damned_institute | NIghtshift 26: 2nd Floor Hallway near Railed Area

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NIghtshift 26: 2nd Floor Hallway near Railed Area

[From here.]

It was around that time when Jade's pace slowed considerably, almost to that of a snail's. Even though it involved a woman of some sort, he was certain that he'd have more than enough time to dwell between the halls while still making it back before his Majesty reached his own destination. He walked the halls with more ease than he held moments before, swinging his fontech back and forth as he wandered along.

The rail caught his attention almost instantly, and Jade found himself looking over the edge in practically no time. Even at this height he was able to make out the shapes of chairs and couches that lined the Sun Room's floor. This area seemed to awaken some nostalgia inside him, reminding him of the very bridge that overlooked the first floor of the Cathedral back in Daath. If he remembered correctly, it was where Luke came to him after seeking whatever moral support he could squeeze out of his allies. Life was more hectic back then, and they were facing dilemmas that no person could keep to their own.

Jade chuckled at those memories, letting himself relax in the darkness.

[To here.]

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He could hardly hear anything around him. The memories felt like they were screaming inside his mind. Guilt. Pain. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.

Allen rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear them of the unexpected tears. He already knew it was his fault, his blame, his sin. It just rarely hit him with such clarity as it did now.

There were voices though. He should be paying attention! More people were going to get hurt and he'd have no one to blame for it but himself! Allen struggled to his feet, visibly shaking. He only shook his head at Emily's questions.

"We... we have to get out of here, now!" even his voice sounded shaky. What was wrong with him? Was he really this weak?

Rhode had fallen to the floor. Should they take her? Leave her? He could barely walk on his own, let alone carry her. All the same... he couldn't just let her alone. "I'll be fine M-miss Emily, but Rhode..." He started toward the girl anyway, heedless of where the ghost still was and the pain that still pulsed through his shoulder in time with his heart. "We have to go... we have to find somewhere safe..."

She was almost to the point of being unable to breathe when the ghost woman dropped her like a brick. Rhode's body fell like a doll, no semblance of balance or coordination to speak of, and remained nearly unmoving on the floor. The pain she felt was nothing, but it was as though just that very pain had taken the energy right out of her to the point where she didn't care to even move. Not to sit up or stand or do anything but hold her sore throat as she coughed. Her breath had been taken right along with her energy.

She still couldn't see the tattoo that had formed on her, but knew that something was wrong. Her senses had gone blank to everything but the ghost woman's pain. And to something else as well - a fear. A small but very real fear that Rhode had never felt before.

This was her real body, this stupid, weak, and undeniably human shell she had to put up with was her. The pain she felt was proof enough of that fact. And this body... she couldn't hide. Not from anyone. So it was her, the real Rhode Camelot, that had nearly been strangled to death by an emotionally shattered ghost!

It shook her knowing that she had been so very close to death, to a real death. Noah weren't supposed to think about that kind of human mortality since it wasn't a real issue for them, but here... in this place... it was far too real to ignore. She felt even more useless now than she had upon first realizing her forced humanity, and vulnerable, and to a large degree scared.

Allen’s condition seemed to get worse as time passed. And yet, he was such a resilient toy that he was able to stand up. Questions could come later. Right now, it would be in her best interest to put some distance between herself and the ghost. Hopefully, the new visitors would provide enough of a distraction for them to do that.

They would have to do something about Rhode though, typical.

Larxene grabbed the child by the arm and tried to help her get up. If not, then she would just drag her useless body as they ran.

“Come on.” She said, trying her best to sound concerned and worried. “Please get up. We can’t stay here!”

She was slow, but the area wasn't that large to begin with. She came at him with such single-mindedness that it was impossible to properly avoid - Aidou couldn't really prevent his response; he turned his torso, angling the human away from Reika's reaching hand and making the curve of his shoulder the point of connection. Either he had left himself open by slowing down to dodge sharply or change direction, or he had protected himself by turning towards the ghost, letting her grab for the girl Bella instead. And he just couldn't do that.

He couldn't ever hide behind a little human girl, even to spare himself as the superior creature, even if humans meant little to him. She had already pushed him aside once, and looked what had happened.

Reika's fingers touched his skin as he sprinted past her, and with it came Reika's intent. A cry welled in his throat and lodged there, momentarily waylaid by the instinctual drumbeat in his head. When you fall, don't do it here, don't do it here.

_{[about to have a breakdown over here]}

She tried to pursue, but the boy was too fast, gone from her grasp in an instant. She let her hand drop down to her side, then turned back to those she had been tormenting previously. With no other distractions around, they had her undivided attention.

She walked back toward them.

And now, she was smiling.

At least the others that came had taken his advice and made a run for it. Unfortunately, it left them to deal with the ghost. Or whatever it was. He could barely walk, his legs still felt like gelatin beneath him. But Emily had a hold of Rhode and they could at least move. Allen couldn't do much, but he might be able to delay the spirit.

"Go, hurry!" he shouted over his shoulder. There were some doors further down the hall. If nothing else, maybe they'd be able to stop and catch their breath. "Find somewhere to hide, I'll..." he really didn't know what he thought he could do to stop her, but he had to try. "I'll be right behind you!"

Guilt still stabbed at him as sharp as any knife. Memories that he'd tried to forget were clear as day. "S... Stay away," he said as firmly as he could. "I don't want to hurt you." Could he force an invocation? It was possible... he didn't know how much good it would do on a soul that wasn't confined to an Akuma.

Someone caught one of Rhode's arms and forced a hand away from her throat. In the long run, probably a helpful motion. Holding the bruised area was only adding to the pain that still lingered. Her other hand only remained a moment longer, having to fall to the floor for support once her seized arm was pulled upward. Tilting her head up, she found that it was Emily trying to get her to her feet, shouting about needing to leave.

Allen was shouting too. He wasn't screaming anymore, but that pain from earlier still echoed in his words. The ghost woman had done the same thing to him then, as it had with her, only Allen Walker couldn't take the pain without screaming. He wanted them to leave too.

Up, get up! She started shouting herself, willing for this real body to move. There was no reason to be scared. She shouldn't be scared. She wouldn't die; she was a Noah. They didn't die. They couldn't! Her body shouldn't be shaking like this because she wasn't scared!!

Shakily and with Emily's help, Rhode got up to her feet. She had to lean against the older woman to keep from going down once again, though unwilling in the action. Her Noah pride was taking a shot for this no matter what happened anymore. "... All... en...?" It hurt to breathe, so the pain from speaking stabbed twofold at her throbbing neck. But she had to. Allen was telling them to leave like he'd be staying behind. Jealousy, or pain, or anger, or whatever emotion held her senses the most right then kept Rhode from wanting to leave. She didn't want to leave Allen behind.

Larxene watched as the dark-skinned child struggled just to stay on her feet. Relying on her, needing her... Though she obviously didn't show it, the Nobody was really enjoying seeing Rhode in such a pitiful state.

It seemed that Allen had taken it up himself to keep the ghost busy and give them the time they needed to get to safety. She would definitely remember such a noble act, at least for a good second. Well, maybe less.

Now then…

“Please be safe, Allen” she then grabbed Rhode by the arm and ran off, not really caring where they'd end up in, or if the little one was even able to keep up.

[Headed here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/198357.html).]

The woman didn't seem to notice Rhode or Larxene fleeing. She advanced on Allen, the smile still curling up her lips. One moment she was a safe distance away; the next she was in front of him, her hands wrapping around his throat, lifting him up.

"Echoing..." she whispered. "My skin... my skin..."

He watched them leave, some small bit of relief filling him. He backed slowly away from the apparition. There was still space between them, as long as he was careful, then...

And before he could blink she was standing right in front of him. Her ghostly hand snaking out to catch hold of his neck and lifting him up with no ordinary human strength. How?! That same pain pulsed through him again, growing, spreading, worse than before if that was truly possible. He tried to cry out, but the scream died in his throat, came out as only a garbled choking mess.

His feet kicked uselessly beneath him and his hands were shaking, but he tried to pry loose the grip around his neck. All the while those awful visions danced through his mind, weakening his resolve.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/188297.html?thread=13246601#t13246601).]

Pretty loud noises probably from fighting going on coming from around here, yeah, but Ravi hadn't exactly been expecting what he saw when he made his way further down the hallway to get past the area.

That familiar red glow was hard to miss - and sure enough, he could make out its source when he pointed his flashlight into that direction.

Ravi stared at the scene for a second. That was Allen being held up in the air, right? It looked like a woman was holding him by his neck. Something didn't look right about her, but now wasn't really the time to stop and think about that.

"Allen?!" Ravi broke into a run and quickly moved closer. "Hey, what're you doing?" He reached for the woman, planning to give Allen a hand trying to free himself - whoever the vicious attacker was, she couldn't be that strong, right?

But before he could actually touch her, Ravi froze for a moment, realizing why something looked funny about the woman. Not just the tattoos on her skin, but was she sort of see-through...?

crying over her, their tears and sorrows and pains stinging with blood and indigo as they carved them into her skin, and she took them, took them, to save their pain so that no one had to feel like she did, never again, but his blood was on the floor

She turned her head slowly to look at the newcomer; another person that did not understand pain, another like those whose sorrows she had taken on. She dropped Allen with no ceremony, moving toward Ravi with her hand outstretched. "The needles," she whispered. "Etching... deeper..."

Allen fell almost lifelessly to the floor, like a marionette who's strings had been cut. He moved, but barely. It hurt. Everything hurt. The feeling of air passing through his lungs where there had been none before was the only thing that told him he was still alive. Why did it have to hurt so much? Mana...

Mana wasn't the only one though... He hadn't been able to save Suman. He'd only been able to watch as Tyki Mick tore him to shreds with the those awful Tease. Weak. If he wasn't so terribly weak, maybe he could have...

There'd been a voice, a familiar, one, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew there was something he should be doing. But breathing seemed most important. He opened his eyes at last, searching and begging his eyesight not to blur.

Ravi. It took an effort just to raise his head enough to see properly, but there was no mistake. He tried to push himself up from the ground, slipping a couple of times. It was as though his strength had simply left him. "Run!" he yelled hoarsely to Ravi. "Run, get out of here!"

Seeing Allen drop to the floor, Ravi quickly moved to head to his side, but that woman had turned around to look at him now - in fact, she was moving towards him.

Ravi wasn't too keen on standing there and letting her grab him by the neck next, so he hurriedly ducked and knelt down in front of Allen instead, reaching out to grasp Allen's arms. "Hey... You okay, Allen?" He threw a glance back at the woman before turning to look at Allen again. "Think you can get up and run?"

It looked like Allen was having trouble standing up - there was no way Ravi was planning to run off and leave him there like that. Allen didn't think he'd just do that, right?

happens so fast, everything, in the blink of an eye it all falls

The man ducked her grasp; she turned to follow him, hand still outstretched to touch.

She whispered, "Sleep."

She was going to get him too, Allen realized. She would get Ravi too and it'd be his fault. If he hadn't been so stupid...

He shook his head and struggled to get up. Ravi had to run or he'd be next. "She's... she's fast," he managed. Ravi's hand was hot, or maybe his skin was just very cold. If he didn't move, then... "You can't let her touch you!" his voice was shaking, but he couldn't steady it. His eyes were wide and frightened, glancing from Ravi to find the ghost. She was coming.

"You... you have to run!" He tried again to push himself up, getting to one knee with some effort. His neck hurt. His shoulder. The tattoo was spreading. The holly-and-snake design was visible around his neck and up part of his face and it hurt. Not like a burning, but a deep and lingering ache. He was only going to slow Ravi down, he couldn't ask that of him. He couldn't...

"I'm not just gonna sit there and let her touch me," Ravi replied, "but I'm not gonna leave you here, either, Allen." Allen looked like he was in pretty bad shape - now Ravi could see that it looked like those tattoos were appearing on Allen's skin, too.

What the hell was that woman? Ravi glanced back over his shoulder, realizing that she was reaching for them again. So she could spread that tattoo or whatever it was, just by touching somebody? And from the looks of it, that had to be a bad thing.

Well, if she was fast... Hastily, Ravi tried to hook his arms under Allen's to haul the other boy to his feet when Allen didn't seem to be getting much further with his attempts to get up from the floor.

And then suddenly the woman was on the other side of them, standing behind Allen. A chill crept into the air around her, the sound of her voice whispering a hundred things at once, all of the words blurring over each other.

blood and indigo in my eyes, in my eyes,
the needles carving deeper
deeper
my eyes

Her eyes were filled with blood and ink.

"I don't want to see any more." The words were half-whisper, half-moan, barely audible in the sound of thought and agony that she carried with her.

She reached out for Ravi.

One moment he could see her, the next she was gone, but he could hear her voice behind him. Goosebumps rose on his flesh as he stumbled away from the voice. He didn't want to look, didn't want to see the woman reaching for them. Allen grabbed a firm hold on Ravi's t-shirt, slipping his arm around his friend. If Ravi wasn't going to leave without both of them, he'd just have to move, despite what his body wanted. He was only fifty-something kilos, so hopefully he wouldn't slow Ravi down. Emily had been able to make it with Rhode, so maybe there was a chance they could escape too.

His body wanted to give up, collapse in a heap and wait for morning. But, like so many other times, his mind had other ideas. He didn't need another person's injuries on his conscience. His feet wobbled and slipped, but they moved and that was the important part.

Allen hadn't been exaggerating, huh. Ravi stared for a moment when he suddenly saw the woman standing behind Allen instead of where she'd been last (and it was pretty obvious that there seemed to be a lot of things wrong with her, what with the definitely not really looking corporeal and spooky whispering and all).

And she was still reaching for them.

Ravi yanked Allen towards him and turned around to get the hell out of there, now that Allen was finally standing. "Can you run, Allen?" They had to get somewhere safe and check out how badly injured Allen was now.

But what if somebody else ran into the creepy tattoo lady? ... Well, hopefully they'd have the sense to stay away and not go anywhere near her.

don't want to see any more
i don't want to see any
more i don't want to see
any more i don't want to
see any more i don't want

She moved forward as Ravi yanked Allen back, hands reaching. She seemed blind, almost, searching, though she followed their movements perfectly. Her hands went for Ravi's head, searching for his face, for his eyes, as if she sought to close them.

Allen stumbled as he was yanked about. He was leaning heavily on Ravi, but it was all he could do to stay standing. His head was swimming with the pain and the vivid memories of tattoos and his own guilt. "Go," he begged, on the verge of tears, "we have to go!"

Whether he could run or not depended entirely upon Ravi. He'd do what he could to match the other exorcist's speed, but without Ravi to anchor him, he wasn't even sure he could stay standing.

Go which way? It was turning out harder than Ravi had thought it would be to shake the woman off. How far would they get, if she could move that fast and appear wherever she wanted to?

But if she was this close, maybe he could buy them some time - if she could touch people, it had to work the other way round, too, and as long as he didn't let her touch him, he wouldn't end up with her weird markings, right?

It was worth a shot. It probably didn't matter where they ran; just getting out of here was the important thing right now. Figuring out where exactly they ended up could always come later.

"Right," Ravi replied quickly. "Don't worry, Allen."

His uncovered eye widened, seeing the woman's hands stretching out towards him again, and he decided that it was definitely a good idea to start running somewhere, as long as it was in an away-from-her direction. He aimed a kick at the woman's midsection, hoping to knock her back to buy them some time to run that way.

to see any more. i don't
want to see any more. i

Ravi's foot passed through the ghost's mid-section with only the slightest hint of resistance. She stepped forward, not noticing, eyes wide. Pain leaked from her, onto Ravi's foot and leg with the feeling of the needles that had pierced her, the sorrow and agony that had been transferred onto her skin, and now into his.

She pressed her fingers to his eyes to shut them. More pain, more ink, the holly and snake.

"Sleep..." she moaned, "Sleep, priestess, lie in peace..."

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broken-exorcist.livejournal.com - 2007-09-06 21:56 (UTC) - Expand

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