night 45: F-A block hallway.

[vitale]

( from here. )So far, so good. Once Bella’s hand touched the corner of the wall, she followed it slowly, her feet stumbling over themselves for a few seconds before she finally got her footing. “Stupid ... disorientating darkness,” she muttered to herself, her cheeks flushed from the thought of falling. That certainly wasn’t high up there on her

Comments

[madeinthehrl]

[from here, waiting for Meche]

There were...more people out here than Maria had expected. So it wasn't just her door that had been unlocked, it had been a lot of people's. Maybe even everyone's. That wasn't safe, was it? It was one thing to pretend it happened at night, but this was something else. This was different. For one thing, it wasn't actually supposed to happen.

Where was her nurse? Did they really all go home for the night? Surely there would be some staff on hand in case something went wrong? This institute was so highly regarded. It didn't make sense for there to be no nighttime supervision. She was sure Papa wouldn't have had her sent to a place like that.

Maria gnawed on her lower lip, trying to shrug off her discomfort. Nobody here seemed hurt yet. That was a good thing, right? But they could get hurt. Why wasn't anyone doing anything about it?

[sheisthecause]

[from here]

It was sort of like speaking of the devil: as soon as Meche started to worry about one zombie-infected friend, she turned the corner and saw the other one right there in the hall. Soma was by herself, moving...differently from usual, Meche thought. As though she was uncertain or preoccupied about something. Or hungry?

"Soma!" Meche called, hurrying over to the younger woman before she really stopped to think about it. "How are you feeling?" She certainly didn't look very happy--not that Meche should really expect her to, she guessed, since the last time they'd seen each other they'd been in the middle of a fight. Feeling a little guilty, Meche glanced around. The hall was mostly empty, but there were a handful of young guys nearby who could probably help her if Soma was feeling peckish.

[madeinthehrl]

Maria turned instinctively, the flashlight beam skittering in the general direction of the voice, and almost regretted it. She needed to learn to stop responding to that. It was what people here knew her as, but...they needed to see the light eventually too, didn't they?

"Meche," she said, offering a faint smile that surprisingly came rather easily. She didn't know the older woman's real name, so she guessed it was all right if she kept calling her that for now. It was a relief to see someone familiar out here in the hallways, even if she hadn't spoken to Meche very often. There was that one time in Doyleton, and...she'd appeared sometimes in her delusions, but...

"I'm all right," she added quickly, aware that she'd paused for a moment. "I'm doing a lot better." That was right; she'd hurt herself a few days ago and Meche had expressed concern. It was nice of her to ask. "Do you know what's going on, though?"

[sheisthecause]

"I'm glad to hear it." Meche came right back with a smile and a private rush of relief--maybe it had just worn off after all, then. Hopefully that meant it wouldn't be too bad if she were a little late getting to Senna and Alita's room. "Senna was pretty worried when she didn't hear back from you on the bulletin board yesterday afternoon, so it's good to see you up and around, you know?" She didn't mention the incident the other night; it didn't really need to be said.

What was going on? A whole lot of things, honestly, but Meche decided she'd better skip to the most important details. "I'm actually on my way over there right now," she explained to Soma. "Senna had a pretty bad day today, so we're both playing hooky from Arts and Crafts tonight, and I wanted to make sure she's feeling okay

[madeinthehrl]

Maria ducked her head slightly, embarrassed. It was really nice of everyone to worry about her like this. She'd thought she'd never be able to make friends when she'd first arrived, but it was starting to seem like everyone here was just as close to her as her friends back home were

[sheisthecause]

A lot of people? "Really? Did something happen?" Meche asked. "Aside from the usual reasons people have bad days here, I mean." Like disappearances and monsters--the ordinary, run-of-the-mill things. Sad that they were so easy to get used to

[madeinthehrl]

There was only so long Maria wanted to tiptoe around the subject, and she didn't want to outright lie to Meche. "Sort of," she said, looking down. "It sounded on the bulletin board as if people have started to remember who they really are." She looked back up then, a touch of determination entering her voice. "But I'm sure she'll feel better tomorrow." Just because Sarah and Senna weren't quite the same people didn't mean the potential for her to start smiling again wasn't there.

Meche, though--it sounded as if this might be a problem. No doubt everyone was treating the doors unlocking as normal because as far as they were concerned, it happened every night, but the more clear-headed people around here had to know it didn't, right? It wasn't actually supposed to happen, and now that it had, someone could get carried away. People could get hurt. Meche didn't seem like the violent type, but the other patients

[sheisthecause]

"Who they really--" Meche stopped herself, frowning. What did Soma mean by that? Those "real lives" were just stories made up by the staff to confuse them; she had to know that as well as anyone. "Well, I think Senna usually has a pretty good sense of who she is, even if she has a lot to deal with sometimes," she replied, with an equal touch of determination. "I'll be glad when she's back to normal." She felt like it was important to say that somehow, to make sure they were on the same page. They really needed to keep Senna grounded right now

[sheisthecause]

With a last glance back, she hurried on ahead into Senna's hall.

[to here]