damned_institute | Day 29: Sun Room

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Day 29: Sun Room

It was with some relief that Yuuhi awoke the next morning, in his own bed, sore and tired and achy. He would've slept more had they let him, his face down in the pillow, away from all the others and their questions and their concern. He didn't want to see them, but he managed a little smile when the nurse came in and didn't object when she lead him out into the open hallway that had been splattered with blood, plenty of it his, just last night.

The Chapel or the Sun Room? He felt he had good reason not to be terribly religious and had a feeling he wouldn't be very welcome there anyway. The Sun Room would be nice though. It was bright and cheery and he could always doodle or write notes on the community board if he'd nothing better to do. Besides, the nurse was kind enough to let him take a book with him.

He found a seat on one of the couches, far from the entrance and seated himself in the far corner, legs scrunched up against his chest so he only took up one of the cushions. He opened up where he'd left off, fingers carefully turning the worn pages of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

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Well. Last night had been....

Naomi didn't even know. Her mind had no words to properly express what had happened. She was sore and aching and wanted a hot bath and a cigarette. But at least she was now certain that there was nothing this place could throw at her that would catch her off guard.

As religion mattered little to Naomi, she chose the Sun Room. She spotted the red haired girl from Tasty Burger - Shayna? Shana? - and politely made her way over.

"Excuse me," she said, bowing politely. "I was hoping I could speak with you again?" She didn't recognize the man she was talking to - maybe this was the man that had caused so much upset the day before?

Shana glanced up at the unfamiliar voice, and recognized the woman from the day before. "Oh!" she exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Of course. Shadow, this is... umm. I'm afraid I forgot your name," she replied, looking sheepish and scraping fingers through her riot of wayward curls.

"It's alright, I'm sure she'll introduce herself once more," Shadow grinned, standing up and offering her his seat.

"Maki," Naomi repeated, still using the fake name she'd taken to. "We only met the once, it's understandable." She was going to be friendly, and she was going to gain allies. Even if it killed her. "There's no need for you to get up, it's alright." She held up a hand, feeling a bit embarrassed that the young man had offered her his seat.

"That's right," Shana replied a bit sheepishly before turning back to Shadow. "Keman and I met her and her friend in town yesterday, over the midday meal. Maki, this is one of companions from our world. His name is Mero, but everyone calls him Shadow."

"No, It's alright. I need to stretch my legs. I feel as if I've been sleeping for ages." He smiled warmly at Maki and moved away from the couch leaving room next to Shana.

"So, have you been here long, Maki?" he asked.

Naomi gave a small bow and took the seat, settling herself into it with her hands folded on her lap.

"Not long," she admitted. "I just woke up here the day before yesterday." At least she was out of that god awful pink thing she'd been stuffed into for the 'field trip'. She tilted her head, curious.

"Why are you called Shadow?"

She knew it wasn't that uncommon to use an alias, but generally a person wouldn't admit to their real name if that were the case.

"It's an old nickname," Shadow replied, grinning. "Back in our world I was Valyn's manservant. Everywhere he went I was found as well. We were practically connected at the hip which was unusual since the rest of the estate thought I was just a human slave. So they soon forgot my name and called me Valyn's Shadow. The name stuck and I've been Shadow ever since."

He was sure he had been called many other things behind his and Valyn's back but Shadow had always been fitting and he clung to it because to him, being Valyn's Shadow was so much more then being a nosy tag-a-long. It meant he was Valyn's other half. A person couldn't live without their Shadow just as he was sure Valyn couldn't live without him.

"That's about the same time we woke up, too," Shadow nodded, gesturing to himself and Shana. "I wonder if every night will be like last night or if things are worse."

"Well, at least there'll be no birds inside," Shana replied with a shudder in remembrance, shifting her bandaged leg carefully. "Although from what everyone's said, all the nighttimes are dangerous here. I suppose there's no telling what one could encounter."

It wasn't really a comforting thought, and if she didn't want out of this place so much, she'd be more than willing to hole up in her room every night. Then again, since that was what the people in charge wanted - and the gods knew Shana rarely ever did that - staying in wasn't going to be an option.

"Oh." Naomi didn't know what else to say, really. This Valyn person certainly did come up in conversation a lot, though. At least it explained the name. Though how someone could shape their name, which was a direct reflection of their identity, around another person, Naomi couldn't comprehend.

"Everyone says there are horrible things running around every night, but I haven't seen any of them. Just the birds last night. They didn't try and attack me, though. Even when I tried to get one's attention...."

"Now that you mention it, they did seem to be targeting specific people," Shadow said, remembering all the time when he was exposed and the birds just seemed to ignore him. "Of course, they could have just been aiming for the wounded. An easy kill as opposed to wrestling with someone who was healthy."

"I wasn't wounded, though," Shana pointed out, looking perplexed. "Neither was Tamaki. The thing targeted both of you and left us alone. Even when we were under the bus and you were standing in the open. It makes no sense."

"They weren't just targeting the wounded," Naomi agreed. "It could be argued that they were attacking younger people, however. Both myself and my roommate attempted to gain one of the creature's attention and failed - until Arlene actually jumped onto the thing. But it was still trying to get at its original targets, even when it was trying to shake her off." And she and Arlene were both probably in their thirties. How old could L be? Twenty one? And the girl, she had to be young. Shana was a teenager....

"But then again, you're young as well. So that can't be it. I can't find any common thread among the people I know where attacked." And it was frustrating.

"Maybe you're just not looking at the right criteria. All of the people attacked could have a certain color eye or gave off a certain scent. The creatures here seem to have very strange ways of discriminating against certain patients. Maybe Shana just looked as if she'd taste better then me." Shadow shrugged, uncertain of what the bird was thinking only that it wanted Shana and the Lord Tamaki.

"What a compliment," Shana replied, giving a snort of derision as she shot Mero a rueful look. "Well. I don't know what I'd have in common with Tamaki. We've got to be opposites in almost everything. He's human, I'm halfblood, he's male, I'm female, he's blond, I'm a redhead..."

"No. There has to be some common factor. Every predator who targets a single group is targeting them for a reason." Naomi shook her head. "Everyone who was attacked last night has some common connection between them. And it's not something obvious...."

What the hell could it be? What did Shana, L, that girl with Arlene, and this Tamaki person all have in common?

What was the difference between himself and Shana? Because ultimately that was much easier then trying to figure out the similarities between Shana and Lord Tamaki whom Shadow knew very little about. They were both halfbloods so it couldn't have anything to do with being of elven decent or human since either way Shadow would have been attacked. Shana had never been a slave but he sincerely doubted that a flying bird could have detected that. In all manner of speaking he wasn't all that different from Shana, except he was male. But there was something besides his gender that made them different. An idea was tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Who was attacked? Would you say mostly young people?"

Shana hadn't seen who else was attacked, besides her and Tamaki, so she turned to Maki with a curious expression. "Do you know? I didn't see..."

"Let me think." Naomi closed her eyes, calling back the night. It had been hectic and she had focused mostly on L, but....

There had been others. A woman with white hair and a stocky man who'd looked to be in his forties. A few who had looked to be young adults. She could identify them if she saw them again, most likely. Probably others, but she hadn't seen everyone. Just those that had been nearby.

"I'd guess the ages of the victims ranged from young teenagers to the middle aged," she finally said. No, age certainly wasn't a factor in it.

Middle aged? Well that certainly threw that theory out the window. "Never mind then," Shadow shrugged. "I thought I had an idea but if middle aged men and women were being attacked then I'm wrong."

"What idea?" Shana asked curiously, turning an intent, narrowed gaze on the other halfblood male. Even if he hadn't had the right answer, maybe it could lead to one?

Shadow had the courtesy to look a bit flustered before he spoke. "Well, I was trying to think of the differences between you and me. Something that an animal could use to find prey. Besides being male, there's only one other thing I've done that you, well, haven't that could possibly change some sort of scent. But, it's not as if a middle aged person would never have done this particular thing so my theory has to be wrong."

"There's probably a lot of differences between the two of you," Naomi pointed out. "You were probably born in different months. Or during different weather. Or the last thing you ate was different. Or the colors you were wearing. Or your current emotional states. Or the material of the clothes you were wearing." She ticked off whatever just jumped to mind. "We aren't dealing with normal animals. We can't begin to guess what it is that attracts them, with only the two of you for comparison."

Naomi had always been rather good at victimology, but here and now, she may as well have been back in college.

Shana gave a frustrated sigh and flopped back against the sofa, looking exasperated. "Well. At least we know if we ever encounter the things again, I can act as bait while you beat them off, how about that?" she replied, half-jokingly.

Shadow laughed and rolled his sleeves up, adopting what he thought was a heroic pose. "Yes, that's me," he grinned, winking at her. "Risking life and limb for the beautiful damsel in distress. Of course, I could always use you as a distraction and sneak away as the beast is too preoccupied."

He glanced down at her leg and grew a bit more sober, dropping the teasing jokes. "How is your leg?" he asked. "Did the Lord patch you up alright?"

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