Nightshift 27: 2nd Floor, Pharmacy

[beloved_less]

[From here.]

Soubi kept a hand flat out on Ritsuka's chest, holding the boy back, but ready to pull him closer should anything come and surprise them from behind.
The torch slowly crawled along the walls, revealing the room piece by piece. It seemed safe, but he wasn't letting go of Ritsuka. He took his hand and walked in.

Comments

[not_rly_fai]

They kept their medicines here all tucked into little bottles. It would make things difficult to carry, unfortunately. And he assumed they were supposed to carry as much as they could, so that could potentially make things difficult. It wasn't like he'd thought to bring a bag, just the flashlight, like they'd told him to.

He made a pile on one of the counters, started with gauze and other wound treatments. While he had no healing magic of his own, he'd studied it long enough and looked for alternatives where he could. Not to mention all the experience he'd gained while on his journey with the others.

The pill bottles were different though. While he'd dabbled some into chemistry and alchemy, it wasn't widely practiced. Magic was, afterall, much easier and more useful for things like that. He was familiar with most of the over-the-counter stuff though, having purchased such things for himself and others after a night out and a bit too much liquor.

He gathered the ones that sounded familiar; Tylenol, aspirin, ibuprofen. After that, he took time to read the labels before tossing a few of the others medicines that sounded useful onto his growing pile. Once he'd gathered about what he thought he could carry, the only trick now was how to go about it. He pulled at the fabric of his shirt. He could tie the sleeves off, but there would still be a large hole in it, so that wouldn't really work. The pants, however...

"Excuse me a moment," he said cheerfully. It was mostly to give a bit of warning to the only woman in their party before just throwing clothes right and left. He found an empty corner and stripped down to his shorts, then tied off the pant-legs expertly and began tossing the gauze and medicine into his new bag. It was kind of breezy and a little cooler around his bare legs, but he really didn't mind. He liked the cold, it was heat that he found intolerable.

[damned_monsters]

There were more dangers in this place than those that bit.

They were easy to miss in the dark, because they were the dark. A deeper black than shadows, floating without sound or shape, they moved closer to the group. Distractions were to their advantage, as only the wary would notice their approach.

One to the pantless man, and one to the boy. They came closer, eager to touch, to drain the light from their very souls with just simple contact.

[Tad]

[undesirableone]

Harry frowned slightly at Riza's request. He had thought to bring his robe, at least, which had deep pockets he could store things in, but he wasn't sure how much of a help he could be. He didn't know the medical names of a lot of the most common Muggle drugs. His aunt and uncle had made sure to only give him the barest of treatments and even then he had always been careful not to get too injured. Other than the bruises and cuts that he got from Dudley it had really been after he had gone to Hogwarts that he started facing serious danger and even then there had been magical ways to heal people.

"Doubt we'll find phoenix tears here," he muttered to himself as he moved to the shelves to look over the bottles, pointedly not staring at Fai.

He didn't notice that he was about to be attacked.

[truthisntsimple]

Everyone was looking at the various Muggle medicines and drugs. Severus itched to glance through, see if he could find anything useful for potions but years of self-control taught him patiences. No one was guarding the door. No one was on watch, and he had no idea what other type of creatures lurked in the nighttime hallways of this...institution.

The lingering smell of blood, the slight red haze, and the utter darkness of the shadows disturbed him. So he took one more cautionary look around.

Something was very very off about this room. He felt a little better with his wand out, but not much. Taking a step closer to Harry he motioned to Hawkeye then glanced meaningfully towards the darker corners of the room. He hoped his message was received: they were probably not alone.

[gun_fire]

Riza followed the professor's glance, for a moment seeing nothing, more interested in the stick he was holding so purposefully than the direction of his gaze. But he must have seen something . . . and Riza turned the harsh beam of her flashlight in that direction.

Nothing.

The beam traveled the wall as she continued to search, but there was still nothing. And yet--there was something always just on the edge of the light's circle, as though the beam had to push it aside with its movement.

Thoroughly unsettled, Riza turned back to her task. Having already abandoned the small bags for their size, she had removed the sweater she habitually wore during these night ventures and tied a knot at the end of each sleeve. She returned to stuffing them with gauze, tape, aspirin, and anything whose label clearly indicated disinfecting qualities. But that wasn't easy: many of the names were unknown to her. As a last measure she grabbed an assortment of these unknowns, hoping they might be useful for any purpose: sedatives, stimulants, acetaminophen.

Whatever she took, she had enough to give the professor. Standing guard, he hadn't moved to the shelves, and it looked like they wouldn't have time to rotate.

They also probably wouldn't have the opportunity to come back, and so she hoped they would make it back to their rooms with at least this.

"Let's get out of here," she said shortly, gripping the sweater to keep the sleeves closed.

[ heading here . ]

[not_rly_fai]

Phoenix Tears, now there was an idea. They didn't have those birds in Celes, it was much too cold. But even then, could the tears cure something like that? It might be a nice thought, but probably useless in the end.

Despite all appearances and his current lack of trousers, Fai was in-fact, a very cautious man. And this thing, was definitely similar to a creature he'd run into before. Creatures black as midnight, called the Oni back in Outo country. Though, it hadn't been real at all had it? If it were so, he wouldn't still be alive now. Seishirou had ordered the things to kill him last time and he was only still here because it had all been a terribly advance virtual game system.

"Get out of here!" Fai said firmly to Harry and the professor, the smile all but gone from his face. He could see the creatures' movement, but it wasn't easy, not in this dim lighting. He held the tied-off pants in one hand and picked up a handful of bottles that still sat upon the counter with the other, then flung the small bottles toward the monsters. It wouldn't do much in the way of damage, but perhaps there would be distraction enough for them to get away. There was no need to fight, just run, but Harry was a child, whether he admitted it or not, and heartless as he might be, Fai wouldn't leave a child behind in the face of such danger. He edged toward the exit, silently willing the others to do the same.

[damned_monsters]

Indeed, the creatures didn't care about the solid things thrown at it; they might have moved to avoid the objects, or the things might have passed through them, but in the shadows it was nearly impossible to tell. They continued to creep forward, avoiding the light, until each had come to their intended target.

Their touch wasn't cold, but poetic humans might describe it that way for the effect it had. Deep black on Harry's shoulder, on Fai's leg, and suddenly their emotions were gone, left with a void as dark as the creatures that caused it. Apathy, the creature's curse, and so dangerous in this place where death lurked around each corner.

But there was still hope for these two, all depending on how soon they were pulled away.

[truthisntsimple]

It felt as if time had slowed to a horrifying halt as Severus watched Harry and Fai being...attacked by mere shadows. He could see as the two boys stopped, reacting as if Dementors had gotten a hold of them.

Dear Merlin, these creatures were like Dementors. If they touched him, he would be useless, but to get to Harry he would have to go through them. And if he used magic, he could be lost. Still, Hawkeye seemed capable. And Harry had never had too much trouble finding safety (and luck) in numbers of friends.

The decision was not hard to make.

"Hawkeye! Grab them and run." He lifted his wand and thought of Lily. "Expecto Patronum!" He had put as much of himself into the spell as he could, but even that hadn't been enough to produce a fully formed patronus. Still, the silvery light poured from his wand towards the two boys.

He stumbled, his head spinning, eyesight blurring. Severus pointed himself in the direction of the door and shoved the two boys out to here.