Chapter 14:
1st night: Part thirteen
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Well, Shadow Knight, all those nice and long, as well as flattering, reviews have paid off. This chapter will be possibly the longest yet. And, there's another reason to celebrate. This chapter marks the end of the first night!!!! Yay! Don't worry, though! This story will still have many, many more chapters till the end. So here we go!
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Lina descended the stairs slowly, still pondering on this turn of events. She sighed when she reached the bottom. She thought for a moment, where to next? She sighed once more and began down the hallway. She went to he very last door and opened it slowly.
The door swung open, and the only light it revealed was that her flashlight produced, and the reflection of the water. The sound of dripping water once again reached her ears, and she shuddered as she remembered the earlier events that had taken place here. Slowly, and carefully, she entered and headed across the wooden boards to the other side of the room.
As she cross the middle board, Lina nearly let out a shocked cry. The water wasn't clear, or murky, but red. Red as blood. She winced slightly as a drip of water tapped her nose. She brought her hand to brush it off, but it wasn't water. It was sticky, and felt different. She brought her flashlight up and looked at the tips of her fingers. Dark red.
Lina let out a fearful shout and dashed to the other side of the room. Using her knees for support, She slowly caught her breath, and found what she was looking for. In front of her there was a door. But, to her disappointment, it was a simple door. There weren't any symbols or numbers on it. Just a door.
Sighing, Lina gently placed her hand on the doorknob. She did not want to go back across, and this was her only path at the moment. Slowly, she opened it.
She was outside, on a small path. On both sides of her, there was a long fence, providing a space just small enough for her to walk though with out feeling of being squished. Slowly, she walked along the path. Beneath her feet, there were freshly fallen green leaves that made a soft shuffling sound as she trod across them.
She emerged from the fenced area into a much larger area, and quickly switched off her flashlight. The moon was still quite bright, and it was easy for her to see. To her right, there was a small shed. The large area grew smaller until it became a small path that was lined with bare trees. Just before the trees one the right side, right against the fence, there was a small stone well.
Lina slowly began to approach the well. The closer she grew, the louder the sound of a child became. She froze as a sudden tingle ran down her spine. She spun on her heel and looked behind her. Nothing. But the voice was still talking- no, pleading- to her. Slowly, she looked up.
There, in a window that was barred off, was a small pale girl in a white kimono. It was the girl that Lina had seen before, the one who had healed her.
"Help me! Please!" The little girl pleaded, grasping the bars on the window. She had a rather desperate expression on her face, and was shaking slightly. "Help…" Slowly, the girl faded out.
"Wait a minute! Don't-" She didn't get to finish, the girl was gone. "Go…"
Lina sighed and turned around again, only to nearly fall back in surprise. In front of her, it was the girl! "Y-you!" Lina stuttered slightly, surprised and shocked. The girl looked at her slowly, and then reached out for her hand. Lina slowly raised her hand until they met. A sudden rush reached her, and then several pictures appeared in her mind.
Two hands worked quickly, taking several small dolls and examining them slowly. One hand grasped the doll's right arm, and in a swift motion, ripped it off. The doll seemed to bleed like a human, red liquid slowly crawled down its rough wooden surface. In front of the figure, four other dolls stood. Each had a specific part of it taken off, much like the one before hand, one with no head, one with no left arm, and one for each leg. And each seemed like it was bleeding. No… it was bleeding.
The dolls were arranged in a certain fashion, inside a box that had around nine sections. It was arranged much like a body. The doll missing its left arm was in the left most spot, the same with the other arm and legs. The headless doll was in the center top square. The hands then pulled out something wrapped in a cloth. A small compartment opened, right inside the wall, and the wrapped object was placed inside. The compartment closed slowly.
Lina pulled back slightly, over taken by the rush of images. The girl in front of her just stared, not really showing any emotion. Finally, the girl turned slightly and pointed. Her long slender finger reached out towards the well. Lina moved her attention to the well, and then glanced back. The girl was gone.
Lina sighed and slowly began to approach the well. It was then that noticed that it had a large wooden lid. On top of it, a small blue tape rested. Gently, she lifted it up and pulled out her tape player. A male voice came out from the speakers. But it wasn't Xellos', and of course it was Sylphiel!
"I know it sounds crazy, but there is something here in this mansion beside us. I've it myself. It was a woman in a white kimono. Oh god, what have we unknowingly released? It must be something terrible. I have to find us a way out of here, before this mansion claims any more souls."
Lina rewound the tape slowly and then pressed play again. There something in the background, some hissing sound, almost like a voice. She listened closely, bringing the player to her ear.
"Ropes" The voice hissed, holding the S for a few seconds. Lina shuddered. A loud banging noise caught her attention. She spun on her heel, glancing about. Voices slowly began to rise all around her. Lina turned in every direction, fearful and on edge. She spun once again, and this time a scream rose in her throat. She held it back as she stared.
"S-Sylphiel!" She caught her breath, ragged and shallow. Her heart was moving so fast, it was beginning to sound like a hum. Sylphiel stood before her, staring with unseeing eyes. She slowly raised her pale arm, which seemed to glow in the darkness. Lina took a step back, and lightly squeezed her camera. Sylphiel, however, did not grab Lina. She only pointed a slender finger towards the shed.
Slowly, Lina backed away towards the shed. Sylphiel began to disappear from her sight. As Lina took another step back, her foot stepped on something and she slid back, landing in a heap on the grass. A small scrap of paper floated down and landed on top of her. Lina lifted it up. The handwriting was slightly rushed from what Lina could tell. She pulled out her flashlight and examined it slowly.
Sept. 14, 5:48 PM
In the materials Sylphiel gathered for me, there is a paragraph about five mirror pieces passed down through the Seilloon family for generations. These pieces were said to seal off the Hell Gate and protect the region from a great disaster. They might have something to do with the current Hellish situation I'm in.
Five Holy Mirrors in five different shrines broke at the same instant in the earthquake we had a short time ago. When I read this, it gave me the idea for my next work. Now I wish I'd never of heard of this cursed place. I think I may have brought a newspaper article here with me about it. It says that there are only Five Holy Mirrors in existence.
But according to some legends, there is another- a "True Holy Mirror". The folklorist, Rezo Akahoshi, wrote something about this as well in some of his research documents. (I think I lost all the documents I had found while I was trying to escape that cursed woman)
I think that the Five Holy Mirrors actually were created to "watch over" the True Holy Mirror. I don't think it was the earthquake that broke them. I think it was a signal that the seal the Seilloon family had on the Hell Gate had been broken somehow. The Five mirrors were trying to warn us.
Lina quickly put it away and stood up. As she was about to move away, her flashlight glimmered on something small and metal. Lina knelt down and picked it up off the ground. It was a small metal ring. It had a few markings on it that Lina couldn't make out. Lina didn't know, but she slid the ring onto her index finger. It fit perfectly, as though made for her.
Lina sighed and turned around again. This place was confusing. Slowly, she headed back to the well and started down the lined path. At the end of it a few yards away, there was a small door in the fence. Lina walked to it and slowly opened it up.
Before her, there was a path that led to a large set of stone stairs. The stairs led up to a large shrine, with several large, red pillars supporting it. The stairs themselves were lined with many trees. These seemed much more healthy than the previous ones. Slowly, Lina began to walk towards the stairs.
As she reached them, she noticed two things. One was that the moon was provided much less light here than before. The second thing was that there was a large stone… thing… on the door to the shrine. She slowly began to ascend the steps. Her heels made a light tipp tipp as she walked up towards the shrine. When she had finally reached it, Lina realized that the stone thing was actually a special lock. There were a few stone tablets fitted on it, and one was missing.
Lina carefully pulled out the stone tablet she had found in the lantern and looked it over. It was identical to the other tablets. Lina carefully slipped it on to the stone plate. There was a click from the door, and Lina gently tried it. It opened slowly, with no trouble.
Inside, the floor was wooden and creaked with every movement, making silence impossible. There was a large mirror that took up one wall, and directly in front of her there was a table against the wall that had a large box on it. Lina took a single step inside, and froze as her eyes fell to the floor. It was completely spattered with blood, from corner to corner. The blood wasn't fresh, at least a few weeks old, but it still made Lina nauseous.
Not looking down, Lina ventured inside. As she reached the center of the room, a hissing sound began to echo throughout the small space. Lina turned around slowly, surprised. But nothing was there. The sound slowly evolved into a voice. A male voice. It was calling, pleading in a way. Lina stopped around her third spin and thought for a moment. Slowly, her eyes found their way to the ceiling, and a gasp escaped her lips.
Above her head, Mr. Gabrief was held in the rafters by several dozen pale white hands. His light hair was in what looked like a ponytail, and slipped over his shoulders easily. Lina watched in horror as his mouth opened in a horrified scream, but no sound emerged. Lina tried to pull her eyes away, but she couldn't move her head. In a terrible motion, the pale hands released him, and Lina watched as his body fell forward, towards the ground.
Lina braced herself, tucking her head below her arms and bending her knees. But all she felt was a sudden rush of air. She looked up, but nothing was there. She did, however, notice that the room suddenly felt very cold. She slowly tried to calm her racing heart as she look from side to side. She had by now learned that something wasn't right when that happened.
She slowly back away towards he open door, keeping her breath as calm as she could. As she reemerged from the shrine, she felt the temperature go down farther than before, if possible. Slowly, she scanned the area for a small trace of something. Then, it flashed, literally, right before her eyes.
The spirit of Mr. Gabrief was about two feet in front of her, and was slowly drifting forwards. Lina had a sudden spasm in her stomach, and a feeling of real terror reached her. Sure, this was what she felt every time she had an encounter with some spirit or another, but this time there was an important factor. She really didn't have much space. She seriously didn't want to go back to the shrine, and the forest was out of the question. So she was limited to the large set of stairs.
Lina grabbed her camera and turned to go back into the shrine. The only thing her mind was saying at the moment, or should I say screaming, was RUN AWAY! (AN: Okay, I'm so sorry about this, but if I don't get at least some of my funny stuff out, I'm go stir crazy! So, this will be it for the funny stuff, otherwise you guys might mug me for ruining the mood…^_^;;) So she did.
As she was running up the tiny set of stair that led into the shrine, she felt a sudden jolt and was suddenly on the ground. Her backpack strap had been caught on the railing, and had left one arm, more specifically the one with the camera, immobile. She gave it a yank, but it held fast, holding her to her position. Lina glanced up in time to see Gabrief just above her. She really had one chance until she could move the arm with her camera, and she really didn't think it would work.
She turned her body so she was on her side, and then in a quick motion, sent her foot fling right into the spirit's face, or more correctly, right through his face. She sighed as she finally managed to get the backpack off her back
"Oh well," She mumbled as her camera flashed. The spirit took a step back and faltered. Lina took her opportunity to run past him and down the steps. Skipping several on the way down, Lina reached the bottom and turned as quickly as she could, bring her camera up to begin charging.
As the spirit reached just above her, Lina felt a jolt for her camera, and it began to glow. Lina, for the moment, didn't question this, but instead pressed down on the shutter. The spirit let out a shriek that Lina had to cover her ears to keep from going deaf. The spirit fumbled back, and then came at her again. Lina pressed the shutter by instinct and rolled away. The spirit was taken back, but continued forward.
Lina had just enough time to charge before the spirit reached her. She pressed the shutter and watched. As the shot took affect, Gabrief began to go back towards the shrine, as though trying to get away. But it wasn't of any use, the camera took effect and pulled the ghost inside the final photo she had taken.
Lina lifted up the photo to look over. But instead of seeing the pale white form of Gourry Gabrief, she saw what looked like a mirror image of the corner of the shrine. Lina blinked and shook her head. That was her next destination. She passed by her backpack, thinking she would pick it up later.
As she approached the corner in the photo, Lina felt drawn towards it. Slowly, she knelt down and looked over the wood. One board was broken. Lina remembered when she was little; there was a broken floorboard in her room. She could never keep anything of hers away from her brother, so she had used the board to hide her treasures.
Lina slowly pulled the board up and looked inside with her flashlight. There, on the ground, was what looked like a doll. Lina reached down and pulled it out. It was a doll, with a missing head. Lina shuddered slightly, and then nearly fell back in surprise. This what Amelia had meant. The vision Lina had before must have been telling her what to do. Lina stood up and walked over to the table with the large box. In front of it, there were four other dolls, each missing a different part. But the box didn't have the four sections it did in her vision.
Lina put the doll on the shelf with the others so she could think, and was surprised when nine sections opened in the box. Lina cocked her head slightly and a small smile slipped across her face. She thought back to the vision to the order of the dolls. As she placed the last doll in it's place, there was a loud sound of something unlocking, and the wall slid open and revealed a small bundled item Lina pulled it out and slowly unwrapped it.
As she unwrapped it, Lina caught the small glimmer of a mirror. She was suddenly anxious to see what was inside, though she continued slowly so as not to damage the mirror.
"Is this the… Holy Mirror…?" Lina asked as she finished. It was broken, with jagged edges that could cut her is she wasn't careful. "No… only a piece of it,"
Lina jolted slightly as the sound of someone whispering reached her ears. Lina slowly walked forward, the mirror still in hand. As she reached the large mirror, she glanced inside and gasped. Behind her, in the mirror, there was a young woman with short black hair in a white kimono. Her bangs covered her eyes. But this was not Amelia, at least, not the one she knew. Lina spun around and looked behind her. Nothing.
She turned back and looked again. The woman was now in front of her, and reaching out of the mirror towards Lina. The woman pulled herself out of the mirror, and then slowly floated up until she was above Lina's head. Lina gasped and took a step back. The woman waited not a second before reaching out and grabbing Lina wrists.
Lina froze as several images reached her mind.
Ropes… on her arms and legs, and even her neck. Shivering violently… so cold. The sound of water dripping. The ropes! They started to grow tighter on her body, and she felt stabbing pain, as though she was being pulled apart!
And then, there were children. Looking over her chanting slightly. "Look! A new demon!" Several of them said, and others echoed. And then, it faded to black.
End 1st night