Outlast Dazzling

by Darkness Moon


Ever Closer

Once down, Aria and Sonata tried to find the camera, but everything was dark. Aside from the few lights that allowed them to see, the storm outside was their only illumination. They went room by room, or at least where there was light, found a broken bathroom, scattered lockers, pieces of wood, even some open showers - in one of them, there was a hole at the bottom, overlooking the floor below to where the camera could have fallen. They went carefully and entered through the dark corridors.

"I'm scared" Sonata whispered. "It’s very dark here"

"Calm down. We just have to find the camera and we'll be right back on track" Aria whispered.

They quietly, lest some variant saw them... they found one stuck to the window, one sitting in a corner, and another gagged on a bed. It was difficult walking in the darkness as the lightning lit only enough to see what was directly in front. They continued carefully until they were in a completely dark room. There was a table in front of them, but there was no sign of the camera.
Aria made signals to Sonata to search: Aria reviewed the table because it was all she could see; Sonata crouched to the floor.

Nothing, there was nothing until... They found it!

Sonata found the camera on the floor, turning it on and activating the night vision.

"Bingo!" Sonata whispered rising.

"What did you say?" asked Aria.

Sonata turned, facing Aria. But also three men with sticks and pipes in their hands. She took Aria by the hand and ran, followed by the inmates.

"RUN!" screamed Sonata.

"I'M DOING THAT!" answered Aria.

They returned along the road where they came from, finishing in the bathroom and going back upstairs.

"That... was... close," Aria said, exhausted.

"We can not take any more of this" Sonata said.

"Let me see the camera" Aria said, approaching Sonata.

"Sure, here" Sonata said, handing over the device.

Aria examined the camcorder. It looked fine, not taking any fall damage. The most important thing was the night vision, which still functioned, but as she continued, she saw the top corner of the lens was broken as it left a crack across the screen.

"Ready to go?" Aria asked.

"I have a choice?" replied Sonata.

"No."

"Alright" Sonata said. "Let's go"

They returned to where they started, the room where the lost the camera, Aria climbed up Sonata, then she helped the other girl up.

"What's the plan now?" asked Sonata.

"Finding Miles in the administration block" Aria said.

Now they could move on from where they had been stuck.

"How do you know the names of that places?" asked Sonata curiously.

"We went through a map showing the names of some places, I think accidentally paid attention” Aria said.
The road did not go far before they came back to a place they had already been. At first, it seemed like more of the same, then they saw a familiar wall, with familiar letters: Follow the blood.

"Why don't we go through this door instead of walking to another room?" asked Sonata.

"I don't know, let's get out of here" Aria said.

They moved a bit until they reached another splinted room overlooking the floor below, and a little of the floor beneath even that one.
They slipped along carefully, until a striped door. Luckily, it was lit and they were alone, no one in the corner waiting for them. They walked through the door and came into an area, different and at the same time familiar. To the left, more shelves and furniture; in front, a bookcase that blocked their way, although it seemed they could pass through a narrow space if they bent down and crawled.

Continuing down the hallway... Someone was at the end.

"What's the problem with this fucking fat?" Aria said.

"What do we do?" Sonata asked, worried.

"This way" Aria said, entering a room.

They hid under a desk, hoping the oversized inmate would not come in, but it was not the case as the monster entered and examined the place. After a few minutes, it still did not seem to leave. They had to move.
Aria signaled Sonata to run.

"Now!" they shouted and together ran out the door, closing it.

They ran to another room, closing that door too. They heard footsteps approaching, Sonata searched for another door or a window, but nothing.

"Ari, the ventilation" said Sonata, pointing.

"Good work, Sonata. Let's go" she said, climbing onto a long table.

First Aria, then Sonata, they crawled through the duct without knowing which way to go. It didn't matter, almost every path was blocked.

"What's this here?" Aria said as she left the vent.

"What did you find?" asked Sonata. She jumped down to the floor and saw where they were. It was the same place where they were separated from Adagio. The only difference is that on the floor there was a body with a broken neck.

"This is where we all started. We can leave" said Aria.

"B-but, we can't leave, what about Dagi?" said Sonata, a little scared.

"Sonata. Adagio mayb-"

"No! You told me we could not stop! You said you had faith we would find her!" Sonata said, upset.

"I said that, but look where we are... Maybe she d-"

"Don't say it! Please... Don't," Sonata said, crying and covering her ears.

Aria felt bad, and that was rare. She didn't usually care about anything or anyone, but to see Sonata in that state, she couldn't ignore it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. Sorry" Aria said, removing Sonata's hands from her ears and hugging her.

"She has to be okay, she promised us" Sonata said, crying on the shoulder of Aria.

Although Aria had accepted the possibility that Adagio could be dead, Sonata could not. They could reach and leave through the front door.

But that was not their way.

"Fine. We'll continue, for Adagio. But stop mourning, okay?" Aria said, trying to be cheerful.

That put Sonata in a better mood, smiling with her typical goofy smile, but it was sweet.

"Thanks. Can I choose the way this time?" asked Sonata, happy.

"After all we've been through, I do not think it could be any worse. Go ahead" Aria said.

Sonata smiled and took the door that they went through the first time. They were where they started. There were corridors heading to the left and the right, but both were closed off.
There was also a door surrounded by a fence, which lead up to a higher floor.

"It's around here" Sonata said.

"What is? Are you sure?"

"It said we had to follow the blood, and there's an arrow" Sonata said, pointing to the wall. Where there was an arrow drawn in blood.

"Right. Come on then" Aria said.

They went through the gate, luckily it was open. It seemed it was closed before, perhaps someone unlocked it.
They went to the other room, it was like the first but this one was decorated and more modern, and there were so many iron bars. An elevator was in the center of everything.

"Take the elevator" Aria said. "We're going downstairs."

"What? But you said-"

"Not to leave. Try to search for her in the reception" Aria said. "If she is not-"

"If she's not there, we will wait for her" said Sonata, upset and pouting.

"Sure, we'll wait for her" Aria said, smiling a little to see Sonata's face.

Then they entered the elevator. It worked with a key, which fortunately was left in the slot. They activated it, the gate door closed, and the elevator descended down to the reception area, but the door would not move.

"What the hell?" said Aria, trying to force the door.

"What happened?" asked Sonata, confused.

"I don't know, it doesn't open" Aria said.

The elevator descended again until the walls became dark. They went too far, several meters below their destination. There was a slight light that illuminated a little. After about 5 minutes, they came to another place. It was completely different, even looking like they were in the madhouse. It was as if they had changed buildings.

"What's going on? Where are we now?" asked Sonata.

I'm not sure, but I don't think we can go back the way we came" Aria said.

"But we have to return. We have to look for Adagio" Sonata said.

"We can't Sonata, at least not up there" said Aria, pointing to the elevator.

"So what shall we do?" asked Sonata.

"Find another way out" Aria said, leaving the elevator.

Sonata followed. They stood in front of a blue door, unaware what was behind it.

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Meanwhile, Sunset and Adagio were chased by the variant Eddie Gluskin to a room with no exit. To
not die, they entered a ventilation shaft.
For fear of being seen, they in the vents for nearly two hours.

"Agh! My legs hurt. I can't feel my knees" Adagio said, crawling through the duct.

"Same here. I don't even feel my hands" said Sunset, crawling for the air duct.

"We've been here for hours" Adagio complained.

"Better here than outside with the crazy man desperate for a woman," Sunset said.

They kept crawling, trying to find a way out.

"Did you heard that?" Adagio called out.

"What?" asked Sunset

Beyond the walls of the shaft, they heard some cries.

"This is bad" said Sunset.

Now a voice was heard.

"Darling, I need you to try to bleed less. I know the fairer sex often endure the same wounds with more suffering, but you really need to make an effort..."

After that, the screams of agony and the sounds of a metal blade sliding through something was heard.
Or through someone.

"No. I'm so sorry, darling. Love isn't for everybody..."

"Go on ahead" Sunset whispered.

"I'm behind you" whispered Adagio.

The sounds became worse.

"Hold still now, darling. All these unsightly hairs. Oh! Silky smooth. Like a little girl again.
Now the more delicate bits..."

Again, there were cries of pain and the same metal sounds of a blade slicing and then a dull sound, as if the blade cut a piece of meat in two.

"Why are you going so slow?" said Adagio nervously.

"I'm going as fast as I can" Sunset said, moving a little faster.

"You've given up. You're ugly and you've given up on love. You're not even worth stringing up.
Bleed here and die..."

Now, instead of a knife blade, the sound of a power saw started up. A faint cry of a man was heard but it did not last long. The saw must have sliced clear through his head.
Adagio and Sunset came to an alternate path, away from those voices and cries of agony. They reached the end of the vent, which took longer than they thought.

"Now where are we?" asked Adagio.

"It's a room like the others, there's no one here" said Sunset, coming down from the duct.

Another of the many rooms for patients, nothing special. After Sunset was firmly on the floor, she helped Adagio down because the siren could not do it alone with her ankle.

"Can we stop for a moment?" asked Adagio. "I can’t stand on this foot" she said, sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, I think we'll be safe here" said Sunset, checking that the door was as closed as it appeared.

Turning, she saw Adagio massaging her foot.

"Can I see it?" asked Sunset.

"What?" Adagio said, confused. "Your ankle, you let me see it?" asked Sunset again.

Adagio was surprised by what the pony girl wanted, but it didn't seem to bother her.

"If you want" said Adagio, sounding a little indifferent.

Sunset approached, bent down, and examined Adagio's foot. It did not look very serious, a slight twist. A little ice would help, but they had nothing useful.

"Fortunately, it is not broken. Once we get out, we can fix you" said Sunset.

The siren did not answer.

"Are you okay?" asked Sunset, worried. "Did I hurt you?"

"No. I just thought of something else" Adagio said.

"What thing?" asked Sunset.

"About... Aria and Sonata..." Adagio said.

"What about them?" Sunset said.

"Surely they left without me and let me die here" Adagio said.

"I don't think so, I don't think they're gone" Sunset said.

"You don't know that" Adagio said.

"You either" said Sunset.

"What?" Adagio said.

"You don't know if they did," said Sunset, tearing off the sleeve of her sweater. "I think they are
looking for you. After spending so much time together, I would not be surprised," she said, tying the cloth around the foot of Adagio.

The siren looked at the girl who was bandaging her foot as she spoke. It made her feel a strange sensation.

"Why are you so sure?" asked Adagio.

"I just am. You really think they left you?" said Sunset.

"Sonata? No, I don't think she would. She would look for me. But Aria... I think she would if she had no other choice" Adagio said.

"If those two are together, they won't abandon you. We will see them eventually, I'm sure, just have some confidence" Sunset said, smiling.

"I hope so" said Adagio after she saw that Sunset had finished wrapping her ankle.

"Better?" said Sunset, rising.

"Much better. Thank you Sunset Shimmer. For everything" Adagio said.

"You're welcome. Ready to continue?" she asked.

"I don't think I can run, so I hope you don't use me for bait" said Adagio with a laugh.

"I would never do that, let's go" Sunset said, offering her hand.

"Pfff, whatever" Adagio said, accepting the hand.

"Well I think we can go out the window" Sunset said.

They looked out the window, making sure there was no one outside. Once it was clear, they opened it and climbed out.

"Where are we now?" asked Adagio.

"It seems to be a courtyard, but this one is much smaller than the others" said Sunset.

Indeed, the yard was not so unpleasant. In fact, if not for being so full of crazies, it might have been a good place to relax. It had some bushes, some benches, and at the center was a fountain with a little water. Although it was a bit dirty, it was not so unpleasant.

"Finally, a decent place" said Adagio.

Sunset looked around, there was not much to see and their only path was to follow a lit area to the right with a door. She glanced at her camera, the battery was almost used up. She checked her pockets to see if she had any more, unfortunately there were only two left. But what caught her attention was that there was no way to get to the garden, only that door in front of them. Unless someone wanted to jump out a window.

"You coming Sunset?" called Adagio, going to open the door.

"Eh? Oh! sure, sure" said Sunset, trailing along behind Adagio.

They opened the door and entered. The corridor had bars everywhere, every door and exit was covered by thick stripes of iron. There was an elevator shaft before them, but they could not use it since the elevator itself was another floor.

"Now where?" asked Adagio.

"We must find a way, follow me" Sunset said.

They toured the place in search of an exit. They went on to end up in front of two doors. Neither was open.

"Damn!" said Sunset, tired.

"There's another way" said Adagio.

On the other side was the entrance to a kitchen, but it was very dark.

"Alright, let-"

"You belong with the others!"

They quickly entered the kitchen, looking for a hiding place. They hid in one of the cabinets as they that were large enough for two.

"See anything?" whispered Adagio, nervous.

Sunset opened the door slightly to peek out with the night vision, but didn't see anything. Slowly they opened the door and a moment later heard footsteps. Rather, the sound of bare feet. The sound quickly retreated.

"I think it's safe to leave now" whispered Sunset.

Slowly they came out, they were about to leave.

"One more. I try and I try. And you all betray me..."

They quickly hid behind the door, bumps and steps were heard, and coming closer.

"And you can hang like the rest of them..."

They could not move forward. They tried to find another way.

"There!" Adagio whispered, pointing.

Behind them was an open ventilation, but when they were about to rise, loud sounds were heard, like wood breaking.

"Hurry up!" Sunset whispered, leaning against the wall, bracing her hands together.

The siren allowed herself to be hoisted up by the hands of the girl, managing to enter the pipeline just as the sounds were getting louder. Now it was Sunset's turn, Adagio extended her arm and helped her up. At just the moment Sunset was in, there was a loud sound just a few meters from them.

They had a choice. They did not know whether to advance or stay there. They decided to wait a few minutes to ensure that there would be no one around. It was only 5 minutes before they followed the line.

On one side of the pipeline, there was a man with his head stuck between the grates. It was a security guard, judging by the flashlight in his hand that was still on and his clean uniform.
They reached the other side of the room and could not believe what they saw.
The room was full of hanging bodies. The number was impresssive, corpses covering the entire ceiling. Mutilated men, hunted and murdered. Everything reeked of death and fear. Piss and coppery blood and decomposing meat.

"I think I'm gonna throw up again" said Adagio, disgusted.

"Adagio?" called Sunset, looking at the ceiling.

"What?" replied Adagio, staring up also.

Right in the middle of all the hung corpses was the variant that chased them earlier. The groom, Eddie Gluskin, dead. He was impaled on a metal beam fixed on the ceiling.

"He's dead" said Adagio, trying not to laugh. "Finally."

"Looks like someone killed him" said Sunset, looking at the broken ropes and wood.

"Why do you think that?" Adagio said, "Maybe the idiot tangled himself up all on his own"

"No, I think he was trying to hang someone else, but one of the wooden beams broke and the change
of force caused the victim to plummet down while he went up" said Sunset, examining the place.

"If you're finished playing detective, can we go?" said Adagio, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, let's go" said Sunset, motioning forward.

They were at the gates where they wanted to go to at the very beginning. They continued until they reached an open door. It had a sign above it: Exit.

"It is really possible...?" Adagio said.

"There's only one way to find out" said Sunset, entering.

At the end of the hall was another sign: Male Ward. There were two doors, one right in front and one to the left. They tried the one straight ahead but it was locked.
No choice, they went through the left door. Overlooking a small hallway, the floor was covered with rubble, but they could not avoid walking on it. There was another door open by chance and down that dark hallway, the only light was a window.
From that window, they could see in the distance a chapel on fire, flames climbing up from the ceiling.

"A chapel? I had no idea there was a church" said Sunset in surprise.

"Curious. Where is God when you need him?" Adagio said.

"I think we have to keep going" said Sunset, motioning at the dark corridor.

"I guess so" Adagio said. "After you" she said, smiling.

"How kind" Sunset said, grinning. "Here we go"

Now their way was in the dark.