System Error
After battling monsters for a while, Rain eventually got better at hitting the actual monsters, and not striking innocent bystanders. They became quite an effective team, with Rain rushing with her sword while Reid both healed and used attack magic. After a particularly easy battle, Rain grew restless and stretched. "Hey, let's head into the dungeon. There's bound to be some stronger monsters down there." Rain suggested. The suggestion seemed to be all she needed, because she started to walk down the hill to an old crumbled building without listening to Reid's response. Reid ran after her clumsily, stumbling as he caught up to her. "Um, didn't Orca say not to head into the dungeon?"
Rain shrugged, sword dangling from her hand.
"Hey, that was a while ago. We can handle them now."
Reid raised his eyebrows. "You sure?" Rain turned around. "Of course, I am." She playfully punched Reid in the arm. "The question is, are you ready?" She teased.
Bryan gripped his weapon tightly. "Yeah, I guess."
They both walked closer to the field dungeon. It appeared to be a crumbled old building that had stairs going down into the cellar. Moss grew on the eroded old house, and birds had made nests on the roof's frame, as the roof was no longer there. The steps were worn down and small plants grew through the cracks and lines of the bricks. Rain walked down the steps first. She stopped at the base of the stairs, in front of the doorway. She peered into the narrow passage, but couldn't see anything but the inky darkness inside. Turning around, she faced Reid, who was standing at the top of the stone staircase. Reid had a bad feeling about entering the dungeon. It seemed the darkness of the doorway of reaching out to strangle him. He shifted his feet nervously. "I'm not sure about this, Rain." He called down the steps.
"Why? Are ya scared?" She teased him again. "No, I'm not scared." He muttered to himself. "Just…got a bad feeling."
Down the steps, Rain was growing impatient. "C'mon Reid! If you don't come down now, I'm going by myself! This is your last chance!"
Last chance. It's just a game, Reid thought to himself. There's nothing to be worried about. What could possibly go wrong? He threw away his worries and stepped down the cold stones and stood next to Rain.
"Finally!" She threw her hands dramatically into the air and tugged him inside.
* * * *
They slowly walked through the musty stone corridor. The place seemed to have a catacomb-like feel to it. It was very small and cramped, and the creepy corpses hanging off the walls didn't help either. "Pretty creepy." Rain commented as she led through the dank passageway. "Yeah, no kidding." Reid followed closely behind her. Tap. Tap.
Reid quickly spun around with his weapon in hand. Nothing was there.
Must have been water dripping or something, Reid thought. He continued following Rain.
Tap. Tap. That was definitely not water. He spun around again. Again, nothing.
"Reid, what's your problem?" Rain stopped, hands on her hips. Reid still stared down the old passage. "Can't you hear that noise?"
Rain shrugged. "I don't hear any noise. You're probably listening to background music or something."
"I dunno." Reid responded. "I feel like we're being…watched." Rain shrugged again. "I'm not surprised. This place is pretty creepy. Oh well." Rain continued on her way. Reid looked carefully down the hall. Nothing. That's pretty strange, he thought to himself. I knew I heard something. Or maybe I'm being paranoid. Who knows? Reid turned and ran after Rain, who was a little ahead. He caught up to her.
"Geez, does this hallway ever end?" Rain complained. "I wanna fight something."
Reid rolled his eyes. They continued walking. Tap. Tap. "There!! Can you hear it?" Reid grabbed Rain's shoulder. "No." Rain answered without turning around. Reid kept walking but looked behind him. The light from above ground was too faint to see anymore. Their only source of light came from the burning torches on the walls. Not that it was much of a light source. The flickering made everything seem creepier. Whump. Reid walked into Rain, who had stopped walking.
"What is it? Why did we stop?" Reid peeked around Rain to see what she was staring at.
A dead end. Rain was confused, "What? That doesn't make any sense. We didn't even pass any doors, did we?"
"No." Reid replied meekly.
"Hmm…" Rain began feeling around the bricks of the dead end. "Maybe there's a secret passage or something."
"Or a glitch." Reid commented.
Tap. Tap. Now Reid just ignored it. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. That was it. Reid turned around slowly.
"Huh!?" A person was walking towards them. A woman dressed in a dark cloak. "Hello!?" Reid called to her. She didn't answer, but continued walking towards them. Rain turned around. "Who are you talking to?" She asked while leaning against the wall. Reid pointed to the woman, who was coming closer. "Her." Rain leaned forward and stared into empty space. She then looked at Reid. "Is this a joke or something?"
Reid raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean? You c- can't see her?" Rain raised her head to look again. "No, I can't. I think you need to catch some serious sleep, Reid."
"No, I don't." The woman came closer. "Hello?" Reid called again. This time, the woman stopped a few feet away from him. She was ghostly white character, Reid noticed. Almost like a banshee. Her cloak was a raggedy old brown one. The woman's eyes were black pools of darkness, devoid of any light. She opened her mouth. A horrible noise came out, like a computer crashing. Horrified, Reid took a step back. The woman reached inside her cloak and took out a sword. It was black, but only because some sort of dark aura emitted from it. Rain looked at Reid's face, frozen with terror. "Hey? What's wrong?"
The woman took another step towards Reid. He couldn't move his legs; they felt like stone blocks cemented into the floor. The woman took her sword and thrusted it forward, into Reid. "Ugh!!" Reid groaned as he fell to the ground. Pain burned through his chest. Pain? Was he supposed to be feeling… pain? "Whoa!" Rain kneeled next to Reid and shook him. "Are you alright? What's wrong!?" Through Reid's fuzzy vision, he saw the cloaked woman swing the blade again. "Agh!" Rain crumpled to ground next to him, her sword clattering loudly on the stone floor. She was breathing painful, labored breaths. Reid weakly reached out his hand towards her. Then everything went completely black.
* * * *
…….SYSTEM ERROR………..SYSTEM ERROR…………..SYSTEM ERROR……..
* * * *
An excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle, dated 8-5-2010:
Jackson, CA.
On Monday, Bryan Coleman, teenager, was hospitalized after being found slumped over his desk, unconscious in his Jackson home. His mother was the first to find him, and immediately called for an ambulance. Doctors have told the press that he is in a coma, but in stable condition. Police authorities have yet to tell the press anything about the cause. Interestingly, this was not the only case of coma-induced accidents on Monday. In Seattle, Washington, another teenager named Christy Slant was also found unconscious in her room. She is currently in a coma. These are only two of the many known accidents in the world that occurred on Monday. The FBI is currently investigating the cases.
–Jane Rembrant