Closing the door behind her, Lina looked around. She was now in what looked like a long, narrow corridor, perfectly straight. Peculiarly enough, however, she wasn't able to find an end to it. Branching off from it were smaller passageways occuring at random intervals. The entire corridor was completely bare, except for the paintings that were on the walls. She looked back and forth at them- they seemed happy enough, many were just child's scribbles. But then, after the 20th or so picture, the style of these paintings changed immensely, from nonsensical and bright to horrific and grotesque. The pictures were incredibly dark now, and some contained illustrations of horribly mangled bodies with missing limbs, or alarming abstract landscapes filled with jagged angles and strange, menacing shapes. Lina took her eyes off these paintings as she tried to find something else to focus on.
Then, she noticed the sound of footsteps echoing ahead of her. Speeding up, she spotted a moving figure some 50 or so feet in front of her.
5 seconds later she had crossed that distance (though a small part of her mind wondered at the improbability of that fact) and was now walking alongside the figure, which was now revealed to be two people. Boys, obviously, and once again Lina couldn't shake the feeling that she knew them, somehow- but the connection just barely eluded her grasp, and like with the girl, she couldn't clearly see their faces. The boys did look exactly alike, though, unless you noticed the difference in their walk. The boy on the left had the other's hand clutched firmly in his, and was walking dead straight without looking around at anything other than the floor he was concentrating on. The other boy was, however, glancing around at the paintings and the walls and the ceiling, occasionally stopping to examine something- then he was jerked off his feet by his stronger sibling, and with a small yelp he would be dragged along until he regained his footing. He wouldn't walk straight if he could help it, and a few times he even managed to catch the other by surprise and lead him onto one of the side paths, but it was usually only a few seconds before he was being pulled back into the main corridor.
Lina shouted as means of greeting. The boy on the right looked back at her, smiling.
Hello, mi- Before he could finish greeting her, he was violently pulled away.
She blinked, then walked up to him.
she conversed kindly while she walked alongside him. I'm Lina. What's your name?
He looked like he was about to respond again, but whatever he might have said was lost as he was yanked off his feet once more by his sibling. Twitching, Lina walked around him toward the other boy.
Hey. Why are you jerking him around so much?
He didn't even look at her as he responded in a harsh, icy tone.
Shut up and leave us alone.
Lina fumed. Shut up? What makes you think you can order me around?!
Go away.
You certainly are rude, she commented with annoyance.
Oh good, the boy replied sarcastically, as he harshly pulled his brother up.
You're the most obnoxious little kid I've ever met! Lina exclaimed angrily.
The boy sulkily ignored her as he continued to walk. The other one, however, looked back at her with an apologetic gaze.
Where are you in such a hurry to get to, anyway? she asked after a few seconds.
We're going to the end of the corridor, the cold boy replied shortly. There's a door there.
Lina looked down the corridor, squinting her eyes to see as far as she could.
But the corridor doesn't have an end, she pointed out. It goes on forever.
Shut up! he shouted as he quickened his pace, causing the other boy to trip over his feet once again. A thread of pity ran through Lina, as she imagined how miserable that boy must have been, always being pulled and shoved by his brother without any say in the matter. His life was controlled by his dominant twin, and he was forced to walk in a direction he didn't want to go. A wave of dread washed over her as she imagined herself in his place. Without really thinking she turned away from the brothers, absently walking into one of the small passages branching out of the hall. She blinked in surprise as she looked up.
Immediately in front of her was a door. She twisted the knob, and thoughtlessly walked through. The disturbing images of the corridor were still stuck in her mind.