The silence of the morgue save their footsteps and the creeping sound of moistness tailing them almost felt like the walls around them were awaiting their fate. No aid would be offered by the stone; eyeless, earless, the walls witnessed their progress whilst the creature tried to encroach and keep its distance at the same time.

Robin would not see the water droplets that emerged from the open mouth of the flask and hovered in front of Arcturus as they inched towards the wall. He could not cast any other spell with his wand, but he still had one hand free and a second focus around his neck. With only the sense of Robin's body warmth he kept the creature at bay. It didn't stop those finger bones twitching, as if itching to reach out and attempt a grab.

The shriek made him jump. Accustomed to his control over water but not yet in a combat sense, split second reflexes fired the droplets, now needle-thin shards of ice as sharp as knives. Past a shield Robin reflexively cast between it and them, straight at where the creature was-- should have been.

They shattered back into water, splattering across the floor. He raised his wand to see the corpse-like abomination bare its teeth at him, mandibles distending in a way only rotting flesh would have allowed before clattering back unnervingly quickly into the shadows deeper into the morgue.

Then there was silence, lit by soft but still garish pink archways disappearing into nothing. Arc straightened up, feeling stiff from both the tension of adrenaline and having been poised to strike for goodness knows how long. His eyes remained fixed upon the shadowed passage beyond the illumination around them.

"I don't think it'll be coming back," he said.

He threw up a shield as soon as he turned to meet the shriek, oblivious to Arc's actions - Robin had only eyes for the disgusting creature scuttling away from them further down the mortuary passageway, back to where the lights were still dead and the shadows thick.

Enough distance that he could disengage the shield in accordance with his friend's observation.

"I agree." Robin stood straight, relaxing his shoulders as he finally glanced at Arc. "Please tell me you have something strong in that flask of yours."

Before either could say more, however, a voice called out to them from back in the main morgue hall. "Healer Louvelle? Healer Hollingbury?"

The tall wizard turned his head in that direction, lips pressed together in a grimace.

"Oh, sure. Now someone comes looking for us," he muttered, though in relative good humor. "We should report this right away. That was crazy, I've never seen anything like it. And I've seen a lot of shit."

"Only water, I'm afraid." Most of the healers on his floor knew he kept the flask at his hip at all times, but Robin was not on his floor. "Not for drinking either."

He looked back in the direction of where the creature had scurried off, keeping an eye on their backs as their names were called. "Yeah, I've not seeing anything like it either in the hospital. Yet another problem, again." He shook his head, looking away and keeping his thoughts to himself. Feels like we just cleaned up this place, could we keep it clean for the next six months?

Arc screwed the top back onto the flask, clearly to Robin's disappointment based on his expression. "Let's head out before it comes back. I've had enough for a night." He turned his back to the darkness of the inner hall to call out to the disembodied voice. "We're here! We're alright! What kept you lot out there instead of down here?"

He was equal parts disappointed and puzzled by Arc's flask reveal, though they didn't have time to linger on the subject as one of the morticians finally made an appearance at the mouth of the passageway.

       "Heard a commotion down the other end!" she called back a reply to Hollingbury, making her way to them. "What in Merlin's name was that sound at your end?"

Robin barked a laugh, startling himself. It was no doubt the shriek - crazy ass noise, and it probably carried all the way through to the main hall. The witch, on approach, seemed equally startled by his flippant reaction.

"Have we got a story for you," he smiled in response to her bewilderment, and exchanged a look with Arcturus before glancing over his shoulder: at the mortuary cabinet door that had been ripped off its hinges.

Hell of a story.