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Post by Vesper on Jan 28, 2022 9:48:35 GMT
As his emotions all heightened, and his stomach began aching in a twisted and grotesque sense of the word, Vesper forced himself to push through. His thoughts, though hard to hear over the deafening terror paired with the utter silence, simply repeated, "No one's here, I must be safe. This is all an illusion, I must be safe. I'm getting too close to the truth, so they want me to run. But I can. not. run."
Vesper took a reflexive glance at the eyes as he passed by, but he couldn't let his eyes linger on them. He would get in his head more than he was already, he had to press forward. Something was clearly on those papers, and he needed to know.
Once he reached the closest paper that was in the best shape, Vesper snatched it and tried glaring it down. The diy detective grunted; his eyes couldn't focus with all the chaos. He tried everything; blinking, wiping his eyes, shaking it off. His eyes danced around the room, checking for threats, before he tried glaring at the paper again.
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Post by Fell on Jan 28, 2022 9:58:43 GMT
Continuing to glare at the piece of paper did not make the writing any clearer. He was, however, able to grasp and hold the paper without much trouble at all. It didn't crumble or turn to dust, and it felt like normal paper in his hands. He was able to do what he wanted with it... aside from read it, at the very least.
The silence would continue to oppress, pressing down on all sides around him. The longer he stayed, the worse the paranoia, anxiety, and uncertainty would become, and the more difficult it would be to talk to himself and keep from completely losing his cool. His skin would jump and goosebumps would pop up along any inch of exposed skin. It seemed the very air was at the mercy of the silence... and whatever it was that it wanted.
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Post by Vesper on Jan 29, 2022 1:20:19 GMT
Vesper growled and spat out a curse. He wanted to examine this paper further but he didn't have the time. Truly there was no danger, but he feared that would never be able to escape if he drowned in the maddening and twisted silence any longer. He quickly folded the paper up and slipped it into his back pocket, and attempted to quickly but quietly escape the laundry room, snagging any other papers along the way. Quietly, that is, until the last few steps, where he anxiously transitioned into sprinting.
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Post by Fell on Jan 31, 2022 18:38:06 GMT
Vesper managed to snag four other pieces of paper, but any attempts to examine them would only result in more frustration. His mind was so far tilted, the words would look like strange, foreign symbols to him. Even so, he managed to escape the laundry room without incident, and the hallway loomed before him just as it originally was. He would start making his way down it, and nothing moved, nothing shifted, nothing seemed to grow or shorten. Time returned to normal.
A clock hung above the last door, something that may or may not have been there before. However, whether it was or wasn't was irrelevant, as it would seem to almost glow, as if trying to get Vesper's attention. And the moment he looked at it...
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The soft sound of ticking would fill the empty hallway, the small seconds hand ticking away. All at once, there'd be a loud bang off to one side, but upon further investigation, he'd find it was simply an old outdated water heater.
It would seem Vesper's hearing had returned!
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Post by Vesper on Feb 10, 2022 3:54:08 GMT
Vesper got back in the hallway, panting and extremely high strung. The depressing hallway lights glistened off of the thin layer of sweat on his skin as he spun around in jolts of paranoia. Adding to the look of insanity, his unkept hair formed clumps of strands from the sweat. The glowing of the clock snatched his attention, however, and his gaze got lost in it. His fast heartbeat became a static background noise as he fixated on the radiating contraption. Should he do something about the glow? Was it some kind of warning? Was the glow even real? Was it another illu-
BANG
Vesper's soul nearly left his own body. Coming back down from his full body jump, he snapped into a messy fighting stance with a shouted curse, black flames erupting from his fists. It was quite the peculiar — and rather comical — scene: a frightened man, standing in a sweat-laced fighting stance, ready to strike at any moment the water heater that threatened him.
Ironically, the fire in his hands that seemed to alight as a reflex to his fear was the very thing the snapped him out of his combative state. The bartender watched his hands with furrowed brows as he attempted to put their fire out by shaking them. Once it subsided, he ran one of his hands through his hair. "Alright you pansy, chill out," he sighed with closed eyes. "Focus." He had to take a moment to get used to the sounds again; coming back into the hallway everything seemed so loud, but after this moment of composition, he realized they were regular, insignificant noises.
He was here to investigate the upper room, and he hadn't even made it there yet. So the redhead, brushing his fear off of him the best he could before correcting his attire, ventured the hallway once more to find a set of stairs somewhere. If there was an elevator, he'd prefer to leave it to a last resort. A tiny space suspended over a tall hole was not the most comfortable or desired environment, all things considered.
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Post by Fell on Feb 10, 2022 4:28:59 GMT
As Vesper stood there, trying to calm himself down and regain control, the soft sound of something brushing against metal could easily be heard. Just as he composed himself and went to move, he would hear a voice, ringing out clearly through the hall.
"Hey, bud, sorry 'bout that. These water heaters ain't what they used to be... Old as hell, man. I keep tellin' the super he gotta replace 'em. Don't think he's heard a damn word o' what I've said, though. Us peons ain't worth listenin' to, I mean."
When he turned, one of the doors had swung open without him knowing, and in the doorway stood the most cliche and stereotypical maintenance man. It looked as if he walked out of a movie or a book, with his stained overalls and grey shirt that looked like it was, once upon a time, white... maybe. There were grease stains on his cheeks, and his hair - the same vibrant shade as Vesper's - hung in oily strands over his forehead. He was overweight but had not quite gotten into the category of obese, and sounded as if he had smoked a pack a day his entire life. He had a towel thrown over one shoulder and a tool belt tucked under the flap of his stomach, a couple of tools hanging off of it in strange directions.
He seemed friendly enough as he slipped into the hall and shut the metal door with a clang that sounded similar - though not exact - to the banging of the apparent water heater. He huffed and gave a shake of his head, dusting his hands off before wiping them on the towel, the obvious sign of a job well done.
He turned back to Vesper then with a toothy sort of grin. "Whatcha doin' in this hall anyway? You forget yer key or sumthin?"
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Post by Vesper on Apr 14, 2022 19:46:50 GMT
Vesper let out a slow sigh, annoyed that just another thing was in his way. "I'm just trying to find the second floor, boss," he replied with a quick glance and wave to the geezer.
With that, Vesper would try to continue down the hallway to find a way up.
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