open to the east dorm.

[truemask]

CHARACTERS: truemask, bestlieutenant, inquisire and the residents of the East Dormitory
DATE: September 18 (Day 10/11)
RATING: PG-13 - R. Violence is likely!
SUMMARY: The East Dormitory is held hostage, and raids are conducted.

Comments

FLOOR ONE

[truemask]

OOC: Comment under here for floor one.

tell me if any of his mental proddings aren't okay!

[oxbridgethegap]

When Erik doesn't reply to his calls immediately, Charles takes a breath and spreads his senses out into the building. And comes across this scene.

He temporarily abandons his search as he catches glimpses of a long, dark-haired woman...casting with a wand through another's eyes. A quick tug--there's no time to be gentle here--and the memories come into his grasp, revealing the woman to mostly likely be one of the three perpetrators.

Easy, my friends, Charles says into Nezumi and Shion's minds. Your attacker appears to have given up chasing the two of you for the moment.

[tatarticus]

Shion momentarily pauses in the air duct, thoughts dispersed by a voice inside his head. A voice he didn't recognize. He casts a glance behind him, wondering if Nezumi heard the voice too. However the message was clear despite the anonymous source, whoever was speaking meant to help.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked, unsure of how to respond to the stranger and wondering if Nezumi had any plans of his own.

[prefertragedies]

Nezumi stops the same moment that Shion does, his eyes widening slightly with the unexpected intrusion. And then he scowls, unseen, in the darkened vent.

"And then it started like a guilty thing, upon a fearful summons." First a witch and now a bona fide telepath, hm? Aren't we lucky, shoots back Nezumi silently before he states firmly, "Keep moving up, Shion. This'll lead us out to the roof, though it's a bit of a tight squeeze at the top. And while we go, this latest player on the stage can tell us why he's in our heads, right?"

A witch, he had a slim chance of protecting Shion from, but in the natural's head? He hadn't the first clue how to protect from that.

[oxbridgethegap]

Thankfully, mistrust is something Charles has become accustomed to since he began revealing his ability to more and more people, so he takes the less than stellar response in a stride.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the layout of your dormitory, nor do I know your current location. Charles frowns, trying to recall the South Dormitory's structure. Being of the same make, the East Dormitory couldn't be too different, could it?

As for the "why"...a friend of mine live in this dorm. I was looking for him when I happened across you and your pursuer. If you give me a moment, I would do my utmost to assist you to safety.

[tatarticus]

That's alright, Nezumi seems to already know the layout of the air ducts. I don't think we're far from the roof. I hope you are able to find your friend, we should be safe for now.

Nezumi and Shion had already gone up several levels in the air duct. It wouldn't be much longer before they broke out onto the roof of the dormitory. However, if the intruders were searching from the ground up, then the roof might not be a safe place to be in the end. Where do they go from there?

Before he could continue his train of thought they reached the end of the air duct. The faint light of day filtered through the slits of the grate.

[prefertragedies]

Fortunately, I am familiar with the layout, at least enough for this.

He paused when Shion stopped, then braced himself against the wall as he looked up at the white-haired teen above him, murmured softly, "There should be four screws in the corners of the grate. I loosened them last night when I found this, so just use your fingers to unscrew them then climb out."

He hesitated, not liking the idea that they're being listened to at all, but added gruffly, "You're doing good, Shion. I'm surprised. But those dogs might still be around so pull the hood as soon as you're out and stay low."

And as for you - what's in it for you? What's your angle for 'helping' us, hm?

[oxbridgethegap]

Had he been his younger self, Charles might have replied in a less-than-patient manner, but he would like to believe he's changed in the past few months. Instead, he sighs. The boy--Nezumi, was it?--is in his right to be suspicious of his help. He and his companion have just barely escaped from the woman, after all.

Like it or not, we are all trapped on this island, and we must work together to find a way out. I do not approve of your captors' approach on this matter, and it would be remiss of me to ignore someone who needs help.

Charles waits a moment, letting that sink in before he continues. If you're worried there might be someone waiting on the rooftop, I could have a look ahead. It would only take a moment.

[tatarticus]

That would be helpful.

Shion couldn't help but smile. For all Nezumi's cynicism, this man was proof that many people on the island could be trusted. Sure, the island was definitely grim but its occupants were different from those Nezumi was accustomed to. These people came from places where a West Block didn't exist.

He'd have to save that thought for another time.

[prefertragedies]

"Away, and mock the time with fairest show; False face must hide what the false heart doth know." I wonder... just how deep that Good Samaritan veneer really goes?

The hint of a sneer is there, clear even in his thoughts as he waits, braced in the vent below Shion. Because it didn't really matter where they came from, did it? Humans were all the same - flawed and greedy to the core, weak to vice for all that the elite few were capable of hiding it behind polite refinement.

He pauses, lets the thought hang between them, then glances up at the shadow above him. His voice, however, is flat as ever as he spoke dryly, "Anytime this morning would be nice though, if you insist."

[screamsup]

[Sean had been wandering around the first floor, looking for a snack machine, when things started to get a little freaky. As soon as the 'fog' rolled in and doors were pulled open with a large amount of racket, he knew something was up. He didn't have a flashlight on him, and any light around him was, apparently, out of the question.

He doesn't move at first. He didn't want to. He felt like there was something he was missing, something he didn't know about. Nervously, he calls out,]

Hello?

[He had experienced a lot of messed up things, but he had never seen or heard anything like this.]

[bestlieutenant]

From the darkness unfurls a black smoke that arranges itself into the shape of a woman with thick, shining black curls, and dark eyes that glimmer unnaturally with a keen attention on the teenager. She's taller than him, in her oppressive robes and her chunky-heeled boots, and bathed in the sickly green light from snake writhing through skull outside. "Hello," she greets with a smile that makes a mockery of kindness.

Bellatrix Lestrange is still flushed from the scuffle moments ago with two boys younger than Sean, but no worse for wear. And while she let them go free, someone would yet pay for their insolence. She just hadn't decided yet if the one before her would be the unfortunate soul. "Yours is not a face I've seen around here." Not that she knows everyone in her own dormitory just yet - there are many faces to remember - but she'd like to think she'd recall a Weasley reject. "I'm looking for those escape tokens. Don't suppose you have any clue where I might find them

[screamsup]

Sean jumps. People appearing out of black smoke? Not what he was used to. And what was with people asking about escape tokens? Sure, they were good to know about, but they may as well tough it out and deal with it the right way instead of ... well, asking for them. However, no matter how threatening her wand appeared to be, he couldn't help but be more curious about it. She hadn't done anything to him just yet, and maybe she really did just want to know about the tokens.

He swallows rather audibly before speaking up. "You have to fight for them." As he speaks, his relaxed posture disappears quickly, letting him stand up to a full 5'11". "And I don't have any."

[bestlieutenant]

Bellatrix's smile widened to display rows of crooked teeth, breathy laughter escaping her lips. Breath becomes a chuckle, and the chuckle grows until her cackling echoes off the walls around them, pitched loud and high. "Fight for them?" she repeats. Her eyes are just a bit too wide when she poses the question. If the maniacal laughter didn't already raise red flags, well...

Icing on the crazy sundae.

"Boy, what do think I'm here to do?"

[screamsup]

Sean starts to back up, taking a quick glance around for any means of escape. He didn't know what she could do, or how she did it, and he didn't think he wanted to find out. This woman was very obviously insane.

"I don't want to fight you." He may look nervous and shaken up, but his voice is strong and he has a slight glare to his eyes. He's not a coward, he won't back down so easily. He didn't even know what she wanted to do yet, and he felt something was ... off.

[bestlieutenant]

It's suddenly as if this declaration of a disinclination to fight has brought on concern for the boy. Bellatrix's brows knit together as her head tilts to one side, spilling her mane of glossy curls over her shoulder. "Don't want to fight?" she queries as though disappointed.

She leans forward a bit, studying him for a moment. "That's all right. I don't need you to fight back!" Delight flashes in her eyes as the only warning before she flicks her wand and with voiceless magic launches Sean into the air, throwing him first to one side, and then the other of the walls in the hallway.