Chamber of Death
Daniella shrieked and jumped back. There were two torches in the small stone room, burning brightly as if they had just been lit, and she could see them clearly, lined up along the back wall, bones scattered about the floor. She took deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Who were these people? Victims of some sort of killing? Was it somebody at the mansion that killed these people? The smell of decay hung strong in the air, bursting out of the room and flooding into the corridor. She tried her best not to look at all of the dead inside. She debated whether or not she wanted to go in, whether there was anything of importance in there. The light revealed some sort of altar in the center of the room, and she wanted to know what it was for.
She told Poppy to "stay" outside the entrance, in case somebody came up on her while she was here. Daniella had the feeling she wasn't supposed to know about this, and didn't want to be discovered. She entered the room again, having to hold her nose to avoid that horrible smell. The rusted metal door squealed, then slammed shut behind her, causing her to jump. She heard Poppy bark once outside. Trying her best not to look around at all of the skeletons, she approached the stone altar. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, obviously having not been touched in a long time. She wiped the dust away, and studied the top of it.
It had some sort of blue diamond-shaped crest set in the middle of it, held in place by two small metal hooks. Daniella ran her hand along it, feeling the cold surface of the metal and the bumps and grooves of the one word cut into it... "SALT". She knew she shouldn't touch it, but it obviously had some importance, and she wanted to know as much about this creepy place as possible. She may be here for a while. Slowly, having to take her hand off her nose, she lifted the silver hooks and carefully lifted it out of the altar. She turned around, not wanting to spend any more time in this place, but then she heard a click coming from the door. She ran to it, fear rising in her chest hoping that wasn't what she thought it was. She tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. She was trapped in this room. She started banging on the door, calling Poppy, that horrible smell beginning to choke her.
She heard a noise, and turned around and watched as hundreds of snakes entered the room from a horizontal slat at the bottom of the wall.
Poppy heard his master call for help. She sounded desperate, panicked, like before. Was that man in there with her? He approached the solid door, unsure how he could help her. He walked around worriedly in circles near the door, whimpering. That's when she started to scream. Poppy knew there must be something in there, and barked, completely helpless. She screamed louder, her voice filled with dread and pain. Poppy jumped up and put his two front paws on the door, but he could not open it. Each time she screamed, Poppy felt a rush of pain and sorrow for her. He spotted the hole next to the door. Maybe that led inside the room... maybe he could help her!
Quickly, he ran inside, the small tunnel big enough for him to stand in. The tunnel curved around, heading toward the room. He saw it... he saw her and ran for her... but hit something. A glass panel stood between he and the room. He saw her, crouching up on the altar, trying to fend off hundreds of creatures that had started coming up the altar, up her legs and arms. The room looked like it was alive, the whole thing moving with the vile creatures. She heard him hit the glass and looked down, her eyes pleading, whispering his name. Poppy paced back and forth in the small passage, distressed. He didn't notice it, but he stepped onto the raised red panel on the floor next to him. It sunk into the floor and he heard the clicking noise again.
Apparently, so did Daniella, because she raised her head and jumped off the altar, dashing for the door. He saw her throw it open and fall outside, kicking it shut behind her. He quickly ran back through the tunnel and came out the other end, finding her once again.
Daniella lay on the floor, the last of the snakes off her, gasping for breath. She saw them slithering away, back toward the atrium. Poppy came running back into the hallway from the small hole near the door, and approached her, licking her legs. He had saved her again... she thought that time she had been dead for sure.
"Good boy, Poppy! Good boy. Thank you."
She looked down at her legs, where he was licking her... and saw the marks. She had been too afraid, too panicked before to even notice, but now she saw that she had been bitten. Multiple times, in fact, all over her legs. Were these snakes venomous? If they were, she didn't have much time left anyway... She dropped the diamond-shaped crest, which she had managed to get out of the room, and hugged Poppy close to her. He was her guardian angel... the ray of light that gave her hope in all of the darkness around her. She knew that she would never leave him.