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Jan. 29th, 2005 02:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lastgunslingerRoland is outside.
He is watching the door.
His left hand rests on Joe's Colt; snow stars his dark hair as he takes in the sight. The door is different from the other doors he's seen so far. Not one has had that red eye on it -- not Eddie's door, not Susannah's, not Jake's. He recognizes the eye; he has seen it painted on a road sign in Topeka, Kansas, right next to words in scarlet: ALL HAIL THE CRIMSON KING.
Roland peers at the letters that are painted on the door, now: THE HANGED MAN.
That was his card, in the tarot reading that Walter did for him, so long ago. Roland's cold blue eyes narrow. He steps forward.
He puts his right hand to the knob -- and pulls it back. Something about it is white-hot. He bends and looks. On the knob is a noose.
Roland straightens. His eyes narrow further.
And the eye moves.
Roland's hand tightens on the Colt. He doesn't pull. Not yet.
"Eyescan accepted. Give your password, pard."
The cheery voice startles him. He wasn't expecting this. It sounds like Andy the Robot -- or Blaine the Mono, turned down a few notches.
Roland Deschain raises his head and stares straight at the eye. "Nineteen."
"Password unknown. Please try again."
He's not sure whether he's glad, surprised, sorry it doesn't work. "Ninety-nine."
"Password unknown. Please try again."
"Nineteen ninety-nine." That's got to be it, he figures -- and then what? It's foolish not to have told someone he's out here, but...
"Password unknown. Please try again."
The door still stands free of anything. Still stands closed.
He's not sure how much longer he stares at it -- wondering why it's here, what Walter plans, if it can do anything to help Jake, what the damned password is -- before he turns and trudges back towards the bar.
He is watching the door.
His left hand rests on Joe's Colt; snow stars his dark hair as he takes in the sight. The door is different from the other doors he's seen so far. Not one has had that red eye on it -- not Eddie's door, not Susannah's, not Jake's. He recognizes the eye; he has seen it painted on a road sign in Topeka, Kansas, right next to words in scarlet: ALL HAIL THE CRIMSON KING.
Roland peers at the letters that are painted on the door, now: THE HANGED MAN.
That was his card, in the tarot reading that Walter did for him, so long ago. Roland's cold blue eyes narrow. He steps forward.
He puts his right hand to the knob -- and pulls it back. Something about it is white-hot. He bends and looks. On the knob is a noose.
Roland straightens. His eyes narrow further.
And the eye moves.
Roland's hand tightens on the Colt. He doesn't pull. Not yet.
"Eyescan accepted. Give your password, pard."
The cheery voice startles him. He wasn't expecting this. It sounds like Andy the Robot -- or Blaine the Mono, turned down a few notches.
Roland Deschain raises his head and stares straight at the eye. "Nineteen."
"Password unknown. Please try again."
He's not sure whether he's glad, surprised, sorry it doesn't work. "Ninety-nine."
"Password unknown. Please try again."
"Nineteen ninety-nine." That's got to be it, he figures -- and then what? It's foolish not to have told someone he's out here, but...
"Password unknown. Please try again."
The door still stands free of anything. Still stands closed.
He's not sure how much longer he stares at it -- wondering why it's here, what Walter plans, if it can do anything to help Jake, what the damned password is -- before he turns and trudges back towards the bar.
