damned_institute | Nightshift 45: M11-M20 Hallway

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Nightshift 45: M11-M20 Hallway

[from here]
Oh, so this was the hall he needed to be in. At least, he was pretty sure it was the right place. If he remembered right, the man on the bulletin board talking about Search and Rescue, his name was Phillip Hunt. If there were only two people in a room, though, it shouldn't be too hard finding him.

Allen shone the flashlight up on the wall, following the numbers. M14, where was M14...

[moving down to here]

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It was a quiet sound at first, easily lost in the shuffle of patients leaving their rooms for the night. But for one who would be alert and listening for such a thing, the soft sound of weeping would be clearly audible.

The sound was forlorn and despairing, that of a child utterly lost and now utterly bereft of all hope. It grew no louder, but once one began to pay heed the sound seemed to become more compelling, demanding the attention of the listener.

[tiassa]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/756668.html?thread=62069948#t62182332)]

It was surprising to see someone already waiting for him once he left the room. He'd expected to at least have to knock. Cloud blinked in surprise before smiling in greeting. "Hey, so it looks like we're neighbors. Kenshin, right?" It took all of two or three steps to get close enough to hold out a hand. "I'm Yuffie's friend, Cloud Strife."

He missed the sound at first, too busy with his introduction and the somewhat humorous situation, but he paused with his hand still extended. Were there children here as well? The blond turned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of where it might be coming from. There were two others down the hall, but it didn't sound like it originated from there.

"Did you hear that?"

Kenshin wasn't entirely sure who he'd been expecting to show up (and certainly not from next door!), but Cloud wasn't that person. The rurouni remembered the first (and only) time he'd met Sanosuke's former roommate, and yet this Cloud seemed slightly different from the one he'd met on the playing field that night when they'd been attacked by the Special Counseling patient. Younger, for one thing. And--lighter, somehow. He couldn't explain it. Kenshin had been around long enough that people who disappeared sometimes managed to reappear in this place without warning...and without the benefits of their previous memories. He figured that this was what had happened to Cloud.

So he smiled at the young man and bowed slightly. "Yes, this one is Himura Kenshin. A pleasure to meet you, Clou--"

The sound of crying cut him off. The smile faded, and his hand strayed to the hilt of his sword.

"Yes. We should be very careful."

The sound of weeping echoed sourcelessly around them in the dark hallway, growing ever louder as though in response to their attention. And for an instant there was a flicker of light nearby, a shape that disappeared too fast to be recognized.

And then it appeared again, closer, this time just in front of Cloud: child-sized and indistinct, but definitely a human outline. Small arms reached up toward the man, pleading, but a heartbeat later it was gone.

The hallway was dark once more, but still the child's sobs became stronger and more plaintive. And subtly, slowly, the temperature in the immediate area began to drop.

It took a few seconds for Cloud to realize that Kenshin wasn't wearing the same uniform as the rest of the patients. (He'd still been getting used to all the gray...) The man was also armed. This might have had him suspicious, but the other presence nearby was stealing away most of his attention. Though the voice was child-like, Kenshin had his guard up and the blond followed suit.

He stepped back automatically as it appeared in front of him, but it soon vanished again. "What was that?" he asked the other man as he brandished his flashlight. It wasn't the most menacing of weapons, and probably wouldn't do much against something without true form, but it made him feel better to have something in his hand all the same.

Should they retreat back into one of the rooms, or would that just be leaving them cornered? He didn't want it going after Luke either.

Edited 2009-11-24 07:06 (UTC)

"No one that we want to be tangling with," Kenshin replied, looking at the place where the creature had been just moments before. "We should get out of here. We don't want to be delayed." They had somewhere else to be right now. He didn't want to make Kaoru wait too long, or else she might come out and try to find them.

The rurouni started to slowly back down the hall, and indicated that Cloud should do the same, when the temperature dropped suddenly.

"It's some sort of spirit or...apparition, or..." He shrugged hopelessly. "This one has stopped being surprised by the things this place throws at us at night, honestly. At any rate, if it's made of air weapons won't be of much use. Yuffie-dono is more important than wasting time with an impossible creature."

A pale blue-white light flickered to life just behind Kenshin, then expanded and coalesced into a more solid-looking shape. It was the figure of a human child, certainly, though the features were wavering and indistinct. One small hand lifted, reaching toward him in a pleading gesture.

And as it moved it gave voice to a despairing wail, a piercing sound that drove into ear and mind alike and brought a chill far beyond the physical cold surrounding them. It echoed against the listener's own memories of grief, loss, despair, as though trying to force them to feel as it did.

Not back to the room, then. Cloud still had questions in regards to Kenshin's current appearance, but they could wait until the two of them were in a safer location. He knew of plenty of enemies that took the form of something harmless but most definitely weren't. Following the other man would be the best idea for now.

The change in temperature had to be a result of whatever this ghostly child was doing, and that was enough of an ill omen. The noise that followed caused Cloud to clamp his hands over his ears, causing a far too familiar mental flash of white light and replaying of painful memories. After a stunned pause, in which his balance was shaken, the blond forced himself ahead. He reached out to grab Kenshin's arm as he moved, to pull him along faster. Screw slow and cautious, he wasn't sticking around where anything could mess with his mind.

The coldness in the hallway was suddenly tinged with snow, and for a moment Kenshin saw, once again, crimson blood slowly pooling in the whiteness--

No. He wasn't going to let that image take hold of him. Not now, not when there was work to be done and the creature was so obviously trying to manipulate them whatever way it could. He put on an extra burst of speed as they ran, trying to put as much space between them and the child-thing as he could.

The wail faded to a whimper, the child's outline fading away once more. For a moment there was silence, then the weeping resumed, softer than before. It only begged for a response to its despair now, rather than forcing one upon its listeners.

Yet even as the sound began to move away, farther down the hallway, the bitter chill still hung heavy in the air. Although its spectral form had vanished again the being was quite clearly still present, even if it seemed to have subsided for the time being.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/754522.html?thread=62392410#t62392410)]

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Nightshift 45: M11-M20 Hallway

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