Day 5: (Ab)normal Days

Eloise backed away slightly as Herbert and David began their procedure, whatever it was. It was then that it occurred to her, amidst a fresh headache.
"Herbert, what happened? With your eye?" She hadn't gotten to ask just yet. Now wasn't the best time, but she wanted to know.
"I mean, is it still good?"

"Aye aye, sir." he said, dropping it onto the ground carefully.

He watched Herbert work for a second, then turned to Eloise and listened to her speak. "He, uh. Monobear did it to him." he paused for a second. "Bear's kind of been on a rampage today, huh?"

Adda began to walk, taking her time to put care into each step.

"I've been to my share of rickety buildings. No matter how many times I went, they were still creepy. And that's coming from an occultist!"

Herbert stiffened when the talk of his eye came back up. In fact, he didn't really notice much of his vision loss. He slumped, reminded of the monumental task before him if he lived through this school. "Ah... don't think ah'll get it back. M' just ah washed-up hunter now." he muttered, kneeling back down to gingerly try moving Laura onto the board.

She nodded, walking next to Adda. She crossed her arms and looked forward, staying silent for a moment. She closed her eyes for a second, remembering something from years back.

"My whole house was rather rickety, now that I think about it. Sometimes, I'd jump around and try to find boards that didn't creak." she laughed a bit. "I only managed to find a few, I remember."

Adda nodded.

"I don't know if I'm alone with this, but I like rickety houses. It means they have history, and a story behind them."

The halls were familiar, and before she knew it they were at the stairs.

Eloise frowned.
Oh right, the bear. The thought had been blasted out of her head until now and her mood soured again. "Figures," she muttered turning back to Laura. Putting together what she had seen in the girl's folder and her reaction to the video, she was having a pretty rough time.

"It's only one eye, surely you've got the skill to make up for it?"

"It's my main one..." Herbert trailed off, prepared to give a small speech while he placed the rest of Laura onto the makeshift stretcher.

"Right's my dominant side. I'll have to relearn everything all over again. N' my guns are all right handed. An' my depth perception's poo poo now. Ah was bettern' ah air force pilor with my sight before n' now..."

She shrugged. "Rickety things lose their luster after you get used to them, I like to think."

She looked at the stairs, and then back to Adda. "So...how are we going to go about this, exactly?" she asked.

Adda looked up the stairs.

"I dunno... I could just kinda... scoot up them?"

"That could work, I suppose. I'll be behind you in case you tumble down." She stepped out of the way of the stairs and motioned for Adda to head up them.

Adda sat down again and began to inch up the stairs, one at a time.

"I've gotta say... I never expected to see a toy bear blow up in my life."

She laughed a bit and followed behind. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I never expected to see a toy bear talk back to me, really." She walked up a few steps carefully before speaking again. "...do you see those kind of things in real haunted houses? Like...ghost overshadowing things? Or is that just an urban legend?"

"Well, you can learn everything over again, right? So it's not really hopeless. You'll just need some time or whatever." He said while watching Herbert load Laura onto the ironing board.

"This looks safe. Nothing could possibly go wrong!" he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Adda reached the top of the stairs and stood up carefully.

"Well, it's no urban legend- though it's very uncommon. Now, I've been pretty sheltered from the real nasty ghosts- like, I wouldn't wander Alcatraz without a big goal. But from my limited experience, ghosts sometimes posses objects they were close to in life. Anyone could make an object fall or something, but to get full on talking through it, I've only seen it done with people with a really strong bond to the item." She laughed a bit.

"Whoops, I rambled again. Yep, I've seen it. Actually... that means Asher could probably posses that rabbit if he really wanted." Her voice trailed off.

Herbert looked off to the side, thinking for a while.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally said, "Alright, lets carry 'er down. Ah got things to fix on myself."

Eloise would say something hopeful, but she wasn't feeling it. She just felt bad for Herbert and looked down and felt bad for Laura too.

"Laura's room, right?" She asked, making sure. It was time to put a few things back. "Should I go fetch the cart?" She imagined she could make it now, using the cart for support if she got shaky again.

Marci listened intently to the explanation. "Oh, no worries. That's really interesting!" she said quickly after Adda finished. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want an explanation." she smiled.

At the mention of Asher, her heart sank a bit. "...I suppose he could, couldn't he?" she muttered. "I don't know if I could face him again, stuffed bunny or not. Not after...that."

Adda nodded as she walked down the hall towards her dorm.

"A lot of times, spirits have a greater...understanding, I guess, of everything. They can see more of the world. They aren't time travelers or mind readers, but they have the time to read into things. The occultist in me would be curious to know his thoughts after that if I were an outsider to the situation, but..." her voice trailed off. She had wrapped up her point, and felt further rambling would simply put her into an awkward position conversation-wise.

"If you're feeling up to it, I guess?" he said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm no good at the whole injury thing."

He looked back at Herbert and down at Laura. "I'm helping you carry her, huh." he said, pausing for a second. Then he shrugged. "A'ight!"

Herbert moved to the side of the ironing board, near Laura's head. He knelt, ready to pick it up, his eyes darting over to David.

Laura blinked back into awareness, and her eyes darted from side to side. After a few moments, she seemed to calm down somewhat when she realized she wasn't in any immediate danger. She was relieved to find that her back wasn't bleeding anymore either.

However, she wasn't too happy with seeing Herbert's face right in front of her own. "What's going on?" she managed to choke out, in between heavy breaths. "What happened?" she demanded, with a little more force. Still, her voice was weak.

Marci stopped for a second and thought for a second.

"See more of the world, huh...?" She looked at Adda with wide eyes. "Do you think he...knows why we're here?" She thought about what she just said for a second and then shook her head. "But even if he does know, why would he want to tell us...?"

Herbert had no idea what to do when Laura became conscious again, except maybe blink. He could feel the crack of dried blood in his eye. He frowned.

He scoffed. "Ah dunno, ya maybe got caugh inna explosion. Nothin' serious, naw. Maybe came damn close ta givin you mouth to mouth cause ya fergot how ta breathe, no biggie."

"It depends on what he does with his time, and what questions plagued him in life.'

She crossed her arms, leaning against the wall next to her dorm.

"Odds are anyone who dies during this is going to still have connections to this world. But if his questions were about his family, he'd be wandering the country- or world- looking for them. If his questions were about Laura's safety, he'll probably be right next to her. But if his questions were about why all of this is happening... I wouldn't doubt he knows. As for if he'd tell us...that depends. He didn't seem as insane in an insane way as Alex- he seemed to accept everything. Even if he didn't want to tell us, though, I'd be willing to bet anything that he'd tell Laura."