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Exploration
Katherine was excited. She had not had anything to look forward to in the past three days. Finally her life was getting interesting. She walked into the new hallway and the hidden stone door slid closed behind her. Luckily the hall was lit with the same lights as the ones on the upper floors; otherwise things would have been completely black.
The lights at the end of the hall were out and she could only see as far as about thirty yards, after that the hall turned into a black hole. She surveyed the old wooden doors running up and down either side of the hall. They were cracked and battered from old age and she wondered what kind of things they and the walls had seen. The hall was so quiet Cat thought of the cliché about hearing a pin drop, but you honesty could. She cautiously stepped up to the first door. The knob was oversized and slightly rusty and placed below it was an old fashion skeleton key lock. She closed her fist around the knob and twisted it to the left then the right. Locked.
She turned to the other side of the hall undiscouraged and tried the opposite door. It was identical to the locked one but considerably more damaged. Also, this one gave way when she turned the handle. A gust of air rushed out carrying a putrid smell. Cat let go of the handle to cover her nose and the door was blown the rest of the way opened. Cat gasped at the disgusting site inside. The walls were lined with shackles and two of the sets were occupied. The corpses still had leathery skin hanging off their bones and one mans jaw had fallen loose into a perpetual scream. The others head was leaning against his boney arm. Where his eyes had once been were now only two black hollows leaving no hint of what kind of man he once was. As if some spiritual (or perhaps evil) force was dragging her Cat took a step into the room. She gazed at the poor hallowed man. A cockroach crawled out of his eye socket. Cat turned around quickly and closed the door to the room.
She took a deep breath and readied herself to continue to the next door. Two corpses were not going to ruin her day of exploring. She wondered if the rooms on the left side of the hall had windows. After all, she had not gone down any stairs so was still on ground level. Cat zigzagged back to the other side to try the next door. It proved to be unlocked but to Cat's relief no putrid air gushed out. To her disappointment the room was plain and empty with no windows.
She closed the door and started to sing to herself, "Hey, don't let it go to waste
I love it but, I hate that taste, Weight keeping me down. Done, done, and I'm on to the next one. Done, I'm done, and I'm on to the next."
She giggled at herself and moved on to the next door on the other side. She continued this zigzag pattern back and forth across the hall finding most of the rooms either locked or empty. She was getting closer to the dark abyss at the end of the hall and though she had never been frightened in the slightest of the dark she strongly wished she had come equipped with a flashlight. There were two more doors left in the light and she could see that once the hall grew dark it took a turn to the right. The first was empty except for some rusty chains on the walls. The second one she opened was dark.
Cat stared into the pitch black room. The darkness did not strike her as odd at first until she began to think. None of the other rooms had lights in them either, yet she was still able to see inside by the lights in the hall. She pushed the door fully opened and surveyed the dark. She stepped out of the way to allow the hall light to shine into the doorway. The light seemed to only wash over the entrance instead of continuing into it. It reflected off pieces of dust floating around in the hall. Cat stomped on the rug to release more dust. It puffed up around her feet in little clouds and floated up into the light. When it reached the dark doorway and floated through it was lost by the light. Cat could not understand how it was possible. The dust completely disappeared through the entrance. She stepped closer to the door and listened. The only sound she could hear was a quite whooshing. She stepped even closer and felt cool air seeping out of the black. She inched the toe of her shoe towards the doorway. As soon as it touched the darkness it went through it and disappeared. She pulled it back quickly with a gasp. Next she ventured her hand out and laid it flat against the dark. It felt pleasantly cool like the outside of a refrigerator. She took a deep breathe and pressed her hand through. She stared at the spot where her hand was. It looked like she only had a stub at the end of her arm. She wiggled her fingers in the blackness and the air around them grew colder. It felt like she was touching incredibly light silky water. Or like thick and heavy air. The feeling was indescribable but wonderful and new. She reached her arm farther in and swirled it around. A breeze ruffled Cats hair and shirt. She took another step towards the dark so the tip of her nose just touched the outside of it. She felt a tickle on the back of her head and noticed her hair was reaching out for the darkness as well. The room was sucking her in. For one second Katherine thought about stepping into the cool dark room, but then the precious animal instincts that humans hold deep inside of them awoke. She grabbed the edge of the wall and jerked herself back. She felt an almost sad detachment like a part of her was missing now that she was away from the dark. She reached to close the door but the darkness pulled at her. It created a whirlwind blowing her hair in her face so she couldn't see. The suction became stronger and it took all of Cats energy to pull the door towards her. She muscled the door far enough so the suction of the darkness slammed it shut. The hallway was still again and Katherine sighed in relief. As soon as she relaxed the door began to shake violently. Cat jumped back against the wall and watched as the door bent and banged. It was as if something inside was trying desperately to get out. Cat feared it was not only trying to get out but was trying to get at her. The door abruptly stopped shaking and whatever it was started ramming it over and over again. Cat was frozen in fear until she saw one of the screws in the top hinge bounce onto the floor. She glanced back the way she came then bolted into the unlit part of the hallway and rushed around the corner.
The door continued to be pounded from the other side as Katherine's feet echoed against the cold stone floors. Soon the echo became less audible then disappeared all together. The pounding stopped and the darkness spoke no more.
