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 Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:43 pm
The sprinters were long gone, leaving only a passage of curious staff behind them. Huh. Interesting. There hadn't been any alarm raised, and those in the research division hadn't been told anything about Lori's sudden disappearance.
Black lines began to appear on Maia's wall, as if the paint was moldering. They were all vertical, two spaced out, another space, and three all together.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:49 pm
Maia went back into her office, stared at the wall, paused, and then took a look around. "Michael?" she asked. It had to be him. He was trying to tell her something. But what?
The first two lines were spaced out, and then three more. "What do you mean?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:51 pm
The room was already a few degrees colder, regardless of the thermostat on the wall. Horizontal lines began appearing.
H XX|x | T - x|
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:58 pm
Words. Maia watched as letters began to form. What was Michael trying to say? He hadn't shown himself, maybe he couldn't?
"Something about Toby?" she asked.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:00 pm
Slanted lines now.
H XX| I T A L
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:04 pm
H---tal.
Maia froze, and it had nothing to do with the thermostat. Hospital? This was like a game of hangman, without the pencilled gallows. She grabbed her bag, starting to stuff anything loose on her desk into it.
She was pretty sure she knew what Michael meant.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:07 pm
The curved lines were harder.
H O X P I T A L
There was in fact a hospital attached to the facility. It was small, only allowing for about six patients at a time but fully-stocked and rarely used, thankfully. When entities came in wounded, that was where they went. It was under another veil.
Maia's phone rang.
There was a chill and a feeling of dread that shot through her as that piece of Michael retreated.
The caller ID had an unknown name and unknown number.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:16 pm
Maia picked up the phone. The dread Michael's leaving had caused didn't seem to dissipate. Why would Michael tell her--it had to be Toby. Her hand was shakey as she held the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:20 pm
"Maia." It was Dari. Whether she would be able to tell that he was in alien form or not was up in the air, but his voice was slightly different in that way it tended to be. "We're bringing the entity in now, and uh. Toby was hurt. We're heading into the hospital now. I'm, uh-- They told me not to tell you, but if you want, I can meet you there."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:27 pm
"I'll come to you." A flurry of Gaelic curse words--mixed in with a few English ones, spilled out of her mouth as she hung up the phone. She needed to get to Toby. Why would they tell Dari not to tell her? It had to be bad.
She took off at a run. She couldn't lose him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:32 pm
Dari was waiting outside the double-doors that led to the hospital. He was in alien form. Maia was going to need someone strong against her panic, and it was much easier to pretend he wasn't horrified when he was in a form where negative emotions were not automatically emoted. He stepped forward to catch her in her sprint and grabbed her arms.
"Lori's with him now. You need to stay calm."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:35 pm
"Yeah? You stay calm when it's Cody," Maia muttered. She looked towards the double doors that led to where Toby was. ""Sorry," She apologized, after a moment, and began to pace. She was wringing her hands. "I'm trying."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:40 pm
Dari's eyes might have narrowed were he not in this form. For now he simply nodded. Had she remembered what it felt like to lose her parents? Or perhaps it would be more relatable if she had had siblings, but she hadn't. He wanted to tell her what had happened but knew it wouldn't help, so he fiddled with the ring hanging from the string around his neck.
Behind him, he heard commotion. Someone gasping. He wheeled around and burst through the double-doors, disappearing into one of the rooms.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 5:55 pm
Maia watched Dari go through the doors, hesitated, and pushed one open. They'd told Dari not to tell her about Toby. She definitely wasn't supposed to see him. But if Lori was healing him... He was probably in bad shape too. He'd been slurring after her cold.
She let the door swing back, hitting against her hand. She muttered another curse and leaned against the wall briefly, before pushing the door open again. She entered.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 6:02 pm
The hospital room was a bit of a mess. Lori was crouched on the floor, almost in the fetal position but vertically, holding hard onto Toby's pale hand. The elf was breathing heavily and trembling. Toby was motionless, covered to the chest with a sheet as soon as Maia entered. he was hooked up to an IV and had an oxygen masked strapped to his face. His eyes were closed, and one could see all of the blue veins crawling through his face and across his shoulders, becoming more numerous as they disappeared under the sheet. He had a heart monitor, and it was beeping oddly slowly.
Dari hadn't really noticed Maia coming. Lori had collapsed from standing. Dari asked him something in Gaelic. Lori could only shake his head. He was beginning to flush.
It was a doctor who looked up to see Maia. She said nothing, though, and went about checking Toby's pupil reaction.
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