Yay, Shadow's gettin' his ass in gear! ...Yeah...That did sound as suggestive as you thought...Anyway, I was really happy when I got this done, because I believe my writer's block is finally gone. Finite. Dead. Was taken over a table with no lube....uh...Awkward, I know...Anyway, onto recognitions.

Thanks for reviewing: VENOMDARK, Mirai M. Mieux, StarlightDragon1636, Telekinetic Mind Freak, GETOUTOFMYBRAIN, ShadowFox0324, starfighter-105, Believers Never Die (2x), and Metal Guitarist 101 (Worship his Strong Bad avatar!).

Georgasaurus ended up flaming this through the dare I put up in the forum and somewhere else. It was fake, however, and he only did it 'cause I dared any flamer to do so. Ya know, I was burned up about the deal with the copy/paste move of TBTIOTS from KrzyKrn K's fic Crisis.

TazHall brought up something that messed with me a little. I edited out the shower deal with Fox in the first chapter. If he's reading this message, or someone who knows him is, let it be known that I took that out, for it was indeed gratuitous. I know it won't get to him, but I thought I should bring it up.

So, without further mildew- I mean adieu, ENJOY!!!

Chapter 10

This Hotel Isn't Normal Pt. 2

The call of sleep beckoned Krystal for more rest than she had gotten, but her paranoia had grown far too much to be ignored. She left the lights on all night, TV on who knows what channel, (She heard something about recent celebrity deaths, something that didn't concern her at the moment.) curtains drawn and doors and windows locked. She had recalled her bizarre experience in her dream, and while it seemed harmless, it was way too vivid to be anything frivolous. She felt it meant something, and it related to her first feelings of the hotel; that is, the first time she stepped in.

While it was true that she never stayed there, let alone knew about it, she sensed something more sinister than expected within the walls of the hotel. At first, of course, the glow of meeting her all time favorite star surely washed that away as easily as grime on her hands. Spending a day on the beach with Fox pretty much abolished all the rest of her uneasiness from her system. It looked as though her stay there would've been enjoyable…

Had it not been for the dream. Her memory distorted to house this unknown wolf; she wondered why this Damien would show up in her thoughts. Not only that, but why would she envision a cult like group, keeping Fox as their capture? None of it made any sense. Whatever this hotel was doing to Krystal, she didn't care what it was exactly; she just wanted it to stop.

Even though it was morning, Krystal felt that a few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt. After all, she stayed awake for at least three hours because of her inability to sleep as a result of the horrible dream. She reached over to her lamp to flip the switch.

However, before she could, it started to flicker. The room went from dim to extremely bright in segments of only half a second. Krystal's instant supposition was that it needed to be changed. Heeding it none, she flipped the switch twice. Nothing changed, and the lamp continued to flicker, only more spastically. She gave it a peculiar look.

"What kind of lamp is this?" she thought. "Well, no power, no light." She grabbed hold of the power cord, plugged into the outlet in the wall. She tugged it, and it came out of the socket.

To her astonishment, the lamp continued to flicker, this time swaying a bit. She stared, wide eyed at it, and stood up. She stepped back, in fear of something happening. When she was a good ten backward steps away, the lamp flew right at her. She ducked in time for it to miss and smash into the wall behind her. The light went out, and the glass shards littered the ground, among the other parts. The room was now much dimmer.

Krystal's heart was pounding and her breathing accelerated to near hyperventilation. She couldn't stop from staring at the remains of the lamp, thinking that they could spring to life and fly back at her in an attempt to cut her, or group back together to make a full lamp again. Nothing would surprise her now that a previously thought inanimate object made an endeavor to strike her.

The TV screen suddenly switched over to static. Krystal saw this and moved as far away as she could from it, and grabbed the remote. She pressed the power button in a desperate attempt to shut it off, ultimately failing. The giant set remained on and continued to show static.

She then began hearing high-pitched feedback that seemed to have no origin and just resonated from all around the room. As it grew in volume, she covered her ears to block it out. The squeal like sound reached her hearing even then, and it grew intense enough to make Krystal's head start to ache.

As she continued to look at the screen through her half shut eyes, a slit of light appeared, running down the middle of the set. When the entire glass casing seemed seem to be separated, emitting a light similar to a stage lamp, the slit grew in width, taking on an oval shape at first. Krystal closed her eyes farther to shield them from the intense glow. It soon grew to the size of a king-sized bed standing on its end, and was in the shape of some oddly curved doorway.

Once it was evident that the growth and morphing of the anomaly had ceased, the light grew and grew, greatly surpassing most light sources. As its intensity grew, so did the ringing. As it did, Krystal almost thought she picked up the sound of windows breaking, faint as it was against the screech that this phenomenon was creating. Her eyes clamped tightly together, and her hands clamped against her head as if to crush it, she fell to the ground as if her strength was drained straight from her body. She could only lie there, on her side, while the event played out. She almost thought she going to go insane.

But she wasn't going to surrender quite then. She flipped over on her side that wasn't facing the light, and slowly opened her eyes. The brightness was still intense when hitting other objects, though it wasn't as nearly blinding as staring directly into the unknown entity; or doorway; or whatever the hell it was. And while it was mildly difficult to see, the outer gist of the objects and edges were shown. Krystal stood, to the best of her ability against the screeching, the bright light, and the energy drain, and walked to the doorknob, legs almost refusing to move at all.

The room began to shake with the power similar to a small tremor. Krystal was within a foot of reaching the door, and the card pad that would unlock it. Simultaneously, she reached in her pocket to pull out her card key. She brought the card up, closer and closer to the slot, closer to her escape.

She slid it in, prompting the familiar 'ping', saying the door was unlocked. Krystal was slightly surprised that she could even her it still. She utilized the dresser next to the door to pull herself off the floor, in order to have any hope of getting out of that room as fast as possible. Once up on her feet, not as stable as she had hoped, she awaited for the door to open at her upright presence. Nothing happened, and that drove Krystal to swipe her card again. Still nothing, which contradicted the green light that said that the door was usable at the moment.

The pad began to blink, and also emitted a small amount of feedback. As the light intensified, the blinking of the pad increased, until the device's circuits overloaded. The front panel burst away from the wall, releasing the smoke that had gathered up from the fried circuitry. The wires weren't damaged, and there was no indication of any tampering.

The light finally engulfed the whole room, illuminating everything to the put that everything was white. Krystal's eyelids were shut, but they weren't shielding her sight much at all. She thought she would go blind, even with her eyelids closed, from the light.

Then, within a second, the room dimmed, and the feedback ceased along with it. It was like someone had adjusted the dimmer switch and the volume control of some unseen device at the same time. She slowly brought her hands away from her ears, and eased her eyes open. They almost hurt, considering how hard she was forcing them shut.

She looked to the TV. Instead of the white light, there was a black mass in the same spot, in the same shape. There was static coming off of it, obviously from the static interference it was causing. As scared as Krystal was, this new phenomenon made her curious; and as foolish as she knew it was, she got up, and walked over to it.

First assumptions never meant anything to Krystal, especially now that this looked almost like a tunnel. Then again, her more valid reason was that she was dreaming. There was no real motive for caution in a dream. As she approached the 'doorway', she could hear voices. Mumbles and murmurs reached her ears, but none would make the least bit of sense. In fact, it was as though it were in a different language altogether. But it almost sounded familiar…

She stuck out a hand, reaching to the dark, curious about its reaction to contact with a living being. As idiotic as this was, she couldn't really pull her hand away. She was almost drawn to it, like a piece of metal to a large magnet. She noticed that the air was colder the closer she got to it. Not just the air, though, but the chill seemed to be present inside her body as well.

As her hand made contact, the slab was as hard and cold as a sidewalk in winter. A strange feeling was present, like that of another entity. It was like empty air: breathable, but just…empty. She pressed both hands up against the slab, putting her in a position that looked at so though she would push it over. Nothing more added to the rock's mysterious properties.

Just when all felt calm and still, the silence was broken. The ringing returned, threatening to deafen Krystal. She backed away, covering her ears once again. She kept her eyes open as best she could, trying to stay vigilant and ready for whatever was happening.

A hand began to push its way through the slab, slowly and easily. The fur was black, and the claws were sharp with a dirty yellow color. Down the arm, a robe began to appear, black as night but with purple markings. They looked suspiciously like tribal artwork. The bulk of the body was soon visible, showing a well-defined front. Krystal stepped back more, but lost her balance and fell on her back, her hands releasing from her ears. The room was quiet once again, but in front of her stood a familiar face.

The black furred wolf looked down at her and grinned, showing his nearly black fangs.

"Hello again, Krystal," he said in a low voice.

Upon arriving in Fox's mind, Shayne found himself by a river of moving images, which he quickly identified as Fox's form of memory. He'd ever seen one before, only those that took on different shapes like hourglasses and fields of flowers. Getting up from his sitting position, though he didn't remember sitting down, he walked over to it.

Shayne scoured heavily across the stream, not wanting to miss anything in his search. Though, Fox's subconscious river seemed to only hold random memories and dreams. Shayne had glimpsed a few of his known feats, like destroying Andross, and reveled slightly on how much this vulpine had been through.

A very peculiar memory floated by in the river of thought, grabbing Shayne's attention and causing him to grab for it. The memory appeared to be that of a giant tunnel of flames. Shayne wasn't anything for studying the life of celebrities, but that was too out of the ordinary for Shayne to just let it one float away.

Shayne grabbed it, but it slid through his fingers. The memories had a physical structure similar to water. Unlike water, however, there was no feeling to it. Feeling of air, body like water; this was not going to make the vulpine's mission any easier.

The river ran on for longer than Shayne chose to figure. It was rather strange running alongside the river, since it was the only thing in color. The entire plain of Fox's mind was black. This was due to him being unconscious.

As the river ran on, the memory got harder to keep track of. Shayne knew that if he didn't act fast, he'd lose it, and possibly his only chance to finding out what had happened to Fox. It all depended on him being able to get a hold of the memory before it washed away. He had done this before, and the only way to experience another person's memories when they were in a liquid state was to use it as a portal. Thus, he had to jump through the spot where memory was.

Running a bit faster than before, he easily got past his target by at least fifteen feet. Then, he stopped and turned, readying himself to jump. He had one shot at this, and losing it would have made this a huge waste of time. Not to mention, he'd lose even more time trying to find the memory again.

When it was within range, he leapt into the stream, matching where it was. He sank through the 'waters', disappearing into the memory.

As Katt turned over onto her other side, she accidentally fell off of the couch. Leaning up and rubbing her eyes, she saw that the mass she was cuddling was a pillow, and not Shayne. As her eyes were still adjusting to the light, she found her bearings and stood up slowly, putting the pillow back on the couch.

Catching something in her eye suddenly, it clenched shut, and she felt her way to the bathroom, brushing her hand against the nearby wall until she found the pad. It opened the door and she rushed to the sink, turned on the water and splashed it over her eyes. The cool water soothed the irritation, and she was able to slowly open the lids of her eyes.

The mirror beheld the image of some odd bed fur patterns. Always an annoyance, Katt figured a wash could do well, especially if she wanted to go the 'extra mile' with Shayne. She couldn't quite get it herself, but she had become emotionally attached to him beyond how fond of Falco she was when she first met the bird.

She grasped the towel from the rack behind her, and made sure the door was shut before advancing. She reached under her shirt and pulled off, tossing it aside and glancing back at the mirror.

"Remember, sexy is key," she thought, pulling off various modeling poses. Even as she began removing the rest of her clothing, she tried to make it as sensual as possible. Through doing this, she was getting a little turned on herself.

But her little 'fun' was cut short. A small crack formed on the mirror, stretching at least the length of her forearm. The crack was straight, and didn't bend off at any point. It was perfectly horizontal, and Katt was bewildered at how it could end up like that, perfectly straight with no faults in the line. She was, however, more concerned on how it got there to begin with. There was no chipping of glass and the mirror had not made contact with anything. There was no reason for it to become damaged as it just had. She ran her finger across it, feeling the cool glass across the tip. It was as if it wasn't there. Since it was a perfect crack, it left no traces of being disfigured in that small area.

Without warning, another crack appeared out of nowhere, making a loud sound of glass breaking and making Katt jump. This time, it was vertical, completely perpendicular to the first one. Again perfect, with no fractures showing other than the straight break itself. Katt remained still, watching it closely and vigilantly for anything else. Another crack, this time connecting the gap between the right tip and the highest tip, and once again perfect. If it were a compass, this would've been the northeast gap. Following that, it filled the gaps in a counter clockwise motion, until it was a square on its point with two perpendicular lines inside it. And to add to this already puzzling and disturbing sight, a circle closed in the outer area of the symbol. This time the erosion of the mirror was made while being accompanied by a scratching sound as if someone was slowly taking a claw to the glass, and hit the point of the diamond at each of its 4 points. Four smaller circles appeared as well, each one inside one of the four sections inside the diamond.

The symbol was eerie. Of course, anyone would be weirded out if a random marking appeared in cracks on their mirror in front of their eyes. But this sign looked as though it were ritualistic in some way. She felt around the circle, still not feeling the indentations of imperfect cracking or cutting.

He finger completed one whole rotation around the circle. She lowered her hand immediately after, staring just at the symbol. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had seen it elsewhere…

Without warning, the linings of the mark began to light up dramatically. Katt jumped back to the wall, afraid of what might happen if she were too close. She reached for the switch to open the bathroom door, but upon pressing it, she found it wouldn't operate. On the mirror, the light grouped to illuminate the entire area of the circle. And just when she thought it couldn't get weirder, a form began to materialize through the glowing part of the mirror, and as it went through more, it was revealed to be a hand. Pure white fur and black, unruly claws; the sight would have been unnatural if the hand weren't coming out of the mirror.

Katt couldn't find her voice to scream, and could only inch further into the corner in terror. She wished for a savior of some kind, even when she knew that the chances of anyone finding her were slim. And just when she needed Shayne the most.

Shayne opened his eyes and immediately peered upon Fox, lying unconscious on the bed.

"Guess I can't blame him; it isn't easy haven't your mind probed." He chuckled ever so slightly, yet remaining sympathetic at his exhausted psyche. At least he found what he needed from his subconscious. And just as he feared, it was far grimmer than he had hoped. But why did it involve him and Krystal?

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched ringing from behind him. Turning around, he found that the ringing seemed to be originating form within the bathroom. He rushed to the door and tried to open it, finding the pad to be malfunctioned. The whining got louder and louder and even started to irritate Shayne. He knocked twice, but received no answer. With no other option to find the reason to this strange happening, he brought his leg up and attempted to kick down the door. He only left a dent; he tried again. The door was soon riddled with foot sized dents as it bent more and more out of shape with each kick, eventually falling to the bathroom floor with a loud clank.

Katt was cowering in the corner, looking to Shayne with fear in her eyes. He didn't even have to ask what was wrong, because the hand sticking out of the mirror drew his attention instantly. On instinct, Shayne pulled one of his blasters out from the inside of his jacket and aimed it at the hand. He fired several bolts, making it cringe in pain and withdraw slowly. Once it was gone, the light from the mirror disappeared along with the markings. To Katt, it was like the entire horrifying scene in reverse.

"Katt, what's going on?" Shayne asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she said quietly.

"Who are you?!" Krystal questioned the wolf.

"You don't remember?" he replied. "I'm hurt…I'm the one who visited your dream the other night."

"D…Damien…"

"That's right. Now you're getting it."

"What do you want with me?"

"What, you think I'm gonna spill my plans like some cliché villain in a comic book? Please, I'm smarter than that. I will tell you the obvious, however. I'm here to take you with me."

"T-take me?"

"Yes, take you. You're quite the slow learner, ain'tcha?" Damien chuckled and slowly approached Krystal.

Krystal slowly rose and backed up away from Damien, arming herself with her blaster on the nearby dresser. "Look, I don't care who you are or what you're doing, but I'm not going anywhere!" She pointed the blaster right at the grinning Damien. He only laughed at her show of defense.

"You're truly amusing, you know that?"

"Shut up!" She fired a shot, only to have the bolt stop short, right in front of the Wolf's face, and disperse into many smaller blots and continue around him. They left marks in the wall in several spots and destroyed a lamp and a mirror.

"Tsk tsk…Seven years bad luck, Krystal," he said mockingly. As she fired another shot, Damien vanished from sight in a swift movement to the right, invoking a high pitched whistle like sound and an entire fade away of his figure. The bolt flew forward and struck the TV, sending glass fragments flying in all directions and for the inner wiring to billow out smoke. Without any further warning than the same whistling sound a second after Damien disappeared, Krystal was held up by the neck. Damien stood, holding her up with his right hand. His intent looked to be to choke her, but his grip was loose enough to keep her breathing, yet strong enough to keep her well within his grip. Krystal struggled to get out of the hold he had on her, but to no avail, even when she kicked him; he seemed to be immune to physical damage, along with the ability to evade projectile without even moving. "I'd love to stay here and have a fun brawl, but we have business to take care of, my dear. So…" His left hand began to emit a purple glow.

"Stop…please…" Krystal pleaded. Damien only smiled and brought his hand up to her face, covering her eyes.

"Sleep…You'll only harm yourself by struggling…" His voice echoed in her head. Her whole body began to go limp, and soon she hung like a rag doll in his hand, swaying back and forth slowly.

"Good." Damien threw her over his shoulder, now holding onto her by her feet, and walked back through the slab. After he did, it shattered like glass, and the pieces faded away until it as if they were never there. The room also began to revert back to original state. Soon, the TV was once again showing the news and the lamp on the nightstand was sitting calmly, sending light throughout the room. It was as if nothing happened.

Whelp...guess whose back? 'Tis Damien, and what a smartass, eh? He's badass, though. BTW, when he vanishes like that, imagine the move Wesker uses in RE5. Not sure what it's called...And so marks another chapter, which also marks what could be the end of my writer's block. Next up: The Q&A. Be prepared, faithful readers, and keep this chapter in your head...'Cause until I write a new one, this is all ya get. Be grateful, dammit!!

So now, have a nice day/night/time in your dark and secluded room/basement. And leave a review on the out out. Thanks!