[24: action]
After the strange fog goes up around the mansion, anyone who walks into the library will find it changed. The ceiling is lower than usual, the shelving gone completely haphazard, reel-to-reels and newspaper clippings and fat manila folders shoved in among the books.
Walk a bit further, and the black and white tile of the floor begins to climb the ( Read more... )
Walk a bit further, and the black and white tile of the floor begins to climb the ( Read more... )
There's a very long, very sharp knife held between his teeth. It's cutting up the sides of his mouth, and trickles of blood have left red lines down his chin. He doesn't seem to have noticed.
At some point he freezes on a low shelf, close to the checkered ground, watching it intently.
"There you are. Come on. Come closer. Do you think it's dinner-time? I don't see why it shouldn't be. You have teeth. You must have flesh."
His eyes move slowly along the floor, tracking the movement towards him of something only he can see. Then he snatches the knife out of his mouth and stabs at it, viciously, again and again.
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So here he is now, coming around the corner. He's got a gun in one hand and a long, sharp needle in the other, scavenged from the piles of junk that litter the halls. He has some idea where it's come from, but he's running out of bullets; he can't be choosy about his weaponry, and the needle is certainly menacing.
But menace or no, when he sees Daniel, he freezes, watching him stab at the air.
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He swears loudly as the Kaernk splashes away from his knife and out of reach. "God damn you, creature! Cowardly beast! Come back!"
And it's while yelling thus that he glances up and spots Mark. He goes still, with an expression of slight confusion, as though unsure of how to fit this man into his delusion.
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...A-at least he sounds pleased to see him?
Daniel hops down from the bookcase and strides towards Mark, knife still in hand and a curious expression on his injured face. He nods towards the Big Sister needle in Mark's hand. "Are we to use that to gather now?"
Because that won't set them talking at cross-purposes at all.
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"Gather what?"
His eyes dart from the knife to Daniel's face and back. Even though stabbing doesn't seem imminent, even though Daniel's never given him any reason to expect violence, it's very long and very sharp. Worth keeping track of.
"...You're bleeding."
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Wait, who did Mark say was bleeding again? Never mind; there are things to do, people to horribly murder.
"How close is the shadow now?"
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"What do you--you mean the things in the halls?"
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"In the halls?! We shall have to work swiftly."
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Because that sounded a little bit hysterical. Also? Still not making sense.
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"Do not play with me, Alexander. You have seen what I can do."
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Something blunt and hard pokes into Daniel's front, and there's an ominous little click.
And before you ask, no, he's not happy to see you.
Bluffing with no ammunition? Sure, we can do that. Only the smalltext will know.
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Very carefully, he lets go of Mark's shirt and lowers his hand.
This isn't Daniel's mirror. Though he's more stab-happy and more sadistic, he's rooted in the same person and his sense of self-preservation is as strong as ever.
On the other hand, this isn't exactly everyday Daniel either. He's more stab-happy and more sadistic and also, in what is possibly the most relevant difference of the evening, he is holding a long sharp knife.
A knife which is headed for Mark's weapon-holding arm, while Daniel steps to the side and makes a grab for the barrel of the gun.
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Alex has gotten locked out of his room by his own goddamn shadow, and is not in the best of moods when is he ever.
Alex can see that knife.
Alex also has a gun, and he isn't bluffing.
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"Put the knife down."
There's less menace in his voice than before--the fresh stab wound is burning, distracting--but hopefully the weapon and the presence of what he's pretty certain is backup makes up for it.
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