[OOC: As the maps are currently down, I don't have the exact room name handy. Will edit if necessary when the maps are back up.]

[coming from here]

Farfarello was a little surprised to find the lobby empty when he came through the doors. They hadn't been the first off the buses, he knew that for certain, but no one else had made it inside? Pathetic. But also good, for Schwarz' purposes.

Leaning against a wall and keeping his senses alert for any trace of monsters, Farfarello waited for Schuldig and Crawford to catch up with him.

[Dropping down from Bus 3.]

Shana dropped into the darkness from the open window above, keeping her back to the carraige as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the pitch blackness surrounding her. It must have been a cloudy night, for she could make out no stars or moon above. Eerie sounds filled the night and she shivered, not liking the sound of it, nor the fact that she was out here alone with no idea of what could be lurking in the shadows.

Shadow was still trapped in the bus somewhere above and behind her, and she had no idea where Valyn and Keman were. Focusing her magic, she tried to reach out and feel for them, wondering if they'd felt her cast her magelight spell, wondering if they'd cast anything in return for her to find them. She had no desire to spend the night separated from them, especially since she hadn't been here long enough to know her way about the place, let alone the extent of dangers it could hold

Shana’s head jerked up as the carriages screeched to a halt and an awful, thick tension fell over all of them. Feeling her hair stand on end at the nape of her neck, she glanced around the outside of the bus, searching for whatever had given her the awful feeling of dread but seeing nothing out of the ordinary in the waning light of…

There wasn’t even time to complete the thought before day slipped into night and the peaceful twilight melted into nightmare. For one endless, dizzying moment, everything around her warped, shifted, leaving her disoriented and grabbing for Shadow to keep her balance, and then darkness fell and they were surrounded by the screams of tortured beings as their watchers… changed, turning into grotesque monsters Shana had never seen the like of before. Valyn hadn’t been joking when he’d told her of the horrors that stalked the darkness here, but not even her imagination could come close to inventing these.

Gasping in horror, she recoiled, darting to her feet, even as startled cries and exclamations rose from the other patients on the bus and eerie, unearthly sounds echoed from outside in the darkness. They were trapped in here, with the monsters at the exits, and none of them armed!

Her mind racing frantically, Shana summoned just enough of her power to send magelight dancing along the roof of the carriage, enough to illuminate the inside of the bus. This would possibly draw unwanted attention, yes, but at least the rest of them trapped on the bus wouldn’t have to fight blindly.

What a waste of a trip.

That was Anise's first thought as she was ushered onto one of the buses, taking a window seat along the left side. In the end, she hadn't been able to get any information besides rumors and conjecture. Among them, the only information worth considering was the doctor's suggestion of Doyleton being an extension of Landel's. Could it have really been a fake town? She hadn't had a chance to meet any of the townsfolk, or even see the insides of any of those buildings, so it was hard to say whether anything was off or not. Although the lack of a post office really was strange...

...Which made her realize. The blond man she met earlier on Main Street said he had heard there certainly was a post office, but there was no sign of it when she actually searched. No trace of the white-haired man he had told her about, either. As frustrating as it was, she had no choice but to acknowledge it now: he had deceived her.

He'll pay for that, she thought grudgingly.

Forcing away a sour expression that took hold of her face for just a brief moment, she started on the sandwich and milk (a natural choice for a growing girl) she had been given. Having spent the entire day running around town without stopping for lunch, she was admittedly pretty hungry.

When the bus had lurched to life, Okita was barely able to contain his scream of terror. He was lucky no one was sitting next to him or he would have died of embarrassment at his actions. Never having seen or even been in a modern transportation vehicle, he spent most of the trip curled up in his seat, gripping it like it was his only lifeline. The bus terrified him - the sounds it made and the way it jolted along the road. When it had become apparent that it wasn't going to explode, though, he'd relaxed enough to realize that unlike riding a horse, this metal monstrosity made him motion sick.

As soon as the thing stopped, Okita was off it, looking a little green. He remembered to take his sack breakfast and the coupon book, though, and quickly fled the area to find the closest place to hide. It ended up being a beautiful park with carefully sculpted lawns and what looked like play equipment. The fresh air did him some good and he quickly moved to the swings, setting the brown bag in his lap as he lazily moved to and fro on them.

He still had a lot to think about, he'd been able to supress most of his worst homocidal urges on the bus. Hijikata couldn't just disappear like that. Perhaps he'd been rescued earlier and would be somewhere in town today. All Okita had to do was get up the courage and start moving - no matter how difficult that seemed to be.

((From here. ))

His companions had chosen precisely the right thing to comment about. Adelheid had used his spear when fighting that monstrosity of a thunder-bird, and it had proven a tremendous downfall. Considering that he'd been forced to spend quite a few days trying to find healers to repair the damage... yes, that was still fresh in Adelheid's mind. But in this case, he hoped, the literally burned hand would learn best.

Of course, he hoped equally that his companions weren't getting too upset. Something was going on here, though; none of them had seemed upset at hearing about such a creature, which meant that they were used to something of that nature... and their comments had held just the hint of an edge, something Adelheid knew only too well, and it irked him. He was a Bernstein and a warrior, they should be listening to his advice!

Ah well. He'd done what he could, and so long as he was still drawing breath, he'd make sure that if they did do something stupid, he'd cover for them at least once. "Quite the contrary," he muttered as he walked along, "if I were at full strength- as it goes in this place- I'm confident in my ability to defeat it. One bolt at a time, when I know where they're coming from, isn't much." Adelheid knew now that he could reflect the attacks... but that first time, it had been a desperate fight for survival against something that had caught him off-guard. Now that he knew better, he was confident in his ability to survive again. Victory, however, was another matter entirely.

[From here]

Recluse turned the corner into the cell block hallway, still internally ranting about Landel. He was used to being the one in control of people like that infuriating doctor. There was a whole recruitment program for 'Mad Scientists' in Arachnos.

The vast majority of them ended up being killed by their on projects. Often in quite amusing, bloody, agonizing ways. That one little thought made everything seem just a little bit better.

[to here]

[from here]

Good, everything still looked familiar. Or as familiar as was possible in the darkness. Rhode still had yet to discover the joys that belonged to the flashlight nestled beneath her pillow, but her eyes were so accustomed to the darkness of her own dimensions that the hallways did not bother her. A little light would have been welcome, if only to flash against her golden eyes and scare away whomever had the misfortune to stumble onto her. She smiled at the thought of someone screaming as they ran away.

Only a little farther now.

[to here]

Riddick was out the door as soon as it unlocked, shiv out and partly hidden in his grasp. He sprinted by the other two doors towards the adjoining passage, heading for the hallway containing the room and the man who was his target.

_{[from over here]}

Although, he didn't need a room number to know where he was going, that much was true. The blood scent was strong, stronger than the average person's. And even if it wasn't, he was still competent enough to track it - a vampire's senses were superior, after all. They had no true weaknesses beyond a hunter's weaponry.

The tattoo stung him in rhythmic intervals, reminding of all the little things that made him doubt. Today along two people had called him weak, both children, both with their own visible injuries. And yet they'd both had the

Shut up, he spat in his own head, and kept moving through the shadows.

The only reason he hadn't outright refused Bella's request was that he had been planning to head in that direction all along. Where the humans went to the cafeteria for their food, Aidou went to the female cell block. It was the only place to find a good meal; that girl Claire had to be around somewhere.

_{[and making his way down the hallway to here]}

Larsa knew far too well the routine that occurred with Nightshift nowadays. With his own roommate having been taken by the Institute two nights prior, he could not afford to risk the assumption that his Guardian had not been met with the same fate. And so, he only found it fitting to traverse to the latter's room and check himself.

The Hallway was still empty when he stepped out, clutching at his flashlight as he cautiously descended down the area. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to traverse about this early, but he felt that if he maneuvered by quickly enough he could avoid an encounter all together.

With his mindset firmly planted to that belief, Larsa wasted no time making his way down to the set of doors that led to the next Hallway.

[To here.]

The intercom gave its cheery jingle just before the Head Doctor's equally buoyant voice rang through the halls.

"Ah, and finally, our day is coming to a close! Rooms and roommates have been reassigned with care, though what great partnership can start without a good meal? Ah, yes, after the nurses escort all of our patients, new and old, back to their proper rooms, everyone will have the chance to enjoy a savory chicken pot pie, full of peas, carrots, potatoes, and of course, chicken. On the side, we'll have buttery corn on the cob and green beans, and to drink, you may choose from the regular slew of water, milk, or assorted juices, which your nurse will bring to you.

"I believe that's all for now! Phew, long day, huh? I know I'll be happy to get some sleep, and thank you to all our vigilant doctors and nurses, although Dr. House seems to have gone AWOL... Hmm... Well, in any case, have a good dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began organizing the patients for the small trek back to their rooms.

[ OOC: Remember, room threads go in response to THIS post, and please put your respective room number in the subject line of your first post. Thanks! ]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in. 

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them.  He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so.  Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves.  In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy.  Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.  Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies.  Ought to be a good start.  He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

With the nurse's guidance, Rinali was the first one into the room.  Along the way she did her best to make note of what she saw, but everything seemed to fit what the nurse had said.  This looked for all intents and purposes to be a mental asylum.  Still, everything was off.  Why did the nurse say her name was Mei Dianfu?

"Here's everything you need to get going," the nurse said with a warm smile, leading her to a table with cheap scissors, glue, and an assortment of glitter and other tools to draw or build.  "I'll be right over here if you need anything, hun," the nurse said with a warm smile.  "The other patients will be coming in shortly.  Try and make some friends."

Rinali smiled slightly to the nurse in thanks.  The nurse seemed genuine enough, so there wasn't any point in being rude until she understood what was going on.  "Thank you very much," she said, then took a seat at the table.  She didn't bother to look at the art supplies, instead waiting for the rest of the 'patients' to filter in.  Maybe one of them would know why she was here, or better yet, where her brother was.

Brother, she thought.  Where are you?

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

[From here.]

Still no sign of any patients or monsters, and no word from the radio man yet. Turning right, Rukia continued on around to the first M-Block.

This corridor looked almost the same. Still quiet, though now he noticed more people about. At least that meant he hadn't run into any monsters. He ran along the hall until he saw the door that had caused him and Dr. Birkin so much trouble. From the day now, he knew that at the end of this hall was almost a lobby with the hall to the Sun Room and Cafeteria to the left. He didn't want to go there, so this was the end of the blocks. Right? No bathroom. He must have missed something.

Armand backtracked until he found another door that opened easily.

Armand didn't like the man's voice from the air. He sounded cruel, even when he was trying to sound nice during the day. Oh well, not that it mattered to the evil doctor if Armand liked him or not.

When the lights went out, Armand reluctantly put away his journal and pen in the desk, and grabbed a sweater and his flashlight. He slipped the sweater over his head as he entered the dark hallway. He'd run halfway down the corridor before he turned on his flashlight. There was a door to the right, he thought, at the end of the hall. He needed to get to the men's lavatory at the "end of the men's hallways." He knew of the one at the end of his block of rooms, but was there another?