damned_institute | Night 52: F11-F20 Hallway

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Night 52: F11-F20 Hallway

Asuka had almost missed the eerie, parting words of the head doctor as she hustled around her room. Everything had been eaten so she would have plenty of energy to burn all night. Her roommate never returned to the room, which was more than fine with Asuka. It gave her free reign to bustle around their compact prison cell, grabbing her baseball bat from the wardrobe against the wall, as well as her red jersey Junpei had given her. She wrinkled her nose every time she saw it, but it was her favorite shade of red. It made her stand out and that was very important. The eva pilot also remembered to take along her radio this time after Okita had stressed how important it was.

Since there had yet to be any regular pattern from the nurses suddenly walking in after dinner was handed out, Asuka was confident her preparation would not be discovered. True, her roommate could walk in any minute along with her resident vulture, but the head doctor's broadcast was already running. It wasn't likely she was here any longer. It was the same superficial yammering as the night before and the night before that, so the redhead didn't bother paying much attention. The institute grew silent and dark soon after as Asuka tugged her jersey on over her regular uniform. It was in her struggle that she heard the strange chuckle and the ominous message thereafter.

Well, it was either for them or for another person in his office. Either way, it seemed this night might get interesting. It was hard to manage, but Asuka successfully grabbed her flashlight, radio, and baseball bat before leaving her room for the main hallway.

[To here]

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"Yeah, this is the one," Anise confirmed with a nod. She went ahead inside, leaving the door open for Ilia to come in if she wanted to.

Over the weeks, Anise had done a lot to brighten up her room, with cute dolls positioned on her dresser and her origami animals lined up on her desk. She usually loved showing off her room when she had the chance, though right now there wasn't much time for that.

The girl went straight to her desk, ripped a piece of paper from her journal, and quickly scribbled a note to Tear, explaining that she had gone to look for her. At the end of the note, she asked Tear to leave a message on the bulletin tomorrow. To make it stand out, she pushed most of the other things on her desk to one side, and left the origami duck Tear had watched her make on top of it.

"... Finished!" she announced, whirling around to face Ilia again. "Let's start looking. I know three places that special counseling patients tend to show up at, so we should try those first." There wasn't much time, so she'd have to explain as they walked.

Ilia stepped inside the door but remained to the side, allowing Anise to write her letter without someone poking about her things. Although she found the odds and ends Anise has collected charming, it also was a cold reminder to Ilia about how long such a young girl like Anise had been forced to deal with this place. Much, much too long.

As soon as Anise was done, Ilia backed out into the hallway. She took another quick glance around, then moved towards the exit.

[returning from here]

Anise hurried through the hallway, feeling more than just a little ill at ease. She was trying not to think about the shadow, even while it made more and more strange movements, as if trying to draw her attention back to it. There was still a part of her that illogically hoped she could walk fast enough to leave it behind.

When she reached the door, she shoved it open roughly, determined to quickly see what was there, and then promptly get out and away. The emptiness of the room before her was no big surprise, but Tear's presence wasn't the only thing they needed to check for.

Anise took a few steps into the room, stopping at her desk. The origami figure she'd placed over the note hadn't moved an inch since she left it. "... Tear didn't come here," she announced, looking down at it. She wasn't in any of the places they checked, she didn't come to the meeting place at all... where was she?

It looked like they needed to worry more about themselves for the moment, though. Leaning against the desk, Anise looked back to Ilia, remembering that she hadn't yet responded to the woman's earlier suggestion. "... I don't know if leaving the institute will get us away from whatever's happening, but... I think it might be our best bet."

Ilia followed Anise, still lagging a bit because of her injury but she couldn't dwell on that. The shadows around them... Could they even consider them shadows anymore? They way they seemed almost palpable and moved on their own volition, it made them something else entirely. Shady beings. Shadow creatures. It was edging past the level of 'unsettling' and moving into 'mind-blowing' range.

Ilia remained in the doorway as Anise looked deeper inside. She had prepared herself for this, but still she found herself looking down to the floor when Anise announced Tear was still out there. She would have felt better had they only missed her. Or even if they just knew where the institute had taken the poor girl! But they were left them with no clue whatsoever.

"Come on, then." They couldn't sit around dwelling on what was not to be. They needed to move. Ilia turned to walk back out into the hall but froze when she came face to face with--She had to take a few steps back, backing into the room. That shadow... it looked so familiar, and it was standing in their way.

The figure was pitch black, but had an eerily familiar silhouette. Only two golden eyes reflected back at her. Ilia blinked, willing the shadow to disappear but it stood where it was, eyes transfixed on her. Then, after a moment, its posture fell and it took a step back itself, letting out a moan.

"I can't..."

Had Ilia the mind to speak, she might have asked what it meant. But that voice--the very tone matching her own--brought all her thoughts to a complete stop.

There wasn't anything else they could do here, so Anise nodded at Ilia's words, turning away from the desk. But before she could leave the room, Ilia stepped back inside. Anise took a step back too, giving the woman some space and looking up to her with a confused look. Was something out there?

But then she saw it - a dark figure with bright eyes, standing at Ilia's height and... cowering?

That wasn't what Anise normally expected from the monsters here. But the fact that it didn't act threatening wasn't much consolation, as Anise soon recognized the voice that came from the shadow. It was just like Ilia's... no, it was Ilia's voice, but it wasn't coming from Ilia. Then... Ilia's shadow was talking? But that couldn't be...

"What are you so worried about?" a disturbingly familiar voice sneered from behind her. Instinctively, Anise drew closer to Ilia, turning to face what stood behind her: herself. The figure was dark and the lighting was poor, but it had enough definition in its features that Anise could make out her own face, its reddish eyes narrowed in her direction, and its lips twisted into a sarcastic smirk. It didn't react when she gasped at the sight of it; it merely continued with what it was saying. "If anything goes wrong, you can just use your 'friend' there to save your own skin. That's what you're good at, isn't it? Using people."

The words stung, but the sight of her own face and the sound of her own voice left Anise too stunned to respond right away.

At first, Ilia could only stare. Really, what were they supposed to do? Lash out? Fight against whatever it was? Her mind was reeling. What if it was a monster? But it was human-shaped. So, maybe another patient being controlled! Or just--an illusion! That had to be it! Ilia wouldn't accept anything more or less. It couldn't be real. It was all in her mind. That voice could never be hers.

But then something else threw her off guard and she whipped around. Had Anise just said she thought Ilia was--"What! Another one?" She should have known better, but it shocked her nonetheless.

Red eyes, small stature. Shaped exactly like Anise. Just like the other one, it looked like a living shadow. But she couldn't let it phase her! She had to keep them moving--they had to escape before... before... "A-anise! L-let's go." Even in her own ears, her plea sounded shaky.

"I can't... I can't..." Ilia turned back around, backing further into the room closer to Anise. Her shadow--no, the illusion, it couldn't really be anything else!--it was clutching its arms around herself, shaking, trembling as it stumbled foward. The eyes glowed weakly in its hallow face. "I can't do it. I don't have the strength." The golden eyes pulsed. "You don't have the strength. To protect."

Ilia took another step back. Illusion or not, it sent a blow to her ego as well as to her courage. She wanted to block out that voice, that terrible, horribly similar voice.

It was the sound of Ilia's voice that brought Anise back to reality. The girl looked up at Ilia, nodding at her urging them to leave... but Ilia herself didn't move for the exit. Instead, she was backing up. That thing was taunting her, trying to make her feel helpless. To Anise's surprise, it even seemed to be working. Ilia usually seemed so strong and put-together, but this thing was really getting to her...

"You don't have to be strong to help me," the smaller shadow said, addressing Ilia in an almost reassuring tone. The message, however, wasn't quite so kind. "You just have to be gullible, and you do that just fine."

Anise could feel some kind of weight forming in the pit of her stomach. She didn't think about Ilia that way at all! But hearing those things in her own voice made her think... Ilia had already gotten hurt once because of Anise. Was she taking advantage of her without even meaning to?

No, she couldn't think like that. If she did, she would be falling right into one of Landel's traps. "Don't listen to them!" she urged Ilia, tossing her flashlight aside and grabbing Ilia's hand instead, tugging it urgently. "Let's just push past them and go!"

"You can't... you can't..."

No! She didn't want to hear it! That couldn't be true! She was strong. She wasn't a hypocrite, not like that doctor had tried to insinuate! She, and Anise too! They weren't here to be his play things! They were not going to fall prey to his illusions.

Or, that's what she told herself. She tried to shake it, but she couldn't seem to focus. To force herself to move forward. What had Anise said? Or was it the Shadow Anise? No, the hand that grabbed hers was solid and real. She gripped it back and nodded, then pushed herself to run! Run run run! Right past that Shadowself and into the hallway.

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Night 52: F11-F20 Hallway

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