damned_institute | Nightshift 27: 2nd Floor Laundry Room Hallway

"Hold on," Soubi said, quietly. He took the bag from Ritsuka and stuffed it into his tatty rucksack. Now Ritsuka could hold his hand. He then stubbed his Cigarette out on the wall and licked his finger and pressed the tip, beofre putting the rest in his pocket. There was at least a third left. It was not going to be wasted. He put a can of deoderant in his pocket, the matches in the other. Mini flame thrower, see? Soubi wasn't a good Fighter just because he knew a couple of pretty little words. No siree. He stood up and took Ritsuka's hand before setting off. "Which door do we want?"

"I have no idea. I guess we should just check them all? This first one to the left is the laundry room, but other than that..." He really hated having just a partial map. While talking to that guy on the bulletin he should have thought to ask for directions, but he was so disappointed with the idea that the Possessions room didn't hold his actual things that he'd forgotten. Stupid of him, but it was too late now.

Holding Soubi's hand, Ritsuka motioned to the first door on the right. "Let's try this one and just go down the line."

Moving over to the door, Ritsuka let go of Soubi to test the handle and found that it turned easily. An unlocked room probably held nothing of great importance, so he left it and moved on to the next. The door here was reinforced and the lock was new, making it almost impossible to break down. The one across the hall was the same, as was the one next to it. Letting out a frustrated sound halfway between a growl and a sigh, Ritsuka tried the fourth door on the right and finally struck gold. The lock was rusted and the door looked easy enough to smash in. "This one," he said, turning to Soubi.

Soubi watched Ritsuka, trying to work out his reasoning. Why not check an open door? Because it was worthless, so why ignore such a secure room? Maybe they could pick the lock with a hair clip?

Maybe he'd suggest that later, Ritsuka was apprently leaving all breaking in to Soubi. He still couldn't get over the boy's first attempt. He'd looked so determined and powerful. Soubi had liked that. But he loved the embarrassed Ritsuka just as much.

Soubi took his usual stance and hit his shoulder against the door. It took two attempts this time and he was beginning to wonder how many more doors his shoulder would have to meet.

He made sure Ritsuka stayed back while he took the first step inside (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232667.html).

Ritsuka stepped timidly into the hall and clicked on his flashlight, shining it in both directions before moving further out. That noise had been horrible. It signaled something to come, something dark - something evil - and Ritsuka didn't even know what it was.

Across the hall, he heard someone or something moving about in the room and Ritsuka looked at Soubi. The door hadn't been open earlier, meaning it was likely a patient instead of a monster. He could almost see inside and it seemed like two people and... another closet with supplies. "Someone's already in there. Want to try up ahead?"

He pointed the flashlight to his right, the beam barely piercing the darkness that waited for them.

Soubi kept a tight hold of Ritsuka's hand. It hadn't been a pleasant sound and it had set him on edge, but he was not afraid. He'd just faced his biggest fear back in that room and Ritsuka had rescued him. Now the boy needed to know that Soubi would always be there for him.
But he wasn't eager to face whatever had made the sound. At all. The less danger Ritsuka was in, the better.

Soubi kept his flashlight off and looked into the occupied room. He wasn't fussed where they went, but he wanted to find Ritsuka's camera and the open door seemed to lead to a room much like the one they'd just left.

He nodded to Ritsuka and walked on. Once they approached the next two doors, he looked at them both. "Which shall we try?" he asked, rolling his shoulder to ease the ache that he knew was coming his way.

Ritsuka was thankful for the hand. It made him feel safer because he knew that Soubi was right there and whatever happened, his Fighter would keep him safe. Looking at both of the doors, he frowned, not sure which was better. Both of them happened to be the exact same distance away making the decision difficult.

Slowly, he started forward. In books, people always chose the right path, but then that didn't always work. If they chose the left one hoping to avoid cliches... no, that didn't always work either. In the end he just picked a random direction, the right, let go of Soubi's hand, and walked to the door.

For once he wanted to save Soubi's shoulder - and he'd already learned that it took a lot of force to open these things - so after looking at the lock, Ritsuka turned his flashlight off and whacked it against the door handle again. It didn't budge the first time, so Ritsuka hit it again, the sound of metal cracking against metal echoing down the hall and doubtless into the room.

One more time and the handle snapped. Ritsuka pushed hard against the door, feeling vaguely satisfied that he'd actually done something, and nearly yelped when he fell inside.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236329.html)]

Soubi wasn't sure if he should let Ritsuka embarrass himself again, but he stayed put. Ritsuka was showing determination and Soubi had no right to undermine him. He was busy biting his cheek when Ritsuka went flying out of sight. Soubi lurched forward (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236611.html#comments) to catch him.

[So sorry for my massive fail. Srsly. !_!]

[Returning from previous link]

Soubi checked the hallway and walked out of the room. He wanted to hold Ritsuka's hand but it would be awkward with the torch and he'd be slower in responding to attacks. He already had the injured boy weighing him down.

Ritsuka was glad to get out of the room and followed Soubi closely, watching him and the unconscious boy closely for any signs of trouble. He wasn't especially skilled at anything medical, but he'd give it his best until they reached his room again. He just hoped Tamaki wasn't too busy.

Illuminating the hallway, Ritsuka saw that the way was clear save for two other patients. They couldn't afford to stop and talk though. Stepping forward a bit, Ritsuka looked up at Soubi, trusting that this man would make sure everything was okay. They'd both make sure of it, really. They'd make it out alright. "At least it should be a short trip back..."

They were moving now. L.A. wondered briefly where exactly they were going. Not that it mattered - the important thing was that he get help. And when he got better, he wanted to ask them what they knew about this place and whether they had seen a pretty blonde girl in here.

The boy was afraid. Afraid of this place, afraid of Rosenberg's power. His bracelet may have been gone, but he wasn't free. Not by a long shot.

Soubi couldn't help himself. He walked close enough to Ritsuka so that his knuckles brushed over the young boys sleeve. Contact with Ritsuka was always like taking a breath of fresh air after forgetting you could breathe.

He nodded to Ritsuka, although he wasn't entirely convinced the trip would be short. Something had attacked this boy and he'd only just made it to the room before collapsing. Whatever it was, it might be close by.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232169.html).]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232169.html?view=16430569#t16430569)]

"Yes," Armand whispered. This was the right corridor. Just down a bit and... was it on the left or right? "The storage room I remember is this way. It had a mop and broom and shelves and shelves of things I couldn't even identify."

"Storage closets generally have useful things in them." Citan adjusted his glasses and kept his eyes on the surrounding hallway, always aware of his surroundings. He had no desire to be taken by surprise.

"I'm sure we'll find ourselves properly outfitted."

Armand counted doors and studied locks. He decided finally that it was on the left. Many of those locks looked too shiny and new. But there was one finally. The spacing from the previous door seemed right. He could hear the faint sounds of someone else in one of the other rooms. And the rusty old lock defied his initial attempt to open it normally. He didn't expect it, but it was worth trying.

"It's locked," he said, though he was sure Citan knew that before he'd checked it. He looked in his pillowcase for the mop handle. It wasn't quite long enough to be a staff, nor as sturdy as the heavy bat Javert had the night before, but it was what he had. He took a deep breath and hit the doorknob very hard with the mop handle. It didn't budge, but then again Armand wasn't used to using his full strength, as meagre as it was, for most things.

"Should I just try again?" he asked, hoping Citan had a better solution. If one wanted strength and brute force, Armand St. Just wasn't the man to provide it.

Well, this was a bit of a setback.

"One moment." Citan leaned down to inspect the lock. He shown his flashlight inside of it, squinting and wishing he had his own glasses. But he could see well enough.

It was rusted and looked old, easy enough to break with enough force. Though did they have enough force? Armand didn't seem that strong, and he himself was injured. And despite having his full (or at least full to the limits this place had put on him) powers, they weren't the sort that would break down a door.

"Give it another good hit," he said, straightening.

Armand nodded. It embarrassed him that this barrier was all that stood between them and something he'd promised Citan. He tried to imagine that the doorknob was the head of someone he hated, not to be so gauche as to name names but that someone was often mockingly called Chambertin by Percy. His fury at the man in the past had been held back by necessity and circumstances. So knowing he'd need the strength, Armand let loose his fury and brought his make-shift cudgel down upon the doorknob.

For a moment it seemed it wouldn't yield. He could feel the vibration of the blow all the way to his clenched teeth. But then the crumbling metal parted in a flurry of red metallic-tasting dust. Armand knelt and picked up the pieces and put them into his pillowcase, like a trophy. Then he nudged open the door with the mop-handle and went inside.

[going inside, link to follow]

[inside here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236231.html)]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232169.html?view=16604393#t16604393).]

Usagi stopped in the middle of the empty hallway and looked around. There were many doors, and suddenly she wasn't so sure she knew which was the right one on the map. The first she pulled was locked, so she tried to the side of the hall, this time one opened... (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232667.html)

The blond boy turned left into the last hallway. By now the pain had actually faded, much to his relief, so he'd let go of the arm the scorpion had stung.

He found, though, that his heart was beating a lot faster. No, not just that - it was racing. He tried to ignore it and keep going.

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/232169.html?thread=16833769#t16833769)]

Another empty and quiet hallway. There seemed to be a lot of them, despite the amount of patients.

Siegfried slowed down as he walked along the hallway, taking the time to shine the torch at each door, checking the locks. The previous night the lock had been broken, but that was last night, and it might have been replaced by now. If it had…well, he’d just have to break in again. Hopefully his memory was correct and he wouldn’t break into the wrong room.

"This place just never friggen ends!" Steve shouted from the back. He had turned off his flashlight during their stroll since Siegfried took the lead. If needed, he could use it to bash in a skull or two of anyone or anything that came to bother him - at least, that was a logical idea in the mind of Steve Burnside and he rolled with it.

"I hope you know where the hell we're going, man." A huff escaped Steve. "This place doesn't look like it has anything special."

"Special special, it's all one's perspective," giggled Ed, amused at her own joke and wondering if Burningsides would get it. She was trying hard to stay between the two guys as ordered, but she really didn't want to. So many fun dark corners here to explore! She kept her light on and spun around in circles, a much more interesting way to try and keep up with Siegfried. Plus, the light beam flying around and around added an interesting effect to the surroundings Steve was complaining about.

“I know where we’re going, I wouldn’t have led you here otherwise.” He paused, his eyes following the light from Ed’s torch. “Ed, you’re going to attract attention if you keep doing that.”

Siegfried found the door to the room in question. The lock was gone completely, so others must have already been into the room. There were enough items there that he didn’t need to worry about others having taken everything of use.

“Here.” He pushed the door open and went inside

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236231.html)]

((from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236231.html?thread=16866759)))

Even sweeping the light to the far reaches of the beam didn't reveal anything particularly dangerous, though the noises of others nearby seemed more clear. That worried Armand some.

"I don't think we're alone up here," he said to Citan, even though he was sure he could hear it just as well.

He carefully hefted the pillowcase bag of supplies while waiting for Citan to join him. The air out here still smelled faintly of blood, but the foul odor of the cockroaches was somewhat dimmed.

"No, I don't think we are, either." Citan followed, eyes narrowing now as he strained his ears. They were certainly not alone. Though he couldn't hear the sounds of fighting, which pleased him. They weren't about to walk into a struggle. It seemed that they were in the company of other prisoners.

"I would guess that others have found their way upstairs." He was glad they'd been able to raid the supplies early. "Is there anything else of interest on this floor?"

"I suppose it's comforting that other people are up here, and it's not just us and the night creatures." Armnad's tone and short, nervous movements didn't support that he felt comforted.

"Well, I know of another kitchen. Is there anything useful in a kitchen? Or... could you work there?" He waved the light vaguely in the direction of the staff kitchen, on the other side of the railing above the Sun Room.

"Assuming they're friendly." Citan couldn't help but mention that. "Though I'm sure they are." They hadn't attacked yet.

"Ah yes, I've been to the kitchen. I found nothing of use there. And it would be best to work where there aren't any potential nasty critters lurking about. Having my arm bitten off while working would greatly impede my success!" He laughed some, at his own little joke.

Armand tried to smile at Citan's joke but thought it a bit too grim. "Let's keep all our limbs, shall we?"

"I can't see what we could do about light anywhere," he finally admitted after considering other places he knew of. "So what would you need for a workspace?"

"I prefer privacy," Citan admitted. "Which is what makes my room a touch undesirable. Though the man I room with seems to have little interest in what I do. He did however give me his radio to work on - he claimed to have no use for it." The older man shrugged. If HK wanted to be without the machine, that was perfectly fine.

"I suppose I have no choice. And flashlight is better than no light at all. Have you any interest in learning mechanics?"

"I'm willing to learn anything if it would help." Armand simply wasn't sure how well he'd be able to learn it. "If you kept your instruction to the practical and not expect me to understand the theories fully." His honesty sounded like denial of his own abilities, but Armand knew his intellectual limitations.

Talking out in the hallway was making him nervous. "Should we move on a bit, even if we're not sure of a final destination? Perhaps there's an empty room or unused closet somewhere." He swept the light up and down the hallway again as shapes, probably other inmates for they paid them no mind, moved past them. "I keep feeling something will race out of the dark and try to eat us here."

"Oh you needn't worry," Citan said, looking up and down the hallway. "I promise I won't try and teach you anything too difficult! But it would a great benefit to have an extra set of hands." It wasn't as though they even had the equipment for anything complex. Such a pity.

"Of course." Though if something did come down the hallway, there were plenty of other targets for it to attack. "And who knows. Perhaps we'll find other things of use!"

Armand moved a few steps back toward the long hall. He couldn't make himself hurry. The full pillow case was more awkward a burden, so much so that he couldn't wield the small knife or the the mop handle staff and still manage the light.

"I'll try to leave the worrying to you, Citan." He was already an expert worrier with no need to keep in practice. If he consciously tried not to, then perhaps he could think clearly. "You tell me what you want, and I'll do it." He threw a wry smile toward the doctor.

"Some of these others doors look like they've been opened. Do you want to look?"

"Let's have a peek, then." Citan chose a door across the hall and up, pushing it open. He could smell dead flesh within and he paused, peering through the near-darkness.

"It seems as though someone fought something in here not long ago..."

(to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/236611.html)!)

Ed swung her mop back and forth, mentally daring all evil things in the creepy dark to attack her now that she was properly equipped with a weapon. Meanwhile, it was rather difficult to hold the mop and her flashlight all at the same time. Although she was more or less succeeding to keep both in hand, for the moment the flashlight beam was focused on the ceiling. There were other people here, it appeared, but nothing evil and icky was coming to meet her challenge just yet. Ah well, adventures would surely take time to be met. Ed stood guard, waiting for the other guys to exit with their stolen supplies.

Siegfried followed Ed out of the closet, instinct telling him that it wasn’t safe for her to wonder off on her own. She was just a child after all.

He did not have to worry though, as the hallway was empty aside from a few other patients, and no monsters in sight. Ed, on the other hand, looked as if she was ready to do battle with anything that jumped out at her. It would probably be difficult to discourage her from joining in any fights they might encounter, and Siegfried took note of this fact.

[Sorry about the slowness!]

Steve was right behind the two of them carrying off some of the janitorial supplies he had found - they might become useful later in the off-chance they found a monster. Or a few monsters.

"Hey, Ed! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Steve didn't even acknowledge how hypocritical his statement had just been and continued plowing down the hallway.

"No fair, no fair!" Ed followed the hypocritical one as quickly as she could, but it was hard to maneuver with the big ol' mop and the flashlight. Was this a race? Where were they racing to? Ed cackled at the idea and scurried along, too distracted to notice if anyone got a face-full of mop while she passed Steve. This new game was fun!

Still frowning as she walked ahead of Heiji and Edward, Bella lifted her flashlight and peered around. “… I think it’s somewhere around here?”

She turned back and looked directly at Heiji – she didn’t want to risk looking at Edward and seeing him smirking or something equally as aggravating.

Heiji hissed in mock-pain and grinned teasingly at Edward, "A whole week. That'd suck, man. Her lips look really nice and soft too. It'd be a tragedy."

Then Bella stared at him and thought aloud. He froze, looking around in thought, "Uhh... I guess we could try all the doors and see what'd happen? I mean, if it's somewhere around here, a few bad doors won't hurt us time-wise, naa?" The teen detective grinned and walked towards Bella, "C'mon, we'll just check all the doors until we find it."

Again, with her silly notions.

"My lips are sealed," he quietly replied, still utterly amused. He might have been worried, had he believed she would hold his teasing against him.

Though Heiji's teasing would have normally been blown off, this time Edward's amusement vanished, leaving him glowering at the other boy. He tried to keep his rather petty jealousy to a simmer, but he was... well, far from human, but still male, and still coveting her. And the jealousy reminded him of another boy, similar in appearance, who Edward did not want to think of.

Even hearing the dull voice of his thoughts didn't help. The vampire followed behind the two humans, following the advice and picking the closet door to peek in. The room smelled of paper, and bins of letters were scattered within. Obviously wrong - a mail room, then? Strange, to put it on the second floor. Not to mention it looked as if all the paper was withered, yellow, and old.

Bella didn’t have to look at Edward after hearing Heiji’s comment – she knew he was probably glaring daggers at the boy. Sacrificing a quick glance, the teen let out a sigh and shook her head; yep, there he went.

“Hmmm …” Lifting her flashlight, Bella frowned, looking at the doors. “There has to be a sign or something – wait!” As if luck, her flashlight fell upon the words JANITOR’S CLOSET.

Turning to grin at Edward and Heiji, she opened the door and walked inside.

Nightshift 27: 2nd Floor Laundry Room Hallway

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