Night 43: Main Hallway, 1-West

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Even distracted as he was, Suzaku remembered to stay on his guard as he passed into the main hallway. He would only be here for a moment, but there could still be a monster lurking in the darkness. And it was so quiet and deserted just now that he would make easy prey.

[to here]

Comments

[constellates.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=57805934#t57805934)]

Well, here she was. And, oddly enough, though she had passed people on the way here, there was quite literally no one around. It wasn't as bad as last night, since at least she heard other people opening doors in the distance, but there was still some sense of creepiness that she couldn't shake off.

It was gonna be fine, right? This zombie thing... the strange intercom announcement. Everything.

Alkaid shivered, though she would never admit that this place creeped her out to anyone in the history of ever. She wasn't supposed to be scared! She was a hero in this body! She was strong, and she was quick, and there was absolutely nothing to fear.

Nothing to fear. Except, of course, her damn zombie infection. And vampires. And perverts. 'Course, she was kind of asking for that last one, going it alone this far in a place like this.

Deeeep breath.

Alkaid turned her new flashlight off, relaxing against the wall in the usual spot. She didn't want any monsters to see her, and if Badou couldn't remember that this was the place then he didn't deserve to hang out with someone so badass.

[awaiting some crazy smokin' redhead]

[strayfag]

[from here]

Though he had his flashlight in hand, it was off as he groped his way along the wall, only the faint light if a cigarette illuminating his face every few steps. It should really be more of an exciting journey for his heart to be hammering this much as he moved along but mostly it was just gropegropegropegropeohheysoft.

Wait. Walls were not soft. Despite himself, Badou's first thought was OH JESUS BLEEDING FUCK, REVENGE OF THE WALL BOOBS. His second thought was. Wait, these are the breasts I'm looking for. His third one was that he should probably stop groping Alkaid now because that was seriously edging over to pedo territory. Badou snatched his arm back and decided this was definitely not his fault.

"Do you have a fetish for being groped in dark hallways or something!? Why didn't you turn your flashlight on?! What if I mistook you for a boob monster."

[itstaichoutoyou.livejournal.com]

Hitsugaya noticed another presence in the hall, but he mostly ignored her. Like him, she looked like she was waiting for someone.

Picking a spot against the wall, he sat down and began looking through his bag. Aside from the flamethrower, there was a flashlight, maps of the first and second floor, a key, and a notebook that he didn't recognize. He flipped it open, scanning the contents. Despite how unguarded he looked, Hitsugaya was still aware of what was going on around him. Centuries of experience had honed his instincts and senses to the point where he could unconsciously react to danger. Even with his senses dulled, he should be able to tell if a monster snuck up on him, unless the enemy was invisible.

[Reserved for team]

[faile.livejournal.com]

It was easy to spot the small-statured captain upon entering the main hallway, and Faize made his way over to the boy, stopping when he was within casual speaking distance. Hitsugaya seemed occupied, and Faize knew it was unwise to approach a soldier too abruptly, lest he be perceived as a threat and lashed out at in self-defense.

In all honesty, though, it was still difficult to imagine how one with such a youthful appearance could truly be a high-ranking soldier. He said his age was much greater than it appeared, but that was equally difficult to believe. Regardless, Faize had decided to trust Hitsugaya for now, and he intended to stand by that decision unless he was given any specific reason to distrust the boy.

"Good evening," he greeted him calmly. The bag and the book the boy had with him received a curious look, though Faize refrained from inquiring about them directly. It was likely that Hitsugaya would explain without being asked, and it was also possible that he wouldn't want to do so until all club participants were present, so that he wouldn't need to repeat himself.

[whiny-egomaniac.livejournal.com]

Starscream stepped into the relatively empty hall and paused. His flashlight slowly panned along the length of the room, pausing just briefly on the other individuals waiting in the shadows. Nothing here, he muttered to himself, exhaling deeply as the realization that he was holding his breath dawned upon him. The light panned over quickly to the stairwell, and as if it were to offer him some salvation from the darkness down here, he quickly ran toward it.

[whiny-egomaniac.livejournal.com]

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Walk walk walk...how boring. ...Well, at least there weren't any random encounters or things like that.

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

[irishpirational.livejournal.com]

By the time Lockon found himself confronting the stairs on the far west side of the main hallway, he was sure he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Allelujah's room wasn't anywhere near here. With a small sigh and a resigned look down at Haro where it was tied to his coat, he turned away from the stairs and started back in the direction he'd come from.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/704259.html?thread=58235907#t58235907), and so sorry for the wait! D:]}

She was careful to stretch her senses and pace herself, but Tsubaki still hurried on at a sprint, silencing her movements in the way of the ninja (that she'd been taught by--) so that she drew neither prisoner eyes nor enemy ones.

There'd been no concrete confirmation of who, if anyone, she was supposed to meet, but either way, Tsubaki was set to reach the upstairs hall without pause. Time was always the key. The night had started off normally enough, sans the intercom, but there could be no predicting when things might change...

As Tsubaki came into the main corridor, she slowed, both to avoid a potential collision situation with a man a little taller than her who was heading eastward, and because the stairwell needed to be scoped out more carefully before she surrounded herself with two thick walls on an unprotected staircase. "Excuse me," she said passingly, announcing her presence and diffusing it all at the same time. She'd seen fights here before, not long ago, involving people dressed in clothes she guessed were theirs, and although he was dressed in the typical Landel's uniform, she wasn't. Nevertheless, she was no enemy.

[yourtravelagent]

[from here]

The ex-salesman was starting to get a sense of where he was going now. Isn't this the hall we... Aren't they the stairs we...?

Isn't that the corner we...?

Yeah! So if he wanted to find Phoenix, he just needed to trace his steps from the first night back to his old room.

[yourtravelagent]

[to here]

[lawful_perfect]

[From here]

So far, von Karma had made it through the long hallway without incident. No signs of those infernal creatures, nor any more of those bizarre optical illusions. Even so, he gripped the flashlight tightly in his hand, peering around for signs of danger.

As he headed west through this hall, he remembered that this was precisely where he had first encountered his daughter in this hellhole two nights ago. Truth be known, he wasn't exactly looking forward to their next meeting. Yet, it was imperative that he show up, lest his non-appearance lead to his guilt by default. Unacceptable!

Before he turned north into the next hallway, he stopped briefly to rest. The infected injury was truly draining him; he could feel the heat and pain radiating down his arm. Even so, it was no reason for failing to appear tonight; only death would be a valid excuse for the very same prosecutor who had taken a bullet standing up.

After a moment, he resumed his trip to the female patient block, just several more feet away.

[To here]

[lawful_perfect]

[From here]

"Down this hallway to the east until we reach the stairwell. Then around the corner to the far north," von Karma instructed his daughter, who was following close behind. "My room is in patient block M-B."

Once again, something shimmered in the periphery of his vision. Inconspicuously, he tilted his head to get a better look at the wall to his right. Hn. Just a bare wall. He decided against mentioning this to Franziska, lest she think he was losing his grip on reality.

[number1smiley.livejournal.com]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=57914734#t57914734)

As Teresa moved into the main hallway, her head tilted up a little as she picked up on that youma's scent. Still, it had moved on so she did not worry about it descending upon the girl with her. There could be a multitude of other beasts about, though she concluded that they would attack the other humans in the hall before threatening her and her own.

"What will you do if the Clinic is not there? Sitting in your room would be safer, but quite... boring."

[euphemise.livejournal.com]

"I'll figure something out," she said, smiling brightly. "Whatever happens, it will be okay. Even if it's just heading back to my room." Not that she particularly wanted to do that, but...she had promised she wouldn't get in over her head.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html)]

[gald_digger]

[from here]

There were a few people loitering about, but nobody Anise knew all that well. She wasn't sure whether it'd be good or bad if she ran into a friend around here. It could mean ruining Sync's plans and both girls getting away safely, or it could mean a messy, deadly confrontation. It was definitely risky.

"You don't have any friends from home around here?" she asked Dahlia with a curious, somewhat concerned look. "That sucks. Have you been making friends here, though? I mean, besides us." If Dahlia didn't have much for friends besides Sync, that would be pretty bad news. Anise didn't want to think she was the only person in the institute who could keep that doe-eyed damsel in distress from getting offed by Sync. If she had other allies, maybe they could be counted on to come to her rescue.

...Although, if nobody knew Dahlia needed rescuing to begin with, it was kind of hard for anyone to come save her.

[godforsaken]

Contrary to how he was acting now, it was actually pretty hard keeping up his mask like that. He was rather lucky considering that both Dahlia and Anise knew his true colors, so he didn't have to try his hardest to convince them, but he knew it'd be a challenge to keep this up as the night progressed.

And besides, the temptation to sneer and humiliate Anise was pretty high. Maybe he could ease up the act a little and throw a few jabs here and there. After all, boys always teased the girls they 'liked', right?

"New friends are nice, but it's even better getting old ones back," Sync responded with a sad smile after the other two talked.

"I hope you find yours soon, even though this isn't exactly the best place for a reunion..."

[remnantsofflame.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=57934831#t57934831)]
Asch stayed close to the wall, not knowing if there was something going on out here. This wasn't necessarily as safe as the patient rooms. At least he didn't have to stay here and wait or anything like that.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=57935214#t57935214)]

[mitase.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=57936367#t57936367)]

This hallway was always larger, darker, and more populated than the smaller ones, and that only made Hanatarou even more nervous. It would be so much easier for something to sneak up on him unseen out here, and he was already seeing things.

Accordingly, the healer scurried around to the next hallway as quickly as he could, not even daring to look at the walls lest they vanish. Or something.

[mitase.livejournal.com]

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=57937518#t57937518)]

[lady-general.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/698750.html?thread=57821310#t57821310)]

Not for the first time, Celes was glad her long legs ate up space between one hall and the next. Still, Celes kept one steadying hand on the side of the wal as she walked. She swore she sometimes saw the walls change, or door appear out of the corner of her eye, but tried not to think on it too hard. There wasn't time for that. She had to get to Hughes.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?thread=58015217#t58015217)]

The main hallway was right ahead. From there, he would be able to head upstairs, find some sign of what might have happened to Peter... he hoped. Statistically he knew it was highly unlikely seeing he no idea of where his roommate had been taken, nor did he have a copy of the institute map after losing it on his first night, but he couldn't think of anything else to do other than try, which was much preferable to simply giving up or doing nothing.

Something flickered out of the corner of his eye and Brainiac 5 half turned, keeping his hand on the wall beside him and continuing to limp down the hallway, reluctant to stop unless he had no choice. He didn't see anything unusual, though for a moment he was certain he'd seen another doorway close by--

The hand trailing along the wall suddenly encountered blank space, and the Coluan boy overbalanced, staggering out into the main hallway as his injured foot gave away again and sent him tumbling face first into someone.

[meitantei.livejournal.com]

[skipping from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699531.html?thread=57946763#t57946763).]

Shinichi's mind was wandering, which was dangerous. He'd been thinking about Ran/Rachel, about the Ayumi-creature who had attacked him, and about this place in general. He barely even noticed when he left the smaller hallways behind and found himself in the main one.

That wasn't good. He had to be more vigilant. He couldn't let this place throw his resolve like that.

[skipping all the way here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/700980.html?thread=57924404#t57924404) because I'm really lame D:]

[otnemememento.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?thread=57950193#t57950193).]

Leonard entered what was labeled as the Main Hallway on his map. From the fleeting illumination from other flashlights, he thought he saw a stray door across the hall near the stairwell- one not marked on his map. Shining his own light across the corridor, he found the door wasn't there.

Must have been a trick of the light. His eyes returned to the map, trying to find the room he'd been looking for. A moment later, they darted to that spot across the hallway again. What the hell? I know I saw a door there this time.

Despite the room he wanted being to the left, he went straight instead, determined to find what was causing his eyes to deceive him.

[otnemememento.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/705076.html?thread=57953588#t57953588).]

[boyking]

[from here]

The hallways were always kind of milling about with people, but the one good thing about being here was that there was no need to be discreet about walking around with a loaded weapon. Sam still wasn't entirely certain how functional the gun was; it looked fine, but unless he took a shot, he wouldn't be able to know for sure. Wasting a bullet on that didn't seem worth it, though, even if he had that nagging paranoia that the gun was gonna jam on him out of nowhere. He had to admit, he would've felt more comfortable with his own firearm. He trusted it more.

But he certainly wasn't complaining.

He turned a corner, nearing the stairwell. "We should probably watch for the patients," he said suddenly, keeping his voice low. "Dunno if the infections are returning or if they're gone for good."

It wouldn't make sense because that wasn't how was supposed to work, but Sam knew he had to forget about the entire part where stuff needed to make sense. Something always changed when night fell. That much was obvious. Why it happened would have to be put aside for answering later.

He didn't mention his own bite, but he trusted Dean would know to keep an eye on him, as well.

[kindalikedit]

[To here]

[slipperymagic.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=57968879#t57968879).]

There it was, the main thoroughfare of the patient hallways, dark and gloomy as he expected it to be. The dancing pools of light reminded Howl of a haunted house, but he didn't hear any anxious giggling, nor were there any tacky decorations to reassure him. His comparison was swiftly falling apart. Either way, Howl had never much cared for the Halloween season, or anything which involved scaring yourself simply for the fun of it.

He strode across the hallway and found a position with his back to the wall and a wide view of the area. Considering the darkness, he forgo looking for any particular hair color and instead watched the silhouettes for Ryuuzaki's particular, peculiar posture. Hopefully the young eccentric would be as lucky as Howl and avoid being mauled or disappearing into the ether, as Brian's last roommate had.

[Waiting for L.]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

Howell didn't have to wait long. A perturbed-looking L appeared through the doors to the hall, and found him easily, crossing the larger corridor to meet him. His posture was as slouched as it had been in the library, earlier that day, but he had chosen to wear his slippers in spite of his preference for bare feet.

"You are here. Have you learned anything worthwhile since we spoke earlier?"

He would wait to ask whether or not Howell had noticed anything like the strange flicker he had seen.

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=57969262#t57969262)]]

So far, so good. There wasn't any sign of the others, but that could be good or bad. It was worrisome enough that Naruto hadn't replied to messages, Jiraiya too. Things had been falling apart before last night, but it only made it all that much worse.

But if she could try to treat Sasuke tonight, she could at least have a small bit of peace in her mind. That strange virus, whatever it was, she didn't know where to begin in treatment, but she'd do all she could.

Glancing cautiously up and down the hall, she continued on.

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?thread=58381041#t58381041)]]

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Making it to this set of stairs was easy enough; Peter just hoped it was the right place. He didn't often misunderstand his brother, so he was fairly certain that this was where the man had meant.

While there were a much larger number of other people around here, none of them were Nathan, but that didn't worry Peter too much. He had been here for a lot longer than his older brother, so it only made sense that he would get here faster. Not to mention there was a very good chance that Nathan's room was further away.

He'd waited like this for other people in the past, and he would be the judge of how long was long enough to start getting anxious. Not that he could even go track his brother down if it started to feel like there was a problem, but he would figure out what to do if that time came.

He carefully set his shovel against the wall next to him and then kept his eyes open, glancing both forward and to the left as he waited for his brother to show.

[aleaderwillrise.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=58007791#t58007791)]

Nathan saw Peter from the light of his flashlight and moved quickly toward him. He sounded a bit winded when he got to Peter's side, but ignored it, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. He lowered his other hand, the hand holding the flashlight, getting that light out of Peter's face.

"Pete. Glad you made it," he said, with a nod. As if this was a charity ball, or a campaign fundraising event. His face was serious, though, and he watched Peter carefully, noting the shovel beside him. He paused. "Looks like you're planning on running into something."

Better safe than sorry, he figured, but it still made him uneasy.

[scarefaux]

[Skipped from here.]

Hm, no sign of Kaiji in the halls- plenty of other patients out and about, though, as well as doors he didn't quite remember being there during the day.

He shined his flashlight down the hallway, to one end and the other. He eyed the stairs warily- it had been a few nights since he and Kaiji had made their ill-fated attempt to reach the third floor. He'd recovered from the wounds on his legs, but the notion that those somethings that had attacked them that night might still be there was intimidating. At least he'd had company that night. He was alone now, and might seem like an easier target.

His shoulder ached again, reminding him he was still injured, just in a different area. His hand went to the wound- that certainly did smart, didn't it? Pain was one of those sensations he'd be glad to be rid of once he got back to his original body, if it existed at all. That was also if he wanted to go back to it- he was having a lot of trouble with that decision, but that was for later. Right now, he wanted to see if his body was even there- if he could just see it, he'd have a lot of his answers about the Institute, Dorothy, and the truth. He'd have tangible proof that Oz wasn't some sort of delusion of a sick mind.

Feeling he'd better not attempt the second floor until he could put his best foot forward, he had a seat against the wall near the stairwell and waited for the ache to subside.

Sorry about the wait!

[shamusdoggydog.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/699758.html?thread=58186862#t58186862)]

Sam walked forward until he hit a wall. There were more people with flashlights in here, and now that his eyes had had a chance to adjust, he could make out lighter and darker patches in the room. Okay, if he was where he thought he was, there were some stairs. Somewhere.

Sam closed his eyes and tried to sniff them out, but all he could smell were people. Well, it had been worth a try. Squinting into the darkness with one hand on the wall and the other stretched out in front of him, Sam set off.

He hadn't gone very far when his foot hit flesh. "Gaaa-aaah!" Maybe he should've been looking where he was going as well. "Err— Sorry about that. Are you okay?"

Not gonna sue? said an inner voice that sounded a lot like Max. Sam ignored it. That didn't even make sense.

[denied-future.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=58024687#t58024687)]

More people were gathering here, but Rey didn't bother concerning himself with them. There was nothing of interest.

[denied-future.livejournal.com]

[Onwards to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/706633.html?thread=58026313#t58026313)]

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=58034927#t58034927)]

The main hallway was usually more busy than the previous ones, and now wasn't really an exception. Tyki thought he spotted Peter standing around with some other guy. Hopefully, the other man wouldn't get any crazy ideas and try to interrupt their game or something. If he did, the Noah couldn't be certain of the consequences. Be it good or bad...

With a shrug the Noah headed East into the direction of the waiting rooms.

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/706633.html?thread=58036809#t58036809)]

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=58035695#t58035695)]

Back out here. If he went around that way, he'd reach the girl's rooms where Naoto was. For a moment, he was tempted to go back there real quick just to check on her, but... popping over uninvited wasn't exactly a great idea. Especially in a section he wasn't supposed to even go into. Plus, she'd probably get mad and figure he didn't trust her to take care of herself. Which he did.

...Alright, so he didn't want to be going that way. So where did he want to go? There were stairs right in front of him leading up to the second floor and the hallway kind of kept going in that direction. If he remembered right, that was the way the nurses took him to the cafeteria.

Should he be looking for a way out? Or... no wait. The whole point was getting that Martin guy, right? He had to be hiding somewhere in the building. So... Kanji crossed his arms and tried to think about this. He wasn't any good at figuring this shit out, dammit. He had no clue where the guy who runs a hospital hangs out. Maybe he'd have better luck just kicking in every door he walked by...

[for Jaime and his crazy voices]

[wildunderstress.livejournal.com]

Wild Eagle was irritated, as ever, and had been all through dinner; he wanted to be moving, trying to find a way out of here, and being confined to a tiny room - for any length of time - made him more agitated and impatient than usual. He'd all but dragged Jamie's body across the room and out into the hallway once the doors had been unlocked, letting up only when Jamie had pointed out - equally irritably - that they needed a flashlight to see anything in the darkened corridors.

After that they moved uneventfully through the various passages until they'd reached the wide main hallway, where Jamie paused. Things would probably be more difficult from here on out, and he didn't particularly relish the idea of going on by himself.

...or, well. With only Wild Eagle for company, to be more precise. It might be safer to have another actual body around if he wanted to go any further.

Handily enough, there seemed to be one of those right here. The guy didn't seem to be up to anything in particular; might be worth it to check in with him and see if he wanted company exploring the building. Jamie approached him cautiously, almost diffidently. "Um...hi. 're you, uh, waiting for anyone...?"

[dualistic]

[From here.]

There were definitely a lot of people here, meeting up and chatting and wasting their time. Harvey wondered how many of them had productive things to do with their nights, doubting that most did. They clung onto each other for support because they were scared. It was the human response, but it wasn't going to get them anywhere.

At least he had a goal in mind, something that he wanted to sink his teeth into. Something tangible in a place where very little made sense.

Giving Batman what he deserved made perfect sense, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd accomplished that. It was why he passed by the groups of "fellow patients" without a second thought.

[dualistic]

[To here.]

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

Javert kept his gaze alert as he moved through the hall, but his feet moved of their own accord. They knew this route well. It was why he didn't stop moving when something flickered at the edge of his vision, a faint glimpse of a door appearing where there had certainly been none before. When he turned his head to face it fully, it was gone.

He snorted slightly, turning toward the stairwell again. A product of exhaustion, no doubt, but he couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps it wasn't that simple.

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

[clockmongler.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703215.html?thread=58048239#t58048239)]

Hmm. Still no signs of those strange fluctuations in reality (that was what he was going to describe them as for now, until he could discover the true meaning behind the flashes) happening once again. How saddening. Still, he was curious enough to keep a wary eye out for them.

For the first time in a while, he was interested in this place. It may have looked like nothing, but, indubitably, it had to lead to something! X did not want to escape, he just wanted to see something interesting.

And as he had been staring at the walls for the past fifteen minutes, it was easier for the Nobody to peer through the darkness. Unfortunately, it was still not enough to decipher everything. Was that... Celes there? Who was she with...?

[numberii.livejournal.com]

((From here.)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?view=58064113#t58064113)

Well, it seemed like he'd chosen to go deeper into the Institute, rather than outside. Made sense, as he'd gotten enough of the outdoors for a little while, and maybe a little something like this would be a bit more invigorating. There had to be something fun to kill in the Institute, something that deserved a precious bullet!

But then Xigbar stopped dead. He could tell when a certain other Nobody was nearby, and there he was, right there, staring at... well, Xigbar couldn't blame him for staring, all things considered. But instead of letting him stare, Xigbar ran up to him, gesticulating with abandon and grinning like a madman. "Dude, dude! Need a shield for tonight?"