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Night 51: Recreational Field

Aug 31, 2010 03:05

[From here.]

When Locke opened the door, he was greeted by a rush of fresh air-something entirely unexpected, on his part. It was too easy, wasn't it? When he looked around, all he saw was a field, a shed, and walls that blocked him from being home free. Lucky me, he thought to himself, as he looked around the surroundings. So far, he'd managed to ( Read more... )

leela, guy, kaito, depth charge, two-face, castiel, erika, sam winchester, indiana jones, celty, trickster, yazoo, claude, niikura, kayako, shinichi, locke, ruby, xemnas

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unheroed August 31 2010, 21:54:34 UTC

[From here.]

Maybe they hadn't been too delayed after all.

Other than some slight movement in the distance that he could barely make out (it was either a patient who had gotten a huge head start on them, or a monster that was watching and biding its time), the field was deserted. Harvey didn't think he had been outside when it was this empty, but he wasn't going to let that bother him.

Once again, they were forced to make a choice. Did they go straight ahead and move away from the building, or cut through the courtyard into -- what, the cafeteria? It would make sure that they bypassed the Sun Room, but that didn't mean they were in the clear. But they weren't going to be in the clear no matter where they went.

Harvey could have offered to flip his coin, but that would just jump start a whole lot of questions that he didn't want to answer. He glanced over at his traveling partner for the night and shrugged. "So have you decided?" At least it wasn't raining.

deathrattling September 1 2010, 01:02:51 UTC

It wasn't raining, but the patients would find (if they were the particularly observant type) that the air on the recreational field was just a shade thicker than the temperature and humidity throughout the day had suggested. What should have been a clear night, moisture leeched out by the weather, was instead thick: but not with fog, but with a weight to every breath and a depth to every shadow.

Nothing moved in the field. Nothing whatsoever: not the leaves of the vines crawling over the brick wall, nor the blades of grass. The whisper of the patients' footfall landed with a deadness incongruous to this open space.

its_the_mileage September 1 2010, 13:40:01 UTC

"Just thought I'd ask," Indy said neutrally as he followed Dent out the door. "Thought it might help us figure out where we are." He craned his neck up briefly to look, but it was hard to see much while they were still moving. Which they were. If they were going to stop and stargaze, he actually felt safer doing it outside the Institute's walls.

Luckily, that was where he'd decided they were heading. "Straight," Indy said. He started jogging toward the back wall, trying to make sure the two of them kept pace. "Get over the wall, pick a direction, see what we find. At least we don't have to worry about how to get back," he added dryly.

Their feet sounded awfully loud in the grass. Indy didn't think of himself as a superstitious fellow (the complete opposite, actually), but something about this place felt--off, almost. Like the proverbial goose walking over your grave. He couldn't put his finger on it, though, so he shrugged and chalked it up to paranoia. After last night, he was probably entitled to an uncharacteristic bout or two of ( ... )

unheroed September 2 2010, 04:48:22 UTC

Trying to position themselves through the stars, then? That was surprisingly old-fashioned, though Harvey figured it made sense for an archaeologist. Chances were that Jones had his head dipped into the past more often than not. Regardless, it was up to him to try and figure that out, but the man seemed more focused on getting over the wall first.

Harvey could agree with that plan. He'd seen monsters out on this field before, whereas the surrounding area had been surprisingly danger-free. Well, other than the terrain, but at least he had the right footwear for it this time around. He was just glad that they'd figured out where they were going. It was a good thing that Jones wasn't the indecisive type.

Though as he walked alongside Jones, Harvey couldn't help feeling like something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it was almost as if everything was too still. He knew it was hackneyed ("it's quiet... too quiet," and all that), and yet he couldn't kick the feeling no matter how hard he tried. He didn't like ( ... )

deathrattling September 3 2010, 02:43:37 UTC

The quiet settled about the shoulders of the two men as if draped over skin and cloth, air heavy without the humidity that normally accompanied such a sensation. The field darkened imperceptibly with every step, until the moon and stars were barely visible and the only light came from the beam of Harvey's flashlight.

Then -- just ahead of him, just close enough for that light to catch on them -- a pair of child's feet ran across their path. Perhaps it was merely the darkness of the night and the stark quality of the beam in contrast, but they were a deathly white.

The owner of them was barely visible, just a shadow that dashed before them and was gone in a blink.

its_the_mileage September 3 2010, 18:20:26 UTC

Damn, it was dark out here. He could've sworn it was lighter when they'd first left the building. Indy glanced up again, just long enough to stumble and almost trip. "Later!" he reminded himself sharply under his breath. After that he kept his focus on the beam of Dent's flashlight skimming the grass up ahead, and on the wall he knew was beyond it ( ... )

unheroed September 3 2010, 23:03:32 UTC

Seeing how they were out in the middle of nowhere, light pollution wasn't really a problem. The stars had been bright and visible, but now it was suddenly as if a huge storm cloud had come to hang in low over their heads and snuff out all of that light. It was as if they were in a pitch black room rather than outside, where they should have been able to see something by the light of the moon ( ... )

deathrattling September 6 2010, 01:25:07 UTC

It was a good question, but it was one that had arrived too late. The trap had been set, tripped, and sprung the moment the two men had entered the field, the encroaching darkness already obscuring the walls they sought and snapping at their heels, threatening to enclose even the beams of light by which they found their way. The silence continued after both men's voices, swallowing up their words without resonance.

Then, again -- the rustle of grass as if a pair of small feet were running through it. This time it came from behind them, quick rapid thuds that pattered into earshot and then out, almost faster than a normal human child could run.

As soon as they faded, something else crossed their path. This time, however, it stayed: a black cat, unblinking eyes luminous in the night, that turned its head to watch them as they approached.

its_the_mileage September 6 2010, 14:57:55 UTC

Indy hadn't been planning on chasing after the kid (the ones here seemed to be old enough to take care of themselves, even if running around barefoot was a bad idea), but when Dent's arm went out in front of him he stopped looking in that direction and turned back toward the other man anyway. He was right. "It's not just you," Indy agreed grimly. That sense he'd had--the sudden pitch darkness, the repressive stillness--it didn't just feel like paranoia anymore. Instinct was telling him something was indeed badly wrong here ( ... )

unheroed September 7 2010, 08:37:12 UTC

Good, so he wasn't just being paranoid. At that affirmation from Jones, Harvey allowed himself to slip his gun out of the elastic of his pants, readying it in his hand in case something came out at them suddenly from the dark. He didn't think he was too twitchy with his trigger finger, so he was only going to fire the thing off if absolutely necessary.

He also quickly turned around when the sound came from behind them, but there was nothing to be seen. This whole thing was growing more and more unsettling by the second, but overreacting wasn't going to get them anywhere.

But when he glanced forward again, there was something visible, if just only. A black cat, and that made it feel like this was a practical joke waiting to happen. That was the oldest superstition in the book, wasn't it? He frowned, not willing to be made a fool of. And he wasn't shooting a damn cat. Wasn't the thing supposed to be all mutated and mangy right now, anyway ( ... )

deathrattling September 7 2010, 23:53:54 UTC

The cat leapt nimbly away from the leash, melding into the blackness of the surrounding air with ease. Its eyes flashed once from beyond the ring of the flashlight's range, and then white, pointed teeth gleamed as it opened its mouth in a yowl --

But it was no yowl a cat had ever made before. Earsplitting in volume and agonizing in pitch, it extended well past the length of a normal animal's breath and didn't stop even then. The cat itself vanished out of sight as the two men took off running and the beam of light left it, but the screech followed them as they went.

The source of it changed, however -- and if either man happened to glance to his left or right, they would see the small child who followed them apace despite their longer legs, mouth gaping open as he yowled alongside.

its_the_mileage September 9 2010, 02:14:34 UTC

The cat moved the way Indy thought it should've, and without waiting to watch it do anything else, he took off running alongside Dent. He'd only gotten a few paces when the noise started. It was like the screech over the intercom last night, similarly high-pitched and deafening--and painful. Indy ducked his head and threw his arms up over it as he tried to keep running, clapping his wrists over his hat to hold it on and pressing his leather-covered arms hard against his ears to try to block out the howling. It didn't do much good. "I hope this isn't going to become a trend!" he shouted at the top of his lungs to Dent, but he could barely hear himself over the din ( ... )

unheroed September 9 2010, 08:19:25 UTC

At first Harvey had been wondering if they would be lucky enough to be able to outrun whatever was bothering them -- it wasn't just the cat, it was more than that; he just didn't know what -- but that had been far too naive of a thought. He'd only run maybe ten feet before his eardrums were once again assaulted by a terrible noise that seemed to pierce right into the part of his hearing that caused intense pain.

Dammit, what was it about trying to wreck their hearing lately? He grit his teeth (he could deal with pain; he dealt with it all the time and he would now, just the same) and kept on moving, glad to see that Jones was managing to keep up. He didn't really think that now was the time for quips and comments, and so he didn't give the other man much of a response. All he wanted to do now was get as far away from this nightmare as possible.

The lights still hadn't come back on, so to speak, and he wondered if there was even a way to shake all of it off. Though when he caught Jones looking at something, Harvey had to follow his ( ... )

deathrattling September 18 2010, 21:39:09 UTC

[OH GOD I AM SO, SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS OF THIS. /)_(\ You guys are welcome to escape after this tag!]

The boy's footsteps thudded louder and louder in the still night, grass smashing underneath his small feet until each step sounded a rapid heartbeat under the endless yowl. As the patients reached the wall and began to climb, the child, too, reached a hand out and grabbed onto the brick.

But rather than having to search for a handhold, he seemed instead to warp: his spine arched out in a grotesque curve and both feet latched onto the wall along. One hand over another, he crawled up the wall after them as if it were flat ground.

The only indication that he was moving up a straight incline was his hair, which trailed out behind him -- growing longer even as his body wrenched its way up the wall, the yowl stuttering into a guttural rattle and his black-hole eyes following their movements.

its_the_mileage September 19 2010, 23:37:25 UTC

Indy reached the wall at the same moment as Dent. He was delayed in starting the climb by the need to bring his other arm down from his head and stow his gear--whip back over the shoulder, machete in its case secured to the whip by the metal clip. It left the machete dangling awkwardly near his belt and his ears ringing, but it was good enough to let him make the ascent ( ... )

unheroed September 20 2010, 01:37:12 UTC

Also having to do a bit of shuffling before he could climb the wall, Harvey shoved his flashlight into his free coat pocket and made sure that his gun was secure in his waistband before he followed after Jones. It occurred to him, in the back of his mind, that he could have tried to shoot the kid that was following them, and yet he got the feeling that it wouldn't do much good. Not when the boy hardly seemed human ( ... )

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