Daniel:
I stumbled through rooms and dimly lit corridors. The potion was working quicker than I expected. But there are things that mustn't be forgotten. I am at Brennenburg, my name is – I paused trying to remember – Daniel. I live in London at – Mayfair. I must find him – I must kill him. Finally the potion worked its magic and I fainted, hitting the flagstones hard.
I awoke in a corridor, not remembering how I got there. In fact there was very little I did remember.
I got to my feet looking around as I did so. Behind me it looked as if the passage had fallen in, large gray boulders and long wooden beams blocked the path. The faint breeze in the corridor caused dust to rise off the rocks forming an eerie fog. To my right was a wooden door which I pushed open making a loud noise that I feared might have alerted someone to my presence. However, upon sticking my head out the door I found no one was in the open passage to the right. I turned back to the room.
It was small with what looked like once was a rich red carpet. The tiny space was sparsely furnished with only a wardrobe and a small wooden desk with three drawers in the middle of the room. On its tan surface was a small cylinder. I walked up to it and realized it was a tinderbox used to light candles. Figuring it might come in handy, I grabbed it and put it in a bag I found in the wardrobe. After a final sweep of the room I was ready to leave and so continued into the open corridor ahead.
Like the small room, the corridor was dark and gloomy. There were many rooms containing tinder boxes and one even had an old lantern that I shoved into the bag as well. At one point a strong wind came from nowhere and blew open a door to my right, an unsettling event certainly, but I took the hint and went inside. There I found a note from a rather unexpected person written on a yellow, crumbling parchment, the note 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, 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.
One last thing. A shadow is following you. It is 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
I stared at the letter. I chose to forget everything? What memory could possibly be so bad that I would rather forget everything than remember that one thing? I wanted myself to kill someone? A little much to ask of someone only now learning his name and what happened, then again, I suppose I was asking it of myself. What had this Alexander done to deserve death? Why couldn't I spare the time to explain a little more? Didn't I owe it to myself to explain why I had to kill a man? Worst of all, there's some shadow following me? I assumed I hadn't been talking about the normal one; so what was I on about? What did I mean by 'escape as long as you can'? My head was reeling and I began to feel paranoid standing there in the dark, alone, with only a reminder from the past to protect me. I backed up until I felt the wooden desk – home of the note from me – and looked around rapidly, wondering if the shadow was there in the room with me. My pulse quickened and my breathing sped to a point that I was in danger of hyperventilating. I felt sick with fear; I had to get out of the dark.
