From Bad to Worse

How long has it been since they went back into the AHS? Nar can't tell anymore. What little rest he, and the group have been able to get is always short lived. Their pursuer never seems to need any sort of rest, and he's relentless in his chase. While Maddy could travel through the AHS without any need for rest, or sustenance, the same could not be said for the other two. It put them at a severe disadvantage. The only good news so far was that the traps their pursuer had put out were getting fewer, and fewer. Though Nar doubted they'd ever truly be free of them. The group comes to a fork in a path in their current highway. The highway itself resembles an old hospital, but it has an air of unease in the halls. It wasn't exactly a place any of the three wanted to be at the moment, but the only way out was through. "As much as I hate to say it, we'll need to split up to cover more ground. We can't waste time searching both paths." Maddy sighs, turning to the other two. "You remember the signals, right Nar?" The response is a nod. "Good. Then Ruby, you come with me. Nar. Good luck." With that, the three part ways. With Ruby, and Maddy headed down the left path, and Nar down the right. The moment Nar is separated from the group, the unease in the begins to get to Nar like it hadn't before. His usual visual sweeps of the area around him become more frequent, and he thinks he hears rasping sounds coming from some of the doors. Dammit. Must be the first stages of Astral Deficiency Syndrome. If only he could get a decent sleep, and a good meal, this wouldn't be a problem. The farther down the hallway Nar goes, the more paranoia creeps into his mind. Surely that rattling sound from above is just his mind playing tricks on him. He hadn't heard it before now. He just needed to get some rest at some point, and everything would be fine. After around 4 minutes of traversing the hallway, Nar begins to hear a faint sound from further into it. It's hard to make out at this distance, but it isn't artificial. As he closes in on the source of the sound, it becomes clearer to him. It takes a few seconds for him to process whether it's real or not, but once he's certain, Nar finally understands what the sound is. It's a child, crying for her mother, and father. Just a little further, and Nar can just make out some sort of reception desk... In the middle of the hallway? As he rounds the desk, Nar stoops to a knee, and finds himself in front of a young girl, no older than 6, sitting underneath the desk. Her eyes are puffy, and red as tears continue to stroll down her cheeks. She cries for her mother, and begs her father to "Make the bad man go away." It doesn't even cross Nar's mind that there are a MILLION red flags about this situation. After what happened to Amy, Nar vowed he'd never let anyone be lost to the AHS again if he could help it. What kind of person would he be if he left a poor, innocent little girl to suffer just because he felt off?  Nar puts on the softest, sweetest voice he can, and attempts to comfort the girl. "Hey there sweetie. You're really far from home huh? Don't worry. I can help you get back to your mommy and daddy." He offers a smile, but it's unlikely the girl can see it behind her swollen eyes. Instead, she simply reaches out towards the sound of his voice with both arms. In kind, Nar reaches out, and gently scoops her up to cradle her in his arms. He then stands, and slowly turns to head back down the hallway. The child's crying slowly begins to dissipate as Nar whispers comforts to her. He's so wrapped up in trying to comfort the girl, that the noises from before are pushed out of his mind. The little girl sniffles, and Nar wipes tears away from her eyes. He opens his mouth to comfort her again, but something stops him. A wave of bright, blue energy pulses through the hallway, and is gone as quickly as it came. The rattling in the roof stops, the rasping on the doors goes silent. Then the girl begins to scream. She convulses in Nar's arms, and his mind goes blank. He has no idea what to- Ow! Shit! Nar involuntarily drops the girl after something sharp stabs into the inside of his left arm. When he looks down, about to pick the girl back up, he sees that one of her ribs has distended, and shot out of her abdomen. It looks razor sharp. That's what stabbed him. She continues to convulse, as her body distends, and begins to take on a new, horrific shape. What was once rasping becomes frantic banging. The rattling in the roof becomes violent. No time to question. Gotta run. Nar manages to summon a small, but bright red ball of arcane energy into his horn as he takes off back down the hallway. A roof panel slams onto the floor just behind Nar as he sprints through the hallway on his skates. He manages to glance back, and finds a mass of disfigured beings laying atop the roof panel, all staggering up to chase after him. Then one of the doors ahead of him is burst open, and 3 more distended figures pile out of the room. He manages to weave past them, but one of them manages to tear his jacket with razor sharp bones. Roof panels dislodge disfigured assailants with alarming speed, and doors burst open to reveal an ever-growing horde of living weapons. Nar is only barely able to outpace the rate that the figures are dislodged. Only thanks to his skates. Were he on foot, he would certainly have been killed by now. Eventually, he manages to completely outpace the creatures, and puts a good bit of distance between himself, and them. When he reaches the fork in the hallway, Nar turns down the hallway Ruby and Maddy had gone down. If they haven't found a door yet, they're likely all going to die. Nar sprints down the hallway. His horn continues to glow a bright red. He sees a bright green glow far down the hallway in response. Good. They managed to find a door. Using a spell he'd learned back in high school, Nar takes a deep breath, and projects his voice to be 3 times as loud. "It was a trap! I'm coming to you! Just-!" Nar is cut off as the floor below him opens up, revealing the threshold of an Astral Highway door. He plummets into the threshold, and a door closes behind him.