Nightshift 37: Sun Room

[contentincloset]

[from here]The ninja entered the room first and gave it a good look over. It didn't seem as though anyone else had been through this place yet, or if they had, they'd not met with any resistance. He wouldn't let himself fall into a false sense of security for that reason alone and kept his guard up as he moved

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[bewarethecute]

Ururu didn't want to face it twice. Ururu didn't want to face the ghost now, because she knew she couldn't fight it, couldn't protect her friends from it. She'd tried with Rangiku, but her punch had just gone through it, and then there was cold and things she didn't want to remember, and pain. She didn't want that again, and she didn't want Kurogane or Shiki or anyone to feel it either.

But everyone was trying so hard. Shiki took her hand and Ururu tried not to shake so much. It was important that Shiki get her things, so she could do her best. Ururu wanted to help, so for that, she thought she could face this ghost.

Even twice, if she had to.

"We'll run really fast, okay Shiki-san?" Ururu gave the older girl's hand a squeeze, though it probably wasn't reassuring. "And Kurogane-san will run fast too. And we'll be okay."

At least Ururu hoped so. It was hard to do, because she was very scared, but maybe.

"Ready? Let's go, now." With that bit of warning, Ururu took off, still holding Shiki's hand as she ran as fast as she could for the Arts and Crafts door.

[crimson_ritual]

The echoing voice continued, melting away into sobs before it was all cut off abruptly, leaving the room in sudden silence. There were more of them, more, all of them here to ruin everything. She'd make them pay, oh yes, each and every one.

Sharp laughter, shrill and not at all sane rang through the room. The blue flames burn brighter, higher, and more intensely with each passing moment, moving now to seek out the warmth of human souls. They would fade out of existence if they strayed too far from her, only to reignite and chase their targets again seconds later.

Sae continued laughing, the room abuzz with her unnatural power when she finally moved, hands raised before her, heading straight for the tall, dark-haired man that stood near the children. All of them would have a turn, each last one, but he would be the first. Just one touch was enough to send him to hell.

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke didn't like the sound of that laugh. It held notes of terrible and crazed pleasure, the kind that usually signified that pain and death was imminent. For the victim or the attacker--one never knew.

The sergeant watched from over the edge of the couch, eyebrows slowly drawing together as the supernatural happenings in the room swelled. He didn't like this. This reminded him too much of the tattooed priestess. Ghosts... the dead. It was too much for his binary-oriented brain to understand.

However what he did understand was that the ghost was attempting to attack the children as they ran. Refusing to let children become the victim of this woman's attack, he seized one of the couch cushions and hurled it at the ghostly woman. If she was anything like Reika, it would pass through her, but hopefully be enough to distract her from the two girls.

[rope_victim]

While Sousuke watched the ghost, Miku watched the flames. Everything in her told her to run away, and her head throbbed in reply to the force of the ghost's Malice. It was different from Reika's and somehow... somehow worse. It was as though every cell in her body wanted to tear asunder and make all haste for a different door, while her promise to commit to research resounded firmly in her mind.

Won't be able to run, not with Sousuke attracting her. Will she follow us all the way out? We'll have to keep other people from getting inside the Sun Room, too... can't let them be hurt... Miku shifted. If they had a pole or a broom, they could probably jam the doors while the other one distracted her. Her hands shivered as she took a photo of the flame without the flash on, for future research reference. Experience told her to turn it back on right after, but still, the little photographer hoped that White Kimono would ignore them.

[contentincloset]

"Either go forward or go back, but just go somewhere!" he ordered towards Shiki, harder than his first directions. Just standing there didn't help anything, and no matter how many times they would have to deal with this thing tonight, Shiki had to make up her mind.

Thankfully, Ururu got the hint without the additional words and made the decision for the both of them. Forward it was. Kurogane only took small steps back as he waited for the girls to reach their destination, keeping himself between them and the ghost should it try to attack them. He wasn't used to fighting ghosts really, but from the sound of the woman's voice, he knew whatever kind of creature this was, it was not very sane.

As he felt the two leave the room, something took his attention away from both the ghost and the girls - an object coming from the direction of the others that had entered. It was closing in on the ghost woman fast.

They hadn't.

"Are you crazy?!" his head turned as he shouted in their direction, just barely catching sight of the pillow as it went sailing towards the ghost. They should have just run while they had the chance, not tried to attract it themselves!

[crimson_ritual]

Some had fled, cowards, but the Repentance would come for them too, soon enough. They would all pay for their crimes, for their mistakes and most of all for taking Yae away. The laughter bubbled on her cold lips and she reached for the man who'd been too foolish to leave. An object flew past, though it only went through her middle, passing through the white fabric of her kimono, stained red with blood.

She paused in her pursuit, long enough to fix the two with a slow and deliberate smile. They might have gone unnoticed, at least for a little while, hidden as they'd been, but now she would make sure they knew the pain of their mistake. Her laughter resumed as she made one last desperate swipe at the tall man, looking to catch him, touch any small part in hopes of sharing her pain.

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke panicked. The distraction hadn't worked and the woman was still trying to attack the other man who hadn't run. And now the woman was reaching for him again. If this one was anything like the other ghost, that would be very bad indeed.

"RUN!" Sousuke shouted, standing ready to vault over the couch. "DON'T LET HER TOUCH YOU!"

[rope_victim]

"I won't!" Miku said quickly, unsure if he was talking to her or the man, and raised the camera's viewfinder to her eye. "Close your eyes!" The ghost woman was centered, and while it wasn't the Camera Obscura, and had no affect... Every bit of research was worth having. The digital camera beeped and the flash sparked. Blue and orange spots danced behind her eyelids, but she continued slide behind Sousuke.

She was scared, really scared, the camera wouldn't stay straight, but the picture was what mattered most. Her blood hammered in her ears. The flames weren't fast, they made her think of the monks at Himuro, trapped until she released him. Did that mean this woman was a priestess too?

[contentincloset]

He would have already run were it not for the two idiots behind the couch. He'd thought they might be smart enough to get away on their own, but with the hurled couch cushion, he couldn't think that anymore. And he'd already heard the girl's voice now, worse for fear than little Ururu's had been. Thanks to that, running was no longer the first thing on his mind.

"You don't have to tell me that!" he snapped at them again, still moving to keep just out of the ghost's reach. She wasn't very fast, and with her pause to smile at the two he had a chance to run for it. He was almost to the Arts and Crafts room door, an easy exit opposed to staying to help and, what he thought it most, the coward's way out. Kurogane was no coward, and for that reason he hesitated to go and leave the two.

When a bright light flashed through the room, Kurogane was forced to shut his eyes. He hissed at it, swore loudly, then quickly turned on his feet. He had no choice now because of that and had to make a break for it, only hoping that the ghost had been hindered by the light as well.

[crimson_ritual]

Sae heard their cries, but they did nothing for her. She held nothing like mercy or compassion, only malice, and the desire to spread that pain to as many others as she could.

Though he was fast, the camera's flash distracted him, while it did nothing at all for her clear, soulless eyes. There was no pause, no hesitation as she reached for him, fingers brushing his back as he ran away, but a touch was all she needed.

The rope tightened around his neck, incorporeal but slowly choking and stealing away precious breath, leaving nothing behind to claw at but his own skin. It was a pain he wouldn't soon forget, as flashes of the village's own Crimson Ceremony were forced into his mind, glimpses of her own pain brought to life.

The rope vanished as quickly as it'd come, though the marks it left behind were real enough. Sae's laughter died down to a giggle as she searched the room for her next target, discarding the first like a broken toy. Her blue flames danced ever closer to the ones behind the furniture with each step she took.

"Shall we begin?"

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke grit his teeth as the dark haired stranger was caught by the woman. He'd warned him, he'd warned him to just run! But now the ghost was coming for him and Miku. And like hell he was going to let that happen.

"Miku," Sousuke extended a hand to move her behind him. "I don't want to leave that man alone with her. Can you get to him while I distract her?"

[rope_victim]

"I... I don't know," Miku responded honestly, and looked back towards the open Sun Room doors. They should run. They should run and do it too, draw the ghost away from them. Miku wondered only briefly why she was so willing to be a sacrifice for people she didn't know, but... but she still remembered the little face of Ururu, however brief their meeting had been.

"If we can out run her, we should be okay, Sagara..." Miku had meant to grab his shirt, but realizing that he didn't have anything shirt-like to grab onto, rested her hand on the backpack-like protrusion instead. "But... we'll have to outrun her."

[crimson_ritual]

Closer, closer, closer. She didn't run, she knew there was no escape for them. Not then and not now. They were within reach of her flames now and only a little longer til she could reach them with her fingers as well.

The boy or the girl first? He wanted to steal her away, but the girl was at fault too. She hated how this one clung to him, just like Yae had. Was he going to take her away this time too? No. No, they can't escape. They'll die. They'll all die screaming. "-die... all die..." her voice repeated aloud.

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke put himself fully between the ghost and Miku, watching the flames warily. He didn't like what she was chanting either. They would have to be fast, yes. But could they get around the flames?

He wanted to send Miku ahead of him, possibly have her crawl along the ground underneath the flames. But he had promised Sanosuke that he wouldn't be injured again. There didn't seem to be an alternative, though. It was either Miku was touched, or he was.

"Miku," he said, putting a hand on her elbow. "We're going to run, understood?"

Or, more accurately, she was going to run while he covered her.

[rope_victim]

"Yes, where?" Anywhere didn't seem like a feasible answer, but neither did hoping that Sae wasn't like Kirie in her teleportation. The photographer clutched her camera and looked for an exit point, "The cafeteria?" The suggestion was a quick one. At least from there they could get back over the walls to the patient blocks again.

Miku swallowed and pushed her bangs from her face nervously. "Be... be careful, too."

[crimson_ritual]

Perhaps these ones understood how hopeless their situation was and simply accepted their fate. Or perhaps they were fools, sitting and chattering away while death came for them. She was close now, hands outstretched for the nearest victim. The boy this time, already scarred, so more wouldn't matter. Cut and bleed and feel the pain. Tear him apart, inside and out.

"-your fault. It's your fault she's gone," Sae smiled, dark and filled with malice. "Bring her back. Bring Yae back..."