Amnesia: Close Encounters
Author's Note
Just a quick One-Shot that came to me in class one day that I made a point of writing, took me a couple of hours so if it is lacking a bit, I apologize.
Events that transpire in this fan fiction mirror that of my own game play experience, albeit with a little exaggeration for entertainment purposes ;). It is mixed with a compilation of Daniel's inner most thoughts and feelings along with a few of my own to try and flush out Daniel's character a little. Though I don't think it's necessary if you've played the game all the way through yourself. But still, it was a fun piece to write ^^
Constructive criticism is welcome, but please bear in mind I'm new to Amnesia Fictions.
Read, Review, Enjoy :)
Disclaimer
Although I would like to, I do not own Amnesia: The Dark Descent or any pre-existing characters; they belong to Frictional Games and the ingenious developers behind the game. The characters and events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Author: ItzyBlitzy
Ambivalence, I was at an impasse with my resolve; a junction lay in my path and I (my wit already descending into madness) found myself lingering at the divide. I kept the lantern close to my face, but not even its warm glow could ward off the insanity creeping into my mind. It wasn't as if the decision was all that arduous, but I found it deterministic of my quest for which direction to navigate. I continued to stare into the abyss, not being able to see anything that wasn't directly in front of me. The uncertainty of it all, the sheer notion of ambiguity for what may lurk within the cloak of darkness anchored me to the spot. I bit the bottom of my lip, my upper one parting from the curvature of the lower as my head began to twist back and forth, pulling my attention from one passage to another. But even when I had come to a decision, despite it my body cried out in objection.
I narrowed my eyes and held up the lantern close to my face again then peered in futility down each darkened passage, at once my eyes falling upon what looked like a shadow moving toward me, an Apparition of sorts. Instantly, my heart began to race and my breath, forced and disarrayed. I wanted to run, I wanted dash for safety, but my body refused to budge; every minor twitch becoming paralysed with fear. A small niggling thought loitered in the back of my head, a reiteration for the lack of safety within the dungeon and therefore my only option was to run. I had no idea whether what I saw was simply a manifestation of the darkness and its trickery, or the physical being of what I feared the most materializing before me. I withdrew a step feeling vulnerable, no possible way to defend myself in such an encounter. I lifted my free hand to my face and pressed on my aching eyes; at that instance the outline had vanished. In incredulous awe my gaze did not break from the obscurity. Did I imagine it? Perhaps so, one thing I was certain of however was that it seemed my conciseness was already starting to succumb to the encroaching darkness. It was infiltrating my senses and impairing my reflexes, I had half a mind to scream until my throat grew hoarse and sore, but even then the darkness would stifle such an action. Deep inside of me, I could feel the entanglement of my intestine knot harder, forcing the nausea into my stomach where it threatened to liberate itself from my throat. My skin crawled with irritation as a lining of fine sweat trickled down my face and back and inducing a kind of uncomfortable clamminess as the linen from my garments began to stick to my skin. The entire transpired event was spine tingling, I know what horrors stalk me, I can feel their presence constantly; around every corner, across every corridor. I knew I was being watched, I knew I was being followed by those... monstrosities. But there was nary a thing I could do about it.
After I had steadied myself and my muscles began to loosen (to a small degree) it was easy enough to momentarily transcend my fear of the dark and traverse one of the aforesaid passages and away from the intersection to which the vision occurred. As I continued my hesitant gait I felt a sense of relief that the farther I walked, the farther away from the Apparition I would be. Even so I felt exposed. Every so often I would turn with frantic eyes to check if I was being followed (though I already knew this to be true). I paused, surveying my tracks and made a mental note of where I had been then turned once more to where I was going. I knew this was a wasted effort yet I sort solace in my methodology; each stretch of corridor looked exactly the same as the last. Some however held torches, others did not. Some were lit, some were flickering dim in contrast to the strength of others, and some weren't even lit at all. This gave me something to associate with, but so very little to recount.
The specific passageway I was now travelling through was confined, narrow and dotted randomly with various torches; some lit, others not, but all that were flickered softly giving off little if any heat at all. The cold chill of the air caressing against my bare skin made my muscles spasm in small convulsive shivers every so often. I kept the lantern close to me and basked in the little warmth it gave off. I could see in front of me water droplets from my heated breath condensate as it mixed and mingled with the petrified atmosphere. I made a mental note of the torches, following the pattern on the cobble stoned walls and how (with every step I took) they seemed as if they were moving. I would have quickly dismissed such an incident from my mind if only I had not already been in a state of agitation. I halted at once and listened. Nothing, only silence surrounded me which (funnily enough) concerned me more than if there were a constant murmur or wail. I examined the walls again; they appeared warped, my head beginning to spin. I felt the dizziness of my nausea at once, heightened and intensified by the sight a small sniffling rat that scurried across the floor and into a crevice just beside the connecting pillar that supported the roof. My eyes clamped sharply onto the small creature and felt... asinine. I muttered a hateful chide at the rodent and shook my head. I was beginning to feel asphyxiated, claustrophobic of the surrounding walls and picked up the pace fervently. I didn't care where I was going anymore, where I had been or what the void of black would surprise me with next I just wanted to be out of here.
Common sense was telling me to stop, fear was telling me to continue, but neither could prepare me for what was to come next. A strange wailing sound emitted from one of the prison cells. It sounded painful, filled with trepidation and desperation. The lids of my eyes peeled back and the sweat from my brow began to leak again. This time, my body insisted I take flight. With shaking hands and a painfully pounding heart I bolted from the confinement of the corridors and out into another junction. This time however I ignored the luxury of choice and traversed down one without giving the other a second glance. I clenched my teeth anxiously and felt a well of tears begin form in my eyes. I became oblivious to everything, every sound I would have formally froze in terror for and every unsettling vestibule with a phobic inducing Apparition flailing ominously at me. At that instance as I had taken my final steps I could feel the encroachment of pure dread present itself to me. I could see nothing as my eyes were dressed with tears and found myself crashing into something unmoving but for the life of me I couldn't make out what it was. I was flung back forcedly with a loud thud, at first I could do nothing but choke as my back collided with the cold cobbled floor. It had winded me, but with an astounding surge of energy I almost instantly lifted myself into a sitting position despite the pain in my back and limbs. It was then I noticed the absence of my lantern...
It bounced off the ground noisily, to which I tried to reach out and subdue its clatter. I felt the parting of my lips when the breath within me was forced out by the pain in my back and I allowed it to roll away from me. I followed its path with my eyes, hearing and vision returning to me as I cleared the tears from my eyes. It was then a new kind of fear a piercing apex of dread and panic struck my heart. The lantern had rolled and stopped at the foot of what caused my fall, the glow illuminating a figure breathing heavily dripping saliva and emanating a very unpleasant smell. It's flayed jaw and boggled eyes taking on an extremely disturbing dimension, only to be highlighted and made even more so by the once loyal bastion of my comfort (the lantern), now something traitorous and undesirable.
It was at this very moment I felt with absolute certainly that I was going to die. I shuffled my aching torso away but as I tried (as futile as it was) to distance myself from the being, it mirrored my movements with the padded leather of its mangled feet. I had (now at this point) forgotten my reason for being here, questioning myself internally of my primary motive, though this could have been a by product of my fear. I had no time to chasten myself, or deliberate on the aforementioned confusion in my mind; my eyes falling on the creature and thereupon my body hoisted itself up with a new found burst of strength. At first I was surprised with my autonomy, but didn't feel it befitting to argue. My eyes never left the creature; I refused to miss even the slightest movement in fear of being caught off guard, but when it reared its clawed stump of a hand poised to strike the breath within me released in one terrified bout; that small reverberation alerted the creature to my presence to which I did nothing more than sprint back down the way I had came. As everything began to blur together the last profound echo of life I heard came from the belly of the beast like a gargle coming from the throat of a drowning man. This gave me incentive to hasten my steps till my legs could no longer carry the weight of my own body. My forced breaths masked every other sound from within hearing distance and gave way to inconsistent whimpers. On impulse I darted down a corridor to my left looking back to check if the beast was following me. I could see nothing but darkness, which unnerved me. Despite my eyes failing me, inside I knew it wasn't far behind...
With harsh confirmation I found my instincts to be wrong. A passage that I recognized to be the exit turned out to be a stone wall blocking my path. It was a dead end and I (with that same feeling of asinine) came to a standstill, staring dumb-founded at the cobble stone wall. My eyes roamed each indentation and crack desperately looking for a way out, but it was no good. I was trapped...
"No, no-no!" I cried, my fists coming forth and colliding with the wall. I laid my forehead against it, my rasping breaths taking equally as much force to tame than the throbbing in my hands. They were shaking uncontrollably, I watched them tremor before my eyes and just past my focused gaze I could see it...standing at the far end of the corridor making the same grotesque gurgling and gasping it made when in pursuit of me. I wanted to scream, which I did; but stifled myself from making even a whimper by clasping my hands over my mouth. It wasn't good enough; the creature (upon hearing my muffled snivel) had begun to travel down the corridor and closer to me... I was never a believer of death via fright, but right now I was hoping that would take me before it did. I never would have thought the fear I felt before could be matched by the fear I feel now; the mere sentiment of helplessness and weakness made my knees feel frail as if they were going to give way at any given second.
As it approached, I pinned myself to the wall in an attempt to dissociate my body from the being. It was so close now that I could feel its stinking breath on my face, I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath in anticipation of pain. Though I was trembling hysterically the creature seemed oblivious of my presence. I could feel its eyes upon me, searching every little detail. It recoiled from me clearly uninterested with its search and proceeded to exit the corridor with a defeated whimper. I exhaled with a breath of relief and hesitated before detaching myself from the wall, the beast was still in my line of sight and I feared my action were too fervent. The shuffle of my foot alerted the monster again, this time it did not vacillate to begin a vehement bolt toward me. I froze, there was a metaphysical target painted on my chest for which the creature did not waver from. It swung forth it's huge claws to strike me, but I (on reflex) dodged the blow it's swing crashing into the wall with such force a small chunk crumbled and fell from it. My eyes widened in horror, I had flanked the beast but not without paying the price. It twisted its maimed frame to mine and clasped my forearm. I shirked forcedly not welcoming death with open arms but in doing so caused myself injury. In my flurry of frantic flailing to retract myself from the monster I had failed to identify its clawed grasp which had taken with it part of my clothing and my flesh. The pain presented itself to me abruptly to which I cried out instinctively.
I clambered to the wall for support, managing to pick myself up again then swerved my way round the corner; it persisted in following me for its stride mimicked mine in a confused symphony of footsteps. I turned into another passageway; this one I could recognize and confirm was the exit. A barred iron door stood welcoming me in, already open ajar to which I swung myself round and into the darkness. My wounded arm bore the brunt from my lunge but I kept the cry in my throat and watched with a triumphant smile when the creature was loitering in ambivalence from across the hallway. I pressed a hand against my wound feeling the crimson trickle of blood stain my skin but I wasn't worried, I had enough Laudanum to ease the pain.
I found overwhelming pleasure in my victory, the fear beginning to disperse. It made me believe that I was capable of this after all. But what was one encounter to the many I knew would come as I progressed? I will admit that I thought my life would have ended then and there in that dank dungeon, rotting away, never to be seen or heard from again; perhaps I should have more faith in myself. Regardless I now felt ready for whatever this castle had to throw at me.
On a trivial note; I knew I would have to go back for my lantern... if it was still there of course. Once that's been taken care of, I come for thee Alexander... my old friend.
Author's Note: My first Amnesia Fan Fiction all done and dusted. I hope you enjoyed it. =)
Reviews are welcome and much appreciated.