blog one-oh-one

[bro_codebreaker]

[well, Barney WAS going to survive all of this by holing up in the Nines and getting drunk, as he usually does - but he held a weak flashlight up to the bottles of booze and ... well, they all looked a lot less like booze and a lot more like blood.

smelled like it, too.

he turns off the flashlight] Okay, that's not creepy or anything. [turns it back on. nope, still gross blood bottles, no brandy. he turns away - and catches something out of the corner of his eye.

and then the whispering starts.]

Not again...!

[he whirls around to check the windows - and illuminated just behind the stained glass outside is the silhouette in profile of a slightly larger-than-normal, very curvy woman. she opens her mouth, and oh what big teeth she has.

that does it. Barney's dropping the flashlight and BOOKING IT out of the Nines]

TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!

[he might just be running into you, if you're on the 7th floor.]

Comments

[triela]

[oh good she's not the only one who made the connection]

Barney. It's not happening again. Calm down.

[bro_codebreaker]

TRI! ... Tri. But ... but no, it is, I can -- I hear them -- where are you? We've gotta --

[he's scrambling in the dark, now, not sure which set of stairs he's supposed to go to, which end of the hall leads up and which leads down. which is even worse because the seventh floor is the tallest floor, now, and there's only one set of stairs ...]

-- we've gotta get to the library ...

[triela]

[how the hell does this keep happening right after she shows up? Anyway, she must once again remain calm and collected]

The library is still on the same three floors, correct? I'll meet you there.

[bro_codebreaker]

Okay --

[and then he realizes that he's at the end with no stairs and panics] Triela?! ... The stairs are gone.

[stalkershiki]

[Shiki's just staying in her room. On a deeper level, she's kind of scared shitless... but the outer layer of her is staying practical, so she's staying very much in her room, and lighting all of the candles.

But Barney's screaming freaks her out more than a little, and she speaks frantically into the journal upon hearing this.]

sljdflskd What's going on?? Is anyone hurt or something??

[triela]

Are you sure it's not a hallucination?

[gottaknockhard]

[Guess who is on the 7th floor? Your mostly-absent neighbor in the much-less-impeccable suit -- who is slightly on edge for his own reasons. Spike is just getting to his room, when Barney comes running in his direction.

As dark as it is, Spike barely has time to move out of the way to avoid a collision, and... doesn't quite make it. At least he only clips him instead of hitting him head-on.]

He- [-y...wait. Why was he running?] What is it?

[teds_out]

[Jesus christ. The whole Friday the 13th fiasco might have unnerved him a little bit, but nothing made his heart stop like Barney screaming his name.]

Barney?! Barney, what's wrong??

[modernholmes]

[An unsuspecting child detective happens to be slowly making his way around with the help of a flickering flashlight built into his watch. Do you stop before running him over?]

Dictated forever

[onlyanapple]

Oh for Someone's sake...

Barney? You dead?

[ino]

... Barney?!

[bro_codebreaker]

Tri, I'm at the end of the hall and there are no stairs and I can -

[bump]

- walk into the wall. So no. Not a hallucination. Stairs are legit gone.

[bro_codebreaker]

No but -- but -- Shiki get to the library the space zombies are back OH GOD.

[he's a little less than awesome right now, sorry]

[bro_codebreaker]

Space zombies. [he takes just enough time to straighten Spike's jacket for him] We gotta get to the library.

[bro_codebreaker]

THE SPACE ZOMBIES ARE BACK, TED, GET TO THE LIBRARY.

[it's sort of the Para version of Jesus Christ It's A Lion Get In The Car]

[bro_codebreaker]

[nope, he's not even looking at that height, he's completely keeping his eyes on the ceiling. THEY COME THROUGH THE AIR DUCTS, MAN.

so he barrels right into him - and promptly screams]

[bro_codebreaker]

Crowley. [if he had any presence of mind to breathe, it's quickly fading] Crowleythey'rebackCrowley.

[bro_codebreaker]

Ino, you gotta get everyone to the library. Like, start rounding them up. I'm heading there right now --

[another imagined skittery noise, and he shudders] Nyaaaaa-aaaah...!

[triela]

Oh. [she had to ask, okay]

Then I'll come up to you. What floor?

[gottaknockhard]

[Spike responds with a lot of dumb staring before he processes those two sentences. He better be kidding...]

Huh?

[modernholmes]

[And he goes tumbling across the floor.]

[onlyanapple]

What are? [Ugh, humans] Barney, breathe you lot tend to snuff it if you don't do that.

[stalkershiki]

Space zombies?? Oh man... but I'm in my room! And I have candles and the door is locked!! And are you sure that the library is safer??

[bro_codebreaker]

Seventh -- [whatever he was going to say gets cut off by a sharp gasp as the castle fills his mind with more ominous skittering noises and a faraway shriek]

[bro_codebreaker]

[hushed but urgent] You need to be with as many people as you can. They come through the air vents.