Yes, I know, it's been months since I updated. Been doing oodles of artwork and comic stuff. So, if you're wondering, yes, I'm still here. And this lil' fanfic won't go unfinished, cross my heart and hope to hemorrhage.
This chapter isn't huge, but it's longer than the last one. I know some have complained that they're getting shorter, so this is an attempt to remedy that.
Have fun, and write reviews! Lots of reviews!! Wheeee!
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I reached for the doorknob and paused, looking back at the broken shell of the former cop.
"Are you sure you don't want to leave with me?" I asked hopefully.
"Sorry," she said with a sad smile, "but I don't belong out there. I've been here so long; I wouldn't even know where to begin picking up the pieces."
I couldn't say I blamed her; after all, I'd had my fill of insanity already, and I wasn't even done yet. As I gazed one last time around her small, dark room, I couldn't help but wonder if this was where I'd end up some day. Assuming I lived, that is.
I exited the room with a polite goodbye, and the door closed with a click, signaling the lock activating. This time, however, things were different. The walls and floor looked to have been through years of water damage, corroded beyond repair. As I gawked at the sudden change, a familiar taste presented itself in my mouth. Copper. At the same time, the scent of blood washed over me, and I knew that things had taken a turn for the worst.
A piercing shriek, like nails on a chalkboard, shook me from my thoughts, but as I tried to find its source, the room itself seemed to grow darker. I reached into my backpack, and out of it I pulled my flashlight and the lead bar. As I flipped on the flashlight, the shrieking stopped. I waved the beam of light all over the room, but nothing presented itself. In fact, the only sound was the drip drip drip of water from the ceiling.
Suddenly a new scream filled the air, but this time I knew where it came from. From inside her room, Cybil started screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Oh God! No!! Help me!! Not again!"
"Cybil!" I cried, frantically running to the control box. Her screaming became more frantic, and I could hear her nails scraping at the door as she begged to get free.
As I went around the semicircular nurse station, something plowed into me from the side. I slammed against the counter and rolled onto the floor, sending my flashlight and weapon careening off to the side. Something fell out of my backpack and hit the floor with a metal thud. I reached over and wrapped my hand around something cold and hard… my lead bar? No, it was thicker, with a handle…
The gun! It was the gun that James had given me back at the hotel. How could I have been so stupid!? It'd been in my backpack this whole time, and instead I'd been carrying around a heavy lead bar!? Good thinking, there, Steph—
WHAM!!
My moment of self-criticism was interrupted by a massive blow to the torso, sending me backwards several feet. Flat on my back, I glanced to my side and noticed the flashlight right by my head. I quickly grabbed it and flashed it in front of me.
For once, I recognized my attacker. It was another one of those gurney-monster things that had attacked Todd and me back near the lake. This one was a bit smaller, but my aching body told me that, in this case, size truly didn't matter. With the light shining across its body, the monster shrieked even louder, its sickly white skin sizzling under the luminescent beam.
Cool, I thought. So light hurts these guys. My happiness was quickly squashed, however, as the creature positioned itself to charge once more.
Aiming as best I could, I squeezed the trigger. The monster screamed, missing a step and falling to the ground. It kicked at the air as it used its arms to try and right itself, and I noticed a small hole in its "shoulder" with blood spewing forth. I refused to let this thing get back up, and, standing only a few feet away, I pumped round after round into the beast. After a half dozen shots, the monster shuddered and fell still and silent.
It felt odd, having just taken a life. I couldn't say I felt bad about it; after all, it was self defense. Besides, it wasn't a human life I'd taken, anyway.
Wait… human life….
"Cybil!" I shouted, remembering her pleas for help just moments earlier. Now, all was quiet.
I ran around to the nurse station and found the button panel, mashing 3F. Once more, I heard a beeping sound followed by a click. I ran to her room and threw the door open. The room, however, was empty. Gawking, I flashed the light all over the tiny little room, but there was absolutely no evidence that Cybil, or anyone else, had ever been here.
No evidence, that is, except for long gashes running down the door. Nail marks.
I gasped, and with a hand over my mouth, I backed out of the room. Whatever had happened to the ex-cop, it had taken what was left of her life in this world.
"Cybil," I sobbed, sinking to my knees. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. Cybil…"
For several minutes I cried, kneeling there on the soggy, water-ridden carpet of the circle ward. The only answer to my whimpers was the droplets of water hitting the floor around me.
Pulling myself together, I got up and looked around. The door I originally came through seemed to be the only way out. Of course, there were the other "patient" doors, but I wasn't about to go opening all those, especially not after what'd just happened.
I walked over to the door and noticed something rather disturbing—it had no doorknob. I pushed on it, pulled it, but to no avail. It was locked, and I was stuck.
Wait a sec, I thought. I walked back over to the nurse station and took a closer look at the button panel. There at the bottom was a button marked "main". I pressed it, and the door popped open. Three cheers for technology! I picked up my lead pipe (which was, by this time, almost comical to think about) and headed back into the hallway.
"Found what you were looking for?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin, and, stifling my scream, I turned to look at Dusty. The old man had a stern, yet quizzical countenance as he surveyed me like a little boy might survey a bug in a jar.
"Where'd you come from!?" I squeaked. "No, scratch that. What just happened in there!?" I said, pointing back towards the door.
The wrinkly man waddled over and looked through the window, then back at me.
"What ARE you talking about?" he asked. From his tone, you'd think I'd just asked him to stick his hand in a toilet or something.
I pressed my face against the window and looked in. Everything in the room appeared normal. No water damage, no gurney-corpse-thing, nothing.
"What!?" I shrieked in disbelief.
"Quiet," snapped Dusty. "You'll wake everyone up. Now come on, and keep up." With that, he brushed past me and started down the hall.
I was incredulous, but I followed. Getting lost in this place was the last thing I wanted. Several twists and turns later, the light had gotten brighter, and soon we were back in the foyer of the institute.
"Well," I said awkwardly, "I guess I should thank you for your help..?"
"Don't thank me," he said with a snort. "I was asked to help you, that's all. You're on your own now. Be careful out there; things aren't always what they seem, you know."
He turned and started shuffling down the hallway. Before he turned the corner, I called out to him.
"Eh?" he said.
"Who… who asked you to help me, Dusty?"
"…Jedidiah," he replied, vanishing around the corner.