Stairwell - 6th Floor Landing
That blow to the head had been worse than he thought. Archer had tried climbing the stairs, but reached only the sixth floor before he fell to his knees, clutching his lion fur sample in one hand and his head in the other.
"Get up," Griffin urged. "Don't waste this opportunity."
But he hadn't! He had gotten the sample, hadn't he? That was progress. That was something to be proud of. He sat on the landing for a long time, though he didn't know specifically. His body had already been weakened by chronic malnutrition, a pathological neglect of basic eating schedules. He could feel his bones shake every time he tried to drag himself to his feet, and so he eventually stopped bothering.
The longer he stayed awake, the weaker he felt. Throughout the night, he dozed in and out, swinging between reality and a dream world. Sometimes, when he woke, he could have sworn that somebody was talking to him. That must have been Griffin, he imagined. Why wasn't he climbing the stairs? Why wasn't he in one of the penthouse suites? All these questions nagged at him, bothered him so, but he couldn't bear to move.
Without warning, Archer felt everything in his body contort. With a gasp that swept into a whimper, he gripped the bars of the banister, feeling every cell in his body cringe with terror and pain.
"Don't leave me behind!" Griffin barked in his ear, the sound intensifying the pain. "Don't forget the gift I've given you!" Coughing, Archer pulled his knees to his chest, gripping the bars of the banister until his knuckles turned white.
White.
Eyes open, he stared at his hands. They were bony and thin, shaking beneath papery skin. But they had skin. They were visible. Gasping, he looked down at himself, seeing his thin, nude form. He looked to the small clump of lion hair in his hand, then at his body, then down the stairs. He was in quite the predicament.
Sweat beading on his temples, he launched forward, ignoring the trembling in his legs as he forced himself to run down the stairs, trying desperately to reach his apartment before running into any other inhabitants of Bellum.