was intently looking for a large book.

"To think it'd be out in the open like this all along..." But as she drew close, she thought Korra must be right for sure. "The title looks right, that has to be the one. Should we... pull it?"

[rebonding]

"Don't see why not." Not hesitating and hoping they hadn't already wasted too much time, Korra pulled the book from the shelf. The reaction was nearly instant: the door slid open silently before them. For the first time that night, she grinned.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." She peered into the door, relieved but still nervous for what lay ahead.

[thecamellia]

"Wow!" The slightly awed exclamation left Tsubaki once the hidde door had opened all the way, revealing an entryway behind it.

It was one thing to hear about the access way to the third floor, but quite another to actually see it in person and know that it might be the key to reaching new, secret parts of the hospital.

"It really exists..." She turned to Korra, wide-eyed. "We better go before the Head Doctor tries to stop us. But if anything happens, I'll watch your back as best I can."

She wanted badly to tell the other girl about Landel's office and what had happened there, to warn her of what might be coming, but promising to watch out for Korra no matter the danger was the best she could do.

[rebonding]

Korra nodded once to Tsubaki and took a moment to be still before moving beyond the book shelves. Sure, she had the information from the board, but beyond that, who knew what was up there? Everyone made a big deal out of it. That much, she knew.

So what, do they just find the head doc's door and break it down? She wasn't above that.

[To here]