Doors Plot: Night Has Fallen

[wipeawaythedebt]

The Midnight Isle is no longer empty, if it ever was. There are people now, four of them, people from far away and they don't know where they are or how they got there. They've been wandering, lost, worried, watching the long dark halls and listening to the strange sounds in the walls. They were alone, then in pairs and now they're together, locked in the command center. Time has passed, but there's power and there are records if the people are smart enough to pull them up. The door's got a good lock... for now.

Night, or what passes for it has come. The sounds are getting louder, whatever's there knows there's people on the Isle again. New people. Whole people. They have a taste for people now and they're wandering inside the walls, claws scratching inside their new metal home, looking for the people. They don't see well in the light, they don't like it, but power can't last forever. The generators have to cycle down every few months, they did six months ago and they're overdue. Must be running pretty hot by now. Tonight, maybe tomorrow, they'll shut down.

Tonight might be the last night these people have.

Comments

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth could feel Booker hovering near her. She didn't glance over until he spoke. Honestly, she was glad he didn't ask her if she was alright - she was exhausted, honestly, but there was

"Everything here is ripped apart," she said, which she thought said a good bit towards his initial question. Glancing around to make sure no one was near them, she added, in a somewhat quieter tone, "What are we going to do? Are you going to use Vigors here if whatever did this shows up?"

It was a question she already knew the answer to. The problem was, the answer she didn't have was how they were going to explain things to them when they saw him do things that were certainly not normal in Darrow - or anywhere else, apparently.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I'll do whatever it takes to get you and the others out of here. Secrets be damned, they're powerful and I'll use 'em." He's seen the blood, whatever did that isn't going to flinch at a gun. Not that he even has a gun on him. Something he'll have to reconsider, if these things were likely to happen at any moment, he was going to start being armed everywhere.

"I made you a promise, I'm going to keep you safe, that means here, too."

[cagedlamb]

"I'm not saying not to use them. Not just to protect me, but everyone," she said, a frown on her face. She knew there was no way around it realistically, especially if she couldn't find a weapon among the rubble. She just felt like everything good was about to end for her. When people found out - she didn't know. She wasn't sure what might happen.

She glanced toward Sybil again, feeling terrible all over again for lying to her. A feeling of dread had been hanging over Elizabeth since they'd ended up here - that surely it couldn't just be a completely empty ship. There was no body of what attacked everyone to show they'd eventually killed it. Whatever it was.

"I - don't know what to do. Should I just tell her?" she asked, honestly looking for his opinion now. It was the first time she'd even had anything approaching friends before. While she'd been able to fake being normal, this was beyond something she could just figure out how to handle.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I'd say you an' me have a certain experience when it comes to secrets." The ghost of Lady Comstock comes to mind, shrieking and bringing the dead back to life, screaming about how she was wronged. How she was lied to. Used.

"I can't tell you what to do. Maybe telling her now is a pain she doesn't need. Maybe we'll get out of here without a fight and you can worry about it later." Not that he really believes that last part. Not with all the blood, all the sounds. Still, nothing's come after them yet and that's as promising as it is worrying.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth knew he had a point. Which was exactly why she kept going between the two decisions. She supposed it was probably better to keep it quiet for everyone, though she knew enough that it was a risk.

"Do you really think nothing's going to happen?" she asked. Because she wasn't even trained to look for trouble and she saw it (vividly, in fact, splattered against walls all over the place). A part of her wanted him to tell her the truth and a part wondered if she wanted to hear it.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I'm hoping, but then I was hoping Columbia would be an easy job." Smirking, he put a hand on her shoulder, weary, but affectionate. "And darlin' nothing about picking you up has been easy." Which was the least of it, he supposes. There's rough jobs and then there's that job.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth gave him a loo, then rolled her eyes. Despite him teasing, she knew he did have a point. At this point, he wasn't really even being pushed forward by any kind of monetary gain to help her.

"Well, this has nothing to do with me," she countered, though she wasn't actually being defensive. "This - this is beyond anything I've ever seen. Apparently this isn't the first time people have been sent to other places. I guess it was too much to hope we'd end up somewhere nicer."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Guess it was." He's never bothered to hope for much, but he's really starting to wonder what God's got against him. And why He seems to be dragging a kid as nice as Elizabeth through all this with him.

"I'll make sure you get through this, kid, that's a promise."