***NEED WORK

“Alright, what’s bothering you?”

Vayden glanced back at Arlanya, who had turned her flashlight onto him pointedly, as if to put him in the spotlight.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, returning his attention to navigating through the dark.

He heard his partner click her tongue.

“You know what I’m talking about. You haven’t said a word in five minutes; ever since we left that front desk.” she muttered, sweeping her light across the cluttered floor.
“So tell me, what’s on your mind?”

Vayden trailed his flashlight against the wall, looking for a visitor directional map.
“I’m still thinking back to the whole front desk incident.” he replied honestly. “The flying filing cabinet, the handprint under the desk…”
Arlanya hummed thoughtfully.
“And? What else is on your mind?” she asked.

Vayden smiled slightly, despite himself.
Nothing escaped Arlanya’s sharp senses, it seems…

“Back there, I thought I felt someone---maybe something--- watching us.” he said.
Arlanya's brow furrowed in a concerned look.
“Our hunt?” Arlanya pressed, sounding slightly alarmed.
But Vayden shook his head.
“I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully. “It didn’t feel… evil.”
Arlanya didn’t say anything in response, and Vayden just shrugged.
“But you know, I could’ve been wrong.” he added.
“Doubt it,” Arlanya muttered. “If it’s on your mind nagging you, then it has to be something. Did you get an image?”
“No; just a feeling.” Vayden said.
“Huh,” Arlanya said, sounding unsatisfied. “Well, your senses have never failed before.”
Vayden mused to himself, releasing the thought.
“Well, I’m only human, and humans make mistakes.”
He heard Arlanya huff in annoyance, muttering something like ‘Wise-ass crap’ under her breath.
“So, where are we now?” she demanded.

Something square and broad was posted on an island bulletin board just a few steps ahead, catching Vayden’s sweeping light.
“We’ll find out right now,” he said.

He approached the bulletin board, training his light on the presentation-size paper. And sure enough, it was a map, guarded by a protective plastic sheet.
“Can you hold this here?” Vayden asked, holding his flashlight out to Arlanya.
Arlanya took it without a word and held it up in an angle on the map as he requested. Vayden reached over his right shoulder and pulled at his shoulder pack so it hung diagonally across his chest. He took out his pocket knife from the front pocket and flipped the thin blade out. Carefully, he wedged the blade in between the plastic and the board, pulling the sheet away from the surface. The map slipped out and he caught it as it fell. He took back the flashlight and balanced it between his shoulder and his cheek as he held up the map.
“Alright, according to this, we are… here.” he said, pointing to the red dot that marked their current location. “The Visitor’s Lobby.”
“But we came in through a lobby.” Arlanya said.
Vayden quickly retraced their steps on the map.
“Here,” he said, pointing to a space next to the one labeled Emergency/Trauma Center.
“We must’ve come in through the Walk-In Clinic entry. If we had gone left here, we would be in the Trauma Unit."

Arlanya's gaze skimmed across the wide map, her eyes tracing different routes.
"If our target came in through the same way, it could be anywhere by now." she muttered.
Gently, she touched her fingertips to the surface of the paper, her eyes hardening in deep focus.
"Damn, I'm not getting any traces or spots." she said, after a few moments. "How about you?"
Vayden looked up from the map and took a swift glance around.
"I'm not seeing or feeling anything abnormal." he, too, admitted.

Arlanya let out a frustrated huff, cursing under her breath.
"So what's plan B?" she asked, sounding a bit worn.
Vayden sighed, and folded the map into a small square before storing it in his shoulder pack.
"I don't think we have any other choice." he said, giving his Hunting partner a wary look.
Arlanya's expression fell to one that screamed out fierce negation.
"No." she growled in a low voice, her eyes narrowing.
"Lani, we have to," Vayden said, exasperated.
"Uh-uh. I have a bad feeling about this," she argued. "I really, really don't like this idea..."
Vayden breathed out wearily.
“Come on, we have no idea where our target went, and we don’t exactly have all night to look for this thing.” he countered. “Splitting up will cover more ground quickly, and get this job done much faster.”
Reaching into his pack, he retrieved two walkie-talkies. He tossed one to Arlanya, who caught it with one hand.
“If you find something, or get caught into trouble, you let me know where you are.” he instructed.
Arlanya didn’t answer, still scowling angrily at him.
“Okay?” he asked, speaking into his walkie-talkie.

Arlanya groaned, her shoulders slumping.
“Why?” she whined to herself, throwing her head back and looking up at the ceiling.
With another aggravated grunt, she snatched the extra load of bullets Vayden was offering her out of his hand.
“Ugh. Fine. Fine, have it your way. Split the team up so we can both die in this shit hole.”
“Sure.” Vayden said, only half listening.
He zipped up his pack and threw it back over his shoulder.
“You know, I don’t like this one bit.” Arlanya mumbled again, accusingly.
“I know, Lani. I know.”

Arlanya threw her hands up in resignation and irritation, cursing under her breath.
“Gah!” she spat out, annoyed.
She twisted around and started to march off in a different direction.
“Hey, do you want the map?” Vayden called after her.
“I’ll find my own map!” Arlanya snapped, not turning back as she rounded the corner.

Vayden watched as the bright glow of her flashlight and the sound of her angry footsteps slowly faded until it was completely dark and silent again. He didn’t like this idea either, or the creeping dread that seemed to seep into his chest.
Well, it won’t hurt keep a tab on her too. he thought, thinking about his partner.

After another moment, he sighed, drew out his pistol and started off in the opposite direction.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mivian’s POV

For fuck’s sake, how big was this damn hospital?!
Of all places for my mark to go running off to… it just had to be this hospital.

Things couldn’t get worse--- my ass.

For the last half hour, I’ve taken so many turns, so many steps, seen so many corridors this way and that, only to find the map to tell me I’ve only covered one department of only the first floor.
Yea, and the best part is, that creature is nowhere to be seen.
Great… just great.

The dead weight of silence seemed to pulse in my ear as I pried around the dark with my sense, trying to pick up any little sounds or movement.
Come one, I thought. Just pop out already.
The suspense was killing me; really, was I starring in a new horror movie as the unfortunate victim without me knowing?

I waited…listening and feeling with every fiber of my being---
---and got nothing.

Sighing, I lifted my back off the wall and rounded the corner to enter yet another empty hallway.
“Really,” I muttered, shoving my hands into my trench coat pocket.
I trudged on, picking my way through the scattered trash and debris on the floor. I kicked a piece of mystery rubble down the hall with a lazy swing of my leg. Whatever it was, it skipped and clattered against the tiled floor, the sound bouncing sharply off the walls.

I winced.
It made a louder sound than I had expected.

“Vardavit,” I swore under my breath.

I stood still for a bit, just taking care to see if anything had noticed the disturbed tension of the silence.
…nothing.

I allowed myself an frustrated grunt.
At this rate, I wasn’t going to get anywhere.

I reached up to my right ear lobe and pressed the speaker switch on my communicator.
“Mivian reporting to base.” I murmured in a low voice.
I released the button and waited.
No one responded.
Frowning, I tried again.
“Mivian, requesting assistance to Grisavaille.” I said, speaking a little louder.
Silence.
“Uh…hello? Hey, I need a little help.” I hissed fighting to keep my voice low.

When no one answered, I gave up.
“Vardavit!” I spat, swearing again.

I’m in a dark, empty, deserted hospital with no sense of proper direction, and now I find that I lost connection with the monitors.
Really?
How cliché horror movie was this?

Something clattered against the floor on the far end of the hall, shattering the heavy silence.

Instincts took over and I immediately pressed myself against the wall, squeezing myself in behind a round column that supported the ceiling. It did not make a great hiding place.
I glanced down towards the far end of the corridor and I saw a thin beam of light sweeping across the floor and the wall.

Gah, dammit. Not again…

“Hello? Who’s there?” a girl’s voice demanded, her voice low but demanding.
I recognized the voice immediately; the Hunter girl, Arlanya.
I shrunk deeper in the dark and kept my eyes in focus as the slender silhouette of the Hunter cautiously stepped into the hallway.
“Who’s there?” the girl repeated, inching her way down the corridor.

As she got closer, I saw that she had a gun in her right hand. She had it held at ready as her left arm crossed under at the wrists and held the flashlight.
I watched in silence as the girl steadily moved across the cluttered floor in controlled and careful steps, methodically sweeping her flashlight across the floor and up the hall as she moved. Her eyes were sharp and hard with intense focus, daring anything to try and escape her prying gaze.

I scowled and cursed silently.
I hate to admit it, but she’s a pro; her stance, posture and calm composure showed enough. And I wasn’t going to escape very easily.
My luck had run out at the front desk.

Then, as if to prove my point, the girl’s body shifted, her shoulders squaring in a rigid angle as she trained her gun right in my direction.
“Gotchya.” she muttered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The silence was cold and dense, its strength seemingly unrelenting.
Vayden gripped his gun tighter, his index finger tensing around the trigger. He didn’t dare lower it from his course, as he swept the flashlight across the littered floor ahead of him.

Something didn’t feel right, something was off.

The vibe in the air seemed to dance against his skin, as if it was alive. But not exactly in a lively manner; no, it was as if it was hungry and agitated.

Vayden stopped as he came to another turn. He breathed out and inhaled silently, and swiftly crept his way to the edge of corner. Cautiously looking around, he pressed his back against the wall.
Now…which way to go?
He lifted his flashlight from the ground to the wall at the end of the hallway, to a dusty filth covered directory sign.
It read Pediatrics, Stage I with an arrow pointing left, and Gift Shop with another arrow going right.

Vayden closed his eyes and thought hard, thinking strategy.

If he remembered correctly, the map had showed the Gift Shop to be a bit farther in from the visitor’s lounge, towards the east face of the building. The Pediatrics, Stage I should be up on the next floor.
The Gift Shop was smaller and would be much faster to go check and scan the area. But if the target was behind him, he ran the risk of cornering himself. But maybe he should just check it out and get it over with…

Vayden opened his eyes, his mind set.

No, he couldn’t risk anymore than he already has. By splitting up with Arlanya, he had split his possible maneuvers in half. Not to mention the capacity of defense and offense…

With another cautious glance in both directions, Vayden lifted himself away from the corner and followed the arrow going left on the filth covered sign.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mivian’s POV

Vardavit…Oh Vardavit.
A weird, icy feeling seeped from my gut and out through to my limbs, making my skin crawl and tingle in cold sweat.
I didn’t dare breathe.

If things got any worse from here, there has to be some sort of higher being with a mean-sized magnifying glass, trying to fry me like a bully and an ant with these beams of bad luck.

I saw a ray of light from the girl’s flashlight sweep across the dark space, just barely missing my head. I shrunk deeper against the wall, trying to force myself to blend right into the dark. That plan wasn’t working very well though; my stupid platinum-blond hair practically glowed in the dark.
Curse my stupid luminous blondness.

I heard something crunch loudly in the dark, and the girl swore under her breath. More scuffling and the flashlight beam were back on trail again.
Dammit, if only I could just blend into the dark and become invisible---

Oh wait… duh.

I dared to take a peek from my hiding spot, trying to locate the girl. She wasn’t too far back, but she wasn’t too close either.
Take the chance or no?
Quickly, I racked my brain for a better plan. After wasting only a few seconds to come to an empty conclusion, I took a silent deep breath.

I felt the air around me stir slightly as I slowly released my suppressed Energy to the maximum flow. Slowly and carefully, I let go, taking care not to go too fast.
I felt the Energy loosen around my ankles first, unraveling up towards my upper body. I saw the flashlight sweeping close by my arm and I glanced down, checking my progress. Most of my lower body was now completely invisible. The only other problem was that I was going to be completely blind in the dark. I guess that meant that I had to do things the old fashioned way: prying with the senses.

My breath caught in my throat when I heard another crunch, sounding from what seemed to be right behind me. Too close for comfort.
Come on, just a little bit more!! Just wait a little longer… I begged silently to this girl.
Lower arms and abdomen were gone.
That’s it… I urged.
Ribs and shoulders were completely concealed.
Hurry it up!!

A dark figure step around the round column, the flashlight turning fully on me.