Room 507, Monday morning
For the first several hours after getting back to her room, Nadia didn’t move. Her right hand eventually settled and stopped twitching, her breathing was even, an as far as anyone could tell, she was just in the midst of a perfectly normal sleep.
Then, sometime after sunrise, that changed.
She sat up, or at least, she thought she did, and Walter was gone. She was disappointed, but not surprised. No one ever stayed with her, anyway. She really was used to it. The light was oddly green as it filtered through her window and she stood up and headed out into the common room.
Pippi was there, standing imperiously over the couch in a Bitterwoman costume, staring down at Pip. Nadia frowned slightly as she passed.
“What are you doing?”
“Jag er i bildning!” said Pippi cheerfully.
“Aider,” said Pip.
Nadia shook her head and kept walking.
She left the common room and entered a long, metal-lined hallway filled with people. She had to push and duck her way through, and when some of the people turned to face her, their faces were pale and their eyes were red, but Nadia wasn’t afraid this time, she just stared back.
She was just like them.
She heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and turned to see who was coming. It was one of the students at school, one she hadn’t really met, but she recognized her from the hallways. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and Nadia stood on her toes to try to see over the zombie werewolf zombie vampire person in front of her.
She spotted Cally a little ways down in the crowd and waved.
Cally wasn’t looking at her, though. Cally was staring at the other student, and Cally was stepping out of the crowd in the hallway and CallyjustshotanotherstudentinthestomachWTF?!
As the other student fell, Cally turned and faced Nadia, suddenly standing right in front of her. Or Nadia was suddenly standing in front of Cally, because the other girl was lying the floor at her feet and her blood was getting all over their shoes and Nadia didn’t have any other shoes-
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Lei avuto lo arrivo,” Cally said with a smile, and then the crowd of zombies infected people students people was pouring all around Nadia, pushing at her and driving her back away from Cally and the other student and the metal hallway and they kept crowding around until Nadia couldn’t breathe any more and then-
They cleared, and she was on the roof under the red sun that wasn’t a sun at all and she was staring at Sydney who was staring at her staring at Sydney and they both had guns and they were both pointing them at each other and Sydney looked upset but Nadia didn’t know why because this was supposed to happen, they’d always known this would happen and she should have been watching out for Nadia more carefully, like she said she would way back when they met.
And then there’s an explosion and something burrows into Nadia’s shoulder and she turns-
And there’s Sloane, who turns into the hard woman, who turns into Alfred, who turns into a red and black thing who turns into Belthazor, human-Bel, at least, he looks like he’s human, but his eyes are on fire and there are others around him, other black and red creatures and white and black and red and white creatures that aren’t human, but they’re bowing down to him and he’s smiling and he looks at her:
“Ego sum radix.”
Nadia saw the Sisters behind him, two of the three, holding blankets that glowed blue. They were making soft cooing noises at whatever was in those blankets.
Nadia turned back to Bel. “What are you doing?”
“Ego scisco non huic,”
Nadia tilted her head. She wanted to ask him what he did ask for, but the scenery was changing and flames leaped up and took Bel and the Sisters with them when they burned back down.
And left the dirty prison walls behind them. Nadia caught sight of her reflection in the cold silver of the locked door.
She wasn’t Nadia any more, though. She was Parker. But not Parker. Older-Parker, perhaps? She lifted a hand to touch her cheek, but her reflection didn’t. Not her reflection. She turned, and there was the older Parker, standing behind her.
“What are you doing?” Nadia asked.
“Follow me,” the older-Parker said, and lead Nadia to the far wall of the prison hall. This wall was covered in water stains; it seemed somehow less sturdy. “It’s in here.”
And older-Parker stepped through the wall, as if it weren’t even there, and Nadia followed. It smelled like mold and mildew and felt like wallpaper paste against her face, and then she was standing in darkness.
Slowly, very slowly, the space brightened. It was a room that someone had once loved, but no one did, any more. The walls were waterstained and sheets lay over all the furniture. The windows were grimy and impossible to see through, but Nadia wasn’t paying attention to them. She was looking at a small, wooden box.
A music box.
She lifted the lid, and a little girl started to dance. But something was missing. She looked up at older-Parker, who stared back down at it, her eyes sad.
“The other dancer is gone,” Older-Parker said. “We lost it.”
Nadia shook her head.
“In the lake. We lost her. Catherine.”
Nadia wanted to say she didn’t understand, but the light was fading as older-Parker stepped forward.
Her face was narrowing, becoming less Parker-like, and she was reaching for Nadia. Nadia backed up.
“What-what are you doing?”
“You will help us,” the woman, who now looked nothing like Parker unless Parker was suddenly a zombie infected person ghoul zombie monster. “You have to.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
More voices and more monsters appeared around her in the darkness, surrounding her and reaching for her.
“Help,”
“Hjälp,”
“Succurro,”
“Ayuda,”
“помогать,”
“HELP,”
. . .
"The Passenger,
On the bed, Nadia muttered and thrashed, her legs tangled in the sheets and the blanket.
[ooc: dream sequence is, um, hopefully obviously, NFB. all foreign language content comes from translations from interTran.
Then, sometime after sunrise, that changed.
She sat up, or at least, she thought she did, and Walter was gone. She was disappointed, but not surprised. No one ever stayed with her, anyway. She really was used to it. The light was oddly green as it filtered through her window and she stood up and headed out into the common room.
Pippi was there, standing imperiously over the couch in a Bitterwoman costume, staring down at Pip. Nadia frowned slightly as she passed.
“What are you doing?”
“Jag er i bildning!” said Pippi cheerfully.
“Aider,” said Pip.
Nadia shook her head and kept walking.
She left the common room and entered a long, metal-lined hallway filled with people. She had to push and duck her way through, and when some of the people turned to face her, their faces were pale and their eyes were red, but Nadia wasn’t afraid this time, she just stared back.
She was just like them.
She heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and turned to see who was coming. It was one of the students at school, one she hadn’t really met, but she recognized her from the hallways. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and Nadia stood on her toes to try to see over the zombie werewolf zombie vampire person in front of her.
She spotted Cally a little ways down in the crowd and waved.
Cally wasn’t looking at her, though. Cally was staring at the other student, and Cally was stepping out of the crowd in the hallway and CallyjustshotanotherstudentinthestomachWTF?!
As the other student fell, Cally turned and faced Nadia, suddenly standing right in front of her. Or Nadia was suddenly standing in front of Cally, because the other girl was lying the floor at her feet and her blood was getting all over their shoes and Nadia didn’t have any other shoes-
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Lei avuto lo arrivo,” Cally said with a smile, and then the crowd of zombies infected people students people was pouring all around Nadia, pushing at her and driving her back away from Cally and the other student and the metal hallway and they kept crowding around until Nadia couldn’t breathe any more and then-
They cleared, and she was on the roof under the red sun that wasn’t a sun at all and she was staring at Sydney who was staring at her staring at Sydney and they both had guns and they were both pointing them at each other and Sydney looked upset but Nadia didn’t know why because this was supposed to happen, they’d always known this would happen and she should have been watching out for Nadia more carefully, like she said she would way back when they met.
And then there’s an explosion and something burrows into Nadia’s shoulder and she turns-
And there’s Sloane, who turns into the hard woman, who turns into Alfred, who turns into a red and black thing who turns into Belthazor, human-Bel, at least, he looks like he’s human, but his eyes are on fire and there are others around him, other black and red creatures and white and black and red and white creatures that aren’t human, but they’re bowing down to him and he’s smiling and he looks at her:
“Ego sum radix.”
Nadia saw the Sisters behind him, two of the three, holding blankets that glowed blue. They were making soft cooing noises at whatever was in those blankets.
Nadia turned back to Bel. “What are you doing?”
“Ego scisco non huic,”
Nadia tilted her head. She wanted to ask him what he did ask for, but the scenery was changing and flames leaped up and took Bel and the Sisters with them when they burned back down.
And left the dirty prison walls behind them. Nadia caught sight of her reflection in the cold silver of the locked door.
She wasn’t Nadia any more, though. She was Parker. But not Parker. Older-Parker, perhaps? She lifted a hand to touch her cheek, but her reflection didn’t. Not her reflection. She turned, and there was the older Parker, standing behind her.
“What are you doing?” Nadia asked.
“Follow me,” the older-Parker said, and lead Nadia to the far wall of the prison hall. This wall was covered in water stains; it seemed somehow less sturdy. “It’s in here.”
And older-Parker stepped through the wall, as if it weren’t even there, and Nadia followed. It smelled like mold and mildew and felt like wallpaper paste against her face, and then she was standing in darkness.
Slowly, very slowly, the space brightened. It was a room that someone had once loved, but no one did, any more. The walls were waterstained and sheets lay over all the furniture. The windows were grimy and impossible to see through, but Nadia wasn’t paying attention to them. She was looking at a small, wooden box.
A music box.
She lifted the lid, and a little girl started to dance. But something was missing. She looked up at older-Parker, who stared back down at it, her eyes sad.
“The other dancer is gone,” Older-Parker said. “We lost it.”
Nadia shook her head.
“In the lake. We lost her. Catherine.”
Nadia wanted to say she didn’t understand, but the light was fading as older-Parker stepped forward.
Her face was narrowing, becoming less Parker-like, and she was reaching for Nadia. Nadia backed up.
“What-what are you doing?”
“You will help us,” the woman, who now looked nothing like Parker unless Parker was suddenly a zombie infected person ghoul zombie monster. “You have to.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
More voices and more monsters appeared around her in the darkness, surrounding her and reaching for her.
“Help,”
“Hjälp,”
“Succurro,”
“Ayuda,”
“помогать,”
“HELP,”
. . .
"The Passenger,
On the bed, Nadia muttered and thrashed, her legs tangled in the sheets and the blanket.
[ooc: dream sequence is, um, hopefully obviously, NFB. all foreign language content comes from translations from interTran.