Lightbulbs

Could she open the door? No. She had enough trouble trying to open it the first time with just her elbow shoving down on it with a crutch. But since it was closed now - probably from some random gust of wind - and Nicola didn't want to gamble with her injuries any further. Her eyes scanned down at every single sling and bandage wrapped around her. Goddamn, that stupid fucking demon really sucked. Turning her eyes back toward Madison, she was about to speak until she saw crimson, blood red liquid oozing from one of her fingers. Her mouth hung open for a few moments as she tried to find the words to describe her thoughts at the moment, and after a blessed silence, she replied, "I can't really open it because of everything I broke in a fight with my own inner demon. Though, I could try to break it down, if you want."

"That's right. The demon." Those were bandages and crutches, not just a new fashion statement and...long sticks. Of course she got hurt fighting that demon. Everyone got hurt in some way when she fought that stupid demon. She smiled, though, a very apologetic, guilty smile. She was awful. The girl debated what she would do once Nicola opened the door in the moments between words. "If you can..."

Nicola watched as tension gradually wore off of Madison's shoulders - or at least she thought it did - and her face brightened, a grin stretching across her lips. "Right. Hold on a sec." The hand that wasn't bound by anything lifted itself up, awkwardly thrusting into the air, her fingers shakily pulling themselves into the shape of a gun. Red swirls of light spun around her arm, dancing and snaking around the tips of her finger as the energy focused itself together into a giant photon cluster. Taking a deep breath, her hand tightened before opening up and letting loose the demonic sphere, surging through the air like a bullet as it burst the door open. Chips of wood flew upon impact, scattering across the floor as though they were dead leaves piling up on one another in autumn. Light flooded across the rooftop, filling the surface and driving away the gloom and darkness. There didn't seem to be any traces of the door left - save for the metal hinges that it used to hang from - and Nicola grabbed her crutch again, holding it firmly underneath her arm. "Well, you're paying for that door." It was meant as a joke; the school would understand they had to destroy property to get downstairs, probably.

Madison watched her do this, wincing and almost covering her eyes the idea of a demon possibly being on the other side of Nicola's finger gun. It was just to blow open the door, though, and she was thankful the girl did so successfully. Now onto the hard part.

Madison drew a shaky breath, the metal in her hand clanging as she looked back to her current source of life; the lamps, the lightbulbs. She wished she could take them with her, but they were tethered. In a way, a crazy metaphorical bullshit way she did not fully understand herself, they reminded her of her. She was like those lamps, tethered to a wall in fear of losing her light. Well, no longer. She gripped the sword's handle firmly, and stepped out.

The gorilla lady didn't walk to her, but rather, she traced herself to her, a sketchbook mobility of choppy steps leading her wherever Madison's primary focus lie. She was always in front of the girl. It made it easy for Madison to wave the sword, swiping the thing's head off and causing it to crumble.

She heard a squawk, and almost froze. Madison managed to weave to the side as the flamingo snake attacked. It thrust its beak at her, the tip twirling like a helicopter rotor. The girl landed on her butt. The snake recoiled back to try and recover, it's reptilian body crossing over itself and forming a circle in an attempt to turn back around.

The girl froze. That thing was way too big to kill on her own. It seemed that every half-second she sat there, new creatures appeared in her peripheral vision, moving as her eyes did to remain unseen and blurred, like floaters with limbs. She got to her feet, just in time to dive out of the way of a tail. She landed on her stomach, clawing with her hands to get up. She was right in front of the door. She felt a million fingers, like a millipede's feet, tickle at her legs as she stood. A sharp blow buried itself into her leg. She turned and sliced at the assailant's head. It was a humanoid figure, with a face wrapped in bandages.

Damn, her leg hurt like all hell as she wobbled to that door. She mustered all her strength to get into the door, get into the yellow glow of the staircase's mercury bulbs. That was when she saw something, a humanoid figure that had gotten into the light. Her eyes widened in terror. How did one follow her!? She made a frantic swipe at it with her sword, but had to muster all her strength to stop it, an inch from the figure's neck. It wasn't a hallucination at all. It was Nicola.

She stay there, frozen, staring into the girl's eyes in fear. Then, she dropped the weapon, it crumbling like ash, and began to cry.

If there was one thing that Nicola found weird, it was the constant swinging in thin air towards creatures she couldn't see. It was like watching a lost child turning his helplessness into an adventure, imagining monsters and beasts around a forest that only he could see, just to fend them off and look like a hero. Except, this wasn't just something that Madison fabricated in her mind... on second thought, everything did just come from her head. Only her gift deciphered all of these prowling hallucinations to reality. Jeez, her life must really suck. Being stuck in the light 24/7 wasn't exactly enjoyable. What did she even do in her sleep? Did they pop up there too and try to murder her?

Nicola made her way through, glancing back and forth at the rather odd movements and gestures the other girl made, limping around with almost little care in the world. Were the hallucinations trying to fight her now, too? It's not like she could kill something she couldn't see. She had a grim smile on her face. The crutch and boot made loud clanking noises against the concrete floor, and it took a painstaking amount of time and energy to keep up with Madison. By the time she reached her, the first thing she could do, self-defense flaring, was to recoil back.

The fucking sword was being pointed at her, shining in all of its glory in the middle of the night with the moonlight shimmering upon the blade.

Deep blue eyes traveled to the blood that practically spilled out of the wound on Madison's leg, red and staining the entire skin. They were in the light, so... there shouldn't be anything painful, right? No hallucinations? Nicola was so caught up in her thoughts that it took her a few moments to process that Madison had broken down, crying.

Dammit. She sucked at comforting other people. With another exasperated sigh, Nicola moved closer into the light, mumbling something under her breath. "Are you alright?" Was she supposed to ask something else? Or something along the lines of being friendly? It wasn't look she could understand the idea of being attacked by projections your head came up with; demons, sure, she'd definitely be able to comprehend that idea. But here?

The school only seemed to keep surprising her with every person she met.

Madison wiped her eyes. She seemed to be annoying Nicola, something she was probably doing the entire night. Stupid, pathetic, inept. "Yeah..." She nodded and sniffed. Her head ached almost as much as her leg. "I'm sorry, I...for everything, you know, I don't know why...I don't know what..." It was no use, she couldn't form a coherent apology. "I'm very sorry. I hope we can still be friends..." Madison looked down at her wound, fresh with blood, but it seemed to have already stopped bleeding. Still, it was worse than she thought.

The first thing she had to say after trying to stab her with a sword was that she still wanted to be friends? Was Madison that desperate or something? She was breaking down into tears, and every word or phrase that she prepared had gotten stuck in her throat, and Nicola flinched back. An unreadable expression flashed across her face, silent as she tried to come up with some sort of acceptable answer. Never mind the fucking hallucinations and demons, this school was full of rejects and misfits already that all held their own kinds of secrets and some dark past that nobody else knew about. Weren't they here to get over all of that and move on, to master their gifts and perfect their lives? Taking a deep breath, she allowed a weak smile to pass her lips, and she didn't try and bite back any harsh words, "First of all, calm fucking down. It's not the end of the world yet, sheesh."

A small flicker of red appeared on her fingers, and slowly, Nicola willed it to leave with every fiber in her body, but it only seemed to grow larger until it completely vanished into thin air as though it didn't exist in the first place. I don't need a demon right now. Readjusting her slung arm, her left foot began to tap at a rapid pace, nervously wishing she could wring her hands right now to ease the suddenly burden and stress that was placed upon her. "Just cheer up!" Her tone sounded awkwardly forced and overly enthusiastic, and Nicola wanted to curse herself for failing to do any better. "After all, it'd be a bad friend if I couldn't help you do that."

Maybe it wasn't, but Nicola wasn't exactly too great at reassuring people. Madison felt a little burdensome, but pushed that aside. "All right," She gave a smile, drying her eye on her sleeve. "Sorr--...thank you." Maybe she should cheer up. After all, she faced her power that night. It was kind of what she wanted to do that entire evening, in a way, to force herself to stand up against those things. They may have been deadly, but she was still her master.

Maybe she could learn to control her powers. Maybe she could learn to turn them into something greater. Something worthy of the name "gift."

"I'll probably head over to the Infirmary real quick..." She tested her leg, and it wasn't any better. "I've heard they have healers there."

If she could rub the back of her head right now - whether out of embarrassment, shame, or something in between -, she would. Instead, Nicola awkwardly laughed a breathy laugh. "It's fine. I'm pretty bad at stuff like this anyway." She made a mental note to herself to fix that or at least try and improve it a bit more; there was no way she could be a decent person if she didn't know how to sympathize and understand other people at an average, normal level. But that's what you get when you hang out with demons as friends and one of them was your brother no offense Devin and Hieta. As soon as Madison mentioned the infirmary, Nicola visibly flinched. "Right, about that..."

Madison cocked her head, trying her luck on the first step downstairs. Then the next, then the next. "What...about iiit..." She spoke through pain-filled winces. Hopefully there was nothing wrong with it. Her leg kind of hurt. It was connected to the building they were in, right? The girl swallowed dryly over the prospect of spending a night with a festering stab wound like that.

As she followed Madison down the stairway, her boot and crutch being the noisiest things to be heard in the middle of the night, Nicola carefully watched her steps. If she fell here, that would not only be awkward, but then... well, the infirmary would get mad at her. Again. "I sort of sneaked out when I shouldn't have. Hopefully the nurse hasn't noticed my absence..." That was going to be a big 'if the nurse---'. God, she could already tell that this was not going to be a hospitable visit.

"Oh..." There was a brightened glow to Madison's face when she heard Nicola was coming from the infirmary. It should have been obvious, but she didn't piece it together until then. Well, now they didn't have to separate! She didn't want to seem so pathetically excited for this, and covered it in her winces, turning to face the railing that she gripped white-knuckled. She stopped walking to give a suggestion. "How about....you sneak in one entrance, and I sneak--well, walk, I mean; I walk in after you in another entrance, and I distract whoever is there with my problem while you get back in bed."

A mischievous grin etched across her lips, and Nicola nodded, an electrical energetic beat skipping through her voice, "That sounds like a plan!" As they began to near the infirmary, she glanced around, looking at one entrance and the other one close by. Taking a deep breath, she shot Madison a grateful look with a quiet "Thanks, by the way. You're a life savior!" before heading towards one door, her eyes scanning the area to make sure that the nurse wasn't around there quite yet. With the coast somewhat clear, she uncomfortably shifted her arm out of its sling, and slowly pulled the handle down. If there was one thing she had to be glad about, it had to be the fact that it didn't let out a giant creak as it opened.

As she readjusted the cast, Nicola heard the door open on the other side, and once she was sure that it was Madison who had just walked on, she closed her own gate with as much caution as she could get. It was an excruciating task, trying to inch towards the bed. Each step seemed to get heavier and heavier, and she only hoped to gods that the volunteer at the time hadn't checked yet and couldn't hear the crutch clatter around. Injuries had this fun way of holding someone back more than they would want. Awkwardly swinging her body onto the bed with a satisfying plop!, she quickly shifted her position to get as close as it would get to her original, the crutch laying on the side of the bed and her hat placed on top of the nightstand.

Madison walked in, well more so limped in, hobbling to the desk where the night nurse sat. The woman perked up, a little panicked to see such a serious wound at that time. "Oh dear," she said, standing up to see over the desk to get a better look. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Sweetie, what happened!?"

Madison put on her best pout, peeking through the curtain to the dark room behind. She saw Nicola slink in, and winced. "It's my power, my power stabbed me!"

"Your power...stabbed you?"

She wiped her eye of no tear. "M-ma'am, please..."

"Oh Sweetie, come here."

She was tended to by the woman as best as she could. The infirmary had been a little spoiled since receiving another helper with healing abilities, raising that count to two. They were both students, though, students who were not allowed to work too late into the night. Neither were there at the moment.

It had been dressed in a semi-proper bandage, and it would do for then. "Come to the back, Miss...?" She left a trailing voice to inquire a name.

"Oh, uh, um!" Madison didn't catch the interrogative tone. "Madison Morse."

"Well, Madison. I'll have you stay the night, okay sweetie? We'll make sure you get treated first thing in the morning, we just don't want that thing getting infected, all right?"

"U-um...do you...have a night light?"

The women looked a bit confused. "Do you need one?

Madison nodded a guilty nod. "My gift..." She still didn't want to get into too much detail.

The woman nodded. "Well, if the other patients don't mind."

Madison was a little proud of herself, the corners of her mouth shivering upwards. She was able to successfully vouch for Nicola; maybe this girl was rubbing off on her. Thanks, by the way! You're a life saver! Who knew what Madison would have done if Nicola didn't come up there? Her new friend was a life saver too.

Friend. She had a friend.

A bright light shined over the patients in the back as Madison was directed inside, the curtain brushed past. A few of the people on the other side half-growned. A blonde haired girl with a poofy green ribbon gave her the hardest of the stares. Madison fought to locate Nicola in the small bundle of dark-faced souls, and found her, in the bed adjacent to the one the nurse designated for her. The lady helped Madison raise her foot in a sling, and wished her good night, plugging in the soft nightlight by her bed. There were a few groans to turn it off, but ultimately it was pleasant enough so that everyone went back to sleep.

"Tell me if she bothers you." The woman gave a kind smirk over to Nicola's form. "That girl's a handful."

Madison thanked her with a warm smile, and the woman retreated back to the front room, leaving the back in darkness once more.

As the sharp sounds of heels clicked along the floor, softer and softer with each step, Nicola waited until she was sure that the nurse was a good distance away. Shifting restlessly in her bed, a small huff sounded from area and then there was an exasperated sigh. "Jeez, if she thought I was planning to stay in a bed for a month without moving, then she'd know why I'm a handful." The room was empty, so her voice echoed slightly against the walls. After a moment, she froze a bit, half expecting to hear the familiar squeak of a chair and for the footsteps to come back and reprimand her for trying to wake up the other patients. One second... two seconds... three... Okay, she wasn't coming.

Leaning back onto the bed, blue eyes glanced over towards Madison. This probably wasn't a good time to ask this sort of question, but... "What exactly do you do in your sleep? Do you just keep a nightlight by you all the time?" She tried to imagine sleeping with one of those bright lights on, constantly shining into her eyes as she tried to keep them closed, only to see through her eyelids and watch red flash from underneath. Nope, that didn't sound pleasant at all. "I mean, it's hard enough that your power kinda wants to kill you, but does it ever bother you that you need a light to sleep peacefully?"