Nightshift 37: Main Hallway, 1-West

[shallweplay.livejournal.com]

[From here]

As she entered the hallway, Ophelia stopped for a moment to quickly fold up Kio's maps and stuff them into one of her pockets. She had been hoping to take a peek at them at various intervals during the night, but in this dim light, there was no chance of being able to see them. For now, she would have to travel by memory of where she had been taken during the day.

At least this time the choice of where to go was easy. On one side she could just barely see the hallway ending, and on the other it continued for a ways. The path that continued would surely lead to the Sun Room and the areas around it. She started running again with a grin spreading on her face, emboldened by the long, seemingly unobstructed length of the hall. Perhaps she would find her first challenge of the night soon.

Comments

[i-dont-paint.livejournal.com]

It took some effort not to pick up speed again once he hit the main hallway. Tony was all to aware of the minutes ticking by, made all the more noticeable by the utter lack of ability to predict just how much time would pass before they were unceremoniously shunted back to their rooms. It could be hours, it could be minutes. He hoped for the former, but knew enough by then not to hold his breath.

"This way," he directed quietly, using the beam of his flashlight to indicate the eastward stretch of the hall. "It's the shortest route."

[jesuslandicious.livejournal.com]

Lev cautiously followed after the man, forcing himself to trust the man at least a little bit. Instinct told him that nothing good came out of trusting anyone but yourself, but Lev had proven wrong on that point several times...not like that changed much. He took in a deep breath as he followed the beam of light.

It was at this moment that he noticed how vintage the flashlights were. These were the sort of things he found in antique stores alongside iPods...and he was pretty sure he spotted an old flashlight in a pawn shop somewhere.

"Shortest route to where?" he asked just as quietly, chalking up the flashlights to that weird parallel dimension thing that was mentioned earlier.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/519676.html?thread=42926844#t42926844)]

Indy cupped his hand over his flashlight as they approached the junction, studying the dark hallway for signs of opposition. He didn't see any, but if you were going to run an twisted insane-asylum-cum-prison, it'd make sense to put some patrol in the main drag.

The stairs were right across the hallway. They could make a run for it.

"Ready?" he whispered to Pierson, gesturing rapidly at the stairs. Hopefully Mr. Codebreaker would get the hint.

[oldest-man.livejournal.com]

Methos nodded sharply, muttering in return, "Ready." His gaze swept quickly over the hall ahead, noting the presence of other lights, indicating other patients on the move. Probably other patients, though they could be guards just as easily, the figures hard to make out the details of. He thumbed his flashlight off; it would be simple enough to turn it back on when they needed the light, and a dark figure made less of a target than a moving light source.

He ticked off a count on one hand, 3-2-1, before pushing into a sprint for the door across the broad hallway.

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html?thread=42659126#t42852918)]]

It was pretty impressive how Sasuke could still maneuver so quickly without his eyesight. As expected from a genius like Sasuke, the little voice in the back of her mind pointed out. She couldn't really argue, though the pace might be a little slower than she'd like, if she were to find the place alone, it would take much longer.

Though Sasuke could likely perceive things as they drew nearer to him, she still watched the halls vigilantly for any sign of enemies as they headed for the stairs. She could see the map in her mind's eye, and was sure to trace the path they took for future reference.

[lostonlifesroad.livejournal.com]

Kakashi was equally impressed, but as Sasuke had said, he wouldn't be much of a ninja if he couldn't do at least that much. Though the jounin might not have put it so harshly as that, he understood the spirit of it. In his own way, Sasuke was similar to Naruto in that regard. Unfortunately, they were still different enough for the Uchiha to betray his village and nearly kill his friend.

For the moment, Kakashi kept up with the pair, but still didn't move to make himself known. It wasn't just a way to test their ability to notice him, but his own limits when it came to remaining unnoticed. Ninjtsu was the designation of techniques he'd become infamous for, but in this place, without his chakra, Kakashi was at a distinct disadvantage. While he was aware that his enemies wouldn't often be humanoid, Kakashi still needed to gauge what he could and couldn't do. The safest and easiest way to go about it was under conditions like these, when he wasn't fighting for his life, but when things could be passed off casually if he was discovered.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/522327.html?thread=42936151#t42936151)]

Dragging his shirt-cum-bag behind him, Leon made his way slowly back towards his room. He ignored everything around him, and made no sign that he realised it might look odd for a man his size to be wandering around shirtless, dragging a pile of broken pipes behind him.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

[almost back to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/520443.html?view=42937851#t42937851)]

[screwthegods]

[From here]

The venture through the patient hallways hadn't taken much time; every person in the group had been in Landel's long enough to have a strong awareness of the path, even in darkness. There were sounds of struggles, signs of fights just recently fought when the group made their way into the corridor. But Homura had given the order to proceed without stopping, and he expected all involved to follow that order.

"Okita." Homura gave the man a nod, pausing at the base of the stairwell to let him proceed first.

[notachick.livejournal.com]

To be given the lead was something of a point of pride for the swordsman and when Homura gave him the sign, he nodded in return. This was a sign of trust from his leader, a sign that he was still wanted within the group even if he'd almost killed two members of it a night or two ago. Even if he lost control, he wasn't going to be abandoned and that meant more to him that anyone would likely understand.

"Understood." Taking the lead position as they went up the stairs, Okita kept a wary hand on his sword just in case anything came out at them.

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524456.html?view=42954408#t42954408)]

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/518896.html?thread=42978288#t42978288).]]

Though tonight was supposed to be about Renji, Hokuto couldn't help but remember all the friends and teammates she had seen come and go; would there be any words for them, too? She didn't want anyone to be forgotten.

Though she knew she should hurry--she might well have missed the start of things already--she stopped at a window and looked outside. "I hope you're all far, far away from here," she whispered.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

[[And off to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/520180.html?thread=42979316#t42979316).]]

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

(from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/521884.html) to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524114.html))

[toadally4boobs.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/519676.html?thread=43046140#t43046140).]

Naruto was still no where to be found, and Jiraiya was growing increasingly worried by the minute. Something was very, very wrong. Or he was getting paranoid in his old age.

Then, he saw something that made his heart clench. Sasuke and Sakura, both heading for the second floor stairs. Where the patients were taken for experimentation.

So they, too, had the same suspicions. ... And so did Kakashi, by the looks of it. Despite everything, Jiraiya quirked a small smirk. It seems like the other two hadn't of noticed him yet.

He watched the three go into the stairwell and followed them. Jiraiya wasn't going to be left behind. Naruto was the kid that he was supposed to look after. And he'd be damned if he let those three find Naruto without him.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524456.html?thread=42984360#t42984360).]

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524456.html?thread=43075496#t43075496)

Ah. Now she was back where everything was clear in her mind. Falis had been through this hallway so many times, usually with Namine with her, that she didn't need a light to find her way. Besides, there was enough light as it was.

Back to her room, then.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/521502.html?thread=43052574#t43052574)

[wing-head.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/519676.html?thread=42739708#t42739708)]

There were stairs in this hallway, Steve remembered seeing them during the day, but he could only barely see what he thought was a stairwell. "We should go up the stairs in front of us," Steve said.

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

Kurt moved slowly ahead. realizing that if he ran on all fours someone might think he was a monster and attack him, he walked upright. If he was caught and attacked, his face really wouldn't be a way to convince them otherwise.

"These stairs?" Kurt asked, pointing straight ahead of them. "Or the ones over there?" He pointed further down the hall.

[winged_moon]

[from here]

Once down the stairs Yukito paused to catch his breath again, giving a worried look around the area. Was there another monster here, too? He hoped not - that walk had tired him out more than seemed at all reasonable, and he was glad that his room wasn't much farther away.

"Do you think they're going to be okay, up there?" He gave his companion a worried look, now that they were away from obvious danger and he felt it safer to talk. Even though he knew there was nothing he could really have done, he still felt guilty for just leaving like that. "It looked dangerous...whatever it was."

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

To his credit, Yukito did as he was told and followed. Now it was just a short walk to the rooms, so the kid should be able to do that much on his own. Besides, monsters in this area were pretty rare.

"Ain't much we c'n do for 'em," Gin assured the boy. "Just hope they c'n hold on until mornin'." And if not, he didn't want to be anywhere near the body. He had a bad enough rap before he'd come here, he didn't want to give anyone else a reason to come after him.

"You alright for th' rest of th' way?"

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Claude had something else on his mind before he brought up the subject of Anise. He could tell. Guy hadn't said anything, though, so he wasn't sure what could be bothering him. Was it the maps? Should he not have mentioned he had some too?

Leon's thoughts seemed to skip over the subject of Dias. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that he hadn't really been with the party long and Leon had no real interest in swordplay... or it could be the fact that he easily scared the pants off the young mage. Either way, the thought that Claude might be bothered by his current actions didn't even cross his mind.

He glanced up and down the hall, wondering which stairway up Claude would prefer to take. He wasn't ready to start tossing out directions yet.

[nobleman]

The mention of Anise was one that got Guy chuckling to himself. Anise probably would be interested in getting to know Leon, but the boy's immediate assumption that Claude was trying to be matchmaker got Guy full-out laughing.

"I'm pretty sure she's taken," Guy provided, though his tone made it obvious he was half-joking. Seeing how the young girl attached herself to anyone who was made of money, she had probably already given her heart out to over a dozen men.

And when it came to people her age, then she really only had eyes for the Fon Master. Guy personally wasn't sure if there was something between those two, but he wouldn't be surprised if Anise was carrying a torch for Ion.

"But if you've got a lot of money, then I'm sure she'd be very glad to talk to you." He was probably giving off the wrong expression by saying that, but Leon would see for himself how sweet Anise could be if he ever got around to speaking to her.

They were almost at the stairs, and Guy had more or less assumed that they were going to take the nearest set.

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/521884.html?thread=43115932#t43115932)]

Since they'd just been this way the previous night, Mori remembered the way quite well. There was, of course, the added benefit of not having any sort of fight going on in the immediate vicinity which made the trip all that much easier. He just hoped that Mitsukuni was alright on his shoulders and that the dark wasn't scaring him.

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Honey kept his flashlight on the move, illuminating dark corners and ever-watchful for any monsters. Back home it'd been a little easier to say that the monster in his closet was just in his imagination, but from the things they'd seen glimpses of, here they just might be real.

But Honey had put aside his childish ways in the past, hard as it was, so he could do the same for now, to help them find a way out.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html?thread=43168054#t43168054)]]

[cnflctofintrst.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/515444.html?thread=43087476#t43087476)]

There were no sounds of fighting in the hallway, though the scent of blood was strong. The only indication that he saw the crumpled, inhuman body occupying part of the hallway was the fact that he stepped neatly around it. There was no hesitation or change of pace, though he listened closely for Sen's reaction. "We'll take that stairwell," he said with a glance to Matt.

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

It was the smell that Ayumu noticed first, the unmistakable odor of fresh-spilled blood that warned her of danger ahead. She'd allowed herself to lag just slightly behind Robin as she followed, giving herself a little room to move in case it was needed, though the glances she kept casting around herself looked outwardly worried rather than wary.

When they reached the decidedly inhuman corpse she paused for a moment, stifling a soft gasp behind one hand as she took advantage of what little time she had to get the best look possible at it as she edged past, apparently fearful that it might move again. This certainly corroborated the claims about monsters that she'd read on the bulletin board, and she sincerely hoped they'd not run into anything else like that tonight.

As the three of them moved on Ayumu hurried her steps, moving to walk even closer to Robin than before, though she carefully kept close to the side opposite the pole he was carrying. Clinging for dramatic emphasis was one thing, but interfering with what makeshift weaponry they had would be simply foolish.

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524456.html?thread=43152040#t43152040)]

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517218.html?thread=43177570#t43177570)]

Javert smelled the corpse before he saw it. Despite the saber in his hand, he took an involuntary step back at the sight of the inhuman creature lying there. His eyes clearly judged that it was no longer a threat, and yet -

Well. Grimacing slightly, he moved on. The sooner he reached the file room, the better.

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html?thread=43178806#t43178806)]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517218.html?thread=43184482#t43184482)]

And a turn here. Bourne knew the building already - he knew where he needed to go. If he could have avoided using his flashlight, he would have. The light was like a beacon, a sign shouting 'Here I am! Come and get me!' to any and all hostile forces.

The smell of death was strong here. Bourne took a quick glance at the corpse - not human, though just what it could be, he wasn't sure - and moved on. It was dead, and therefore no use to him.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html)]

[kindalikedit]

[From here]

It wasn't that hard to flip his mental map of the area and get back to the main hall. Dean wasn't too crazy about having to juggle his new flashlight and the bowie. No point being a wuss about it though - he'd had way worse injuries than just a crapped-out arm - and Dean settled for keeping an eye out for any trouble as he paused. Down the hall should be the Sun Room and then the cafeteria and probably a kitchen access point.

That was before he noticed the smell of fresh blood. It hung heavy in the air like there'd been a lot and it'd been pretty damn recent. It was too dark to see anything immediately nearby but whatever it was - or had been, that much blood and you weren't doing much walkin' - it might still be around here. Dean moved cautiously, keeping his flashlight propped up in his sling and the bowie knife in his other.

[kindalikedit]

Moving deeper into the hall, Dean paused as his flashlight hit on some kind of corpse. At least, he was pretty sure it was a corpse, what with that huge puddle of blood and the fact there was definitely fleshy bits there. But the proportions were all wrong, the limbs bolted on in the wrong places like someone thought Frankenstein was plain boring and not creative enough.

"The hell..." Dean muttered under his breath, gazing down at the corpse. He'd seen plenty in his line of work but he hadn't ever seen anything like this. Toeing it with his boot, he turned it over, some of the limbs flopping over brokenly as it rolled. Obviously some kinda monster but part of it had been human once - there were human arms and legs and part of a woman's upper torso and head sticking out, seeming to melt back into the main body. Dean didn't allow himself to wonder who she might've been. Once you did, everything else just piled on, like wondering how she'd turned into this, her last thoughts, and suddenly it was impossible to do your job when details like that started weighing on you. It didn't matter who she was anymore. She was dead and so was the monster. Whoever had taken it out had been thorough, he thought, examining the body.

So now he had demons and their bullshit, possibly spirits and now monsters he hadn't even seen before to deal with. It just kept getting better.

Dean skirted the monster and continued on, tightening his grip on the bowie knife in his good hand.

[blurred-divide.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517218.html?thread=43219554#t43219554)]

As they neared the open hallway, the scent of blood hit him. Fresh. Angel slowed down a bit, tracking his gaze over the area to the shape a few feet over. It was too dark to make out more than an outline, but it didn't matter. He could tell from the smell alone that it wasn't human and the thing was obviously dead. That was all he needed to know to keep on going without any further delay. Blood was attractive and he didn't want to be around in case any other creatures were drawn near.

He started towards the stairs instead. "I don't know if they're keeping it hidden on purpose or if it's actually impossible to define a date here, but when I was at the bookstore, they had every section listed except history. The library here's the same, too."

[light-wicca.livejournal.com]

Willow handed the newspaper off to Anya when she was finished, mainly to stop the vengeance demon from bumping into her every few steps. Anya had a point with the headlines; none of it said anything helpful. The front page only had articles that talked about regular town happenings, like Joe Normal breaking his leg trying to retile his roof or something. Either Doyleton was a really boring and self-involved town, or something supernatural was going on.

She noticed Angel slow down as they approached the main hallway, and she slowed down to match his pace, listening hard for anything going on ahead of them. The vampire had a knack for sensing danger before it struck. She didn't hear anything, though, and Angel kept going without stopping, so Willow relaxed slightly and followed.

"The library doesn't even have any non-fiction," she added in a slightly bitter tone. "Not any real non-fiction, anyway. Just Oxford Dictionary type stuff." She paused. "If Doyleton really is separate from here, then do you think the wonky time might be... regular? Like Landel isn't controlling it?"

[timedork]

[From here]

It was an odd thing, familiarity. The Doctor was familiar with the TARDIS, sure!, and he'd been familiar with Gallifrey, but to become well-acquainted with something in one place and one time outside of his home... It wasn't something he did often. He wasn't sure he wanted to do it now, but there was work to be done and people to be sent back to their proper places and times and dimensions.

He'd been this way many ways by now, both during the day and at night. He'd gone upstairs here before, so the Doctor decided to go in a different direction tonight. He turned left and continued down the long hall.

[To here]

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

[running from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/521884.html?thread=43292572#t43292572)

Momo still felt a little disoriented by the time she reached the main hallway. That had been the first time she'd used shunpou under this limiter and it had taken more out of her than she'd expected. No matter, though. Momo HAD to get to Hitsugaya as soon as she could, as fast as she could.

Shiro-chan... Don't leave me. Please, let me be mistaken.

[up the stairs] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/524114.html)

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/522796.html?thread=43254828#t43254828)

Silent for the first few hallways, resolute in her decision as it were; here Senna faltered. The lack of presence was overwhelming, and she couldn't.

She didn't know him. She was terrified of him. So why was she so shaken?

Because it could happen to her? Or because he gave her a second chance to be something?

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

Hokuto had very little idea what was going on, but she just couldn't leave Senna alone. And... she didn't want to be alone, either.

What happened to Hitsugaya? Do you know? Part of her wanted to ask, but she knew it would be too hard to hear, and probably too hard for Senna to say.

She didn't know if her presence would be wanted where they were going--she wasn't a shinigami yet. But she'd see, at least. And she was here to support Senna, if she was needed in that.

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

The pair turned into the hallway. Depth Charge halted for a moment, taking his map out again to make sure they were still on track. "Just a little further now..." he muttered, stuffing it back into his pocket. "Think you can hold out?"

The question wasn't purely one of concern- while he was worried that Lugnut would collapse somewhere along the hallway (not an happy possibility), his main priority was turning the subject away from the troublesome issue of trust between them. The last thing he needed now was some kind of moral crisis.

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html?thread=43301686#t43301686)]

TK headed for the stairs, moving quickly. It wasn't like they were all that stealthy with the glowrods on, anyway. The only priority now was getting to Armand as fast as possible.

[janus-006.livejournal.com]

Alec usually resented following anyone, but he was able to put his ego aside for a brief moment. It was almost like he was on the side of Britain again - at no other time would he have even considered going back for anyone. They couldn't make it, too bad. This place was changing him; whether for the better was debatable.

[son-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517686.html?thread=43494198#t43494198)]

By now, Clark was starting to openly wheeze: having been pretty much the picture of perfect health for all of his life (excepting times he'd been around kryptonite and that one time he'd gotten sick), the farmboy really didn't have much experience with what it felt like to push yourself to a limit and find it actually existed and, in fact, it was pushing back. His speed had kicked in further down the hall and he'd only caught a glimpse of something weird on the floor before he was suddenly back in the west end of the hall.

And trying frantically to put the brakes on when he shot right past the second hall and nearly collided with the far wall. Clark skidded, barely, to a stop. He turned and almost ran into Brainy. Obviously he hadn't been going as fast as he thought he was.

"M..." Clark had to start over, chest heaving, his face flushed. "M35. It should be that way," he nodded with his head, not willing to let go of Kvothe to point.

[I think we can just jump to the clinic thread now since we're in the block areas?]

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Brainiac 5 took the opportunity to look over both Clark and Kvothe, now that they had stopped. While most people would simply have expected Clark to be out of breath, possibly worse having run all this way, he knew that the Kryptonian boy should have barely expended any significant energy in doing that, so his out-of-breath panting was... disconcerting to say the least.

The sooner they got to the clinic the better, he decided. "Then we shouldn't waste any more time," he said, leading the way through the halls to the correct door.