Whispers in the Dark [Active]

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Flonne, whoever finds her
Content: In the full throes of the paranoia virus, Flonne desperately seeks safety.
Setting: St. Destino Hospital, upper floors
Time: Week 26, night
Warnings: Uh...creepy sadness? Maybe.

In the dark, abandoned hallways of St. Destino Hospital, quiet sobbing echoed. The only other sound that could be heard was the soft whispering of the breeze through the broken windows, stirring faded, tattered curtains. Even this high above the city, the fog swirled in silvery threads through the sky, obscuring the view below in blackness.

Flonne sat on the sill of an open window, knees drawn up tight against her trembling body as she quietly cried. On the opposite end of the room, next to the door she had closed and locked, her broken journal lay in scattered pieces among the debris already littering the abandoned room. Just moments before, she had made a desperate post in her journal to warn the people of Paixao of the evil that, even now, had to be searching for her. But they had found it, somehow. And she knew they would track her through her journal if she continued to post.

Now she lifted her tear-streaked, pale face to gaze out into the deceptively peaceful night. How could she have been so blind? Her suspicion began the night before, when the fog first rolled in. She had been quite happily talking with Gwen when she caught a glimpse of something...off. A flash in the woman's eyes of something evil. Suddenly, Gwen's smile didn't seem so gentle. It seemed...malevolent.

So it went through out the night. Now and again, she'd see or hear something about her friends that put her on edge. A flash of sharp teeth in a grin, glowing eyes, words that seemed innocent enough on the outside but held a threat between the lines. She avoided them the next day and before the sun had set, had almost convinced herself that she was being foolish. But when she returned home and night returned, she knew. There was no doubt.

Her dear friends weren't her friends at all. And they were going to kill her.

Another sob escaped her now and she buried her face in her hands. Precious memories of her time in Paixao flashed in her mind, memories that she had held dear in her heart. Were they truly all lies? Was she really so alone? In the empty room, whispers floated from the shadows, sharpening her anxiety.

"Save me..." she whispered to no one in the dark, her heart breaking with every piece of her mind that succumbed to her fear.

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[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

Despite having taken up residence (temporary, he hoped; as much as he enjoyed his younger self's company, it couldn't be easy for the tenth Doctor to constantly be reminded of his next regeneration every time they spoke) within his younger incarnation's TARDIS, the eleventh Doctor had been spending quite a lot of time getting to know Paixao. He hadn't liked the look of the fog that had rolled in recently; he would have to check that out. But now was not the time; he could swear he heard somebody crying in the dark of this strange, abandoned place. Of course, once he heard the plea for help, his mind was made up, and he quickly found the source of it - a young girl, curled up miserable on the windowsill.

"Now, then," he said, speaking gently so as not to frighten her (she had obviously been frightened enough), "what's the matter? Don't worry, I'm the Doctor. I'm here to help you."

[innerherolog.livejournal.com]

Almaz couldn't believe Mao sometimes. Sure, he trusted the guy, they were even what one could call friends--not that Mao would ever use such a word--but sometimes he wondered! Because, well, kidnapping someone? Really? Even if she sort of, maybe, went along willingly as strange as that was... no, no, that excuse wasn't going to work. She was scared right? So. Complaint number two:

Mao had the gall to tell him to find another hospital bed! No, to steal one! What was his Hero title for? Just for show!?



"... w-well, I guess if there's no one around to care." Almaz stared down an empty hallway of St. Destino's upper floors, and sighed deeply.

Then he paused mid-step, and looked around and over his shoulders. Was he hearing voices? That was peculiar, were there people up here after all? He knew going up here to grab a bed was a bad idea in the first place! It also caused more than just one kind of worry--Almaz quickened his pace down the hall, listening carefully.

When he came across what he assumed to be the room where the sounds were coming from, Almaz knocked tentatively on the door. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" He paused. "Are you hurt?"

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

Flonne gasped and stood up, balancing on the windowsill as she withdrew her magic staff from seemingly nowhere and pointed it at the intruder. "Who are you? How did you get in here!?" she cried, ruby eyes wide. She had locked and closed that door! And now here was this strange-looking human man in the room with her? She put on her most intimidating scowl, which in the throes of her fear, was more of an uncomfortable looking grimace.

"Get out!" she shouted, squeezing her eyes shut as fresh tears welled up. She swung her staff up and a burst of fire aimed right for the Doctor and, consequently, for the door and Almaz on the other side.

[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

The girl was obviously terrified out of her wits, the Doctor noted. Perhaps sonic-ing and entering without so much as a knock hadn't been the best idea in the world. He put his hands up in a show of peace (and to display the fact that he was unarmed - well, except for his mildly malfunctional screwdriver). "I entered with this," he told her, holding up the screwdriver for her to see. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked." Right. Definitely not the best idea he'd ever had, but he'd acted on impulse. He did seem to be rather fond of doing that so far.

Unfortunately, that's as far as the Time Lord got, because the next thing he knew, the strange girl shot a fireball at him and he was forced to dive out of the way. "To anyone nearby, get out of the way!" he shouted, before crashing clumsily and rather painfully into the floor. He could have sworn he'd heard a voice just outside the room; hopefully they had the good sense to dodge and not get hurt because the Doctor had been busy being an idiot.

[innerherolog.livejournal.com]

Almaz furrowed his brow at the commotion on the other side of the door. There were definitely people inside the room. Something about it all seemed off to him, but it didn't quite hit home until he heard the shout to move. The ensuing events almost seemed to play out in slow motion (as cliche' as it was), since Almaz could, indeed, remember thinking to himself that this voice sounded very serious and that he should probably listen to it--right before throwing himself away from the door.

Then time caught up with him. Almaz hit the ground, didn't even catch the barest glimpse of the fireball, but what happened to the door was apparent enough and he was vaguely aware of something very hot.

Almaz screamed, threw his coat and scarf to the ground and proceeded to stamp out the small flames that caught the tail end of his clothes as best he could before they spread too far or got too big. A moment of flailing about and yelping later, Almaz scooped up his singed clothes and pressed himself against the wall--not quite ready to stick himself in front of the door in case there was a round two. "U-um..."

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

As soon as the low-level fire spell had been lobbed off, Flonne gasped, shocked at her own actions. "I-I'm sorry!" she cried out, taking an instinctive step forward before her fear, still lingering, made her stop. She sighed in relief to see that no one was hurt, as far as she could tell. The flames from her magic were gone almost as soon as they appeared. She shook her head, burying her guilt as much as she could and stepped backward once more, clutching her staff close.

"I...I didn't mean to...you shouldn't have come here! Who are you?" She darted frantic glances between the Doctor and the empty doorway, which she now knew a second person was waiting out of view.

[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

The Doctor heard the scream of pain and instinctively ran towards the sound, never mind that there was a crazy girl who could throw fire at people. He'd deal with that later - hopefully not so late he'd end up on fire himself. Right now, he needed to make sure the other person was alright. He skidded out the door and pressed himself against the other side of it, just in case. "Hello, there," he told the boy there, giving him a quick once over to make sure he was alright. "You're not hurt, are you?"

His attention went back to the girl who'd attacked. "And you shouldn't be throwing fire at any bloke who wanders in!" Really, it was his fault to begin with - but trying to kill someone for opening a door they shouldn't, that was a bit much. Then again, that happened to him all the time. "I told you," he continued, taking a more gentle tone again, "I'm the Doctor. What's got you so scared?"

[innerherolog.livejournal.com]

Almaz blinked as the man joined him on the other side of the wall, and was relieved when he realized it the same person who shouted out the warning moments ago. "I-I'm fine." Almaz replied, unable to quite keep the quake out of his voice (this was more excitement than he was prepared for). He picked at the clothes in his arms sullenly. "Just, uh. A little singed. Th-thanks for earlier." It wasn't like he hadn't been through worse, really.

Almaz cast a sidelong glance back at the doorway, and hesitantly answered the girl's question too. "And I'm Almaz." He called out to the room. "I was just passing by, but, er..."

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

Almaz? The name sounded familiar...but maybe this was a trick! Flonne decided not to let her guard down right away, despite the air of confidence the man exuded and Almaz' seemingly low threat. She glanced between them, still balanced on the windowsill.

"...you wouldn't understand," she finally said softly, eyes filling with tears once more. "They're after me! I can hear them whispering, looking for me even now..." Flonne shivered, squeezing her eyes shut as a fresh wave of fear washed over her. "They were supposed to be my friends! They...they were important..."

She went into a crouch, giving into the sobs that rose up within her.

[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

The Doctor nodded at Almaz. "Good. Now I need you to not ask silly questions or do anything to upset this girl more than she already is." Granted, he doubted the girl could get much more upset than trying to kill them (even if it was sort of an accident), but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, he was just laying down ground rules.

At Flonne's explanation, the Doctor's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the sound of this 'them' - but, truth be told, it rather sounded like she was hallucinating. Or being hounded by psychic beings, which was perfectly plausible, given his own history. He'd just have to figure out which one it was before something else happened, though he was leaning toward the former rather than the latter. Poking his head cautiously into the room, the Doctor spoke carefully to Flonne, being sure to keep the gentle tone to his voice. "We're not with them, whoever they are. Why don't you tell me about them, and I'll see what I can do about it?"

[innerherolog.livejournal.com]

"R-right." Not ask silly questions or make her more upset? Almaz couldn't help but make a slight face, he didn't need to be told that! He certainly hoped he could still count on his common sense, if nothing else--Almaz needed it with the company he chose to hang out with.

Almaz then leaned forward in attempt to get a better angle to look into the room without putting his head at too much risk, and frowned as Flonne explained herself and started to cry. It wasn't that he found her vague explanation to be fake--definitely not--but something about it did seem strange. "Believe me, we really have no idea what's going on," he agreed with the Doctor. "What do you mean they were 'supposed to be' your friends? Did something happen?"

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

Flonne slowly lifted her head, gazing sadly at nothing in particular as tears continued to slowly stream down her face. "...I wasn't sure at first," she began softly, her quiet voice still distinct in the heavy silence of the room and the nothingness outside. "I'd spent so much time here with them, with L-laharl...san..." It physically hurt her to say his name, her hand reaching up to clench over her heart. "But I began to see. They weren't who they'd pretended to be all this time. Tricking me! They're monsters in the forms of the people I care about, Doctor. That's...that's how they get you..."

She smiled a tremulous smile. "I-it's better this way. Laharl-san, Gwen-san, Vyers-san, Timon-san, Pumbaa-san...all of them...if they were really here, they'd be in danger. It's not safe in this world."

[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

So she was hallucinating, definitely (or almost definitely). That both simplified and complicated things. He had to be very careful. "Flonne, I know this might be hard, but can you tell me how they acted? The signs, the way you knew what you did? It's easier to stop monsters when you can spot them." He needed to know as much as he could and get this poor girl out of her current mental state.

"Why isn't it safe here?" he asked. "Sorry, I'm new."

[innerherolog.livejournal.com]

Laharl? Almaz blinked. Wasn't that one of the other overlords here? Has weird hair, this odd rivalry kind of thing with Mao? Almaz could have sworn he talked with him once--a decent while ago--didn't seem all that bad to him, really. Then again, he didn't know a whole lot about the guy to begin with either...

"Um, I'd like to know some more too, if that's okay." Almaz's brow furrowed in thought. Was this an actual thing? "I haven't heard anything about there being monsters like that here."

[fangirlforlove.livejournal.com]

She wiped at her eyes with jerky movements, her exhaustion and mental state making her frustration 10 times as worse than it usually would be. "You're not listening!" Flonne sighed, standing up. "This world is full of monsters! They take the form of the people you would trust most, just so they can get close! The Heartless a-are just a part of it..." She gasped suddenly, her gaze seeing into nothing as fresh horror took her.

"That's it..." she said softly to herself. "The Heartless...they serve the real monsters. They steal hearts so their masters can feed...yes..."

[shout-geronimo.livejournal.com]

That didn't make any sense. Or maybe it did; maybe he was just looking at it from the wrong angle. The Doctor rubbed his eyes, irritated with himself and trying to - wait. Taking the form of people she trusted? Oh, no. Oh, no. This was something he had to fix, and quickly. Flonne had mentioned it previously, but he'd been so thick he hadn't realized it. He'd have to find out a way to

"Alright," he told her. "Thank you for the information. I'm going to see what I can do about these monsters." Pausing a bit and hoping he'd gotten through to her, he asked a question that was much more important than any of the previous ones. "What's your name?"