Lost Cause » Void Stiles

04; taunting riddles

Lita woke up to the loud clang of metal, and the bright hallway light in her eyes.

Shade was soon provided by the familiar figure of her roommate, Malia Tate, standing in the doorway with a blank look on her face. Even in her groggy state, Lita needed no explanation- she knew Malia was freakishly strong & liked to break things- Lita was freakishly psychotic & liked to stab things. They had a mutual, unspoken agreement not to question each other.

"Where's Stiles?" Lita questioned, her words slurred slightly as Malia helped her up. Her body ached from being thrown on the concrete & remaining on it for what felt like hours, the nightmarish hallucinations still vividly replaying in her mind. Chaos, strife & pain- is that why Stiles was in Eichen? To her, it almost seemed as if he was one of the closed unit psychopaths, who "blacked out" only to wake up covered in the blood of their victims hours later.

"Standing guard." Malia responded, dragging Lita out into the hallway. Stiles was leaned up against the wall, obsessively checking either side of him every few seconds to ensure the hallway was clear of all other people, except them. "We have a plan. There's another way to the basement-"

"Yeah, through the closed unit." The psychopath interrupted, her brown eyes darting between the two. Was Malia seriously implying that she was going to sneak in there again? The last time they'd done that, the blonde had barely escaped- they were so beyond lucky that the orderly who'd caught them wasn't Brunski, because if it was, neither of them would ever see the light of day again. "I'll go, you stay."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you aren't." Lita stated firmly. Nothing Malia could say or do would convince her otherwise, after what'd happened the last time. "Unlike me, you have a chance of getting out- do you really want to ruin it by ending up in the closed unit?"

"They'll lock you up, too." Malia countered, making a valid point; but Lita already had a counter argument ready.

"And then I'll finally get to see Barrow again." Lita smiled, ignoring Stiles' look of horror at the mention of the infamous Shrapnel Bomber. "Look, if we're not back in an hour- get a set of keys from one of the newer orderlies. Hide them in the room, in the register, they don't check there. Wait until after midnight, then come looking- but don't stay out past two a.m, that's when they swap shifts & do a room check."

Malia nodded, looking between Lita & Stiles one last time before walking down the hall & disappearing around a corner. The tapping of her slippers soon faded off into the distance, indicating that she'd indeed gone back, rather than hiding & waiting until Lita got distracted to sneak along with her. She really didn't want Malia to end up in the closed unit- she had grown to enjoy stealing things with her, and their late night adventures around the compound. If they were separated in the closed unit, they'd no longer be able to plan heists.

There was also a large part of her than merely wanted to go to the basement alone with Stiles- and not just because she found him attractive. She wanted to look further into her nightmare, and figure out just why he was really there. Lita wanted to know what the hell the bandaged wrapped thing in a bomber jacket was, and why it had metal teeth that looked sharp enough to tear out someone's throat. If it was anything more than a pigment of her psychotic imagination, it could definitely be of use to her.

The way it slowly turned into Stiles- it had to mean something. It was as though the creature was trying to tell her something, but intentionally leaving pieces out to confuse her. It was cryptic, like a riddle, yet taunting at the same time because she knew the answer was right in front of her face, but she couldn't figure it out. Not to mention the chains that'd inexplicably appeared on her arms, holding her only long enough for the creature to get close without her moving away.