I hope you liked the first chapter but based on the lack of reviews and visits, I guess not too many people are interested in reading this. It's okay, I'll keep uploading for those of you who do like it. :) I'll try to update regularly but I can't make any promises...
That said, enjoy the second chapter and write a review to let me know what you think.
Within the split of a second, the world around me dissolved into nothingness, only leaving behind a feeling of the familiar drowsiness of sleep and stench of rotting flesh and foul water.
Involuntarily, I wrinkled my nose at the bad smell, wishing for it to go away but it lingered. I was sure that I hadn't left any food laying around in my apartment so that's not where it was coming from – and… rotting flesh? I didn't store corpses in my home!
Groaning, I stretched my aching muscles. I must have spent more time on the floor since my fainting spell than I'd thought. The next thing I realized, however, was that the ground beneath me was hard and uneven and not at all like the soft mattress of my bed. I stilled in my movement; something was definitely off.
Then I remembered the strange dream – or whatever it'd been – and the Outsider's words: "I will give you the chance to push things in a certain direction."
"Oh God," I whispered to myself, panic settling in. My first thought was that I'd been kidnapped and was slowly rotting away in some abandoned basement – at least that's what it smelled and felt like.
Swallowing heavily, I opened my eyes. The sight that greeted me was not at all welcoming. The floor was just as I'd felt it earlier; hard and uneven with a damp layer of slick moss. Pipes were running along the walls and ceiling and I could hear the faint sound of water rushing through them, while the foul stench seemed to be coming from the brownish-green soup to my left.
It looked like I was in some kind of underground sewage system… And that's when it hit me – a parallel reality, my conversation with the Outsider… This wasn't a dream, was it? My heartbeat accelerated, my breath quickening – I was in the sewers. The sewers. The ones I'd explored on so many occasions playing as Corvo Attano that the sight was an all too familiar one. At least, I suspected that these were the Dunwall sewers, because as far as I knew, there weren't any accessible in my neighborhood. So, either I had been sleepwalking or this dream hadn't been a dream at all.
The mere thought of physically being in a video game that had more death traps than one could count sent shivers down my spine and I instantly wished I'd never tried to 'save' the Empress in the first place. That's what it was all about, wasn't it? The Outsider had already mentioned that things had strayed terribly off course… Where was the rewind button when you needed one?
I was not ready or equipped at all to wander through any of Dunwall's parts – no weapons, no allies, no practice… I'd never killed, let alone physically hurt anyone in my entire life! How the hell was I supposed to survive in such a hostile environment? How did I even end up here? I mean, you don't just get pulled into a video game like that – magic, perhaps? But magic didn't exist, or did it?
I took a deep breath. "Okay, Val," I slowly said to myself, trying to calm down my racing heartbeat. "You can do this. You know the people, you know the city. They've just added the reality factor. Just… stay calm and think of a way out…"
Staying calm, however, proved to be easier said than done. My heart was playing ping pong in my chest, knowing what I could encounter down in the sewers, knowing that unlike Corvo I had absolutely no way of defending myself.
I looked around.
Less than a meter in front of me, I could see – and smell – the brownish-green water that ran through the sewers. I grimaced at the thought of having to swim in it – I'd never wasted a thought about how disgusting it actually was because, so far, I'd only navigated through the city as an in-game character not as myself. Turning around, a relieved sigh escaped my lips. There, right behind me, was a heavy-looking iron door, which hopefully wasn't locked.
Slowly, I got to my feet, leaning against the damp wall for support when a wave of dizziness hit me.
Breathe, I thought. Okay, let's pray that this is my way out of here.
Wobbly, I approached the iron door and put a hand on the handle, the material feeling cold to the touch, and pushed it down.
The door didn't bulge.
"Shit!" I cursed.
Of course, I'd need a key for it! No one left their door to the sewers unlocked.
"Damn it," I swore under my breath and turned to look around for an alternative exit.
I knew from experience that there were always several ways to enter a building or the underground sewers without having to find the key first, it was what made Dishonored such a good stealth game. The only problem right now was that I had absolutely no idea which part of the sewers I was in. They'd all pretty much looked the same to me before and it wasn't any different now.
Well, I won't know for sure, if I keep standing here like a fool, I thought grimly, even though the idea of exploring this place wasn't really an encouraging one.
I stepped away from the door, my feet being a little bit more supporting now, and carefully peeked around the right corner, then around the left. Knowing of the potential dangers lurking down here, I had no desire to run into a horde of Weepers or even guardsmen without being able to fight back – not that I'd be very effective even with a set of deadly weapons.
To my great luck, there wasn't anyone waiting for me around the corner, where the walkway extended along the dead-looking water to my left – something I was immensely grateful for. Unfortunately, this meant that I could only venture forth in one direction, if I didn't want to go for a swim.
Since I hadn't spotted any enemies, rats included, and wasn't very keen on getting wet, I turned left and followed the walkway down the sewer, using the wall to prevent myself from falling on the slippery underground. There was a pipe right next to me, water rushing through it rapidly, and I wondered, if it would lead me out of this mess of farther into it – though I was desperately hoping for the first! I had absolutely no desire to spend another minute down in the sewers.
I'd been walking for about five minutes, my naked feet wet from the moss-covered stone floor, when the walkway suddenly ended at another corner. Remembering to remain cautious, I peeked around it and found myself facing a dead-end.
"Great," I muttered. "And now what?"
Coincidentally, I glanced upwards to find a sewer hatch right above my head, which would have been great, had it not been out of reach. Corvo would've been able to open it from here, but I lacked a few inches and begrudgingly had to make my way back, hoping to find a key for that blasted door somewhere down here. I prayed that I'd find one because if I didn't, I'd either have to take a bath in Dunwall's sewage water or die of starvation – I was doubtful that there were any fish living in it that I could eat to survive, never mind that I'd drink from out of there.
By the time I reached my earlier spot, my feet were wet and cold due to the lack of shoes. Actually, now that I consciously thought about it, I wasn't wearing any of my regular clothing but thin brown cloth pants and an even thinner white shirt, offering no protection whatsoever against the cold and humid air down here.
Great, I'm gonna die from catching a cold because I woke up in a freaking sewage system!
I had to get out of here, fast. I had no idea where I'd go as soon as I'd reached higher grounds but I desperately wanted to get that horrible smell out of my nose.
The Empress was still alive, so Dunwall might still be a relatively peaceful city, but I couldn't be sure until I saw it with my own eyes. The Outsider had not mentioned with any syllable that Jessamine Kaldwin was doing well – in fact, he hadn't said much about anything other than me wreaking havoc, which wasn't really much to go on.
Maybe I should go to Dunwall Tower and warn Corvo and the Empress that their Spymaster was planning on having her killed. On the other hand, I had no way of knowing, if he was still in office…
Low moaning sounded from somewhere in the sewers before me and I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew that sound. It had always been one of the few things in Dishonored that had really creeped the hell out of me that I'd always tried to avoid. Hearing it now that I was physically in the game myself let my heart beat frantically in my chest as I tried to think and not let the instinct to turn around an run screaming in the other direction take control.
Somewhere around the next corner behind the water were Weepers. Not of them, no. It had to be at least two or three by the sounds of it.
Shit, shit, shit! Double shit! I cursed inwardly, damning the Outsider and his proclivity for throwing people into a nest of vipers while he himself watched from afar. What do I do? What do I do? Think, Val, think!
Had the Weepers been there before and I had just not been able to hear them? What fi they sensed and decided to kill me? It was a bone-chilling thought. I wasn't ready to die, not yet – not that I'd ever be truly ready for it, but to my defense this did come a little bit sudden.
I forcibly told myself to remain calm. If they didn't see or hear me, they wouldn't even know I was down there with them. Unfortunately, this also meant that I wasn't able to look for another exit as long as they didn't move further down the sewers, giving me a chance to explore more of the area.
Following the natural order of things, I'd have roughly around three days to survive without any food or water – a rather depressing end considering I'd been kidnapped from my apartment and thrown into a completely new world against my will.
Not knowing what else to do, I walked back to the iron door I'd stumbled upon several minutes ago, praying that none of the Weepers would hear me – because if they did, I was positively screwed – and pulled at the handle as hard as I could. If someone had added a 'pull' sign somewhere next to it, I probably would have done that in the first place and not put so much force into it at second try because the door opened with a loud bang, knocking me backwards and off balance.
There was silence for a moment and my entire body tensed with anxiousness, before I could hear the moaning getting louder, heavy footsteps splashing through the sewage water.
Without thinking twice, I jumped to my feet and rushed through the door, looking for a way out. But it was so dark, I couldn't even see my own hands before my eyes. There – a faint red light somewhere to my left. The Weepers were closing the distance faster than expected, their heavy breathing and footsteps echoing off the walls.
Think, Val, think!
I decided to move towards the light. My chances of escaping were slim and if I went in the wrong direction, my little adventure would be over before I'd even gotten a first glimpse of Dunwall!
I hadn't taken more than four or five steps when I could suddenly see an opening in the ceiling, a chain hanging only inches above the ground.
"Oh, thank God!" I whispered, darting towards it and grabbing it.
I could hear the Weepers closing in, their moans getting louder. I pulled myself up with all the strength I had, the chain rattling as I climbed up in a desperate attempt to get out of the situation alive.
I'd almost reached the top.
Strong hands suddenly grabbed me from above and I was lifted out of the sewers and roughly pressed against a wall, coming face to face with the barrel of a familiar-looking gun.