CC: Chapter 1 - Comfort Place

[salun]

Josh slows a bit for the others to follow, and makes sure Miller has caught up, before moving on.

[Mort]

Jim could see the burned-out "Exit" sign at the end of the dark hallway. They were headed the right way. The team walked briskly toward the stairs, passing door after door of apartments. All the doors they passed were shut. And no light came from underneath the doors. But then the team caught a glint of light spilling out into the hallway as one of the doors near the stairs opened. A small child, probably five or six years old with short black hair, light brown skin, and big beautiful brown eyes, peeked his head out and looked down at the approaching team.

"Get back in here! It's not safe!" a voice hissed. A young woman stepped into the hallway and shoved the boy back inside. The young woman fiddled with the outside doorknob for a second and then she disappeared inside too and shut the door behind her. A few seconds later the light beneath the door went out.

Somewhere in the distance, far behind them, another apartment door slammed shut as well.

The activity at the end of the hallway momentarily stopped the forward progress of the group. As they began moving again, Josh noticed that the apartment door nearest to where he was standing had a peculiar embroidered decoration draped across it. The "door hanger" looked to be made out of dark yarn or string, and it was woven into a doughnut shape to fit around the doorknob. Beads were strung into the decoration. What caught Josh's attention most was that he was sure he'd seen this decoration before . . . on one of the doors near the elevator.

[salun]

"wait a sec..." Josh mumbles, as he pulls out his phone, snaps a picture of the door, and starts flipping though the pictures, wondering if got one of the "door hanger" down the hall.
Slowly walking on, he mutters "that's wierd...", more focused on the screen, than on the hallway.

[Mort]

"wait a sec..."

The hallway was dark and the others seemed to be in a hurry, so Josh couldn't get a good look. The door hanger ornaments he saw, in the photograph and in front of him, looked very similar, though they were not identical. Different colors and different beads.

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim sees the sign, and nods - assuring himself more than anyone else, Well, at least we are going the right way. He thinks, whilst making sure that everyone in the team is sticking close together.

[Usdrothek]

Todd is hardly surprised to see the child step out into the hallway. It reminded him of his own kid, the one he hardly got to see any more.

He smiled back at the kid as he walked down the hall, looking for the exit.

He was even less surprised to see it's mother come and pull it back inside.

With all this drama going on, I'd be locking my door and not letting my kids out too.

[philjun]

Robert Steers

Frowns upon seing the child and even more so after witnessing the reaction of the mother. After a quick pause, he will continue following the others, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

[Mort]

The inspection team passed the last of the apartments and stood before the fire door that led to the stairwell. The bank of florescent lights overhead were burned out and dark. The inspectors could see beyond the fire door--it was propped open with a small wooden crate--that the stairwell beyond was entirely dark. No lights worked at all.

While the team contemplated the darkness ahead, Josh noticed that the two apartment doors here at the end of the hall (one of which was the apartment the boy and his mother had just disappeared into) were both decorated with the beaded, woven door hangers. He hadn't noticed in time to look, but it was entirely possible that all the apartments were likewise decorated.

[Usdrothek]

Todd shakes his head slowly.

"What a craphole this building is." he mutters as he takes out his sturdy flashlight from his tool belt and flicks it on.

Todd steps inside the stairwell to the landing on the current floor. He plays the flashlight's beam up the stairwell, just having a look for what is instore for them.

[Mort]

Everyone with a flashlight broke theirs out, and the whole group filed into the stairwell. The stone and brick stairwell looked much like the lobby and smelled far too much like the elevator. The inspection team didn't immediately see anything of note on the stairs. The stairwell was quiet and empty. From somewhere up above them the team could hear the buzz of a poorly grounded fluorescent light and could see the faint red glow of a still-working exit sign. All else was darkness.

"Six flights of stairs? Great." Gina miller didn't look happy. She didn't have a flashlight, but the others could see the expression of fear on her face by the light of her smartphone . . . which she continue to check religiously. Miller took off her shoes and gestured the stairs. "Let's get this over with."

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim, having taken his flashlight from his belt, sweeps the beam of light up and around the stairwell- before begrudgingly beginning the trek up the six flights. Well, Amanda did want me to keep excerscising..., he finds himself thinking.

[Usdrothek]

"Got some working lights up there. Lets go."

Todd hardly waits for everyone to agree before starting to trudge up the stairs, the beam of his flashlight bobbing around in front of him as he walks.

[Mort]

The fifth floor exit sign was working. It spread a ghastly red light over the landing and illuminated enough of the stairwell for the inspection team to see that it was almost totally dark the rest of the way up. Undaunted by the darkness, the inspectors plodded on up the stairs.

As they rounded the corner, heading up to the seventh floor all was still darkness. They reached the landing and had put their feet on the first set of steps when . . .

"Whacha doin'?"

The voice came first. It was deep and clear and loud, a woman's voice. The group whirled about with their flashlights, looking for the source. The lights all fell on the corner, not three feet from where they were standing. They saw the silhouette of a large woman wearing a dress or a bathrobe with wild, unkempt hair. She had not been there before and when the lights struck her face, Miller started so violently that she tripped on the stairs and went down with a smack.

[Usdrothek]

Todd is startled by the woman's sudden appearance, instinctively he whirled about to direct his beam of light onto the voice out of the darkness.

"Whoah!"

What the Hell is she doing hanging out in the pitch dark??

He tries to see who is there as he hurriedly fumbles for something to say.He settles on a non-committal tried and true repairman's line.

"Just doing a routine inspection."

[salun]

Josh, in surprise, exclaims "Whoah!", though it's unclear if it's at the woman speaking, or at Miller tripping.
"Here, let me help you" He offers Miller his hand, to get her up again, then places himself somewhat between her and the strange woman, ready to move on again as quickly as possible.

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim whirls around in surprise, What the!, he thinks - before calming down slightly upon seeing that the source of the voice is a (albeit slightly deranged-looking) resident. Damn crazies.... He thinks, as goes to see if Miss Miller is alright...

[philjun]

Robert Steers

Seing Miss Miler is being taken care of, Robert will address the strange woman: "We're part of an inspection team, Madam," he says in a calm voice wearing his most reassuring smile forgetting that no one will probably notice it in the darkness, "we are going to the top floor but the elevators don't seem to be working. And what about you? Do you live in this building?"

[Mort]

As flashlights searched for a face and everyone scrambled to help Gina Miller to her feet, the old woman took an aggressive step toward the group and into their lights.

The woman was indeed old, but how old it was impossible to tell. Her hair was a mass of graying dreadlocks, and judging by her lilting accent and the color of her skin, the woman was probably originally from somewhere in the Caribbean. She was wearing a dress that was a dazzling array of colors, patched together from at least a dozen different kinds of fabrics. The arrangement was not haphazard; there was a pattern, but one that was not immediately obvious.

"You don't belong here," she said. Here eyes flared with anger. "You don't belong here."

"we are going to the top floor but the elevators don't seem to be working. And what about you? Do you live in this building?"

The old woman reached out and stroked the wall of the stairwell. "Looks like he don't think you belong here either. I'd leave now, if I was you . . . while you still got both yer legs." The old woman's eyes shot over to Gina who was just standing with help. She has a nasty bruise on her cheek and her lip was bleeding. A subtle smile danced across the old woman's eyes, made its ways down her face, and hid just behind her lips.

[Usdrothek]

Todd saw plaenty of things working as a maintenance man for the cit. Usually he serviced lower rent apartments, so he saw his share of crazies and usually their bark was worse than their bite. This time, however, he would admit that the Woman stroking the wall was unerving.

Todd stands his ground his flashlight still pointed at the woman. The light making disturbing shadows as it shone through her dreadlocks.

"Hey, get outa here and let do our jobs!" he says forcefully, trying to take control of the situation.

[philjun]

Robert Steers

Frowns at Todd's words. "What this man is trying to say," he says in his most gentle and diplomatic voice, "is that we will only be a short while. Then we will disappear and leave you alone again. I promise you that we won't be any bother to you or your... husband?" Robert once again smiles reassuringly.