paradisa | First Shot

Entry tags:

tess

First Shot

[Everything changes with the bat of an eye.

While she registers the change immediately, it takes a moment to truly sink in. Tess finds herself in what could only be a dream –– she hasn't seen a bedroom so immaculate and new and utterly inviting outside of old magazines in decades, and she's certainly never slept in one. She's never even stayed in a hotel this nice, never had her own place with such crisp, perfect white linens. The very act of being in a well-kept bedroom is jarring and discomforting and panic-inducing.

The only thing that keeps her from outright panicking is the fact that she still has her handgun in her hands, her arms outstretched to point it at some invisible intruders, her finger laid against the side of the gun, ready to move to the trigger at a heartbeat's notice––

Seconds ago, there had been bullets, and Joel and Ellie's retreating footsteps––

There's an assortment of things on the dresser, a hairbrush that had likely never even approached anyone's scalp, a comb with all its teeth, a jewelry box that looks freshly polished––

There had been a throbbing in her chest and collarbone and neck, and––

No, no, the throbbing is still there, the collar of her shirt half-stuck to the mess that is her throat, and Tess could (and can) feel it almost thrumming under her skin, almost moving––

Tess backs up into a wall, her support hand leaving the base of the gun in favour of splaying against the immaculate paint. Purple. The walls are rich, warm purple, without so much as a hairline crack, and Tess is pressing the grime of her skin and clothes against it. She feels like she needs to apologize, even when there is no one around to apologize to.

She's alone here, almost. Alone as any host is.

She's not sure if she can "feel" the infection crawling under her skin because she knows it's working its way towards her brain so that it might kill her, or if there really are cordyceps tendrils spawning in her veins, winding through her muscle tissue and up her neck to her skull. Have they reached her brain yet? Will it hurt when they do?

Of course it's going to hurt, she tells herself, almost angrily. But Joel and Ellie are gone, and oh thank god, Joel is gone, Joel doesn't have to see this, and there are no soldiers to shoot her like a fucking rabid dog, and it's just her and the gun and this immaculate not-quite-afterlife hotel room.

It was easy to maintain her composure when she had work to do and Joel to protect –– she couldn't let him see her die or turn or suffer, she had her pride and her obligations to her goddamn partner –– but now she's alone and she is going to become a monster if she doesn't put herself out of her own misery.

Tess fits the barrel of the gun to her chin.

Don't be such a fucking coward, Tess.

She pulls it away, takes a hard breath, and closes her eyes for a beat.

It's only been a few hours. You've got hours. Maybe twelve hours, or twenty-four, or maybe even forty-eight––

When she opens her eyes, they settle immediately on the window across from "her" bedroom wall. More importantly, they settle on what appears to be a distant city basking under a summer sun, and for an instant she thinks of being a teenager again, when she dreamed of backpacking across Europe. There were lots of pictures of little French cities all over the Internet, back then, cities that could still feel like quaint little towns despite their sprawl.

For a moment, she just stares in silence, and then she says:]

Couldn't pick a nicer fucking place to die, huh...

Threaded | Flat

[Well, this certainly brings back memories of when he first arrived here.]

...You may have to put those plans on hold for awhile.

[There are footsteps in the hallway. Footsteps that certainly don't belong to someone too big. Footsteps that stop as soon as Tess speaks.

Even after two weeks in the castle, Ellie still gets lost pretty easily, especially when she's simply wandering around, trying to get a feel for the place. And wandering is exactly what she's doing, right up until she hears that voice and both her steps and her thoughts come to a screeching halt. Slowly she turns, peering into the room through the open doorway, and holy fuck is that--]

... Tess?

[It can't be. There's no way it can be Tess. Tess was gone, long gone, dead to buy her and Joel some time. So this person can't be Tess...!

But... it's the same voice. She sure as hell looks like Tess. She's even dressed the same as when Ellie last saw her. Could it really be...?]

[Boy, does he ever recognise THAT statement]

From what I've been told, dying isn't a thing that's really on the cards for us here. Not permanently, anyway. [Though that last part still freaks him out. How can people die and come back absolutely normal? That's fucked up]

That's gloomy.

[ His tone is careful, level, and not at all mocking. Her remark is just pretty goddamn familiar -- that's all. ]

Something going on?

Threaded | Flat

Dictated.

[action]

Dictated forever