paradisa | 008 || Backdated to Friday the 13th because fashionably late is where it's at

[When the outside world is gone, what are you left with? When its distractions are nothing but a distant memory, when your senses work a desperate overtime in a futile attempt to fill in the void, what stays? In an unpredictable reality, one that can change or be snuffed out at the drop of a hat, what can be considered a constant?

There's only one thing, what may be the most horrifying above all else to be left alone with, to have no choice but to face. Yourself.

With the lights out, with whispers constantly present in the back of her mind, with suspicions that may or may not be ungrounded gently tugging at her, just the right amount, it's hard for Julia to tell what's real. Maybe she's never really able to tell for certain, but on this day, it's enough to be more than unsettling.

No matter what she does, no matter where she goes, there's always a feeling that there's something just two steps behind her, watching, waiting to make the right move. Images, ones that were just flickers at first, disappearing when she blinked, but had over time become clearer, more lifelike. Her eyes are lying to her. Everything is lying to her. It has to...--

Nevertheless, she's now found herself in the second floor corridor, gun in hand, having set out to search for something. Something that's not really there, but that she can't stop herself from searching for all the same. At the moment the journal chooses to pick up some of this scene, she's taken a pause, her breath coming out in short gasps. Her steady grip on that gun begins to shake.]

It's over. [Her voice is about as steady as her grip; wavering in its best attempts to be firm. For anyone that would happen to also be in the area, it's not clear who or what she's actually talking to. Maybe she's trying to convince herself, make one last attempt to rationalize her way through whatever is going through her mind.] It's over.

[[OOC: Completely wide open :) Journal, hallway, whatever you want!]]

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[It's a bit of a delayed reaction on her part. Like she's trying to put some pieces together, but they're not immediately fitting. There's too much going through her mind, too much coming at her, too much reality and unreality to sort out. It's difficult to parse her own actions from one moment to the next, much less reach back into memory...--

... But, tentatively, the gun comes down after a moment.]

Ray? [Said just as tentatively. As if she's not 100% convinced she knows what he's talking about.]

Yeah. [he nods, trying to be as reassuring as possible] Yeah, it's me. It's okay.

[That seems to work, at least for the moment. It may not be much of a reassurance, but it is a small one. She exhales, and the hand that has a hold of her gun quietly drops to her side.]

I thought--

[She lets that thought trail off.]

Yeah. [he lets out a humorless chuckle] That's goin' around. S'why I've got all of this... [gesturing to his gear] I'm tryin' to pinpoint the source of the supernatural disturbance.

[Of course, if she'd been thinking clearly, she would've been paying attention to the journal. She would've figured out something was up, would've been watchful.

... But that's the thing about something like this. It's taken her over so thoroughly, so completely, that almost all traces of her usual logic are gone. So the revelation that this is going around, that it's not originating completely from her own mind, honestly comes as a shock. And may take her a bit to process (in addition to still trying to shake off what happened moments before). She's quiet for longer than usual.]

Any luck so far?

Not really. [he frowns, looking down at his PKE meter] Whatever it is, I think it's affecting my equipment, too - not just me. I could've sworn I saw the Librarian earlier...

[Not that she has any idea of anything he's talking about. But, regardless, there's a solemn nod on her part, though he can't see it in the dark. The fact that it's not just her is starting to provide some reassurance. Or at least gives her one small bit of logic and sense to cling to.--

Well, sort of. Almost as soon as ease had come, it faded, turning into dread. There's...

Another sharp gasp on her part is enough to tell you she's not paying attention again.]

Julia--?

[he moves to her side, carefully] Whatever it is ... hey? Look at me, Julia. It's okay. It's not there.

[Unfortunately, that's not going to work. She's fixated on one particular spot in the darkness. No, there's nothing really there, but she'd swear on her life that, somehow, they're not alone.

She doesn't respond. Or turn back in Ray's direction. There's only one action that occurs to her in that moment, an automatic move to raise that gun again. This time, she thumbs the hammer back as she does, all but ready to fire.]

[luckily, this time, he's out of her range of fire... but the castle is making him hear things now, too... he tenses, keeping his eyes fixed in the darkness]

[She can't decipher anything for sure herself. There's an outline of something. One that's all too familiar. She's seen hints of it multiple times over the past while, but now it's become somewhat clearer.

Whatever it is, it's pulling at least ten kinds of emotions out of her. Barely visible in the dark, there's a hardened glint in her eyes as she continues to fixate on that spot. Her gun starts to shake noticeably in her grip.]

You're not--

008 || Backdated to Friday the 13th because fashionably late is where it's at

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