one hundred and forty-four:

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[backdated to the appearance of the Vortex]

[Emerson (The Accountant)]

[written hastily, and messily--this quill and ink routine sucks]

Please tell me you're somewhere safe.

[/Emerson]

[and that will be Lucy's last message before she goes AWOL, courtesy of Xellos.

She hurries back to the castle and up to her room--she wants to see if the gun that Jan Valentine gave her so long ago survived the world change. She's still not the best shot in the world, but she'll feel better if she has a weapon she's familiar with. As she's searching high and low (stupid world change completely redecorating her room, how dare it), blackness seeps over the windows, completely obscuring their view. Lucy only notices when she stands up from peering under the bed and realizes the room's grown dark.

Suddenly creeped out, she goes to the door. The handle refuses to turn. In a sudden choking panic, she hurls her shoulder into the door--it rattles, but remains firmly shut.

And her journal is NOT where she left it]

Comments

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

You'll just end up injuring yourself like that, you know.

[... That voice? There doesn't appear to be anyone else here]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she flinches and freezes to attention, looking around and trying to listen very carefully]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

Keep looking, maybe you'll see something!

[He's not lying. He didn't say you would]

Or you could just sit back. Relax. Take a moment to yourself, because you're going to be with me for quite some time, miss.

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she'd give a lot--maybe whatever sanity she still has left--to have her voice back right now. Slowly, she turns so her back is against the door and she can see the entire room. Nope, nothing. She HATES disembodied voices]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[There's a pause.... and the door sharply THUMPS inward, as if the wood itself is trying to shove her away]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[Lucy gasps a voiceless cry of surprise and flings herself away from the door, stumbling over her own feet. She looks around desperately--no sign of her journal anywhere out in the open. She doesn't dare try the windows again]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

A mute, huh?

Well I guess we'll work around that.

[It almost feels as if there's something rolling under the floor]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[fuck her life, yes, the castle made her a mute. She hates it more than anything.

The rolling in the floor makes her nervous--well of course it does--but given the reaction from the window and the door, she is absolutely not taking refuge on the bed, or the chairs, or a table]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[Good idea. He's not nice to anyone who tries to get into bed here.

As if the wood is warping around it... A massive lump is speeding under the floor here. Almost as if it were under water rather than solid oak.

And it's coming right

for

you]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she doesn't miss it--it's a little hard to miss the fucking Indiana Jones cave boulder--and tenses, waiting on it. Her instinct is to try and jump right as it reaches her]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[Closer, closer clo-

Oh wait it's gone.

... But something IS giving her a nice hearty smack in the middle of her back]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[Lucy goes sprawling onto her face--it hurts more for being caught off-balance and unaware, and instinct tells her if she didn't just sprain her wrist on touchdown, then she twisted the hell out of it]

Lucy

[balancethebooks.livejournal.com]

[though it's going to be seen by no one, he'll write back]

Are you? I'm in my office. It's on high ground. I can come get you...

[and if he hasn't heard back in three hours he's finding ammunition and trying to come get her]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

You'll just end up injuring yourself like that, you know.

[... That voice? There doesn't appear to be anyone else here]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she flinches and freezes to attention, looking around and trying to listen very carefully]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

Keep looking, maybe you'll see something!

[He's not lying. He didn't say you would]

Or you could just sit back. Relax. Take a moment to yourself, because you're going to be with me for quite some time, miss.

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she'd give a lot--maybe whatever sanity she still has left--to have her voice back right now. Slowly, she turns so her back is against the door and she can see the entire room. Nope, nothing. She HATES disembodied voices]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[There's a pause.... and the door sharply THUMPS inward, as if the wood itself is trying to shove her away]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[Lucy gasps a voiceless cry of surprise and flings herself away from the door, stumbling over her own feet. She looks around desperately--no sign of her journal anywhere out in the open. She doesn't dare try the windows again]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

A mute, huh?

Well I guess we'll work around that.

[It almost feels as if there's something rolling under the floor]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[fuck her life, yes, the castle made her a mute. She hates it more than anything.

The rolling in the floor makes her nervous--well of course it does--but given the reaction from the window and the door, she is absolutely not taking refuge on the bed, or the chairs, or a table]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[Good idea. He's not nice to anyone who tries to get into bed here.

As if the wood is warping around it... A massive lump is speeding under the floor here. Almost as if it were under water rather than solid oak.

And it's coming right

for

you]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[she doesn't miss it--it's a little hard to miss the fucking Indiana Jones cave boulder--and tenses, waiting on it. Her instinct is to try and jump right as it reaches her]

[jushinkan.livejournal.com]

[Closer, closer clo-

Oh wait it's gone.

... But something IS giving her a nice hearty smack in the middle of her back]

[queendramabitch.livejournal.com]

[Lucy goes sprawling onto her face--it hurts more for being caught off-balance and unaware, and instinct tells her if she didn't just sprain her wrist on touchdown, then she twisted the hell out of it]

Lucy

[balancethebooks.livejournal.com]

[though it's going to be seen by no one, he'll write back]

Are you? I'm in my office. It's on high ground. I can come get you...

[and if he hasn't heard back in three hours he's finding ammunition and trying to come get her]