Chapter 7: A Nightmare Revisited
By X-treme X-taggano (backfire@subdimension.com)

Back at the school . . .

I started around, realizing that there was no need for my flashlight. Instead, there was fog . . . thank God there was nothing more than fog. I was starting to fear the dark. But I had to ask myself one question . . .

Who the hell was that girl?

I knew it wasn't Cheryl, but whoever it was looked an awful lot like her. And how did she disappear right before my eyes? So many questions flooded my mind. How did I end up back at the school? Where did the light come from?

What was that other world I had experienced?

I still felt as if I had awakened from a dream . . . a horribly nightmare. What I had experienced just didn't feel like it had actually happened. The school felt very real before I went to the alternate world, but the other school felt so unreal . . . much like the alleyway.

It felt strange, but I felt like I had dreamt about the alleyway years ago for some odd reason. I knew that it had happened no more than a day ago, but my senses told me that it had been a long time ago . . . a long time ago.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound I recognized quite well.

Bells playing a soft song through town.

I wondered where the bells were coming from. I was guessing it wasn't the clock tower . . . the pitch was too high. I was guessing that they were probably church bells of some kind. I realized that someone must be playing them . . . and finding another human being meant the world to me right now. I couldn't stand my solitude right now. Anyone having to survive these conditions wouldn't.

I quickly pulled out my map, looking for a church in town. I soon realized that there was indeed one relatively close by. I folded my map back up and walked out of the boiler room.

I noticed that there was enough light to see without my flashlight, so I turned it off. I noticed that the fog seemed to have returned. What happened to all the darkness that I was previously surrounded by? I prayed that there would be no more monsters lurking around the school as I walked up the stairway. As soon as I got to the main floor, I ran to the door that lead outside of the school. Cheryl wasn't here . . . I knew that much. I needed to search somewhere else. Maybe someone was at that church who could help me. I pushed forward on the door.

It was locked.

I noticed that I could unlock the door with a small latch above the handle. I began to wonder how the doors ended up locked if I had gotten into the school earlier. The doors certainly weren't locked then. I shook my head, wondering how everything had ended up as messed up in my mind as they were. I walked into the main den, staring at the two doors ahead of me. I walked up to one of them--surely, these ones wouldn't be locked; these were the very doors I had used to enter the school! I pushed on one.

Locked.

What the hell was going on? I knew this was where I had entered the school, so how did everything get locked up again? Did someone come through here and lock it?

Or had I never even been there before?

I shook the thought from my head. Of course I had been there. How else could I have experienced what I did? As bizarre as the events that took place in the school were, I knew that they had indeed happened. However, I realized, after examining it, that my leg was no longer bleeding from the knife that had been stabbed into it. In fact, there were no cuts or bruises in the slightest. The only cut I had that I recognized was the one from the Cafe where that creature attacked me. I was sure, however, that I had been to that alternate school. I must have! It all seemed too real.

I decided to stop thinking about all the things that didn't make sense. All I needed was to get to that Church. I walked outside of the school, not even turning back to think about what had happened in there. I continued down the walkway leading out of the school and found the road eventually. I then started to run down the street. I felt unreal being back in the shrouded mist for some odd reason. I felt like I had just awakened. I also felt lightheaded, which seemed a little unusual. Maybe it was because of what I had just been through . . . such an event can change someone in a heartbeat.

I soon found Bachman Road and ran down it. Another long road . . . everything was a blur as I ran down the the road. It was as if I was swimming through a glass of milk with buildings outside of the glass. My face was almost numb from the stinging cold. More snow fell than before, yet it all melted by the time it hit the pavement. This was a strange town indeed. I needed to find Cheryl, but I also wanted to know . . .

What was going on in this town?

I soon found a building with a cross on the side of it. I realized that it must be the church. I ran around the corner and saw the entrance. There was a set of stairs in front of it, and they were quite big at that. I ran around to the front and started to walk up them. I noticed the bells were no longer ringing, however. I hoped that didn't mean that whoever was here left. As soon as I reached the top of the flight of stairs, I swung the door opened in front of me.

Inside, I saw a huge cross with a stone figure of Christ nailed to it. Not a rare thing for a church. I noticed several candles around the church and paintings of religious figures, such as the Virgin Mary and such. There were also other statues that I didn't get a good look at, but were probably of religious value. Several aisles of church benches went up and down the long, extravagant carpet that barely covered the stone floor.

At the front of the altar, I saw a woman.

She looked quite old and wrinkled with age. She wore a white veil, although it did not cover her face. Her skin was almost sickeningly yellow and she wore a tattered old dress with a red tie. Her dress's coarse brown material clashed with the blue and red in her outfit. She had an extremely haunting
complexion that almost repelled me from her.

I approached her anyway, ignore my fear of her appearance. "Were you ringing that bell?" I asked her.

She stared at me and then smiled, her face starting to wrinkle even more than before due to her facial expression. "I've been expecting you . . ." she told me. "It was foretold to me through Gyromancy."

I tilted my head. "W-what are you talking about?" I asked curiously.

She looked up at the roof. I could tell she had some deep thoughts on her mind. Then she looked back at me, as if she had made up her mind about something. "I knew you'd come. You want the girl, right?"

I suddenly shot a glare at her. "The girl? You mean . . . Cheryl?" I asked.

She laughed slightly. "I see everything now . . ." she said slowly.

I started to walk towards her. "You know something? Tell me . . ." I started.

"Stay back!" she interrupted in a demanding tone of voice. I did as she told me, fearing to move any closer. She scowled. "There is nothing to be gained from floundering about at random! You must follow the path . . . the path of the hermit, concealed by Flauros."

I was confused by then. What was this crazy old lady talking about? All this talk about 'the path' and such.

"What do you mean?" I asked meekly.

She reached into her pocket, searching for something. Soon, she produced an item . . . a pyramid shaped object. I couldn't get a good look at it from the angle she was holding it at, but it looked like it had some sort of writing on it.

"The Flauros . . . a cage of peace," she began. "It can pierce through the walls darkness and counteract the wrath of the underworld." She paused as she placed the Flauros, or whatever it was, on the altar. She then faced me again. "Listen, if you want to stop this evil that is against us, go to the hospital before it is too late." She then started walking towards a door on the side of the church.

I raised my hand, trying to stop her. "Hey, wait!" I yelled. "Don't leave!" It was too late, for she had already gone through the door and slammed it shut. I ran up to the door, but it was locked. Why would she leave when the whole town was in this condition? I would guess an old lady like her would be terrified and look for any help she could get.

I turned around, deciding to forget about her and go to the hospital. Maybe there I'd find some more answers. I walked up to the altar, examining the objects she left. One of them was the Flauros and the other was a key of some sort. I picked up the key first, wondering what this key could possibly unlock. I read the tag attached to it. It was apparently used to lower some sort of bridge. I knew the city had 3 districts and that the hospital was probably in a different on of them. It seemed odd that it wouldn't be more convenient to the residentials, as I knew it wasn't in this area. Maybe it was past the bridge this key was supposed to lower. I checked my map, realizing that the bridge was right on this street near the gas station.

I picked up the pyramid shaped object she identified as the Flauros. It was a strange object indeed. It had some sort of ancient writing on it, which I was guessing was part of the religious nature of the object. She had described how it could pierce through the walls of darkness and such . . . maybe it was what I was to use to finally put an end to all of this nonsense. I started to shake my head, realizing there was almost no chance of this small object being able to destroy all traces of the evil which lurked in this town.

I turned around walking back up towards the door. I started feeling an eerie sense of deja vu, however. The church . . . and the Flauros, too, seemed familiar. I didn't know why. I kept noticing more and more that I knew my surroundings . . . maybe that was why I was able to carry on the way I did.

I opened the double doors to the church and walked back outside into the murky city streets. I quickly ran down the stairs and turned right. I remembered that my map had said that the drawbridge was down this road. I started run down it as quickly as I could, trying to get there as quickly as possible. I didn't necessarily feel safe outside, although I had to admit I hadn't seen any monsters on my way to the church. Maybe things had gotten safer.

It wasn't long before I could see the vague outline of a tower ahead. I realized that it must be the tower that controlled the bridge. I started to walk towards it, getting short on breath from all the running had done. The tower was much larger than I had realized, although not as tall as, say, a building. I noticed a set of stairs going up the side of it and decided that the control panel that lowered the bridge was in the top level. The tower became more and more visible as I slowly approached the stairs.

I suddenly heard the flapping of wings.

Not another monster . . . I thought that they were gone now! I didn't even take the time to turn around to check if it was indeed a monster . . . I heard its wings flapping, telling me that it was rapidly approaching me. I started to run, realizing that the creature wasn't very far behind me. I could soon hear its flapping wings right behind me, and I heard it cry out. It was closing in on me!

I then dove to the floor, covering my head

I heard it fly over me. The soft breeze that was emitted from its thrust brushed against my back and I heard its nails slam against the street and scrape along the pavement. I then looked up. It was one of those winged monsters all right. I reached into my pocket, searching for that gun I had become more well acquainted with then I wished. As soon as I had a firm grip on it, I fired at the creature's head. I was still lying on the floor, but the gun recoiled so hard it slammed into my forehead. I swore out loud and pointed the gun back at the creature. I noticed its head was bleeding. I was guessing mine was too. I fired another shot. The gun shot was responded with a sickening splat. I looked back at the pink demon, witnessing a thick stream of blood flowing out of its head. I was positive now that it was indeed dead.

I brushed the dust off my jeans. I realized that I was getting better with a pistol. But if I ever survived this, that would be a skill I didn't want to have remembered. I hated killing and shooting, but I knew I had to do it. My situation was kill or be killed . . . whether I liked it or not.

I walked up to the stairway and scaled it as quickly as I could. Once I reached the top, I was able to see the messy interior of the tower. I looked past all the objects that were scattered and noticed the control panel. I ran up to it, searching for the key in my coat pocket. As I was searching for it, however, I noticed a brightly colored piece of paper. I picked it up with my other hand and examined it. It was a map of the district passed the bridge! It was labeled "shopping district." I found the key with my other hand not long afterwards. I put the key into the keyhole, but didn't turn it just yet. Instead, I examined the map, searching for the hospital. I realized that it was on Crichton Street . . . the first street I'd reach as soon as I entered the new district!

I folded up the map and put in my pocket with the rest of my map collection. I then turned the key. All the machinery started up and I noticed certain lights were blinking on and off. I then heard a loud beeping noise. I saw a button on the panel that read "lower" that suddenly flipped on. I was guessing this was the "magic button" that lowered the bridge. I pressed it.

Through the fog, I could see the bridge lowering. It soon touched the ground, giving me access to the shopping district at last! I laughed, realizing that my path was clear now. I then ran out of the tower and down the staircase. As soon as I reached the bottom, I looked over the bridge. The mechanisms that made it lower created a haunting sound of the wind blowing over the canyon it passed over. I knew that what was creating that sound was a machine and nothing more, however. No harm could possibly come to me in any way. I started running over the bridge and into the new district.

After running for a while, I reached the shopping area. I checked my map momentarily to see what street I had made it to. I realized it was Chrichton Street and the the hospital was down the street to my left.

However, I saw a police station right in front of me. I knew that I shouldn't get too excited, due to the fact that I hadn't found one single living person in this whole town aside from Cybil and that old lady, but maybe Cybil made her way here! I knew she was from a different police department, but maybe she had made her way to this one because she couldn't find a way out of town! I knew I certainly couldn't find one. So, before thinking twice about it, I walked up the police station entrance . . . past the police car and in through the double doors.

The police station was dark . . . even more so than outside. It was also drafty, which I was guessing was due to the lack of working heater. I saw the front desk, realizing there was no one here. I was angered by this, yet reminded myself not to be surprised. After all, there was no one else in any other part of the town either.

I walked along the tile floor, making my way to a door to my left. I was curious if it was opened. I soon found out as I turned the knob and witnessed the door open in front of me. I then walked to the room. I realized that there were many files scattered across the floor. I walked through the seats that had been knocked over, realizing that most of the files were irrelevant to what was going on in this town.

I walked up to a desk, realizing there was some sort of yellow notepad there. I saw someone's handwriting on it, and it wasn't in blood. I examined it, wondering what it had to say.

Corner Seals called today. From his investigation, he had discovered that Officer Gucci was unlikely to have been murdered. He apparently had died a natural death. Seals did discover, however, that Gucci's medical records showed no prior symptoms of heart disease.

I wondered if this had any relevance to what was happening, and soon decided against it. I realized that there was nothing else helpful on the scattered desk. I then looked to my left, noticing the chalk board was covered with police notes. I was curious as to what they had to say. I read the sloppy writing very carefully and slowly.

Product only available in certain areas of this town. Raw material is White Claudia, which we also have discovered is the name of the drug itself. This is a plant peculiar to the region. We are not sure if it is manufactured here. Is the dealer the manufacturer?

White Claudia? I found that drug in containers all over the school. I then realized that the drug containers were probably labeled because no one expected it to be anything more than samples of the plant. But even then . . . the drug dealers should have known that they couldn't cover up forever. I also found it unusual that there was a liquid substance in the jar. I had thought that any drug of the sort would perhaps be inhaled through one's nose. Maybe I wasn't being led on to as much as I thought I was. I did, after all, only see the drug on the way into . . . and in the alternate school. Maybe the liquid was used to hide the actual drug. The possibilities in my mind were endless and constantly contradicted each other. I decided that, in time, I'd find more answers. My main concern wasn't drugs anyway. It was my daughter.

I shook my head as I walked towards the door. I noticed, however, that there were bullets scattered around the floor. Maybe something an officer had dropped? I scooped up a handful of them and put them in my left coat pocket where I kept all my bullets. I realized that I had just picked up about 30 rounds, which was quite a lot to me. I needed to get my hands on as many as I could possible find or I would never survive my journey through this town. My pocket was now quite heavy due to the amount of ammunition contained within it, but it didn't burden me in the slightest.

I exited the room through the door I had entered with and found myself back in the lobby. I decided there was nothing more to examine in the police department. I had found all I needed. I walked back out the same set of double doors I had found earlier. I flung them opened and stepped back into the foggy city streets. I knew at the end of the street was the hospital and I had to get there quickly. I started run down the street as fast as I could. I figured the faster I ran, the faster I arrived at the hospital.

I noticed that the snow started to fall almost harder than it had before as I ran. It fell down in an enormous quantity, yet still melted the second it hit the street. It made me wonder how it could be cold enough to snow, yet warm enough to make the snow melt.

At last, I saw the large building ahead of me. I started to run towards it, realizing the entrance was down the next street. I headed down that street, running towards the large gate that was used to enter it. At last, I reached it. I peered through the steel bars for a moment, and I noticed it was a small courtyard occupied with a few trees and a light layer of snow. An ambulance was also parked, leading me to believe this was used as a parking area for hospital staff. It was, after all, rather large. I examined the courtyard . . . or parking lot further, wondering if there was any danger that lurked beyond the gate.

Unfortunately, there was.

Two dogs walked aimlessly around the courtyard of the hospital where the ambulance was parked. I sighed. I didn't want to kill any more dogs. I didn't want to kill anything more at all. I looked around, looking for the way into the hospital. I soon realized the door that lead into the hospital was extremely close to the gate. I got to thinking . . . perhaps I could get to the door before one of the dogs noticed me. I held my breath as I walked towards the gate. My fate was left up to God in heaven at this point. I said a silent prayer and then threw the gate open.

Both of the dog's heads shot right at me.

I realized they knew I was in. I quickly ran to the door. The dogs were both in hot pursuit of me, but I got to the entrance before them. I opened the door and dove inside, slamming the door behind me. I could hear both of the dogs scratching and barking at the door. For a moment, I felt a sense of deja vu, remembering my encounter with the dog at the house I was at before the school. I laughed, thanking God that I was even alive.

I stood up and walked into the hospital. It was very gray and murky. I noticed the receptionist's desk to my left. I saw a phone, but decided not to even bother trying it. All the phones were dead everywhere else, and I was guessing this one wouldn't suddenly work either. So I walked passed the desk , walking around the wall to the next area of the hospital.

I suddenly heard a gun shot.

I literally fell back in fear. The noise had startled me so much that I lost my balance. After getting back to my feet, I realized that the gunshot had come from the door to my left. I normally didn't follow gunfire, but I know that only humans used guns. Maybe there was someone alive. I ignored the table filled with magazines to my left and headed straight to the door.

I walked up to the door and opened it slowly. The dark contents of the room soon became apparent to me as the door opened more and more.

I gasped as I saw one of those winged monsters lying in a pool of its own blood.

The blood in this one seemed to reflect other things in the room. I realized that there was a man's reflection in it.

I looked up. There, I saw a middle aged man sitting in a chair holding a gun firmly in his grip. He slowly moved his head up in my direction.

I was startled as he lifted his gun and pointed it at me.

"Wait!" I tried to tell him, but he fired at me. The bullet barely missed me and left a small hole in the door behind me. I covered my head in fear. "Stop! Don't shoot!" I pleaded.

I noticed the man put his gun down, no longer aiming at me. "Who the hell are you?" he asked in a deep voice . . . almost frighteningly deep.

"My name is Harry Mason . . . I'm in town on vacation! Just don't shoot!" I explained.

I noticed the man put his gun away in his briefcase, which let me know I was safe. I decided he meant no harm, considering he was probably just as paranoid as I was about the whole situation. I then got back up to my feet and approached him slowly. As soon as he was done packing up his pistol, he looked back at me. His black suit gave me the impression that he worked at this hospital in some way. His black tie swayed with the light breeze that penetrated through the walls of the building. He had dark brown hair, similar to mine, and his eyes had a strange glow to them . . . in a way that almost scared me.

"Thank God . . ." he said, relieved. "Another human being."

"Yeah . . . I'm glad I've found someone," I sighed. "Do you work here?"

He nodded. "Yes. My name's Doctor Michael Kauffman," he explained. Though his voice was gruff, I did notice he had a strange tone of fear in his voice. I did notice, after all, that he shot at me even though he knew I was a human. Regardless of what had happened, he worked . . . and probably lived here. Maybe he had some idea as to what was happening.

"You work here . . . so do you have any idea what the hell's going on?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I really can't say," he explained. "I was taking a nap in the staff room. When I woke up, everything was like this." He paused as he looked out the window. "Something's seriously wrong. It's snowing in the middle of summer. And those monsters . . ." He pointed down at the dead creature on the floor. "Have you ever seen such aberrations? Ever even heard of such things?" He glanced back at me. "You and I know creatures like that don't exist!"

"Yeah," I said. "I have no idea what's going on."

I suddenly remembered . . . Cheryl!

"Let me ask you . . ." I started. "Have you seen a little girl anywhere? She's about seven . . . short, black hair. My daughter."

Kauffman tilted his head. "She's missing?" he asked.

"Yeah," I sighed, still upset that I hadn't found her.

"I'm sorry . . ." he said in a discouraged voice. "But with all those creatures around, I highly doubt that she's . . ." I noticed him paused because of the look of sheer panic on my face. What if Cheryl really had been killed? What if my whole journey was for nothing? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you," he finished.

There was, however, an eerie sense of realization in his voice. When I told him about my daughter, it looked like some light bulbs went off in his head. I didn't know why. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I could have sworn that he had just realized some valuable information and that I wasn't sure why it was even valuable.

Kauffman than picked up his briefcase and started walking towards the door. I lifted my hand. "Wait!" I said. "Where're you going?"

He looked back at me for a moment. "I've got to go. I can't waste any more time . . . I'm sorry," he explained.

I shook my head. "Fine. Good luck out there, Michael," I said.

He smiled as he opened the door and left. I sighed. Every single person I had found who was still alive left me. Cybil, that old lady, and now Kauffman. I didn't want to die alone . . . I wasn't sure how I could even keep my sanity when I was left with my solitude.

I looked around the examination room, finding only a desk with some files and two beds. There were also three doors . . . the one had entered from, one straight ahead and one to my right. The only thing left in the room was the dead monster. I wanted to leave, but I had to find something in here . . . I knew that old lady was crazy, but for some reason I decided to take her advice and explore the hospital. Maybe it would lead me to Cheryl. I saw a door in the back and decided to take it out. I walked to the door and opened it up.

Inside the next room was a row of book shelves. I realized, after examining many of the books, that all of them were simply books on medicine and such. Nothing important. I kept examining every object that came into my sight. All I had been finding was books on surgery and medicine.

I suddenly noticed a newspaper clipping at the end of the desk. I picked it up and read it. I couldn't make out most of it because it was a part clipped out from a larger section. I did, however, see the name "White Claudia" in it several times and figured that the article was probably about the drug. I put it in my pocket, though I didn't fully understand it. For some odd reason, the whole "White Claudia" subject interested me. I wanted to know if somehow, it was what was causing some of the mayhem in this town.

At the other end of the room, I saw a giant map of the hospital hanging down. I decided I would need that. I ripped it off of the wall and looked at it. The hospital was quite a bit bigger than I had imagined. I had no idea it was 3 stories tall. There was also a basement area, which I didn't want to explore for some odd reason. It made me uncomfortable thinking about going into the dark basement. I have to admit that by that time, I was afraid of the dark. Any normal human being would be.

I exited out the door to my right. I found myself in a long hallway. On on wall, there were lots of windows, while on the other, there were lots of doors. I looked at my map, wondering what place seemed like a good to check first. I saw the manager's office on the map and decided that maybe it was a good place to start. I knew I was aimlessly wandering, trying to find Cheryl and answers, but for some reason some choices stood out over others.

I ran down the hallway and soon found the manager's office. I stood in front of the door and opened it. To my surprise, all the books had been thrown off the shelves and most of the items in the desk were scattered. I ran past all the defiled books and straight to the desk. I hoped that maybe there would be some clue as to why everything was scattered everywhere.

I soon found out what was probably the reason for it. I saw a broken flask behind the desk. Red liquid was splattered all over the floor. I was curious what it was, but I noticed the flask wasn't just broken . . . it looked like someone had destroyed it on purpose. I wondered if I could somehow get a sample of this stuff so I could examine it more closely. Maybe it was somehow similar to White Claudia. I noticed a small water bottle on the desk. I grabbed it and poured what I could into it. After the substance had been drained into the bottle, I examined it closely. There were no plantlike particles in it, which lead me to believe there was no White Claudia in it. This substance was differently colored, anyway, and wasn't as thick.

I put the bottle in my pocket. I wondered if I'd meet anyone who might possibly be able to identify this substance. I got up, walking around the desk Nothing more needed to be examined in this room. I had the one thing I was curious about contained. I walked to the door and opened it, stepping back into the hallway.

I walked down the hallway until I saw something at the end. It looked like an elevator. I approached it and realized that it was an elevator indeed. The gold doors and the buttons on the side proved it. I walked up to it, wondering if it might possibly work. I pressed the up button. A few seconds later, I heard the elevator lower and the doors opened. I was surprised that, though nothing else worked, the elevator did. I checked my map. After searching through the three stories and the basement, I realized there was an emergency generator. Maybe Kauffman had activated it or something. I wasn't sure, but I decided to explore one of the higher floors.

I got on and pressed button two. The elevator moved and took me to the second floor. The elevator doors soon opened and I found myself in a square room. I saw a set of double doors and walked up to them. I pushed on them strongly.

Locked.

I growled. Nothing left on the second floor to explore if the entrance was locked. I then proceeded to the elevator. As soon as I was inside, I pressed button three. The elevator moved and soon stopped. The doors opened and I found myself in a room similar to the second floor. The same vending machine was there as well! I walked up to the double doors on this floor, hoping that they wouldn't be locked.

No such luck.

No where left to search. I walked back to the elevator, now quite angry. Cheryl wasn't in the hospital. Where was she? I got back on the elevator, ready to press the button that would take me to the first floor.

I then noticed a new button. One that hadn't been there before that I had noticed . . . one that would take me to the fourth floor.

I didn't know the hospital had a fourth floor, but decided that maybe I'd find something up there. Maybe I had just hadn't noticed the button the first time. I decided that it was a safe place to explore. I put my finger on the button and pressed it.

Suddenly, I had a vision . . . a vision on the girl who looked like Cheryl, only older. She was walking through a dark, nightmarish town . . . much like that alternate school. She then entered some sort of antique shop. The image suddenly left my head. However, I felt lightheaded. As soon as the doors opened, I stumbled out of them, not even able to see straight until they closed behind me. As soon as my vision returned, I gasped.

The hospital was made of burnt steel.