NIGHT 53: WOMEN'S BATHROOMS (F1-F40)
[ from here ]
The darker tiles on the floor looked almost like they were black holes waiting to catch someone in them thanks to the lighting, and it wasn't until Ruby skimmed the floor with her flashlight, still leaning in the doorway, that she realized they were actually red and found herself more willing to walk in. The first few steps were made apprehensively and her eyes flickered to every corner of the room as she swept it with her flashlight.
Some stalls, countertops -- for all intents and purposes, it looked pretty normal. For a minute there she felt ridiculous being so suspicious of the place, but given Landel's level of spook and everything she'd heard, her pride was taking a backseat to self preservation. Wariness was going to keep her alive.
The counters on either side of her were the same dark red that, when not directly lit, looked a lot more like some kind of unending darkness, but she pushed that lingering paranoia away and walked over, crouching down and shining the flashlight on the piping beneath the sink. It looked to be secured pretty well, but she'd done worse property damage, and if Roxas could get it off …
Well, no offense to the kid, but he wasn't exactly demon material.
She straightened back up, bracing one foot on the curve of the pipe where it connected to the wall, then bent her knee and delivered a powerful straight kick down against it. Powerful, but not powerful enough. She felt a sudden rush of pain in her foot where the impact shot directly up through her tennis shoe into the bone of her foot. Pain? Not supposed to happen. Not in a vessel when it was something this insignificant. Moreso, not when she was supposed to easily be able to deliver.
Her strength was hindered. More than she'd expected it to be and it was far more frustrating when she was looking it in the face. Becoming trapped in her vessel happened. Devil's traps, witch's curses, consecrated ground, specific runes, certain parts of Hell … there were a plethora of reasons for that to happen and she could get used to that. But, having her natural abilities rendered mostly impotent … She slammed a frustrated fist on top of the counter, jostling the whole thing pretty effectively and knocking her flashlight onto the ground. It rolled away a little and she sighed, looking down at it for a moment and gathering her patience back up.
After a hesitant pause, she gave the piping another, more enthusiastic kick. The pipe came loose, judging by the noise, and she stepped back, crouched down and retrieved her flashlight to take a look. A part of it was busted away from the wall, but she had to reach forward and give it a good yank to break it away from the rest of the piping. Not something that she would have thought twice about on an average day, but her shoulder protested to the force with which she jerked her arm back to accomplish it.
While it may have cost some of her enthusiasm for her nightly plans, she could at least say she'd achieved what she came in to do. She lifted the pipe some, checking its weight in her hand to ensure that it was going to be easy enough for her to swing around. Satisfied, she headed back for the door into the main hallway for the women's block, trying not to let herself fixate too thoroughly on the dejection of the lessened strength and instead just move towards what was in front of her.
The pipe wasn't exactly a refined, tactical weapon, but it would due until she got to Roxas and hopefully found a way to something better.
[ to here ]
The darker tiles on the floor looked almost like they were black holes waiting to catch someone in them thanks to the lighting, and it wasn't until Ruby skimmed the floor with her flashlight, still leaning in the doorway, that she realized they were actually red and found herself more willing to walk in. The first few steps were made apprehensively and her eyes flickered to every corner of the room as she swept it with her flashlight.
Some stalls, countertops -- for all intents and purposes, it looked pretty normal. For a minute there she felt ridiculous being so suspicious of the place, but given Landel's level of spook and everything she'd heard, her pride was taking a backseat to self preservation. Wariness was going to keep her alive.
The counters on either side of her were the same dark red that, when not directly lit, looked a lot more like some kind of unending darkness, but she pushed that lingering paranoia away and walked over, crouching down and shining the flashlight on the piping beneath the sink. It looked to be secured pretty well, but she'd done worse property damage, and if Roxas could get it off …
Well, no offense to the kid, but he wasn't exactly demon material.
She straightened back up, bracing one foot on the curve of the pipe where it connected to the wall, then bent her knee and delivered a powerful straight kick down against it. Powerful, but not powerful enough. She felt a sudden rush of pain in her foot where the impact shot directly up through her tennis shoe into the bone of her foot. Pain? Not supposed to happen. Not in a vessel when it was something this insignificant. Moreso, not when she was supposed to easily be able to deliver.
Her strength was hindered. More than she'd expected it to be and it was far more frustrating when she was looking it in the face. Becoming trapped in her vessel happened. Devil's traps, witch's curses, consecrated ground, specific runes, certain parts of Hell … there were a plethora of reasons for that to happen and she could get used to that. But, having her natural abilities rendered mostly impotent … She slammed a frustrated fist on top of the counter, jostling the whole thing pretty effectively and knocking her flashlight onto the ground. It rolled away a little and she sighed, looking down at it for a moment and gathering her patience back up.
After a hesitant pause, she gave the piping another, more enthusiastic kick. The pipe came loose, judging by the noise, and she stepped back, crouched down and retrieved her flashlight to take a look. A part of it was busted away from the wall, but she had to reach forward and give it a good yank to break it away from the rest of the piping. Not something that she would have thought twice about on an average day, but her shoulder protested to the force with which she jerked her arm back to accomplish it.
While it may have cost some of her enthusiasm for her nightly plans, she could at least say she'd achieved what she came in to do. She lifted the pipe some, checking its weight in her hand to ensure that it was going to be easy enough for her to swing around. Satisfied, she headed back for the door into the main hallway for the women's block, trying not to let herself fixate too thoroughly on the dejection of the lessened strength and instead just move towards what was in front of her.
The pipe wasn't exactly a refined, tactical weapon, but it would due until she got to Roxas and hopefully found a way to something better.
[ to here ]