Daniel felt tremendous pain in his body after drinking the elixir, but continued to press on to a better place for his plans, reminding himself of his basic information as it tried to escape and leave him.
Don't forget…something must not be forgotten. The shadow…hunting me. I must hurry. My name is Daniel, I live in London at…at…Mayfair…. What have I done? This is crazy. Don't forget. I must stop him. Focus!
Daniel heard a strange voice in the back of his mind, different from his own.
"Focus Daniel, Focus!"
It must be due to the drink, surely. This voice caused the information to try and escape once more though.
My name is…is…I am Daniel.
And with these last words Daniel fell unconscious to the floor.
"…Hello? …M'kay."
Daniel awoke an unknown amount of time later; shaking his head and watching rose petals fall from above as well as water from a hole in the ceiling, he noticed that the strange voice seemed to comment on the situation as he tried desperately to get to his feet.
"Oh! Another hard Friday night…. Mission one, thatch that roof."
Finally Daniel was standing; he looked to the ground and saw rose petals scattered about and an unknown pink liquid staining the rug. The liquid seemed to form a trail and it seemed that if he were to follow it he may find someone to tell him where he was and what had happened. The strange voice was going on about mementos and restated the plan Daniel had just thought up in simpler words; this voice unnerved Daniel greatly for how normal it seemed. Perhaps whoever was at the end of the liquid trail could explain this; maybe they were the owner of the voice that seemed to haunt his mind.
"It looks like somebody stabbed a clown-"
The voice seemed more threatening now. Rather than immediately follow the trail Daniel opted to explore his current surroundings, a blocked hall and a door to his left.
"-but I've never been one for following rules."
Daniel left the blocked path and entered the small room. There was a chair and table with a single candle sitting on top of the desk with two drapes against the wall. How curious. He tested the door after hearing its first squeak by swinging it closed and then open.
"WHOOSH. That's pretty cool."
Daniel walked into the room and collected a cylinder he knew to be a tinderbox.
That seems a rather odd memory to keep.
"All right. We're on our way to startin' this thing."
The voice had such…rough English. He turned and left to follow the trail as he had planned, but only a few steps out of the room he felt compelled to pick up a potted plant.
"So apparently I can pick things up."
Daniel walked onwards with his new plant but saw no purpose for it, it would be best to dispose of it.
"To throw, click."
Daniel threw the plant above a doorway and into the wall above, shattering the pot and allowing the plant to stumble and stand in front of him, the dirt solid and intact. He was not sure why he felt it necessary to do this, it seemed very rude to break things that were not his, as far as he knew anyway, but it did seem to make him feel better.
"Ah snap!"
Daniel had been watching the plant at his feet during these thoughts when suddenly, it vanished. He had to do a double-take; had that really happened?
"Whoa! It just kind of dematerialized."
Daniel ignored the strange voice and sight because he must have been seeing things, and hearing things it seems. He turned to his right and pressed on down the hall. Only a few steps from his previous spot Daniel's vision was failing him, as well as his legs. He was swaying in place and nearly falling over.
"Ok! I am…drunk apparently."
To be drunk at this time of day seemed very ill fitting, but that was besides the point. Daniel regained himself and forced himself to stand tall once more and regain his senses.
"And then I glided. M'kay…door."
Daniel reached to open a large door as the voice named it but he was stopped by a frightening sound and feeling. It was as if the door was possessed and did not want him leaving. Daniel backed away from the door in horror.
"Doors…freak me out apparently, all right."
Doors did not scare Daniel, but that particular one did. It was then that he realized the voice was speaking as if it were him. The voice was his own, but yet it was not his voice or his thoughts. Some of its words were similar to his thoughts but they were certainly not his.
Daniel moved into an open hallway and a door was suddenly blown open. This was not frightening as much as it was surprising, but after the shock started to wear off Daniel thought it must be frightening because….where was the wind from? It seemed to powerful and dust filled to simply be from a window; his breathing became heavy at his thoughts and he looked around in a panic.
"So do hallways and…wind."
It was an unnatural wind! Why can this voice not understand that?
Daniel went to the recently opened door and looked inside to find no window for the wind to enter from; this unnerved him even more. All he saw was more drapes, another table, some candles, chairs, and a fireplace. Against his better judgment he entered the room.
"Although where that wind came from I haven't a clue."
Thank you. At least it somewhat registers with this voice now.
Daniel collected another tinderbox from the table and picked up an empty bottle to inspect it.
"But more tinder! And more bottles."
Like before, Daniel felt the need to throw the bottle against the wall, shattering it, if only to watch it disappear like the pot.
"Ah! I am an excellent house guest."
Hardly….
Daniel felt that he couldn't stand to see something else vanish and left before he could, finding his vision to be acting strange once more.
"Oh man, I really gotta get a handle on this whole drinking thing…ok uh…"
Daniel opened a cupboard and found a hung shirt and yet another tinderbox to collect.
"Man, I am just…something tells me these things are going to be important."
It was unlikely, but possible. Daniel looked to his right to find a case with a glass cover to she a piece of paper.
"Oo paper, let's see…uh…it's made of glass, can I smash it with something?"
Daniel looked inside another cupboard and saw a broom. This could fulfill the voice's odd desires easily, as well as more tinder.
"More tinder. All right, I'm going to smash it with a broom."
As if taking orders from the voice, Daniel found himself taking the broom to do just this; he readied it to smash and did just that, succeeding after a few hits.
"Oh yeah!"
Daniel threw the broom away and simply stared at the paper.
"Can't take the paper, oh well. That was a uh…waste of broom. Is this room slanted or am I still drunk?"
Indeed the room seemed slanted in Daniel's eyes, which luckily he could still see the broom with, so he and the voice had the same idea once more: tilt himself to even it out.
"See if I can balance this...no, nope, just tilted the other way. Ok."
Daniel gave up and opened the other door to show stairs.
"God it's like a funhouse."
Daniel began climbing upwards still trying to calm himself and his vision.
"Man I am hammered."
A curious choice of words. Upon reaching the top of the stairs there were even more strange sounds; alarming sounds. The hall seemed to grow smaller as he walked.
"And I'm claustrophobic. Apparently."
You are not me voice! Now stop referring to yourself as such!
"It's really cool, it's like…it's like Evil Dead."
Daniel had no idea what he was speaking of, nor did he want to.
"It's like they've got the evil dead sound design going on here."
Daniel had been in a hyperventilating panic from all of this and heard screams as he nearly fainted, watching the room warp around him.
"Oh god, I'm having a panic attack now."
Eventually he was calm and the sounds and sights ceased , allowing him to go on with his mission.
"Well that passed relatively well. Gonna keep moving."
Soon Daniel was in a hallway similar to before, and like earlier a door opened on its own, though much slower now.
"Oo, something wants me to go in there."
While I most certainly do not want to see anything it wants me too.
Daniel entered the other door to avoid it. The room was rather dark, which was less than comforting.
"But I'm gonna go in here first because you know what? I'm hardcore, and I get more tinder."
Daniel collected another tinderbox from a shelf and left.
"And my eyesight is like looking through a fish-eye lens. I gotta get something to fix that…"
Another odd thought which Daniel tried to ignore as he worked to open a cupboard that had been knocked over. The first door was easy, but the second…
"Come on, lift. Liiiiift-! Yeah, there we go."
Daniel saw nothing inside.
"Worse comes to worse I can make that a makeshift boat."
I really don't want to know the circumstances under which that would be necessary.
Daniel jumped in and out of the cupboard to then explore the door that had creaked open for him, even though he more than wanted to ignore it. He cautiously looked inside to see a lovely and harmless room, so he felt little fear when entering. Once inside the wind came from nowhere once more and took out every light in a dusty tornado of sorts. Daniel's flesh seemed to crawl and his panic was worse than ever.
"Creepy wind…Beware the darkness, your sanity will slowly drain, turn on the lights in your environment using tinderboxes."
Daniel quickly lighted some candles and slowly calmed.
"Like that! Aha! Take that insanity. I have defeated madness, with tinder!"
Daniel left the room in fear it would repeat its wind trick and explored another cupboard.
"Door…door…aw, no more tinder."
Was that honestly the voices concern? Granted it had proved useful just then but was it not aware of the situation? Daniel looked at the drapes on the wall covering a few paintings.
"Can I pull these apart? Can I see what's behind these?"
Daniel refused.
"Aw, but it looks so fancy…here's a chair…wait, wait!"
Daniel picked up the chair and threw it to the hanging lights with no idea as to why.
"Ahh-kay. Let's keep moving here."
Daniel went down the stairs now, frightened by the growing darkness and dust in the air. So far, dust had proven to show enemies. Quickly he entered the door to the old archives, though he had no clue as to where it was.
"The door slammed shut behind him and he knew he would never again see the old tailor at Berkley Square. Another lone soul in London seemed appropriate somehow."
The strange voice seemed harmless at first, but now it gave him chills. That time, the voice had definitely sounded wicked, to say the least.
"I know I read that wrong but whatever."
Read? Oh, he was reading….but…reading what?
Daniel walked down the new hall, also containing wind but this time it thankfully blew none of the lights out.
"Continuing down the windy path."
Just then a strong wind blew open a third door and blew out paper from inside as well as all the lights around him. Daniel's sanity suffered as a result of this.
"Oh no, my insanity will over so grow…"
Why was this voice so cruel and sarcastic to him? Honestly, he had to search the room that harbored that devil wind and the voice was mocking him!
"What've we got? Hey, this room's light!"
Lit, you imbecile, this room is lit, not light.
"See, stand in the light."
As Daniel did so a hoard of hissing roaches appeared on the ground from nowhere. They were disgusting and creepy creatures.
"Cockroaches freak me out. This guy just has phobias."
They are disgusting thank you very much!
Daniel did his best to ignore the roaches, and the voice, and collected two more tinderboxes. As he continued exploring this room the voice gave him a startling thought:
"I wonder, can my insanity kill me? That's my only regret right now, if I'm actually losing sanity by standing in this…you know, this place is lit. They have no excuse if I'm going insane."
They?
Daniel left the room and lit the hallway torch before continuing on.
"Fine I'll light these torches…. Come on man, you're not that in the dark, I mean, I can see just fine."
True, it wasn't so bad. Once inside another room though it did become far worse. Another tornado like wind surrounded him, luckily too weak to lift him.
"You're in the light."
How does that help?
"Tornadoes can't hurt you when you're in the light."
You must be joking.
The wind died and Daniel continued to enter the room further.
"Or maybe they can, I don't know."
How could you not know that?
"A book! That's gotta be important."
Daniel lifted the book and found it plain and useless so per usual he tossed it aside.
"Take that! Oo a lantern, that's far more important than a book. I have a lantern, it can be filled with oil pressing F."
F?
"Ok, I have a lantern now."
Daniel raised and lit his lantern.
"Ah!"
He put it out and away seeing as the room was lit.
"Not gonna waste that 'cause that seems like it's important."
The next room was shrouded in darkness, making Daniel take out his lantern once more.
"But this looks like it will drain my sanity so ha ha!"
That voice was so distracting that when Daniel opened the next door he had opened it on himself.
"Just hit myself in the face there. This room's light so I got this."
LIT. This room is LIT.
Daniel put out his lantern once more as he looked around the room.
"Oo a box!"
Daniel took the box out from under the shelf as the ground seemed to give way to an earthquake.
"Let's get you out of there and-what's doing what?"
Had the voice only just noticed? It was horrifying and rather obvious, though it soon stopped and Daniel returned to the box.
"Crazy earthquakes."
Daniel tried to open the box by smashing it to the ground before dropping it to examine.
"Ok this is clearly a chest. Right? That's a hinge."
And that's the lock which I don't have the key to.
Daniel attempted to break it open once more before throwing it away in frustration and failure.
"Meaning there's nothing inside of it and/or it's locked."
If there was nothing inside, it wouldn't be locked.
"Is that a humble figurine? It is…no it's a bookend. I can't move it…but I can throw it."
What?
"I feel like there must be tinder or something here."
Daniel opened the door to a burning fire.
"You know I'm pretty sure this would be hotter."
It's rather hot on the inside; the outside is not too terrible.
Daniel searched the cupboard nearby which seemed to always hold something useful.
"You know I'm really wasting time around here-oo! Tinder, there we go. You know you gotta explore these things, that's what I hear from people who play them. Gotta explore all these little spots or-"
Daniel ignored the annoying voice because in the next room he found the end of the trail. There was no one there but there was a desk with a light that caught his attention.
"…Thank you musical cue and…ever guiding camera, um…"
Daniel collected lantern oil and read a note that was left on the table which read:
19th of August, 1839
I wish I could ask you how much you remember. I don't know if there will be anything left after I consume this drink. Don't be afraid Daniel. I can't tell you why, but know this.
"It's like ye old hangonver!"
I choose to forget. Try to find comfort and strength in that fact. There is a purpose. You are my final effort to put things right. God willing, the name Alexander of Brennenburg still invokes bitter anger in you. If not, this will sound horrible. Go to the Inner Sanctum, find Alexander and kill him. His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you.
"So did you leave me a gun or…?"
One last thing, a shadow is following you. It's a living nightmare, breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can. Redeem us both Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and murder him.
Your former self,
Daniel
Dear lord….This is…so much to absorb…. I…I have to murder a man…I don't even know him….
"Yeah but a gun would have helped for killing the old man, I'm just sayin'."
Had this voice no morals? Daniel had to kill someone and it acted as if it were nothing!
"I mean, I may not be able to kill the darkness…"
Daniel's sanity was deserting him as he explored the darkness after reading such news.
"Gotcha, insanity, moving back to the candle light. Candle light~."
In desperation Daniel used his lantern to explore the other side of the room.
"Anything over here? Anything over here? Hey a lever!"
Daniel pulled down on the lever and the bookcase swung open as the wall behind it lifted up to show a secret passage. This was astounding, simply a spectacle to see!
"Oo, cool."
….
"Let's do this!"
Daniel went through the secret door to what he did not know to be the Entrance Hall.
"A fragrant taste of rose lingered in his mouth. Turkish delights, he thought. Just like the ones at the consul…"
The voice was much more enjoyable as he recited this but it was as if he had lost the words at the end.
"To run, hold left shift."
Daniel never understood what the voice meant with words like those but he still began running around the area.
"Weee-this is…not much of a run but-ahh!"
A bright, and rather painful, light flashed in Daniel's eyes as he could hear voices. New voices. Voices that seemed familiar.
"God, that was unnecessary!"
"Alexander is it…inside the castle?"
Is that….my voice?
"In a matter of speaking. Come, bring the lamp. You've been to the refinery, have you not?"
Then that must be…Alexander's voice.
The man had a rather powerful voice, simply the sound of it made it seem impossible to kill this man. Daniel moved on towards a door down a short collection of stairs.
"I don't believe I have. Is it connected to the…what did you call it?"
"The inner sanctum, my most precious chamber, Daniel. And it lies well beyond the refinery. In fact, it lies beneath the very stone of Brennenburg. "
His voice was purely enchanting, but at the same time seemed cunning.
"Brrrenenburg~"
Unlike your voice….
The light flashed once more as Daniel's vision corrected itself and he opened the door.
"Ok, so we shall go through-"
The door opened to show yet another hall, but this one was blocked by an unusual and unnerving wall of what appeared to be flesh. Daniel paused a moment before going to inspect it.
"…Intriguing."
Daniel wrote a brief note of his observations as he chose his plan of action only to hear the voice read it.
"Ok let's see what I just jotted down. Is that a note? Daniel's note to se-no, no, nope, that's…not right. Let's try…memento. 'Some sort of organic tissue blocks the path to the refinery. Can it be dissolved?' Well assuming that I wrote that down, yes, it must be able to be dissolved."
Daniel touched the tissue to discover it was extremely thick.
"Tough and pliant, can't be torn by hand or tool. I bet a chainsaw would rip its way through that!"
A chainsaw? The title is rather descriptive…perhaps the osteotome?
"Although I'm not sure what time frame I'm in so chainsaws might not be relevant, but let's see what we've got back here."
Daniel entered another hall and found a well lit and dull surrounding. He found nothing with the bookcases but a tinderbox, but cockroaches were once again everywhere.
"Hey, tinder! And cockroaches…yes, yes, cockroaches. Hiss, hiss. Oo oil!"
Daniel collected the oil that was tucked away behind the boxes by the bookshelf and looked at a large door like the one from earlier that started the chain of chilling events.
"I've got a feeling I'm going the wrong way but-wait, is this that one door? That one door that creeped me the fuck out and wouldn't let me through? It is isn't it? But it doesn't tell me where it leads! Gah fuck it, I'm just gonna assume it's that same door."
The roaches gave a loud hiss as Daniel hurried out of the hall in case it was.
"Yeah, yeah, hiss. Hey maybe I can open you."
Daniel went to open a nearby chest with no padlock unlike the last one.
"Yeah! All right."
Daniel grabbed more oil and tinder for his journey with the strange voice, which was apparently from the future judging by this chainsaw idea of his.
Is this voice a male? It would be creepy if it were not but….
Daniel resolved to saw the voice was male and continued on his way.
"Thank god people just leave me oil and tinder…they don't leave me much else though. What's upstairs?"
Daniel began going upstairs to answer both of their curiosity before quickly turning to face the source of a bone chilling scream from a woman below.
"No! Get away from me!"
"…Like I said what's upstair-oh fuck it."
Daniel ran down and into the archway to find two different directions he could go; he turned left, then right, and decided to go that direction.
"To in here. Into the laboratory."
The voice gave a strange pattern to the word laboratory, but what concerned Daniel was that it seemed to know what the room was. How could it though? It could not have been Alexander's voice; it was completely different from the one he heard himself call Alexander.
"Traveling to Dover meant going through Canterbury. He made sure to pay a visit to… "
The voice trailed off into mumbles which Daniel couldn't understand, not that he cared much to. The room was near pitch black and Daniel was feeling unnerved yet again. Light shimmered in from a small window and he felt better as he could hear the call of loons from outside.
"Ok I just…there's a loon?"
This voice was becoming rather irritating. Daniel lit a torch; the window was nice, but far from enough. He continues down the stairways and felt a dreadful sense coming over him.
"I'm sorry, that was clearly the sound of a loon."
Of course it's a loon you blithering idio-!
There was a great shaking of the ground around Daniel and what sounded like the house moaning. Shakily Daniel finished down the stairs and held to a support beam for balance, hoping it would not give way. The motions stopped and Daniel took tentative steps.
"Ah but then the question begs: How much of this is just in his mind, and how much of this is-"
Daniel collected a rolling jar of oil and looked up quickly to see a massive amount of fog, or something similar to it, emitting from an entryway blocked off with boulders. The castle repeated its shakes and moans and Daniel fell into a panic. The fog slowly fell and stopped along with the castle and he turned, unable to look at it.
"…actually there."
It was a good question, he had to admit. How could Daniel be certain all of this was real? It certainly seemed real, but that was hardly a good defense for its truth. Daniel investigated a corner to see an odd mesh sitting along the ground.
"Ok…uh…based on the large amounts of what appears to be…"
Daniel walked away before the voice could finish that thought. It was as if humans had been liquefied almost completely; Daniel held his head to try and null the pain it had brought.
"Oh, lord, I'm not having a good time with that am I? Let's keep moving on."
Roaches were hissing all around him, making his head hurt worse.
"Is anyone there?"
Another voice! And it was one not in his head, or so he thought, and not within a flashback; or so he would call those experiences for now. Daniel followed the call down the stairs, not speaking just to be safe.
"I'm here. Do I actually get to talk to somebody? Or is this all my insanity?"
The voice sounded annoyed at the thought wile Daniel was crushed; he saw no one in the room and this further proved that he was mad. It was then that it struck him that hearing a voice and treating it so normally should have already alerted him of that fact. Daniel searched the room for a person still though, finding a desk tucked away to the left.
"My insanity has been getting the best of-"
Another bright light appeared in Daniel's eye; another hint of the past would come to him, and his burning eyes.
"OW!"
There was mumbling, clearly Alexander's voice this time.
"There should be more cuprite."
There were glasses moving about and more mumbling.
"And one part aqua fortis."
There was a bubbling sound and the light shown again before Daniel's vision settled to its normal state.
"Ok that is entirely unnecessary thank you."
Daniel was slightly bewildered that a voice's eyes hurt more than his own, or rather, that it had eyes to harm. To keep himself from going over a plethora of pointless theories, Daniel read another note in his head as the voice read it aloud…or in his head as well he supposed.
Chemical Relocation
The lack of a chimney to properly vent the fumes from my most recent experiments has taken its toll on many of my less stable ingredients in storage. Some seem unaffected, but many are stained by the fumes and will be difficult to salvage. I shall do what I can and move them to the wine cellar.
"Wine cellar, ok into the wine cellar."
Daniel walked on a steaming vent, the moist, warm air felt nice despite his previous run in with fog.
"Breathe in the fumes th-"
There was a loud sound in Daniel's ears, like that of roaring, and his vision betrayed him yet again, he looked down to see calm water, and then splashes where nothing was.
"Right, right, I-what the fuck?"
The roaring and other sounds continued on as Daniel panted in horror and watched the water in hopes it would settle, and after awhile it did. Though now he heard footsteps above his head and saw the chandelier slightly shake above him. Daniel shook horribly and collected one more jar of oil from across the room to try and keep busy before he took out his lantern.
"Ok, ok, I'm trembling. Head pounding hands shaking…"
They were, unbearably so too.
"So you could say I have chills and they're starting to multiply. I might start losing control."
Control? What control? Did this voice somehow make Daniel act against his will without him knowing it? Was the voice his will? He walked back to the desk as he thought a took a pot.
"Ok, hey! Picked up a…chemistry pot. Gotcha. I'm not gonna waste lantern oil here."
Daniel opened a drawer and thought that was a good idea. He lit the candles on the desk and put away the lantern to continue his searching. He found tinder in the top drawer, rather convenient.
"See the tinder just paid itself off."
Daniel closed the drawers to open the bottom one but he shook uncontrollably as he did. The drawer quaked out rather than slid.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey. You're in the light buddy, come on. Don't be a douche."
It was still an intimidating environment and situation though. Daniel moved aside a chair to open the side compartment of the desk, having yet to find anything except for a single tinder box. What he found now was a large cylinder with a light blue jewel of some sort, or so it appeared to be.
"Hey, what're you?"
Curious, Daniel reached for it only to be greeted by another bright light when he touched it, but this time it didn't fade to blur his vision.
"FLYING FUCK!"
The voice went into what Daniel was still assuming to be its reading voice.
"One day I will return…"
And it went once more into mumbles until the light faded.
"Ok."
Daniel reached for it again, hoping the voice would read the whole message aloud, it sounded important.
"So can I take it no-OWW? No. Ok, I get it."
Obviously he did not because the light left once more and it was clear he would never read it. Daniel did not need the voice to read a note though, and he picked up the one sitting on the table. The voice seemed to mumble its reading with an occasional interjection.
Early Alchemy ExperimentThis is my third attempt to produce artificial vitae. The former compounds lacked the potency I need, but I sense I'm close. Calamine and Orpiment are a given and the Cuprite binds them well. This time I will attempt Aqua Regia instead of Aqua Fortis in hope it will produce a more even solution.
The experiment was unsuccessful. The solution is highly acid
"HA HA!"
and proves impractical to put to any use except as a detergent. Organic tissue reacts especially violently
"Finally, the solution."
to the solution and should be handled with the greatest care.
"How convenient!"
I might be able to use the recipe, but I'm losing hope that I will find an alchemic solution to my predicament.
Daniel tucked away the note and turned to see and go after another tinder box that sat inside of a heater, or at least he thought that was what it was, he wasn't too sure anymore.
"Oo! Ok it actually makes sense to put tinder there. Good thing I know how to crouch."
It was yet another confusing cluster of words. Daniel began to leave and heard the footsteps above him again; he wasn't sure if they belonged to someone friendly or not though. He ran up the stairs and back out to the main room the stairs had led him to.
"Gonna run through the dark, so I don't burn anything, or waste anything."
There was a strange sound that the voice's deep groan did not help.
"And we're gonna continue on our way."
Daniel hurried up the stairs to escape the sounds and the dark; opening the door to travel the other direction now.
"And we're running. Cause the faster I run, insanity can't catch me!"
This voice made no sense! It stated the obvious, spoke nonsense, and could not even use proper words! And it read parts of works that weren't there before dissolving into mumbles, as it did now.
"The other children cheered him on….steadily rising…. Are these things just getting slightly more and more depressing? I guess, I don't know."
Daniel looked up at a sign above the stairs to the other door. It was clearly in another language; he seemed to know it was called German.
"Wine Cellar."
That must have been the translation. So the voice knows German then? Daniel hurried down the stairs-
"Weeee~."
-and tried to open the door. I would not budge; it was locked.
"…without a key, ok."
Daniel rushed back upstairs with the incessant mumble.
"Beauty, so the key must be up here right?"
A strong and deafening wind blew towards Daniel, seeming to wrap around him in a cloud of dust. No matter how many times that happened it grew no more normal to him than the darkness. He escaped the now dying wind upstairs, where he had tried to go earlier before a no doubt phantom scream interrupted him.
"It's like I'm being chased by The Happening."
The what?
The door to his left was boarded closed, so Daniel hurried to his right, finding another blocked hallway or room and the sound of another loon.
"And loons."
Daniel continued running straight and through an archway. There was a door ahead and a dead end path down to his right.
"So this is just a theory, but this being the only other door…"
Daniel entered the new room with a great creak from the door and more mumbled reading.
"He fell to the kitchen floor. Tears were beginning to well in his eyes as he received the first kick in his stomach. Hazel remained hidden, in fear she too would be punished."
Hazel? Why does that name seem so familiar….it….it is a sad familiar. Did I know her?
Daniel closed the door behind him.The hallway was lit and seemed more elegant than the rest of the cold mansion, or castle, but in the middle was a door, broken from its hinges and thrown down. It appeared to b from the door to the right and Daniel wondered: What could have done this, and why?
"That door slam sounded like a shotgun blast."
Daniel walked forward to the door and heard what sounded like a beast, breathing, and somewhat growling. It sounded like it was far from being his friend.
"…Roar?"
The sound continued and Daniel collected a part of his diary, praying it would hold answers.
16th of May 1839 "Oo! Story time!"The unflinching African sun has continued to plague our expedition, making it impossible to dig until dusk. How Professor Herbert managed to find the location in these vast plains of nothingness remains a mystery to me. When I asked him about the tomb again, he told me about the legend of Tin Hinan, "the mother of us all". An interesting story, in its own right, but I can't help feeling there's more. Later that evening, we uncovered a passage beneath the dunes leading to a sand-covered stone structure. The professor was confident it was the tomb we sought and ordered the others to to clear the way- late into the dark cold night.
Tomorrow, I shall lead the men into the ancient structure, hoping to reach the burial chamber. No matter what the professor is keeping from me, the dig should yield something interesting to take back to London and the British Museum.
"That's…commendable. Let's go."
Daniel searched a dresser that was nearby but found nothing useful, only more roaches on the ground.
"Nothin' in there, nothin' in there, nothin' in there, ok that was a waste of my time. Anything here? Anything? Anything other than that letter? I can grab chairs, but I don't see what use they are."
Daniel found nothing of actual use but picked up a figure from atop the fireplace.
"I'm taking you. At least I got something now."
Daniel left the room to enter the adjacent one.
"But I can't open doors with you, so you're useless!"
Daniel threw it aside, only realizing what a terrible idea it was afterwards. What if he alerted the thing that was growling earlier? He quickly entered the room to hide, hoping it wasn't in there. He held up the lantern to calm himself, even though the room was lit.
"Hey, take that insanity! I have a torch."
Daniel glanced at an open door to the side before lighting more candles and putting out his lantern. He had to glance back at it though.
"That door's gonna slam shut, I just know it. Huh? HUH? Do it! DO IT DOUCHEBAG!"
Daniel went to the door and almost closed it himself just to shut him up, but decided against it and returned to the desk.
"Ok you're not gonna do it."
There were more books in the compartment similar to the stacks on top of it; fed up with the voice's annoying tendencies Daniel grabbed the knocked over chair and threw it behind himself to reach the drawers. The chair happened to hit the door though, closing it, as if to satisfy the voice. To try and keep it from talking Daniel returned to the drawers.
"Ok that was the chair's fault…kind of an awesome throw though I didn't even mean to do that."
No luck in shutting it up, but the voice was amused and Daniel had more tinder. He reopened the last door to leave.
"Let's see what's behind this door…another hallway, ok."
Daniel entered the door just ahead and heard a swarm of unclear words and voices; they seemed to be Alexander though. There was a brief silence.
"BOOMER!"
Daniel nearly had a heart attack.
"Or not."
You right bloody arse!
Daniel searched through yet another fruitless dresser that held only two shirts.
"Ow. Hit myself with that drawer. I have a change of clothes if I need 'em. Wear a lot of the same stuff though."
Daniel went to the desk nearby; they usually held something useful for him. There was another note on top and useless books in the compartment.
"I see you paper. Guess what, I'm checking the drawers first. That's where people keep shit."
A tinder box sat in the center drawer.
"Aye, like tinder!"
There was nothing more and so Daniel read the other fraction of his former self's diary.
17th of May
"Story time!"
1839
My hands tremble as I write. I feel a need to document my tribulation for I fear that my memory will fail me
"It's as if I might have some sort of Amnesia…."
if I linger.
Today I took some men and ventured into the dark ancient passage we uncovered. Our torches burned faintly
"I'm kind of getting some sexual innuendo from that one."
in the murky air as we slowly made our way underground. The men were superstitious and fearful. They argued loudly and I felt their language getting to me. I mustered my strength and yelled at them to continue down the slopes and broken steps.
"Ha, ha, isn't that just the way an English person would do it."
The crudely carved passage confused me.
"Or an American even…."
It looked much older than the 4th century structure we had expected. The twisting path emerged into a great ante-chamber. The walls were lined with statues unlike any I'd ever seen. Despite their unearthly quality I felt a strange familiarity toward them, which haunts me still. At the far end of the chamber, a great slab of stone sealed off whatever lay ahead. I gave the order to raise it, as I pushed through the narrow space, the heavy stone suddenly dropped, sealing me inside.
"Well that explains your claustrophobia."
I was trapped.
"I guess. All right, let's keep going here. Come on, something gonna happen? This door gonna blow open, that door gonna blow shut? Anything?"
Daniel opened the door hoping nothing would happen, and that the voice would not make comments such as with the note ever again.
"No monsters yet…"
YET?
Daniel drew out his lantern and looked around the hallway panicked. Monsters? Did the voice know something else he did not; something that important? He entered another room to search, and escape the thought of monsters. It seemed harmless and empty so he stepped in; a book fell from the shelf with a loud thud. Normally this should have only given a small jolt of surprise, but with monsters on his mind it scared Daniel greatly and he lit a candle for protection a piano played in the distance and he put out his lantern.
"And now the ghost play piano. Or whatever are haunting me, I just assume ghost."
Thank god, the voice knew nothing of other creatures being here. It must have been a jab, a pulling of the leg if you will. Daniel calmed down and collected oil and tinder from a chest and a heater before it hit him again: what IS playing the piano?
"I don't know why I assume ghost, I guess when I think haunted I think ghost."
Fog was in the room and filled with dust from the book's fall; it seemed to breathe almost. Daniel redrew his lantern to search the other ide of the room and pull out another chest, one with a lock.
"All right let's pull out this chest-nope, this is one of those ones I just bang around. Fuck you."
Daniel tried smashing it open briefly like earlier, but the piano made him throw it away and leave before something could find him.
"Misleading bastards."
Daniel tried one door but it was locked and barely moved. Daniel scribbled something down.
"Locked, let me guess! It's blocked! That's what your note says."
Daniel entered a long, lit hallway and put his lantern away once more.
"This room's lit."
Thank you.
"So I can explore this room. Maybe I can play the piano!"
Daniel walked towards a piano but when he was close by the cover closed over the keys as a growl sounded around Daniel and he looked around in a panic, seeing nothing.
"Unless the thing doesn't want me to! …fuck you, I'll play piano when I want!
Daniel lifted the cover open.
"HAHA! Huh? HUH?...I don't even know why I motion with the mouse, I guess that's just to give you guys the effect, whatever."
Mouse?
"Man I am cynical. Maybe that's why I don't get scared by a lot of things."
Daniel searched for a new path to his left, or right from the doorway he entered.
"That's the first hallway I was in. Ok, let's keep going, admire the art."
Daniel ran down the hallway, looking around at the décor every now and then; he had almost reached the end of the hall when a very peculiar sound came from somewhere nearby. Daniel entered the hall against his better judgment and saw a stack of boulders that had fallen from above, and blood sitting on the bottom few. A terrible accident must have occurred.
"Huh…somethi-OH! Right, right, sanity! Gotcha."
Daniel lit the lantern and hurried past the scene to a small sun room where a jar of oil greeted him. He put out the lantern.
"There we go, I'm sane."
Daniel saw another piano nearby and lifted the cover off the keys like before; there was no real reason to though.
"Ok let's see."
Relighting his lantern, Daniel went into the shadowed bit of the hallway and entered a room to his right.
"This seems like a good place to go, the door's already open for me."
The room, another one filled with books, was lit so Daniel extinguished his lantern to investigate two large, pinned pieces of paper on a stand of some sort.
"Maps."
On that single note another bright flash filled Daniel's eyes and faded; a flashback.
"Ok that's getting' old."
"Much of the castle is old and hasn't been tended to for centuries. When the shadow arrives, it won't take long until things start falling apart."
It was Alexander's deep and handsome voice. Apparently he knew of the shadow, perhaps he was helping Daniel, or pretending to if the order for his death was any indication. Daniel's former self's voice chimed in with Alexander's.
"We're just buying time anyway. Let's do what we can."
"There is much to be done about the wards. We should reinforce weak structures. The ground would tremble, and there's a risk everything will cave in on us-especially downstairs."
They must not have finished, these things were happening anyway.
"Ok"
"Here, here, and there. Let's get the servants working on it."
Alexander's voice stopped with papers being moved and the light shone again the return Daniel to normal-or, what he was.
"Theory. You're…ok, you're following a guy who's talking about unleashing 'the shadow that will destroy things'…I-I don't know how far healthy curiosity can play into that."
Daniel was confused all over again and emptied a nearby chest of oil and two tinder boxes. The piano sounded outside the room as Daniel went to leave.
"Tinder, tinder. And there's the piano playing ghost again, maybe it's playing piano over here."
Daniel did not want to see, but he was just too curious. He knew he'd chicken out if he just slowly poked through, so he jumped out completely, and quickly to see.
"AHA!"
Luckily nothing was there; at least nothing visible was. Not that it calmed Daniel.
"Right, right, lantern."
Daniel lit the lantern and went into the room to his left.
"Ok, what's in here?"
When he was only halfway into the room Daniel heard, and felt, a giant rumble and crash of the house, followed by more dust flying about from just down the hall. Daniel took cover in the room he was entering anyway and put out his lantern.
"Well that's not…good. I'm gonna explore in here first though."
Daniel looked at more paper, this time with maps, and three small scraps.
"Kingdom of Prussia. Central Prussia. Random words; let's see if I can read any of them, uhh…no. That's the quick answer."
Daniel took his lantern out to search yet another desk, only to quickly run out of oil.
"Oh no, I-wait, wait, wait, wait, I got eight…or can I just double click? Yeah I can just double click."
Daniel didn't know what the voice was talking about but he filled up his lantern almost completely, lit the candles on the desk, and read the paper sitting there for him; waiting. As soon as he touched the paper he went into a dreadful panic attack; his vision was a nightmare, he panted constantly and fell to the ground in a more…immersive flashback.
"…Attempting to read gives me HORRIBLE panic attacks. Did I die? Ok."
17th of May 1839After pounding the unforgiving stone wall for what seemed like an eternity, I realized it was hopeless. I was trapped. I fell to the ground gasping for air, trying to focus. That's when I saw a faint blue shimmer.
"Oo!"
Daniel saw a long and narrow path, with the same faint, blue shimmer at the end. He took a step and looked around.
My weakened body was heavy to carry,
"I'm playing my flashback."
Playing?
Daniel stumbled forward towards the light.
but I managed to push myself towards the enchanting light. It was waiting for me. Enclosed in dark nothingness I felt drawn to the mystic light.
Daniel saw a bowl, or a podium, or something of the sort holding the bright light that seemed to be coming from an orb. He looked around nervously but kept looking back at it.
"Ok I can't even look away from it. Ah, ahh, gotta try to ignore it, nope! Ok, I'll do it."
Daniel reached for the object and took hold of it. The room, or whatever it was, began shaking before shining that bright, white light. Then, all was dark.
I reached out closing it in my hands.
The faint glow escaped my fingers and began to spark brightly and spirit me away. Unlocking alien memories of spiraling towers, endless deserts, and impossible geometry.
The next thing I can remember is the grating sound of stone being lifted. The voices of the Arabs pulling me to safety. And grasped firmly in my hands was the broken pieces of a most peculiar relic.
Daniel was back in the room of the castle, the piano was playing, and he desperately searched the desk drawers.
"Did I check these? Book…nope! Didn't! Haha! Suck on that. Tinder box."
Daniel collected another tinder box, searched the compartment to find nothing, and left the room having remembered the sound from before.
"Now let's figure out that cave in thing was."
Daniel saw that the boulders from before had multiplied; he was trapped!
"Well, low and behold it was a fucking cave in, great!"
Daniel wrote down a note and turned to see the wall that ended the hallway.
"All right I assume I have to destroy that, but first let's light this room so I don't go insane."
Daniel lit the light above the hall so he could see what he was doing better.
"Cause Mr. Baby's afraid of the dark."
WE ARE CAVED IN, POSSIBLY WITH GHOSTS, AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING IF I CAN NOT SEE YOU BLOODY GIT! I am NOT an infant thank you very little!
"Well then again, after all this talk of the shadow…um…"
Thank you!
"Ok, that wall…hey you look heavy!"
Daniel picked up the head of a suit of armor and went to the wall.
"Let's see what I can do."
Daniel tried slamming the metal against the wall a few times before throwing it and crashing a tremendous hole into existence.
"Eh, eh, eh, eh, all right let's try this, eh-HO YEAH! Fucking miracles. Ok…fucking miracle."
Daniel let the dust settle and jumped up into the hole.
"Let's see…yep, I think I'm just gonna take a break here."
A break? Does that mean this voice will be gone? At least for now anyway….