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Old 03-03-2017, 12:30 PM   #63
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default You Think You're Gonna Live Your Life Alone - In Darkness - And Seclusion

The darkness feels thick and greasy. There is an indescribable miasma in the air, the foulness of corruption. Danny O'Toole is sure that within that little room on the other side of the door, there are things he has no wish to know. Looking back, O'Toole can see lights moving in the main corridor. Some of the guards might have recovered and they must be hunting for him by now. The side tunnel is straight and not nearly long enough for O'Toole to stay out of sight there, standing at the door like this he will be exposed if the guards shine a light directly down it. Through the ringing in his ears, O'Toole can hear what he thinks is guards shouting. Danny really hopes this is all just a bad dream, but no dream he's ever had captured the sickly sweet smell of rotting flesh so vividly. Dream or no dream, he's afraid that on the other side of that door, there's a monster waiting for him.

Monsters aren't real. Terry Amiti was just a violent rehtahd on a lot of super-steroids. And whatever broken-down drug test reject lives in there will be easier to shoot dead than a bunch of guards with assault rifles. Maybe it will even be afraid of a gun, that way he won't have to fire and draw attention to himself. Feeling for the lock with the tendrils of his mind, O'Toole quickly opens the door, moving it softly with his mind. He stalks in slowly, with his gun and phone held in front of him.

The room is smaller than it felt. Apart from the cot on the floor, there doesn't seem to be much of value in it. No real furniture, just broken up remains of it, no supplies, no immediately apparent weapons. And there is no other door. It's almost a cell, just one locked door and no other way out. The sleeping figure is a woman, wearing tattered hospital blues. She doesn't seem to have even a blanket to shelter herself and she appears thin, perhaps even starved. None of these things are what hold Danny O'Toole's attention riveted.

That would be the body parts. O'Toole can see what appears to be the bones of a human hand attached to most of an arm, a legless and armless torso, without a head, and standing on a broken pile of pices of chairs and a table, what might be a mostly fleshless human skull. There is a cut of meat that looks a few days old on a tarp and several dried up pieces on the floor that might be aging meat. There is dried blood on the floor and one corner has a pile of wet excrement mixed with what appears to be some rotting organic material, maybe intestines or organs. The stench is indescribable, months of decay and death overlaying fresher biological smells. And there is a lot of bones.

O'Toole scans the room for anyone else, but cannot see any potential hiding places. He looks more carefully at the woman on the cot and notes that her body, while severely underweight, appears to be that of a young woman. There is also something wrong with her skin. Half her face is one massive bruise and around the bruised area, she seems to have discoloration or an infection or something. There are patches of odd-looking skin in one leg and an arm, as well. To O'Toole, it looks like some terrifying plague or leprosy, the way the skin in these areas is completely different in texture and colour from the surrounding paleness. It almost seems like she's growing scales.

The woman on the cot is keening in her sleep, moving around with quick darting motions, breathing rapidly and shallowly. O'Toole can't hear her very clearly, but can tell that she's mouthing the word 'no'. He considers whether he could shut her up with his power before the guards hear her, but relaxes slightly as he realises that they won't be hearing any better than him. O'Toole tiptoes back out in the corridor and is horrified to see that there are flashlights moving in the main corridor, as if guards are making a sweep of it. It probably won't take them but minutes to look in this side tunnel. O'Toole also hears dim shouting from the main corridor, being able to make out that a commanding voice is giving orders, though he's not sure about what. He hears the words 'Don't kill...' and 'Where is she?'

O'Toole decides to go back into the charnel room and see if there isn't some hiding place there. The woman is still moving around on her cot, making pitiful little noises, which annoys and frightens O'Toole. The ringing in his ears is diminishing and he can hear her clearly now, which makes him wonder how close the guards need to get to do the same. O'Toole decides to see if he can move the woman from the cot and out into the side tunnel without waking her, using his telekinetic powers. He manages to pick her up, but while she's moving through the air, she wakes up. When she sees him, she lurches to her feet, falling the last few inches, and gives a small shout of joy. She stumbles toward O'Toole, desperate for rescue and reassurance, maybe just to experience through touch that there are other human beings.

Woman: "Thank God! You're not him. Please, oh, please, help me! There are things... Oh, God. I was so afraid. We've got to get away from this place!"

O'Toole steps back and blocks the woman from touching him, taking care not to touch her exposed flesh.

O'Toole: "Ugh! Don't touch me. I've... uh, got personal space issues."
[woman looks confused and hurt, but mostly terrified]
Woman: "You don't understand! It's not safe here. Take me with you, please!"
O'Toole [backing away]: "I can't do that yet. I'll send someone to get you. I've got something I have to do first."
Woman: "But... but, you'll help me?"
O'Toole: "Of course. There's help on the way. Everything is going to be okay."
Woman: "Thank you, oh, thank you! I thought I'd die here for sure. It's... it's been so terrible."

O'Toole can hear the guards better now. He thinks he heard one of them call someone 'Warden'. He's terrified that they'll hear the conversation.

O'Toole: "Lookit, there's something you need to do for me. You're right, it isn't safe in here. You need to go into the main corridor, toward the lights. The people there will help you."
Woman: "But... I can't go there alone. It's pitch black out there. What if I run into something?"
O'Toole: "You'll be fine. It's safe that way. I just came from there. You just need to walk down this little tunnel and you'll be fine."
Woman: "You... you promise? I'll be safe with them?"
O'Toole: "I promise. Everything is going to be fine. This will all seem like a bad dream."

Trembling with fear, the woman starts walking out into the side tunnel leading to the main corridor. She notices the lights there and fearfully turns her face toward O'Toole. He waves to her and mouths: "It's fine. They're my friends." The woman keeps walking and as she reaches the main corridor, O'Toole hears someone shout at her to stop.

Woman: "Please help!"
Guard1: "Freeze or I'll shoot."
Woman: "He told me..."
Guard2: "Hold it!"
Guard1: "What do I do, sir?"
Woman: "Please, don't hurt me!"
Guard2: "Don't come nearer."
Warden Tyrrell: "Take the shot."

There are two rifle shots and the woman's pleading is cut off, subsiding into a cry of pain that only lasts until her body hits the floor.

Guard2: "----ing lizards!"
Guard1: "Creep the hell out of me."
Warden Tyrrell: "Right, you two. Check out where she came from and if there's more of them."

O'Toole grimaces. He'd been hoping that the guards would assume that the woman had been the only one in this side tunnel and not bother to check it out. Frantically searching for some place to hide, O'Toole looks up at the ceiling. He closes his eyes and focuses his mental strength on enveloping himself as best he can. Then he grunts in exertion and lifts himself off the floor, hanging in mid-air like a plank. Moving slowly, he raises himself all the way up to the ceiling, where he tries to remain absolutely still, breathing as little as he can. The two guards enter the room with their rifles at the ready. One of them curses furiously when he sees the room and the other stops for a few seconds to regain control of his breathing. They appear disinclined to stay in the room, just giving it a quick once over before going back to the main corridor.

Guard1: "Nothing, sir. Just a lair, maybe the Monster, maybe something else."
Guard2: "----ing disgusting, sir."
Guard1: "No other way in, no hiding places. Maybe it was his mate or something."
Guard Vaughn: "Or a snack he had put by."
Guard Arden: "Maybe both."
Warden Tyrrell: "Just get back out there and find my Queen!"
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Last edited by Icelander; 03-03-2017 at 12:49 PM.
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