CHAPTER TWO: Cecilia: Searching

[Kadael]

Cecilia shakes her head. "No, this isn't going to work. We... we need to barricade the door, or..."

A barricade against a shotgun? No...

"I don't know. It just doesn't look safe here... let's at least look at the next room."

[Seon]

"THAT HURT!" Jack screamed. "IT HURTS WHEN YOU STAB ME, SO STOP STABBING ME!"

He quickly ducked out of another stab and rushed up the stairs.

[Laraqua]

This time he manages to dart around the nurse shortly before the scalpel would hit and rushes upstairs, but to which floor? He'd run straight down to the generator so he hadn't managed to see which floor the elevator had stopped on. He heads up to the 3rd floor, reasoning that they'd just want to make him run further to get to them. It's just as dark up here as everywhere else but the water seems thicker somehow, pooling and puddling, everywhere. Only, the water seems somewhat rust-coloured, as though blood had somehow gotten into the water. The plaster is slashed in places, revealing the wooden struts and exposing the wiring within the guts of the building. Presumably they'd be close to the elevator, on the other side of the building, so he heads in that direction. Another nurse hobbles into view in front of him.

[Seon]

"Damn you... DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Jack roared out as he aimed the shotgun at the nurse.

He fired once, dealing massive amount of damage to the nurse.

[Laraqua]

The nurse hits the ground in a twitching mess of gore and bone, revealing an otherwise clear corridor, at least as far as his flashlight beam can stab.

-----------

A shotgun blast interrupts Cecilia's words as a flashlight beam can be seen hitting the far end of the corridor, from where it bends right toward the stairwell. The next room is better furnished with two hospital beds, both with suspiciously stained mattresses, a wardrobe, and a curtain rail hung with a wet and glistening curtain. The window itself is open, the curtains billowing on a non-existent breeze in the cold, night air. The ledge outside isn't big enough to stand on but it's solid enough to hang from.

[Seon]

Jack briskly walked through the corridor, waving the flashlight into each of the rooms.

"Where are you..."

He craned his ears towards each possible hiding place, as if to listen to Cecilia's rapidly beating heart.

"Oh god... it hurts..."

[Kadael]

Cecilia pulls Katie into the room and, despite her panic, tries to close the door quietly. Then she runs over to the wardrobe and flings it open, to see if Katie can hide in there.

"How did he get up here?" she wonders aloud, glancing over her shoulder.

[Laraqua]

There is no door. Each room's doorway gapes open, affording no privacy. There's a scrape mark by the wardrobe, like it's been dragged there recently, but there's no time to think of that. Katie can most certainly easily fit in the wardrobe. She can hear Jack's maddened words as he moves his way down the corridor, pausing at the one sealed scar-like space where a door had once been and where a doorway should be now. Still, there's no sound but dripping water in there so it's unlikely to house anyone. There does seem to be noises coming from the room just one doorway down.

Show,Jack has FOUR minutes of madness to go.

[Kadael]

Cecilia gestures frantically for Katie to get into the wardrobe, whispering all the while: "I need you to stay quiet and hide, okay? You're my brave little girl, you can do this... If I'm not back soon, get out and run."

She swallows around a hard lump in her throat, watering eyes locked with Katie's. "I love you so much, honey. You know that, right?"

[Laraqua]

Katie nods, face pale. "Shoot him if you can," she whispers seriously, the gestures for her mommy to shut the door.

[Seon]

"Dead I am the dog," Jack sang, grinning. He waved his flashlight into the rooms and then moved on as quickly as possible...

"Hound of hell you cry," Jack twirled around once as he entered one of the rooms and took a quick glance around.

"Devil on your back," he said, pulling out of the room.

"I can never die"

[Kadael]

Slowly, she shuts the wardrobe doors and tries not to think about how this may be the last time she sees her daughter. If everything goes well... it won't.

Cecilia makes an attempt to creep out of the room silently, towards Jack's singing, but she knows right away that she's too loud to surprise him. So instead, she raises her head skyward.

And screams.

[Laraqua]

Jack takes a few moments to ensure each room is empty between the stairwell and the noisier one. In one of those rooms, a nurse twitches and spins around, lurching toward him but giving him plenty of time to fire the shotgun.

Cecilia can hear his approach as he moves along with a sing song approach.

[Seon]

"Hmm?" Jack said. He nonchalantly emptied a bunch of pellets into the nurse and turned to the source of thescream.

"She really wants to die, doesn't she?" Jack muttered of before walking towards Cecilia's room.

[Laraqua]

The walls themselves seem to further decay as the walls bulge and pipes begin to split the edges of the sagging ceilings with the groan of strained metal, drizzling icy cold water into the hallway that forms rust-coloured puddles deep enough to form small streams. Cecilia is out in the hallway as Jack steps out into the corridor with his shotgun in hand. Someone, from someone around them, begins humming an old childhood song. The noise seems to reverberate through the halls but it's quite clearly coming from somewhere downstairs and from what appears to be a human female throat.

Show,Jack has THREE minutes of madness to go.

[Kadael]

Cecilia runs down the corridor, heading for Jack straight ahead. She's done it now - there's no other way this can possibly work. No going back.

"Where's your justice?!" she cries, balling her hands into fists. "Is it better now, Jack? IS IT?!"

OOC,Making a Fast Talk roll because Cecilia is making stuff up right now. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3341044/]Ding[/url]

[Seon]

Jack quickly raised the shotgun and grinned. "Jack? Jack? No, he's gone. He's not with us anymore. He's... oh god..."

Jack suddenly winced in pain. "Cecilia... I... I don't want to hurt you... Just...hahaha...hahahahahahaha...."

Jack glared at Cecilia. "That was close. You look tired, Cecie. Tired of it all. I can sympathize. He lunged forwards and missed by just a couple of inches from grabbing onto Cecilia. "These days, its hard to be you... Hard to keep you head above life's..." he waved at the surrounding water filled hospital. "Proverbial waters."

"I completely understand why you want to kill yourself."

[Laraqua]

Show,Two minutes, Twenty Seconds of Madness remaining.

[Kadael]

"Are you happy?" She glares at him, trying to hold her ground and keep from shaking. "My Katie's gone. I lost her. Where is she, Jack? Why don't you tell me?"

Cecilia backs away and circles around him. "I just wanted her to be happy... you didn't have to..."

But her façade slips.

"...I don't want to die," she whispers. Her hands tremble, and her eyes drop to the floor. "Katie needs her mother! I'm n-not doing this for me... if you believed she was dead, maybe you'd leave us..."

No. It's done. She's gone and fucked it up now - it never would have worked. Jack's eyes seem to mock her failure.

"You'd kill my little girl?" The image brings wracking sobs that shake her entire body. She sinks to her knees in front of him, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, fingers grabbing at her hair. "You'd kill her mo-mother... never g-get home, nobody to h-help her... h-h-how will that make anything..."

This is the end. Kneeling before him, begging, crying for him to spare her life. What's it worth?

What has she done with thirty-one years?

[Seon]

"Aww, there you go," Jack said, patting her shoulders. "You know, studies have shown that most people who commit suicide have this one final moment of regret before they off themselves! Don't ask me how they got their data. I really don't know. But don't worry. I am here to help. I like helping. It's what I do best."

Jack knelt down in front of Cecilia to make eye contact with her. "Hmm... Maybe how's not the problem here. There seems to be an overabundance of ways to commit suicide at this moment. I knew I should have gotten a bit more prepared... MAYBE IT'S THE WHY!"

Jack gripped onto Cecilia's face. "I mean, I still can't believe that you are going to do this! What would little Katie think? It was so unexpected! So uncharacteristic of you! I'd even go to call it INSULTING. Don't worry, though. I've got everything ready here..."

Jack pulled out a crumpled note from his pocket and handed it over to Cecilia. "There you go."

Spoiler:

I can't take it anymore! This world has turned upside over on its head and I can't tell what's right and what's wrong anymore! It's so wrong, I know, and so selfish of me to do so, but I can't bear it any longer. I am so sorry. My one regret as I leave this world is that I won't be making it to Katie's birthday. I will be sending somebody else in my stead.

Good bye, cruel world,

XOXO Cecilia Brooks

"It's your suicide note," Jack said, as if trying to answer Cecilia's blank stare at the document. "To inform your loved ones, if you had any, and the police, of your impending demise. Now," Jack handed over a pen. "SIGN IT."