Spreading a Little Terror | First level, west side or second level

[makaracles]

[Even the most stable of people couldn't be expected to handle what Gamzee's had to deal with for the past few weeks and come out of it calm and sane, and Gamzee has never been really anchored in reality as it is. A few days of being chased by wraiths, finding out he'd attacked his moirail and hurt him badly, and then a week of being terrorized by

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fiiiiirst level

[truthvalue]

[Souji has no idea what he's about to get himself into. He's out exploring the city, as he usually spends his days since he's been here, and he recognizes Gamzee from their previous conversation. So he stops, and offers his customary friendly smile.]

Oh ... hello.

[makaracles]

[Gamzee smiles back, wide and toothy, when he spies the young human, and pulls up short. He rubs his club against the back of his neck as he looks the smaller boy up and down, in a way that would probably be lascivious in someone who had, say, ever experienced sex before. On Gamzee, though, it just looks sort of hungry.]

Hey there, motherfucker. [His voice is soft, almost a purr.]

[truthvalue]

[Souji remembers their last encounter had been ... well, "odd" is kind of putting it lightly. So he's not terribly taken aback by Gamzee's equally odd but different greeting this time. He nods in acknowledgment.]

It was ... Gamzee, right?

[makaracles]

Right on, bro. What be you doing out all so late for little pink monkeys? [It is late, or getting to it. Far too late for, say, children to be playing ... but as Gamzee says it, a childish laugh can be heard from somewhere down the street, maybe around the corner. A little girl's laugh, high and sweet.]

[truthvalue]

[Souji's blood freezes at that sound. It's enough to shake him, really visibly shake him, which isn't usual for him at all. But the laughter is far too reminiscent of Nanako, and Souji shivers.]

Ah ... i-is it late? [He turns to look in the direction he thinks he heard the voice coming from.] I guess I lost track of the time.

[makaracles]

Getting all dark. [watching Souji with intent, predatory eyes, far clearer than the last time these two met] Lot of things to be afraid of, in the dark.

[There's that laugh again, and down the street ... something dart past an open doorway in one of the buildings. Something small, child sized, really, with the careless, slightly clumsy movement of a child, as well.]

[truthvalue]

[This guy was weird before, and although this is a different kind of weird, there's no reason to expect anything different, right? What concerns Souji more is the sudden movement off in the distance. It's naggingly familiar. Souji takes a slow step in that direction, only half paying attention to Gamzee.]

... Did you see that?

[makaracles]

Something there, bro? Someone you know? [Gamzee's voice is sly, and he doesn't look in the direction Souji is at all, instead watching the human's face intently.]

[A shadowed head peers out from the doorway, then is pulled quickly back inside before any light can fall on her face ... it is clearly a small girl, though, unless little boys have started wearing pigtails.]

[truthvalue]

I don't ...

[But he's too intently focused on the figure ahead to finish his sentence. His breath sticks in his throat; his heart pounds so hard he feels like it's shaking him as he takes another step forward, and another. The shadow looks too much like Nanako to deny, and yet ... ]

... That's not possible. [It's barely a murmur to himself. Souji seems to have forgotten all about Gamzee, at this point.]

[makaracles]

[Gamzee's grinning unabashedly now, drinking in the other boy's fear. This was what he was made to do, he knows it, he can practically hear the blood pounding through Souji's veins, he could lick it off his skin like sweat. He's not sure why a wriggler human would be so frightening, and he can't really see what Souji is seeing, but he can kind of feel the say of it.]

Big brother? [a soft voice calls, drifting down the street]

[truthvalue]

[Souji all but jumps backward, startled, eyes wide with disbelief. no no no this can't be she's not we didn't - and she - this can't be happening.

He takes a deep breath and shakily exhales. His voice, usually so sturdy, trembles.]

... N-Nanako?

[makaracles]

[There's a dark head that appears in the doorway again, covered in shadow, and the voice calls out again, this time sounding .... oddly sad.]

What did you do, big brother?

[truthvalue]

[... what did you do?

The question echoes in Souji's ears, and even though the figure's tone was quietly forlorn, Souji hears the accusation, feels the weight of it, heavy on his chest like a slab of rock, and it sends his head spinning with all the thoughts he'd been trying to suppress for months. i failed, i didn't save you, couldn't save you, couldn't be the leader they needed, couldn't be your big brother, wild card wild card empty empty empty nothing nothing -

Souji finds himself recalling every ghost story he's ever heard, every tale of vengeful spirits of the dead he's ever read, and he breaks into a cold sweat.]

Nanako ... no ... [shaking his head, taking a slow step back away from the shadow of the girl] .. I didn't ...

[makaracles]

[She steps out of the doorway ... a small figure, a tiny figure, wasted by her time in the coma, wearing a too-big hospital gown. Her face is pale, pale, pale, and lit by an odd blue-grey light, like that from a TV set to static, making her look drawn.]

What did you do?

[truthvalue]

[Souji freezes at the sight of her. He'd tried so hard in the past months since her to death to put her and the incident out of his mind, and seeing her now, in this state, is such a shock it turns his blood icy cold.

Every last nerve in his body screams run, run away, run far away, but he stands, rooted to the spot in his fear and guilt.]

I ... I tried to save you, Nanako. Please, you have to believe me. I'm - I'm so sorry.

[And it's true, not just empty words said out of panic. He's sorrier for failing her than almost anything else in his entire life.]

[makaracles]

[She takes a few steps closer to him, her feet tiny on the concrete, and dirty somehow. She just shakes her head, slow and sad.]

What did you do, big brother? [She repeats, and her face ... there's something wrong with her face, her expression. Her mouth is twisting a little, and her hands go over her stomach in distress.]