Sonic Hill: Memories of a Shadow
Chapter 3: Voice
-
'When the White Breath is found, this I shall dedicate
Oh Spirit of the Mist, grant us fortune eternal'
Ash-colored light filtered through the grainy windows onto the bridge, granting Shadow's eyes enough vision to read the words engraved in the wooden tablet. His new friend, the lighter, wasn't needed here where he stood, thanks to the windows lining the wall to his right. He was on the second floor bridge overlooking the foyer, the one he'd seen above when he first entered the mansion.
Whether or not it was needed in the rooms beyond was unknown to him – the door to the other side of the mansion was locked. So he was left with nowhere else to go but back to the corridor he'd just exited. Resting on the floor of the bridge was something of peculiar interest though: the board he now firmly held in his grip. Other than the writing, not really anything seemed unique about it except the four square-shaped holes that were cut into it. The black hedgehog felt a strange sense of possession towards the cottage cheese board. He couldn't quite place it, really, though maybe it did make some sort of sense. After all, it was the only thing he'd spotted on the second floor of interest so far. So he shoved it into his improvised jacket-belt and turned to face the brown door from which he came.
'So much for that idea.' His search for a back door for the mansion was failing miserably so far. 'Time go to back to Gerald, I guess. I wonder if he knows what's up with this board…'
Well, if Gerald was interested in speaking to him that is. And to be honest, he doubted he did. It'd only been, what, maybe three minutes since he left the mysterious man alone? The door he'd taken after his conversation with the old man led into another short dark corridor, which in turn continued on up to the bridge. There were still those three doors in the foyer he hadn't checked yet, not including the one Gerald was holding closed. If worse came to worse, he could just request the man open the door again.
With that weakened goal in mind, Shadow stepped back across the bridge and opened the door back into that river of darkness he'd just left behind. His fur stood on end when his eyes caught something glinting off the foggy light of the bridge; something standing erect like those straightjacket monsters. But it couldn't have been, for it's visible feminine, fake-looking thigh was wrapped in black pantyhose. That wasn't quite as unsettling as the fact that it had four legs, two of which seemed suspended in the air above it's sisters. And as if to make sure Shadow knew the sight was out of this world, the creature had no head or arms, just nothing but a torso with four legs attached like some sort of bipedal spider.
He took a step backwards, trying to comprehend what he was really seeing. It didn't appear to move or anything, it just stood there like a lifeless mannequin. Seconds ticked by, and he realized with relief that it really was a lifeless mannequin. Its unnatural body lacked any sort of organic material, just silicon and plastic—
Which clashed with the fact that it just twitched abruptly.
A grunt escaped Shadow's lips—which probably would have been a scream if the circumstances were only a teensy bit more extreme. Self-consciously, his hand grasped the hilt of the meat cleaver on his waist. Just in time too, because before he knew it the mannequin was charging at him with its arms ('Legs. Those are its legs') flailing around, and this time he was screaming. Well, maybe only a shriek, but it had scared him far past enough.
With unsure quickness he yanked the cleaver out of its bed and swung it hard into the doll's right leg. No blood emitted, nor any feeling of flesh or bone breaking. The mannequin monster didn't seem to even feel it, but the force of the blow sent it stumbling to the left. It scraped against the doorway for a moment before regaining its balance and smashing its free leg into his face. For a moment he was desperately afraid he'd be knocked over the railing of the bridge, but he managed to use his free hand to grasp onto the side firmly and keep his balance. Meanwhile, his other hand pulled the cleaver out of its fake leg and jabbed it back in even harder. This time it sliced all the way through, cleanly severing the limb in a grotesquely clean and simple manner. The mannequin spazmed like it'd been electrocuted, and then jabbed its high heeled foot back into his face.
A sharp pain collided with his skin, and before he knew it he was on the floor with the insane creature on top of him. It was still silent as a mouse as it attempted to pull its top legs up and stomp down on his face repeatedly. Shadow desperately reached for the cleaver, which had fallen out of his grip somewhere along the way, and felt a renewed sense of relief when he found it beside him. With lightning speed, he jabbed it back into the mannequin's torso, pushing as hard as he could. The result was a force that knocked the monster off of him and to the side, sparing him enough time to jump to his feet and run like hell back to the door from which it came.
When he reached the door at the end of the darker corridor, he spun around to stare at the fallen statue on the floor as it tried to get up with the heavy knife still stuck in its side. Obviously, the cleaver wasn't the most effective weapon against it. Reaching for his side, he whipped out the magnum revolver and held it up to the mannequin's body, feeling nervousness overcome him once more. He pulled back the hammer, setting the new chamber up for its target. With both hands grasping the handle tightly, he squeezed the trigger. The gun sprung up into the air, attempting to escape his grip, in sync with the mannequin's body. A large new hole appeared in its chest, and after shaking a few more times it finally stopped moving.
…
Shadow placed his hand on his chest to feel his rapid heartbeat, as if to make sure the event hadn't literally scared him to death. When inanimate objects begin to attack you, that's usually a pretty damn good sign that the place isn't very safe. For a time, he just stood there staring at the curious figure, until he finally summoned enough courage to creep towards it to examine it closer. If it hadn't attacked him, it'd still be pretty damn freaky. It looked like the arms and head of the mannequin had been ripped off, and a second pair of legs had been sowed back on my some sick weirdo. Its rounded, perfect plastic breasts seemed to almost shine in the foggy light at the end of the corridor. What might have been an attractive doll sort of lost its edge when it looked as deformed as this one, not to mention the fact that a large blade was jabbed into its side.
Kneeling down, Shadow gripped the handle of the cleaver and ripped it out of its target, half expecting the monster to come back to life and assault him again. Luckily, it did no such thing, but it did seem to jump when he ripped the blade out. Returning it to his jacket-belt where the wooden board and the map lay, he stared back down at his other weapon. Three bullets had been used in the revolver so far, meaning only three more left. And the chances of there not being any other monsters in his way between now and whenever he leaves the town were pretty slim. Great, just great.
His heartbeat ended its journey back to normality. Storing the gun back in his side, he took his lighter out of his pocket and flicked it back on, illuminating the dark section of the hallway he was in. Gerald must have heard the gun go off, since he was only a room away. Maybe he could talk to him about this, and this time persuade the old man to accompany him. Surely he wouldn't want to stay if he knew this residence wasn't safe any longer…
Trying not to look at the lifeless creature on the floor any longer, Shadow turned and exited the hallway, reentering the stairway corridor he'd left a few minutes ago. Gerald's door was to his left and a few feet forward, so he stepped up to it and reached for the handle—
-THUD!
"Gack!" Shadow's body jolted like it was electrified for a split second, and he put his hand to his mouth to stop a startled shriek. A loud noise sounded off from afar, scaring the living crap out of him. His grip of the lighter's switch loosened a bit, engulfing him in darkness for a short time before he turned it back on.
What the hell was that? It sounded like it came from downstairs, perhaps in the living room…
With the lighter in one hand and the gun drawn in the other, he peeked down the stairway, seeing nothing but the wooden floor and steps below. If it was a monster, he'd better take it out now before he lost track of it and it could surprise him like the last one. Then he could talk to Gerald. Feeling a large sum of fear coursing through his veins, he descended the stairway, heading for the living room door on the first floor. About halfway down, another sound was heard: rapid thumping this time, like footsteps. He increased his pace down the stairs, hearing the sound of a door slam from afar, a mere two seconds before he grasped the living room door and opened it wide.
It looked the same as last time, just as dusty and old and dark. But from the light of the two candles on both sides of the mantle, he could see something had changed since he left. The metal bars covering the fireplace were no longer there, instead laying on the floor now like they'd been pried off.
'What's up with that thing?' he wondered, lowering his weapon and stepping up to the fallen blockade. Why someone would want to pry it off and start a fire was beyond him. He didn't recall there being any wood in there anyway. Kneeling down, he looked into the fireplace to see he was correct, though there was something there he most certainly had not expect to see.
In the back wall of the elegant fireplace was a ladder, which seemed to lead down straight into the ground. Where the firewood would usually lie, there was a handle, like a trapdoor, which should open up and make the ladder accessible…
What a curious passage that was – something he'd only expect to see in the movies. He couldn't help but wonder where it leads to, and why. He reached out and grabbed the trapdoors handle to pull it up and over. Cautiously, he peeked down the hole to see the ladder went down about ten feet before it ended on solid gravel.
A basement? First off, having the basement entrance be via the fireplace was a little out of this world, but having a rock-like floor?
Ever curious, Shadow put the gun and the lighter away and sat down, sliding into the hole feet first and gripping the ladder. Had the fireplace been considerably smaller it would have been a rather tight fit, but luckily for him his body was rather compact. Step by step, he went down the ladder, until his feet met the ground below.
When he turned around, what he saw surprised him completely. It wasn't a basement after all, at least not the storage kind. It looked more like some sort of garden. Dirt flooring went a few feet forward until they came in contact with the white marble stairs, which went up about a half a foot and became flat ground again. A few plants surrounded the perimeter of the garden, seeming to defy their normal lifestyle by living in the dark. A dimly lit lamp hung in the back wall, shining down on an object in the back of the room.
It was a tombstone.
He raised an eyebrow, feeling almost drawn towards the grave. Something else caught his interest though – lying on both sides of the marble stoop, atop two parallel plant pots, were two boards of wood. They had a similar design to the white one he'd found on the second floor, except their holes were in different places. Also, they did not share the same color as the first one. One was black, while the other was a dark red.
Reaching out to both sides, Shadow picked up the boards and read the words carved into both of them.
The black one:
'When the Dark Grail is found, this I shall dedicate
You who deny Death, grant us fortune eternal'
And the red one:
'When the Crimson Words are found, this I shall dedicate
Oh gods deep in slumber, grant us fortune eternal'
"Weird…" Shadow whispered. There must be a connection between the three strange objects – no way there could be three similar ones so close together.
With the boards in hand, the black hedgehog looked back up to the small tombstone a few yards away. Something was written on that, barely visible with the weak light shining from the lamp in the corner. He stepped up to it and kneeled down, seeing what looked like some sort of cryptic poem carved rather than the grave's passenger name:
'Along with you died joy
All that remains is despair and a future of meaningless tomorrows
But I will never give up
One, to see your beautiful smile again
One, to beg the blessings of the gods
I wait for that day
When the boards have covered all
All sadness, too, will be
But until my dreams become reality
I will have to swallow all the pain'
Below that was something else peculiar. There was a square depression of a dark blue hue in the bottom of the grave, just above the withered flowers at its base. He kneeled there completely clueless for a short moment, and then figured out what it must mean. He pulled out the Swiss cheese white board and placed it atop the other two in his hands, smiling slightly as he saw that they went along with the poem. Each board, which looked just about the same size and shape of the depression in the tombstone, had a few holes in them. But they could be arranged so all the holes are covered. If the poem meant that the blueness in the stone was supposed to represent sorrow, these boards must be what covered it. So, after moving them around a bit, he covered every hole and placed the boards in the tombstone.
The second he did, a strange click was heard. He looked up to see a section of the tombstone on the top revolve by some mechanical force. On the opposite side of it, the side that was just inside the stone a moment ago, there was a golden key lodged into the stone. The word 'Acacia' was carved in silver letters on its base.
Shadow looked up and wondered what an Acacia is. If the key had an elaborate hidden place like this one, he guessed it must be really important. More than a little weirded out by what just happened, he rose back to his feet and put the key in his fur-pocket. Whoever the tombstone belonged to, he did not know, but he did know the key would come in handy for sure.
Turning around, the black hedgehog returned to the ladder and climbed back up to the first floor of the mansion.
-Later…-
Here he was again, standing atop the second floor bridge overlooking the foyer. The first door he'd thought of to examine with his new key was the locked one in the living room, followed by the three in the foyer. The living room door refused to accept the metallic key though, and neither did the doors the foyer had to offer (which, obviously, had been locked too). So he was left with one more option before his little quest would cease and he'd have to request the old man's help again: The door on the bridge.
He was a bit nervous at the idea of returning to where that mannequin's body lay, but when he reached the corridor leading into the bridge, the insane doll's corpse wasn't there any longer. And that scared him even more. Maybe it hadn't died for good after all…he didn't know. His caution level was upped another notch though, that's for sure.
His little luck hadn't run out just yet, thankfully. The key slid into the door's slot simply, and with a turn the key's purpose was surveyed. Leaving it there in the lock, Shadow grasped the doors handle and opened it to reveal—a bit annoyingly—another long hallway.
Windows lined the right wall, just like in the foyer, so it was bright enough for him to see easily. It stretched about eighty feet forward, and then curved to the left to a place he couldn't see. Nervously, he stepped down the hallway, contemplating what was really going on here. He wanted to check up on Gerald badly, since he'd already skipped two chances to, but he wanted to at least check out what this wing of the mansion had to offer first. If he found something useful, then returned to the old man, things would go along easier. At least, he hoped so…
He half expected that mannequin to pop out and attack him at every step he took, and that feeling of doom increased when he got to where the hall turned. Sliding with his back to the wall, he peeked stealthily around the corner.
No monster, just three doors in a considerably shorter hall. Two were on the right wall, and the third was directly ahead. Still cautiously, Shadow reached for the nearest door on the right wall and tried the handle. Locked. Damn it. The word 'PIANO' was etched into the doors surface, signifying it must be a piano room or something. Probably nothing useful in there, though the thought of seeing a working piano did comfort him somehow.
'I can play that, right?' he wondered. Like much of his basic knowledge of the world, he wasn't exactly sure. Seemed like a skill he just might know after all. 'You're getting off track anyway, time to get back to business, Shadow.'
Step step step. The second door was in his reach. He tried this handle to see it, thankfully, wasn't locked after all. What he saw on the other side was rather bizarre, but not abnormally bizarre.
A somewhat decent-sized bedroom. In the back of the room, atop the small bed littered with old-looking stuffed animals, was a small window. A closet with mirror-doors was on the left wall, closed all the way and showing him his own strange reflection. How weird, just looking at himself in the mirror a second time made him feel like some sort of space alien. His black fur was a little ruffled up from all the running around, but he looked like he was still in pretty good shape at the moment. Hopefully it'll stay that way. He took his eyes away from his reflection and gazed around the rest of the room. Everything looked extremely old, like everything else in the house. The fact that it was clearly a child's bedroom, which held extremely drained and voided objects that were once bright vivid colors, sort of creeped him out. Interesting, but nothing that looked like it'd be needed.
'I guess a kid once lived here,' he noted. Like with the dead interior of the once lively room, that idea creeped him out. 'Did Gerald live here before, or was it someone else?'
Good question. To his dismay, none of these questions appeared to have an answer over the horizon. It made him wonder if he'd ever know before taking his leave. Standing there at the doorway wasn't getting anything done, so he backed away and aborted the room from the rest of the mansion wing.
Nothing quite useful had been offered by the corridor as of yet. Shadow scratched the side of his head and hoped the last door wasn't sealed off too.
A short-lived smile was born on his chapped lips when the door did indeed open. What was on the other side was a bit of a shocker, but nothing too big. No room was in sight, only a very old looking staircase that climbed up an extra floor.
'This must go to the attic.'
The stairs' wooden boards cried with pain with every step he took, making a noise that felt loud enough to wake the whole goddamn neighborhood if it wasn't dead too. No one could hear him most likely, but the noise still scared him a bit, more than a creeky stairs probably should.
'Of course it's scaring you, considering where you are,' Shadow felt an abrupt impulse to laugh at that. It hadn't really dawned on him that he was exploring a dark scary mansion in a dark scary town. 'Heh, brilliant, Shadow. Now if a murder decided to assault you, don't forget to run upstairs instead of out the front door.'
Ironically, that little joke is what ended his urge to laugh. A jolt of uncomfortableness overcame him. 'Okay, just shut up. Right now.'
With that he cleared his mind of dialogue for the time being, just in time to reach the top of the staircase.
Without much surprise, the attic was extremely old and creepy looking. Had his lighter not been flicked on and clutched in his right hand at the moment, he wouldn't have been able to see a thing. The attic didn't span the whole range of the house, but instead just the south wing. Boxes of various items and junk stacked atop one another covered most of the walls. The floor, on the other hand, was wiped clean of stuff for the most part, besides a very thick layer of dust that jumped into the air around him with every step he made. In the back of the attic, the side parallel to the entrance, was a very large boarded up window. Thin slithers of gray light shined through the cracks, but barely enough to supply the room with a decent amount of light. Also noticeable was a barely illuminated table a few yards away from where he stood, holding on it some sort of paper object and what might be a candle—
-CRASH!
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Shadow almost screamed himself when a loud, female shriek of terror mixed in with the cry of breaking glass assaulted the tranquility of the attic.
-THUD!
Something hit the ground hard far away, and the scream that had attacked his ears ended. What followed were a whole series of screams, from many different voices in the distance. His eyes darted around the room, and for a split second he could have sworn he saw a transparent shadow standing at the boarded up window. A second later it was gone, and he couldn't even tell if he really saw it or not. Meanwhile, the voices' horrified shrieks turned into words, many jumbled and mixed ones.
"—Oh my god!—"
"—What happened?—"
And then it stopped, before he even knew it. Silence overcame the room once more.
…
"What the fuck was that?" he whispered. His voice felt deafeningly loud in the empty place.
No answers, none at all.
His free hand rubbed his forehead; way past startled and overcome by what he'd just experienced. 'I'm going crazy already. Oh my god I'm going crazy already.'
"No you're not." He spoke out loud. It didn't sound quite as loud as the whisper did, strangely enough.
But if he wasn't, why the hell was he hearing things a second ago?
For about a minute he stood here in silence, waiting for the thudding in his heart to end. Whatever had just happened wasn't happening anymore, at least. For a split second he considered leaving the attic right away, but then he remembered the thing he'd seen on the table before he was distracted by the strange…whatever the hell it was. His body felt cold, but it was regaining its status quo as he creeped towards the small wooden table not too far away. When his bubble of firelight swallowed up the darkness around the object, he saw that he was correct: There was a candle atop the wooden desk, but beside that something of even more interest. He set the candle aflame with his lighter and shut it off, placing it on the desk and looking down at what had caught his attention.
It was a card.
His gloved fingertips wiped across the surface, tearing away a dusty layer of the card's dark tint to reveal a very vivid but somehow faded birthday card of some sort. It was a pretty basic one: a blue background with a medium sized cake with candles stabbed into it, along with multicolored balloons frozen in above the cake.
Curiosity guided his fingers to the edge of the card, then gave them that nice extra push of energy to move his fingers, opening it. Somewhat neat handwriting with a childlike essence to it was scribbled across its white interior. His eyes widened when his mind took in what it read.
'HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!
Love, Maria Robotnik'
And that's when the weakened voice of a little girl muttered from disturbingly closeby. "Give this…to my daddy…"
His fur stood on end and his heartbeat jumped back into the drowning pool. He whirred around, obliterating the flame of his lighter with the rush of wind momentarily until it flicked back on.
"Who's there?"
But no one was there. No little girl speaking into his ear despairingly, no mannequin monster ready to shred him to pieces, no nothing. Only himself and the boxes and the dust and the boarded up window with gray cracks across its a surface. He was just hearing things.
"Hello?"
…
'Maybe I really am losing my mind…' he stared back down at the card. 'Unless…'
Enough stalling. Right now, more than ever, he needed to speak to Gerald. With the card in hand, Shadow left the attic, backtracking to the east wing.