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

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

The second shock caused him to wince and duck away from her once again, but her safer demonstration certainly got him staring. So Elle had a power too -- he probably should have guessed at that, but he thought she would have mentioned it earlier.

The lightning lit up the small area they were occupying, and he glanced over at her with raised eyebrows. "You didn't tell me that you could..."

But they couldn't get distracted by this. They had something to accomplish tonight, and he looked her over. "Did you bring the maps?" He could forgive those first two testing shocks so long as they could get down to business now.

And maybe if they had the time, he could check if he could use that lightning himself. He'd wanted to test that theory with Claire, but he might as well make the best of this opportunity if he could.

[ellectriclights.livejournal.com]

Right, they were supposed to be looking for the file room. But that could wait. Sorting through files might be informative, but it wouldn't be any fun. Elle had spent so much time scrambling to get out, but now that her father had made it clear she'd be in here for a while, she could take some time to enjoy herself. It was nighttime; Daddy would never find out.

Elle grinned and twirled around in front of Peter, gripping the front of his shirt and walking him backwards into the wall. "What's the matter, Peter?" she simpered. Her hands slid up his chest as she pushed herself onto her toes and nipped gently at his ear. "Don't you wanna play?"

[darwinism]

Maps... Now, that would make his efforts even more rewarding in the end, wouldn't it? After all, revenge was always sweeter when Sylar got something useful out of it, and as he watched Elle show off her power so recklessly, he wondered how exactly it'd feel for those sparks to fly out of his own fingers and into someone else, paralyzing them, hurting them...

Sylar smirked as he neared the pair. Elle's manipulations might have been one of her strengths, but right now, it would become her downfall. Just as Elle pushed herself onto her boytoy and Peter became distracted by it, Sylar moved out of the shadows and behind Elle.

"Hey there," he said just before he slammed the butt of his flashlight into the side of Elle's head.

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

While she might not have been shocking him any more, this wasn't much better. Peter really wasn't sure what had gone on between him and Elle, but something about the way she spoke to him was unsettling. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the way she was nibbling at his ear was making him squirm.

He was in the middle of lifting his hands up to her shoulders in order to gently push her away when he heard a chillingly familiar voice from behind the girl.

Letting out a gasp, his instinct was to pull Elle out of the way. While she was certainly strange, she was no Sylar. But Peter just wasn't fast enough, and he grimaced at the distinct sound of something hard connecting with Elle's skull.

[ellectriclights.livejournal.com]

Elle barely had time to register Sylar's voice before she felt something crash into the side of her head, sending her tumbling to the ground. Her hand lashed out instinctively, throwing a burst of electricity in Sylar's direction.

A loud gasp tore from her throat as her injured wrist struck the floor hard. Something warm started leaking into her ear, and she realized that the stitches on the side of her head had split and she was bleeding again. She must have taken one too many blows to the head recently, because when she opened her eyes - once the bursts of light had cleared and the rushing in her ears had faded - everything was black.

All she could do was scramble away blindly, watching the light blur of Peter's flashlight separate from the dark blur of everything else as her vision faded slowly back in.

[darwinism]

Once Elle was on the floor and Peter was staring in shock, Sylar grinned and stepped forward, shoving his hand against the other man's neck and slamming him against the wall.

"Kids these days..." He clicked his tongue and shook his head at Peter. "You should be more careful in places like this."

However, the sense of power was short-lived. He felt a stab of burning pain in his side and cried out, letting go of Peter and whipping around to see Elle trying desperately to get away. That was right – she still had some amount of her powers. Peter didn't, which meant that he wasn't the one Sylar wanted.

Sylar walked towards Elle, kicking Peter's shovel away in the process. He leaned over her and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her up.

"And some people," he said, sneering into her face, "should be careful about who they hire."

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

The sensation of his head smacking against the wall was unfortunately familiar, and Peter was preparing to use his own flashlight to fend off the man when another flash of light coming from Elle did the job for him.

The shovel that he had dropped earlier was moved even further out of reach, and with Sylar closing in on Elle (who Sylar obviously knew had powers after that display) meant that this situation was rapidly falling out of Peter's control.

He couldn't let Sylar repeat what he had done with Claire a few nights ago. This time, his blood wasn't going to be any help.

Without thinking about it, his hand flew up and he felt power in him for the first time since that same night in the courtyard, except this power was different -- it was potent, bright. It burst out of his hand and shot for the middle of Sylar's back.

Hoping that would distract the other man for long enough, Peter darted toward Elle, pulling her clumsily to her feet and then dragging her toward the stairs. "Come on!" he yelled, hoping she was conscious enough to move along with him.

[darwinism]

Just as Sylar was about to put his hand to Elle's head and twist her neck to the side, he felt another burst of pain – stronger this time – and doubled over, losing his hold on the girl. The next thing he heard was the quick padding of footsteps away and up the stairs; they were getting away.

Sylar lurched forward and regained his balance, a hand against the wall as he followed his targets. So, Peter did have some power left in him after all... it made the chase that much more exciting, but Sylar also recognized that he had to be more cautious if he wanted to gain something from this.

His pace quickened with his strengthened resolve and he continued up the stairs.

[ Following Peter & Elle. ]