Hey. Guess what.
It's… an update! Hooray! Hooray!
So, yeah, I'm back. I didn't plan on writing this today, per se, but I decided the thing I really wanted to write was a little too random to just… do. Thus, I have put a poll on my profile. Check it out if you're curious. Check it out if you're not curious. Check it out. Check it. Check. It. Out.
Anyway, here's the next chapter. It might be a little short. I hope you don't mind.
Chapter 9: Acting Alone Again
As I slowly found the stairs leading up to annex, I remembered something unusual: the lightbulb I had screwed into the doll. If I recalled correctly, it had lit up quite brightly when I put it in. Maybe that was a clue to help get out? Get out…
I sniffled and wiped my nose with my scarf as I entered the room with the lightbulb doll. Should I have trusted my instincts and left Ryan alone in the mansion, probably to die? A part of me felt I should have, but another part of me just didn't want to think about it. Besides, the back-door key Ryan had given me seemed promising. There had to be more than one way out of this place. If all else failed, I could try breaking the front door down or something. I breathed a slight laugh through my sniffles at the thought of someone as weak as me doing anything.
I flicked the light switch that was next to the door. Sure enough, the light bulb remained brightly lit. The arm of the other doll cast a shadow that ended at a section of the wall paper in the corner of the room.
I pulled out the plate shard and cut at the wall paper, revealing a door with a knob. I used the back-door key on it and opened the door.
…ssssh… rmmmble…
I stared at the darkness beyond the door and the rain cascading down from the orange-gray sky. It was humid and warm with cooling rain and a slight breeze. I closed my eyes and felt the motion of the world outside. I felt a little better.
I opened my eyes and walked quickly outside, only to bump into a concrete fence that was too tall to climb over. I felt along this fence, hoping to find an exit. After a minute of feeling, I found myself at the wall of a new house. No… I thought. I opened this new door and stepped out of the rain. My next thought was ew…
The new house smelled moldy and wet. The floor boards were a dark green color and the wall paper was tan with growths climbing up from the floor. It wasn't cold, though, so that was nice, I supposed. There was a door to my left and a short hall in front of me that led to a longer hall. The left door was locked, so I walked to the hall's end and found a set of stairs leading up and a longer hallway with two doors along it. And a mysterious hole in the ground that was completely dark. I decided to stay away from it.
I entered the first door in the longer hall, which was empty save for a closet and an empty bookshelf and a desk. The next door led into a small chapel-like room with three benches on each side of a long red carpet; six total. The carpet led to a pedestal of a woman, which had two torches standing in tall candle stands. I gazed around this room. Despite the smell, the room made me feel… something. Something powerful… Something… in me.
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw a stick under one of the benches. I picked it up. It was taller than me, but very light weight. No doubt that it could be used for reaching or hitting something.
I went up the stairs (which squeaked heavily) and found another door to the right and a hall that led to a longer hall, presumably with more doors.
I entered the door to the right and saw that the room was mostly empty. There was a bed and a bookshelf close to the door, and a picture frame farther away. I meandered to the frame—
CRACK!
I fell over backwards as the monster's head broke through the floor in the corner of the room. I scrambled to my feet while the monster was still pulling itself out of the hole. I slammed open the door, remembering that there was a closet downstairs.
I bolted to the room I was thinking of and practically jumped into the closet (luckily, the stick fit as well), closing the doors as the monster followed me into the room.
I chanted again: don't-find-me-don't-find-me-
The door of the room slammed shut and it was quiet again, except for the rain sounding through the thin walls. I waited a few more seconds before peeking through the cracks in the closet. I stepped out and made my way back up the stairs.
Before I tried the remaining doors in the upstairs hall, I decided to check the room that monster had startled me in. I first examined the frame in the corner, which was brown with slight definitions of an image. A stomach, maybe?
I then examined the hole in the floor. The drop didn't look that far, and I couldn't see the monster, so perhaps it was safe? I sat at the edge and lowered myself into the fall. I landed without breaking my legs.
The room below was empty, mostly, with a painting on one of the walls. The dice in the picture seemed to protrude out of the frame, and the first dice was missing.
I unlocked the door to the room and found myself back in the downstairs hall, next to the entrance to this place. I headed back up the stairs to see what was in the remaining rooms.
The first door in the longer hall was locked, but the last door seemed more promising. There was a bed in the corner, a desk with a chair in the other corner, two bookshelves next to the desk, and… strange purple crayon scribbles along the back wall, missing from one section of the wall.
I pulled out the plate shard and cut away at the gross paper, revealing a door with a knob. For some reason, it was unlocked. The room beyond was almost a copy of the room before, missing only the bookshelves and adding a closet in the corner. There was something shiny on the desk. I took a step towards it—
SLAM!
I jumped and looked behind me. The door was closed, but I could hear the sound of heavy footsteps from the room I had just left. Forgetting the shiny, I leapt into the closet just as the room's door slammed open. I clenched my eyes shut and began my mantra. I covered my mouth when I began to hear a sickening sticky sound right in my ears. Then there was a loud thump, and I jumped despite myself, doubling down on my chant even harder. After what felt like the slowest minute in the world, the sticky sound stopped and the door slammed closed. Another second later, the door to this pair of rooms slammed shut as well.
I slowly peeked open the closet door and gasped. The room looked as if it were lit by a black light with how heavily the purple crayon scribbles covered everything. The bed was flipped over. The only thing clean of the "crayon" was the shiny thing that had been on the desk. It was a die.
I picked it up and examined it. It reminded me of how my sisters The Deviant and The Vet had recently gotten into D n' D campaigns and looked for some fancy dice of their own. I pocketed the die and hurried out of the room, making my way to the room with the dice picture.
Yeah, yeah, I know: it's too short and not enough gets done, wweh.
Like I said, I ended up writing this instead of what I planned to write. Also, like I said, I might decide to write it anyway, whether or not people actually vote. Still, your participation would be appreciated.
We're getting to a bigger part of the story soon. Maybe next chapter, maybe not, it depends on how I feel. If you've paid attention to the list of characters on this story, you may know what this big thing is.
So, please, leave a review, tell me what you thought, and I'll see you soon… I hope.
