there&#39;s someone knocking in the wall.

Cooper keeps his voice down, and his head up, and his eyes closed.

(The better to hear you with, my dear.)

"Hello?"

From:

(kid?)

Her voice isn't sharp, but it's with deliberate effort. "Who's there?"

From:

She's not that far away, if he's able to go by acoustics, but --

He doesn't move. Not yet. "Special Agent Dale Cooper, FBI." A little louder than before, and he listens in, closely.

...that's odd.

From:

"What is this place?"

From:

It's cold, whatever it is. And dark.

Cooper opens his eyes.

And finds he's more comfortable with them shut.

(The sense of yawing emptiness is more manageable that way -- thank you, years of meditation.)

"I don't know."

From:

There's sounds: sneakers on the ashy floor, stumbling, the soft thud of someone walking into a wall. And here's a scirtch-scratch, fingers searching the surface, quiet movements of the air as arms take measure of the space.

Veronica speaks, beneath her breath. "What the hell?"

From:

One hand brushing the wall, one held out in front of her face, Charlie takes a step forward.

"Where are you? I'm over here --"

From:

"Here -" Veronica replies, instinctively.

It occurs to her that there are reasons why one should not trust strangers in the unknown dark, but it also likely a bit late for that. She moves towards the voice with hesitant movements, one hand always touching the wall.

"Who's there?"

From:

"Dale Cooper."

One step in the direction of the voices.

"Who are you two?"

From:

(make them let me out, kid)
"Charlie McGee."

From:

"Veronica Mars."

Unfamiliar names, in an unfamiliar place.

"Did you guys just get here, too?"

From:

aj_crawley

If there was an answer coming, it's interrupted by what, in the heavy, hollow silence of the darkness, must seem like a wall of sound - and a sudden, blinding glare of light.

A door has opened in the wall, just a little way off, and a figure, backlit and black against the lamplight and chatter of Milliways, checks over its shoulder and ducks hurriedly inside - and closes the door behind itself.

"Oh, I'm sorry," comes a new voice, a few moments later.

British accent, male.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

From:

If Veronica's reply comes across as pained, it's probably because she feels like she just stared into the sun.

"Heck yeah, we were in the middle of a great satanic orgy here. What else is there to do in a pitch-black hallway?"

Snappish, "Is that door behind you unlocked?"

From:

Even with his eyes closed -- Cooper can tell that there was light of some kind.

But -- he knows that voice. He can't place it this quickly, he's still disoriented, but --

Veronica (the voice calling herself 'Veronica', anyhow) asked the right question.

From:

ashtreelane

It would be an easier question to answer, maybe, if the door was still there;

if it hadn't faded into the wall.

From:

Charlie started for the door half a second after it opened, kept moving when it closed, hoping --

No good. She pulls to a stop just short of actually knocking into the newcomer.

"It's gone." Flat, frustrated. A little frightened.

From:

aj_crawley

"It's not - " irritated, " - what d'you mean, it's - "

There's a	long
	long
		silence.

And something colder than the freezing air settles its grip around Crowley's stomach as, his hand sliding under his jacket, he realises that the door isn't the only thing missing.

Sharp, and uneasy, as (demons can see in the dark) he takes in their surroundings:

"What's going on."

From:

Great. Door's gone.

And as dark as it is, Veronica can still see spots of light twisting through her vision, afterimage stars that have imprinted themselves onto her eyes. She presses her palms against her eyelids, sighing, her frustration growing.

"What part of 'satanic orgies' didn't you understand?"

From:

-- satanic orgies --

"...Crowley."

Cooper's eyes open. He still can't see anything.

"Anthony Crowley. You're a demon. And we played cards, when Moiraine was -- not herself. Moiraine knows you. Which means -- "

"We all came here from Milliways, didn't we."

From:

"That's where I was until about a minute ago."

Charlie's got one hand on the wall again, running her fingers over where the door was -- or at least where she thinks she remembers it being; it's impossible to tell now.

"...does anyone have a light? Or, or something to use as a torch?"

From:

aj_crawley

"I can see," Crowley volunteers, unhelpfully.

Then he snaps his fingers and -

Then he snaps his fingers and -

Then he -

After the third time the tiny spark fizzles out on his palm, Crowley speaks again, voice a little thin.

"...I've got nothing."

From:

They could all see the sparks, too tiny to illuminate anything more than the hand curled around them, still the brightest thing in the darkness.

Charlie stares at where the sparks appeared and vanished, with a rising unease.

From: