Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Flash Bulb

"How?" Valencia furrowed her brow. "It is difficult to say how I do vat I do." She chuckled and smirked. "I don't even remember how I got my..." Her expression fell and her gaze leveled, her face was blank.

"Val?" Jonathan asked, switching on Phycologist Mode again.

Her head tilted to the left then rounded to drop in the front.

Tendrils of shadows leapt from the walls, ceiling, and floor. They coiled around anything and everything they could ensnare.

"Valencia!" Jonathan shouted as he watched people being pulled from their chairs by the mighty shadows. He reached across the table and shook her shoulder with one arm, his eyes still locked on what was occurring.

Valencia exhaled a deep breath and the shadows dissipated instantly. She sat up and looked around. "You sink our order vill be out soon?" She looked back to Jonathan.

He looked at her quizzically. "Must be the flashbulb-memory Pamela warned me about." He mumbled and shook his head. "Hey, why don't we uhm...leave this place and go see the rest of the guys?"

Valencia's brow frowned in puzzlement as she scanned the scene around them. "Jon, vhat happened here?"

He sighed, pursing his lips, "You went rigid. Tentacles of shadows came from every surface, grabbing onto people and furniture and tossing them around like a kraken attacking a ship. You don't remember?"

"No."

"Flash bulb. Definitely flash bulb."

Valencia frowned in slight confusion. "Vell. Somesing's not right." She mused lightly.

"We need to get you out of here and back to my place-"

"Your place?"

"Yes. I do own an apartment. Why is that so shocking to people?" Jonathan rolled his eyes and stood, taking Valencia by her arm when she had joined him on her feet.

~X~

When Jonathan and Valencia arrived at a severely dilapidated apartment complex, a solitary light glowed on the top floor.

Jonathan seemed alarmed at seeing the light in the window and rushed to the door, pulling out his keys hastily.

Valencia watched him curiously and followed him closely, wondering what has the great Jonathan Crane so rattled.

He took to the stairs, what was left of the elevator being contorted metal and broken glass at the bottom of the shaft. Valencia ran with Dr. Crane, silently marveling at the spaghetti-man's stamina as he did not cease charging up to the top floor.

Part of the ceiling was caved in over the stairwell, the debris had been carried away and the floor was swept clean. Valencia could tell by the mold and moss growing on the edges of the roof that it had caved in ages ago.

When they arrived at the door with light glowing under it, Jonathan stopped to catch his breath a bit before trying the door handle. Locked. He pulled out a small ring of keys from his pocket and picked out one to open the door.

The door swung open on well-oiled hinges.

Tense silence enveloped the hallway and the room before them.

The room was lit by a single lamp that stood at the left of the door on a table. Next to the lamp table, a tall bookcase towered over even Jonathan. A four post bed was pushed against the middle of the right wall, the pillows and blankets looking like someone had jumped on them, then hastily put back where the jumper thought they went. A wardrobe sat across from the bed, large antique brass handles adorning its face. On either side of the wardrobe, there were closed doors that led into another part of the apartment. A dresser sat on the far wall with clothing heaped on top, hopefully clean laundry that the owner of was too lazy to put away. A desk sat a few feet away from the dresser, pushed into the back right corner of the room. In between the dresser and desk, there was a tall, black curtain covering what seemed to be a doorway.

The building groaned as a sudden gale smacked into it, sending unwarranted shivers down both Jonathan and Valencia's spines.

"Valencia!" A figure sprung up from the other side of the large bed, causing the Scarecrow and the Shadow to jump, albeit slightly. Jervis Tetch ran around the bed to hug Valencia around her midsection. Her hands sprung up in disgust at the contact.

Jervis let her go just as Edward and Harvey fell out of the wardrobe and onto the floor. They stood promptly, fixing their suits and grumbling to themselves most likely about their masculinity being all but shattered.

"Ah, Valencia! Such a pleasure to see you again." Edward beamed at her when he had glanced up from his suit.

She smiled at him, not saying anything.

Harvey flipped his coin and frowned, simply stating. "How's it going, kid?"

"I am vell, Harvey. Sough Jonny vould say oservise." Valencia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"And why's that, Jonny?" Edward questioned, crossing his arms as well.

"It's difficult to explain, but things aren't as ship-shape as Pamela said they were." Jonathan crossed the room and disappeared through the door on the left of the wardrobe.