Whumptober 2020 Day 18: Panic! At the Disco—Panic Attacks/Phobias/Paranoia
Word Count:
Author: Katie/Ally (aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl)
Rating: T
Characters: Sheska
Summary: Sheska's not sure, but she thinks there's something in Records after the promised day.
Notes: Based off of a one-shot I did earlier about Sheska's experiences on the Promised Day. The main things to know are that she remembers everything perfectly, and she came across the mannequins eating a person, and then they chased her until she was rescued.
Seeing Things
Sheska had always found comfort in books. Ever since she was a little girl, with her hair done up in pigtails and in the little dresses her mother handmade for her, she had loved books, and she had loved going back into the stacks and getting lost in the shelves. Of course, she hadn't really been lost back then. Her mother always knew where she was. Even as an adult, she always enjoys going back into the stacks to see what sorts of things she can discover in them.
Or, well, she used to.
Few people every realized just how extensive Records was. They knew that there was a Record's office, and that there were record's rooms. There was a room for looking through records too, for ones that couldn't be taken out of the department. But records went on much further than anyone realized. There were records—or, at least, recreations of records—that dated back to the founding of Amestris, although they were very incomplete. Even with the incompleteness, though, it was still a lot of years to cover. With the dawn of modern communication, there were lot more records to keep as well, and they had to be created faster, to boot. Records was extensive, and it stretched throughout the lower levels, further down then most people even realize was there.
Today, Sheska had to go down there.
She'd been avoiding heading down to the lower levels for quite some time. She just couldn't quite bring herself to do it. She knew that all of those white monsters are gone, but she just can't get the image out of her head, of them there, on the ground, eating that poor soldier, and then all of them turning to look at her. She knew they were all gone—Kain told her they're gone, and he learned it from Colonel Mustang, who confirmed it with Edward—but she still couldn't help the shudder.
Sheska shook her head. She knew she was being silly. It's over and done with and she should just move on like everyone else seems to be. After all, records isn't going to rebuild itself. And no one knows these better than she does.
So, taking a deep breath, off she went, into the stacks.
At first, it wasn't too bad. She wasn't not too far from the front, and she could still hear the others and know that she's not alone. But as she headed deeper into the stacks, she became more uneasy. She tried to push off the feeling, though, and focus on her work.
Suddenly, something caught her eye, and she whipped her head around to look. But nothing's there. It must have just been a trick of the light, right? Yes, that's all it was—or at least that's what she convinced herself of.
Until she saw something again.
That time, she stared longer, but she didn't see anything. She did, she thinks, though, hear something. This time behind her. She whirled, but there was nothing there. She took a step back. There was nothing there, right? Right. There can't be. But she's hearing noises again, and what was that moving over there? She knew that she saw something over there.
She was starting to panic, and she knew it. But she couldn't help herself. There were noise and shadows moving and all she could think about is those skinny white creatures and how they were eating sol—
Something fell, and Sheska bolted. She had no idea where she was going. She just had to get out of there and away before they got her and ate her to because how did they actually know that all of them were dead, there could be others out there running around and they didn't know it yet and they wouldn't know it until someone was eaten and it wasn't going to be her.
She rounded a corner and ran into someone. Panicked, she let out a scream, and began to scramble back. A hand closed around her arm, and she screamed again, fighting back against it. "Don't eat me, don't eat me, don't eat me!" she cried out, trying to get away.
"Sheska!"
Her voice was said like it had been said several times before, and she looked up, still terrified, to see that it was just Major Armstrong who had her and was looking at her with concerned eyes.
"M-m-m-m… Mmm—M—" she stammered, trying to get out his name.
"Sheska," he said. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"I—I—" she began to tear up. "I thought—I mean—it seemed like—" She shook her head. "I thought… there was something…."
The Major looked over her head. "Would you like for me to check?" he asked.
She hesitated, and then nodded. He gave her a pat, and then went back into the stacks. It felt like he was gone forever before he came back, and Sheska was jumpy at every noise that she heard. He came, back, though, and was empty handed.
"There were no signs of anything," he told her. "Are you sure you saw something?"
"I… I thought… It seemed like one of those white monsters…"
He shook his head. "There was nothing there," he said. "Come. Let's go back to the others. You can take a break."
"…alright," she said, but she couldn't help but look over her shoulder. Something was down here, she was sure.