[from here]

Junpei found himself a spot not too far from the door leading out to the hallway. Seriously, if Yukari waned the damn Evoker, she needed to run her mini-skirted ass down here to get it since he wasn't going much farther. It was only fair since he'd trucked down to her block last night.

Setting the bag of stuff on the floor, he leaned against the wall after adjusting the Evoker in the waistband of his jeans. He was not happy with having lost the t-shirt he'd had last night, forced to wear the smiley one again, even if it was turned inside out. He sighed and looked down at the square bandage on his arm. Vampire. He'd been bitten by a vampire.

Just to make sure, the junior checked his teeth. No fangs. Good. He probably would have freaked out if he'd found any. Still... curiosity got the better of him and he peeled half the bandage off to look at the bite. Twin puncture wounds with some redness about them. He poked it.

"Ow." Poking it was not a good idea.

[Hey, Yuka-tan... got any garlic?]

...apparently being vampired made the zombie go away. Junpei wasn't sure what to make of this development. yes, he was quite happy that he no longer wanted to go gnaw on someone's arm, but... vampire. He'd seriously swallowed vampire flesh (complete with vampire blood) and then that same vampire drank his blood. That was a bad combination, according to movies, books and other folklore. Not that Junpei could really remember a whole ton of vampire lore that would be useful in determining if he'd been properly vampirized. As it was, Evangeline didn't exactly come across as a typical vampire, so anything he he knew may very well be useless. That didn't make him feel any better. He supposed he'd find out if he started wanting to suck on people's necks in a non-sexual manner.

As it was, the teen was terrified he'd feel some kind of mystical pull dragging him to Evangeline to do her menial work, like carrying her shit and laying down over a puddle of mud so she could walk across him or something equally as lame and humiliating for a servant to do. Seriously, he did not want to find himself calling her Master and holding her purse at the mall while she tried on a bunch of dresses and shit.

...what if she made him do, like, evil things? Now he really wished he hadn't told her about Persona and let her see him burninate that unholy drain clog. She could do all sorts of things, make him do them, and he might be vampirically driven to do them. Evangeline would be a cruel master. Gods, she terrified him.

It was a good thing he was giving Yukari the Evoker that night. He set out to meet her once he decided that he wasn't getting called to be Evangeline's bitch that night. His armor, baseball bat, jersey and the closet rod were all in the mesh bag slung over his shoulder.

...his arm itched. Stupid vampire.

[to here]

[Currently from within M2]

Daemon been half afraid this night would be a repeat of last, that he would continue, night after night, to be trapped as a puppet of this place. An illogical fear, maybe, but there all the same. He'd been used for such things for far too long to not anticipate a re-occurrence. The relief he felt when none were forthcoming was almost breathtaking in its force.

Settling back on his bed, he made himself comfortable, fully intending to wait for Renji to show up for their scheduled brawl. He was actually looking forward to, an equal meeting, a way to work off some of the frustration and helpless rage this place was so good at instilling in them. He was certain he could use the outlet as much as the redhead.

Darkness fell, and the radio snapped on overhead once, then again, signaling the change of things out in the building, although there was no doctor taunting them this night, only the harsh gutteral sounds of a transformed nurse, if his guess was right. He listened to the words with a fierce frown, sliding his legs over the bed and wondering if he should really be waiting here in his room while others were being dragged away for much worse tortures than he'd endured last night...

The pondering lasted all of a moment. That was when he felt it. Felt her.

For one long moment, he stood there in the center of the room, frozen in shock, and then a roar of disbelief and fury escaped him, the temperature dropping to an icy degree within the four walls, a covering of frost coating the furniture almost instantly as his rage unleashed. Without pausing to grab anything other than his flashlight to illuminate his way, Daemon tore out of the room, following the faint pulse of familiar Ebony power that filled him with both furious and joyous relief.

She was here. She was here and afraid, and she was alive.

[Going here.]

As always, Rukia felt a chill of apprehension when the Head Doctor announced that new patients would be arriving. Would it be anyone else she knew? What if Ichigo was back...?

Before she could linger on those thoughts for too long, though, the nurse who had brought her to the showers looked up something on her chart and said, "Shiori, it looks like you've got a visitor this shift!" The woman smiled brightly. "Aren't you excited!?"

Rukia paled at the announcement. Who could possibly be visiting her? Captain Ukitake's face flashed in her mind. No. Don't think about it. It won't be the real person, anyway.

Trying not to look like a cornered animal, Rukia ran a hand through her damp hair and put on a fake smile. "Oh, uh, th-that's nice," she mumbled as the nurse showed her to the visiting room. Rukia took a seat, hands folded in her lap, and focused intently on the floor by her feet. She didn't want to deal with more of Martin Landel's sick jokes.

Nearly as soon as the doors unlocked, Yohji pulled out the pack of cigarettes and the matches. Ignoring his roommate and any protests he might have, the assassin placed one of them between his lips and lit it up with practiced motions. He took a drag on it and closed his eyes, almost in bliss, before releasing the smoke and letting it drift to the ceiling. Damn, he'd missed this. Maybe he should have used the chance to quite, but here more than anywhere else, he figured he'd probably die before the cigarettes did anything to him.

Needless to say, he hadn't told any of Weiss about the things he'd managed to scrounge last night. He didn't think that they'd approve of him wasting his time with them. But he'd take his comforts where he could.

He leaned back against the wall next to his bed and waited for Cliff to arrive.

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?

[From here.]

Almost there.

By now, Rukia was familiar with the way the patients' hallways were laid out. She headed straight to the end of the hallway, shining her flashlight on the door to M1 just to make sure she had the right place.

[Going here.]

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

Sai awoke rather groggily, which wasn't a good sign for a ninja. It meant he was probably ill. He'd need to get checked up with a medic-nin before he did very much more that day. Eyes blinked open slowly to stare at the ceiling and then narrowed in confusion. Not his ceiling. Was he already at the hospital?

"Mr. Pastello... wake up, hon."

Turning his head to the side revealed a vaguely familiar woman in a white uniform. A nurse? ...Oh yes. His nurse. Landels. He sat up at her direction, feeling mildly dizzy as he did so, and glanced down at his arms as he folded them in his lap. They were covered in clean bandages, no longer bleeding. The dizziness told him he was still suffering a bit from the blood loss, however.

When had he passed out? The last few events of the night hadn't been very clear. He didn't know what had happened to the two pirates and, looking around, the mess of blood they had left seemed to have been completely cleaned up. It was amazing, really. He smiled at his nurse, too weary to do much else but let her lead him to breakfast at the moment.

She helped him to his feet, where the light-headedness was even more apparent. It didn't seem to be anything he couldn't put up with, though. The nurse seemed to know a bit about what he suffered from, but made no mention of it aside from telling him to avoid lifting heavy objects and to drink lots of fluids as they made their way to the cafeteria. The subject of blood-sucking leeches never arose, and he figured if it had she'd surely feign ignorance.

It wasn't until they got there that he realized just how absolutely starving he was. He'd had what, corn for dinner? The smells were simply enticing, even though he had no idea what waffles were supposed to be. He was sure anything edible at this point would be fine, and made his way out of his nurse's grip and to the line with more speed then he'd probably ever gone after food at.

[From here.]

Rukia rounded the corner without bothering to look around. She stopped at the end of the F11-F20 hallway; hopefully Vice Captain Hinamori would come out of her room soon, with Renji's katana in hand. And then Rukia would go straight to see Renji.

She couldn't quite stand still. The beam of her flashlight wavered, hovering around the floor outside F12.

[From here.]

It felt like no time at all before he reached the hallway. He was paying half an ear to the radio the whole time, and if he was weary of it before, he was just plain suspicious now. No one said the guy had to be a saint, but he played with them like pieces in some royally fucked up chess game.

Remember this, my caged songbirds, he belongs to me.

Yeah, they were both psychotic and gay for each other. That just made him feel so much better. Cliff folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

It was just a matter of waiting for Nel now. He hoped his hunch was wrong.

[[ from here ]]

The darkness was almost tangible, which was entirely likely considering the numerous laws of physics and general order that the Institute broke. There was hardly time to consider the idea. There wasn't even time to watch where she was going. No, there was only time to close her eyes and let her feet guide her down the path she would always remember. Nightmares and dreams were never so different, after all. And River Tam could never forget.

The hallway was long but not discouragingly so. A means to an end, a means to something tangible and bleak. It was coming.

Without ever having seen Trevelyan, the doors opened, and suddenly people were moving about with purpose. That was enough cause for concern, if you subtracted the last intercom post. Cruel bastard.

Even without a contract ever being made, Hell received guys like him with open arms. It wasn't supposed to be a cheery thought, but it settled his mind. He had to find more answers and less questions. Still, the latest talk of the 'new patients' had piqued his interest. Were they also going to wake up in the cell blocks with no idea how they'd gotten here too?

Ren sighed, and wandered out the door of M10.

Fully cleaned, both her face and, more importantly, Renji's katana, Momo had made sure she had the belt fashioned of one sheet again as well as the extra sheet and her pillow cases. She hadn't spoken to Integra all of dinner, which was probably for the best.

Hanging her muted flashlight once more from the sheet at her waist, this time Momo wrapped the other sheet diagonally across her chest like sash or bandoleer. The pillowcases were tucked at her waist and once more the shinigami went barefoot, though the thin slippers were added to the pillowcases as she was unsure exactly what terrain she'd encounter at the gardener's shed.

Pens tucked into her hair, Momo heard the doors click open. She cast a brief glance at Integra. "I am sorry for earlier," was all she said to the blonde before she pushed the door open and entered the hall. A sharp look around showed no one else in the hall, so the shinigami headed quickly down the hall.

((here.))

Renji had mostly been ignoring what the head doctor said, until he got to the magic r-word; that certainly captured his attention. The prospect of rice made him a little more willing to let the nurses separate him and Rukia.

In the lunch line, he piled his plate to the maximum with steamed rice, adding a little chow mein, balanced precariously on the side, as an afterthought. That and tea was all he needed.

He sat somewhere he'd be pretty easy to spot from the door and started wolfing down his rice. He wondered if Hisoka and his friends would show up before he headed to the lunch line to get seconds.

Rabastan was on a mission to try to please Severus Snape. Someone should really stop and pity the poor Potions Master. So far, Bast had managed to lose just about everyone he had gotten attached to, and he was determined to not lose Severus. Severus was real after all.

Radio tucked into the crook of his arm, he grinned and shook his head when the nurses tried to get him to play, going for the sweet and cute thing. He did seem to be listening to their warnings to stay off the field then so he wouldn't get hit accidentally by people playing their various games. Heading to the sidelines, he began poking around at the grass and other small plants, trying hard to remember Potion classes from back at Hogwarts. Was that a good one? Or a bad one? Maybe it was a weed.

Either way, Bast plucked it gently and cupped it in his hand as he settled down on the grass and began fully inspecting the area around him. His radio was lectured to as he looked around.

"Mr Head Doctor, do you think we could go to the Arts and Crafts room later today? Severus might like some of the things in there. I'd like to get some of that faerie glitter if you don't mind."

Kuja was, in fact, quite surprised to suddenly find himself in bed. An odd turn of events, as he previously remembered investigating the contents of a closet. If the genome hadn't known any better, he would have thought he hadn't even left the room. However, the items he was still holding obviously proved such thoughts untrue; he had left his room.

This cage was a peculiar one.

In any case, unlike the night the day seemed the appropriate time to perhaps take a rest from all the danger lurking in the darkness. While he was resting his wings, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to "socialize" with the other patients, as allies would certainly be more useful during the night (and not merely to open doors for him). Perhaps he had made a fool out of himself tonight, but such wouldn't happen twice. Not everyone was fond of an encore, after all.

The sorcerer silently stepped out of bed, noticing his roommate was still asleep. The man didn't waste any time, however, as he hastily stored the items into his own closet, camouflaging it with clothes. Nurses finding his newly acquired items was the last thing Kuja needed, after all.

After he had closed the doors of said closet, another door opened as an extremely cheerful woman came in. Such contrast with the night, but the actors played their parts well.

Perhaps too well...

Kuja allowed himself to be escorted to the cafeteria, his attempt to gain more information from the nurse proving to be completely fruitless. Halfway, he had given up, as the staff seemed not as stupid as the Alexandrian court. Either they were acting, or they were unaware of the role they were playing. Regardless, they were mere pawns.

After he had filled his plate with some food, he seated himself at one of the tables, purposely choosing a place where he could easily watch the others patients entering. Blue eyes studying the various canaries flying within their cage as they were finally allowed an opportunity to rest their wings, he picked up a fork and began eating his breakfast.

[[from here]]

There were very faint sounds coming from down the hall, but for the most part, the upper level seemed empty so far.

Moving so that the bag of gardening equipment over his shoulder made virtually no sound and holding his sword ready to attack, Sasuke mounted the last few steps and moved cautiously into the hall.

There was a hall to their right. Sasuke pointed at it, indicating that he planned to try the doors there first.

[[from here]]

The first sensation Sasuke had when he pushed open the door was an oppressive, moist heat. This was probably the greenhouse Landel had spoken of earlier today, then.

Moving cautiously, he moved out of the door frame to allow Sai to enter, staying close to the slightly-cooler glass and away from the plants in general. If the animals here became monsters during night shift, who was to say about the plants?

There was what looked like a structure in the far corner -- perhaps it was like the shed in the rec field, and might contain something useful.

[[from here]]

Sasuke had recognized the first hallway as the one leading to the doctor's offices and considered following it to the end -- he'd spotted a door during the day. In the end, he'd decided to go on. He might as well reach the end of the main hall.

The end of said hall was a blank wall, but there was a second hallway just before a locked wing and what looked like a door at the end of it.

Sasuke chose the second hallway, because there were sounds of other patients in the first (and the distinct impression of cold that made him reluctant to try it, for some reason). Beckoning to Sai to follow closely and assuming that the other ninja knew how to take rearguard, he headed down the hall.