Chapter 21: Evasion

Caution.

The one thing that we had when we stepped over the beam connecting the two-sides of the Chute together. We came upon a door, which, after much 'convincing', finally yielded and let us through. It didn't have that red symbol on it, but it did lead to a hallway, with even more doors.

If the building worked how I thought it did, that door couldn't exist.

The doors in this hallway were marked 4-A, 4-B, 4-C, etc. We were just on the 2-A, 2-B, 2-C section. The numbers represented which floor we were on. So we just went through a door leading from the second floor to the third floor – no slope, drop, climb, nothing. This wasn't possible by the laws of nature.

'This is just too crazy,' Emily said, apparently thinking the same thing I was. I shrugged.

'Imagine my surprise when I first came here,' I muttered. She caught it, it seemed.

'I'm surprised you made it this far,' she said. She then quickly added 'Well, I don't mean it like that. I mean, I'm surprised you made it alone.'

I bowed my head. 'Me too.' It hadn't been easy, that was sure. The look on her face was of sympathy as she grabbed my hand. Clicking my tongue, I tried Chamber 4-A: there was nothing inside. Chambers 4-B and 4-C were featureless, and the rest of the Chambers didn't open. I, reluctantly turned to the chutes. None of the Chutes except 4-C opened. Even then, there was red print below the 4-C – it was marked 'Thomas Iridan':

He's too strong for you to challenge. You think you have 'power' compared to him? What you call 'power' is meager when compared to his. Ralph Derecks has achieved powers to rival the Cursed Mother herself – nearly half of the power of a god. He himself created the Pyramids, one bearing half his soul, and two powered by the Mother. By doing this he made himself immortal. If you truly wish to continue, I will not stop you – but I myself could not go further. Please, do what I could not. Find a way to defeat him, and avenge the wrongful deaths he caused.

'Poor Thomas,' Emily said quietly. 'He never stood a chance against what was happening to him.'

Pssh, and we do?

'Yeah,' I said instead. 'If he's one of those "ghosts", I haven't seen him yet – I think. I can't tell one from the other, so I really don't know who I've fought and who I haven't.'

'How many are there?'

'I don't know. Too many for my liking.' I twisted the knob of 4-C, which opened into nothingness. There were steel walls, and a ceiling, but the floor stretched endlessly down.

'Do we have to jump down?' Emily asked me. I laughed and cleared my throat, shrugging. Wrapping my arm around her, I stepped off the edge, bringing her down with me. Both of us lost consciousness.

The only thing you could hear was an air raid siren, blaring all around us. Sitting up, I held my head, stifling the headache I had from the sheer harshness of the sound. I turned to Emily, who was laying on the ground, silently sleeping. Standing, I shined the flashlight around, finding that there was a door behind us that was locked from the other side; before us was a long hallway, stretching farther than the light could go.

There was a feeling I got when he was around. That feeling of dread mixed with horror, the fact that I couldn't quite find the time to kill him, yet he always had the time to waylay me. That spear of his always behind me or in front of me, either chasing me or barring my way.

I could sense the Red Pyramid somewhere in this hallway.

Bending down, I nudged Emily and took her hand as she woke up. Helping her to stand, I pulled out the double-barrel and slung the bag over my shoulder, proceeding with extreme caution.

Advancing down the hallway, there was a smell of a corpse hanging in the air, and there was the smell of wet filth, which was overpowering. The floor splashed slightly as we stepped on it, as well as a gross, slick and wet sound. Just wanting out of the place, we didn't slow our pace at all.

Of course, like always, something went wrong.

Everything went black. Emily gripped my hand harder as I tried to figure out what happened. The fear of that bastard crept up my spine, culminating itself on my neck, forcing my hairs to stand up. I reached for the flashlight, and then I realised that the battery was probably dead.

Somewhat relieved, I reached into my front pocket, where I'd been smart enough to stow away an emergency battery. The unfortunate thing about a flashlight, is that you need light to replace the battery. I felt for the little depression that you pushed to slide the bottom off – found it, and let the empty Duracell fall to the ground. I was about to slide the battery in when Emily cried out, and that whooshing sound came from both sides of us.

Dear God no . . .

Footsteps, heavy, against the slick ground. Slamming the battery in recklessly, I screwed the cap on as quickly as I could, stuffed the flashlight in my front pocket as quickly as possible, and flicked the switch.

It was him.

On both sides.

Bringing the shotgun to bear, I shot both barrels into the one in front of us. He staggered back, as if fazed, and we, Emily even, despite her leg, darted past him as the second's spear sailed through the air. My ears were ringing from the sheer volume of the blast as I quickly reached into my left pocket and grabbed two shells.

They felt different, though. They had a different casing, was all I knew, and I began to wonder if they were for a diffferent shotgun. Not taking time to care, I slammed them simultaneously into the gun and snapped it shut. Emily was slowing down, and I turned around to find the Pyramid almost upon her.

I ran in front of her, screaming 'Go!' – blindly reaching into the bag for something that didn't blow my eardrums every time I used it, I grabbed the hammer and threw the double-barrel in the bag. Swinging the hammer in a vicious uppercut that hooked his helmet, I ripped the helmet up like I had in the construction site. Pyramid Head toppled back, and tripped his buddy, who fell forward with his spear outward. It stabbed my shoulder, but I forced the pain out of my head and the spear out of the wound. Grabbing the duffel, I sped off toward Emily, who was at the end of the hallway.

That symbol . . . we're outta here!

'Open it!' I yelled as I approached, and she opened it and stepped through. Tearing through the open door, I felt Emily shut it as soon as I was through it. I couldn't slow down, however, and found myself jumping down the stairs to avoid falling down them. I landed on my backside, sliding into the railing. Trust me: it wasn't pleasant.

I heard Emily rush to my side and help me up. Putting the hammer away, I took out the shotgun once more and we descended the stairs. The 'atmosphere' was beginning to fade into a dull grey, and the lower we got, the darker it got. Ultimately we reached the door, and, opening it, we found ourselves in a (to me) familiar place.

The room in the sewers where Blake had saved my life from Pyramid Head.

Blake . . .