19; a hallucination.
A Hallucination.
green light (stoplight system.)
concerning: (guest-starring?) Bela Talbot, Nicholas Blair.
919. words; complete.
The clock reads fifteen minutes until midnight, and Bela is alone. She sits on the bed of her hotel room and tells herself that she'll be brave, but she has to clench her fists to stop her her hands from shaking, and her eyes are shut. She refuses to open them, even as she takes deep, measured breaths.
She swears she can already hear the hellhounds scratching at her door, but when she listens - really listens, tuning out all of the jumbled nonsense her brain is coming up with - she knows there's nothing there. She's hallucinating. Wonderful, she thinks, still not moving; Bela's determined to keep completely still when they come, to go with them willingly, but that's easier said than done when "going with them" means letting herself be ripped limb from limb by vicious, snarling beasts. But somehow she finds solace in the fact that the time she finally begins to lose her sanity is the time when she faces certain death.
Bela takes another deep breath and somehow manages to still her mind, the only sound in the room the ticking of the clock on the nightstand. Going against her better judgment and telling herself that there's nothing in the room that wasn't there before, she opens her eyes and turns to look at the clock. Five minutes have passed.
"Ten minutes."
A voice to her left has Bela whipping her head to the other side, her eyes going wide. Her shock doesn't lessen when she sees a man standing there, seemingly having appeared out of thin air as she's certain that he hadn't been there before, and even more sure that she hadn't let him in.
She swallows hard, her breath quickening even as she tries to keep a steely demeanor. "Who are you?"
The man smirks at her, and Bela notices he was holding a glass of wine. "If I were you, dear, I'd be more polite. I could be a blessing, after all."
"I said -" Bela's losing control. Her hands are shaking as she fumbles across the bed for her gun. A gun. Hell, anything that she could use as a weapon, at this point.
"Yes, yes, I heard you," the man interrupts her, picking at his dark moustache and leaning back against the wall. The light from the lamp on Bela's nightstand casts parts of his face in shadow, making him appear all the more eerie. But Bela figures that, with as much - or rather, little - time she has left, anything can frighten her.
"You have less than ten minutes to live," he continues. "There's no question of where you're going - we've been busy making all the arrangements. Who do you think I am."
Bela sets her jaw and stares at him.
He couldn't be.
But who else?
"You're not -" she cuts herself off, her brows drawing together as she laughs nervously. "Not the Devil, are you?"
The man laughs loudly, the sound filling the room. "No," he says. "No, but thank you for the compliment." He winks at her and takes a sip of his wine before reaching up to tug at his green tie. "You may call me Nicholas, my dear. Nicholas Blair."
She glances at the clock to see how much time she's wasted conversing madly with this man that she isn't even sure is there, but she suddenly seems to have lost the ability to comprehend exactly what the minute and second hands are telling her. "Get to the point," she snaps, and her eyes flick toward her door.
"Oh?" Nicholas arches an eyebrow at her. "Pushy, aren't we?" Then, he laughs quietly to himself. "But, I suppose it's justified. As I said, we've been busy making the preparations for you."
"Preparations?" The words take a moment to register with Bela. "You - work there? In Hell?"
"Where do you think I came from?"
Bela stays silent and shakes her head, her eyes drifting from the door to Nicholas and back again, not quite believing he's there. She's lost her mind; she knows it. She won't even feel it when the dogs begin to devour her, will she?
Whether he's a hallucination or not, Nicholas still demands her attention. He sighs. "And being from there, I know the inner workings, Bela." He pauses for a moment to see if she responds. She doesn't, her eyes now fixed on the door. She's determined he doesn't exist, that what he has to say doesn't - can't - matter.
"I know how to get you out."
It gets her attention, and that's all he needs.
Her eyes are frightened when she turns her head toward him. "I don't -"
He shrugs. "Just how do you think I'm here right now?"
Bela blinks. That was all it took. Her attitude changes. She takes a deep breath and her eyes narrow, a cruel sort of smile on her face. "You're not," she says simply.
Nicholas' brow furrows and he opens his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off before he can begin.
"Do you really think I haven't tried everything?" She laughs, and it's cold. She shakes her head. "Impossible."
This time, he takes a glance to the clock. There isn't any time left, and he can hear them coming down the hall. If she's going to be too proud to accept, then so be it. She wouldn't deserve his help anyway. Bela starts to say something to him, but he's gone before she can decide whether he was really there.
She swears the ticking of the clock goes louder, and then she hears a growl outside of her door.
green light (stoplight system.)
concerning: (guest-starring?) Bela Talbot, Nicholas Blair.
919. words; complete.
The clock reads fifteen minutes until midnight, and Bela is alone. She sits on the bed of her hotel room and tells herself that she'll be brave, but she has to clench her fists to stop her her hands from shaking, and her eyes are shut. She refuses to open them, even as she takes deep, measured breaths.
She swears she can already hear the hellhounds scratching at her door, but when she listens - really listens, tuning out all of the jumbled nonsense her brain is coming up with - she knows there's nothing there. She's hallucinating. Wonderful, she thinks, still not moving; Bela's determined to keep completely still when they come, to go with them willingly, but that's easier said than done when "going with them" means letting herself be ripped limb from limb by vicious, snarling beasts. But somehow she finds solace in the fact that the time she finally begins to lose her sanity is the time when she faces certain death.
Bela takes another deep breath and somehow manages to still her mind, the only sound in the room the ticking of the clock on the nightstand. Going against her better judgment and telling herself that there's nothing in the room that wasn't there before, she opens her eyes and turns to look at the clock. Five minutes have passed.
"Ten minutes."
A voice to her left has Bela whipping her head to the other side, her eyes going wide. Her shock doesn't lessen when she sees a man standing there, seemingly having appeared out of thin air as she's certain that he hadn't been there before, and even more sure that she hadn't let him in.
She swallows hard, her breath quickening even as she tries to keep a steely demeanor. "Who are you?"
The man smirks at her, and Bela notices he was holding a glass of wine. "If I were you, dear, I'd be more polite. I could be a blessing, after all."
"I said -" Bela's losing control. Her hands are shaking as she fumbles across the bed for her gun. A gun. Hell, anything that she could use as a weapon, at this point.
"Yes, yes, I heard you," the man interrupts her, picking at his dark moustache and leaning back against the wall. The light from the lamp on Bela's nightstand casts parts of his face in shadow, making him appear all the more eerie. But Bela figures that, with as much - or rather, little - time she has left, anything can frighten her.
"You have less than ten minutes to live," he continues. "There's no question of where you're going - we've been busy making all the arrangements. Who do you think I am."
Bela sets her jaw and stares at him.
He couldn't be.
But who else?
"You're not -" she cuts herself off, her brows drawing together as she laughs nervously. "Not the Devil, are you?"
The man laughs loudly, the sound filling the room. "No," he says. "No, but thank you for the compliment." He winks at her and takes a sip of his wine before reaching up to tug at his green tie. "You may call me Nicholas, my dear. Nicholas Blair."
She glances at the clock to see how much time she's wasted conversing madly with this man that she isn't even sure is there, but she suddenly seems to have lost the ability to comprehend exactly what the minute and second hands are telling her. "Get to the point," she snaps, and her eyes flick toward her door.
"Oh?" Nicholas arches an eyebrow at her. "Pushy, aren't we?" Then, he laughs quietly to himself. "But, I suppose it's justified. As I said, we've been busy making the preparations for you."
"Preparations?" The words take a moment to register with Bela. "You - work there? In Hell?"
"Where do you think I came from?"
Bela stays silent and shakes her head, her eyes drifting from the door to Nicholas and back again, not quite believing he's there. She's lost her mind; she knows it. She won't even feel it when the dogs begin to devour her, will she?
Whether he's a hallucination or not, Nicholas still demands her attention. He sighs. "And being from there, I know the inner workings, Bela." He pauses for a moment to see if she responds. She doesn't, her eyes now fixed on the door. She's determined he doesn't exist, that what he has to say doesn't - can't - matter.
"I know how to get you out."
It gets her attention, and that's all he needs.
Her eyes are frightened when she turns her head toward him. "I don't -"
He shrugs. "Just how do you think I'm here right now?"
Bela blinks. That was all it took. Her attitude changes. She takes a deep breath and her eyes narrow, a cruel sort of smile on her face. "You're not," she says simply.
Nicholas' brow furrows and he opens his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off before he can begin.
"Do you really think I haven't tried everything?" She laughs, and it's cold. She shakes her head. "Impossible."
This time, he takes a glance to the clock. There isn't any time left, and he can hear them coming down the hall. If she's going to be too proud to accept, then so be it. She wouldn't deserve his help anyway. Bela starts to say something to him, but he's gone before she can decide whether he was really there.
She swears the ticking of the clock goes louder, and then she hears a growl outside of her door.