Chapter Four: In The Room Of Night

I stood there, waiting just outside the large door leading into the room. A faint glow of yellow light was permeating through the edges in small amounts. The door was cold to the touch. Some sort of heavy metal, extremely flat and soft as well. I couldn't find any trace of a handle as I ran my hand over it.

The little boy continued to stand next to me, expressionless and cold. The barb wire was at its last extremity here. It was clumped all around us and made just enough leeway for the door which protruded out of the wall. Unlike the other parts, this place was clean, void of all blood or cadavers. Also, it lacked the rancid smell of the previous path. No noise came from the room before us. Nothing. I pressed my ear against the metal, an icy feeling spreading through my body, numbing me. Still nothing. But wait, there is something. A faint rustle and shuffling, feet maybe. Somebody must be walking inside there. But who? The source of the noise showed no sign of recognition that there were visitors spying on him, or whatever it is.

The child standing next to me began to move. His movements were almost robotic, as if he was programmed to do what he was doing. He pushed me aside, into the wall, sending tiny throbs of pains throughout my body as the barb wire found its home in the flesh of my back. I could feel the warm sticky blood slowly begin to trickle down my back. What he did next I can't tell you for I was to occupied with the barb wire in my back than what he was doing at the moment. The next thing I knew there was a bright flash of light accompanied by a large metallic creaking noise and then completely darkness. The door was opened.

The room hiding behind the door was completely dark. It showed no evidence of there ever being light in it. Then what was glowing on the rims of the door? There wasn't any noise also, just the small footsteps of the child walking in. The echoes that bounced of the walls and ceiling made it sound as if there was a whole army in there, marching into the middle of some battle fought for no concrete reason.

I stood there in a confused and dazed stupor, unwilling to go inside the room. If I'm correct, this has to be the room where all those poor souls were tortured and killed. The battle in my mind resulted in me losing as my foot, against my will, stepped into the room, the other following. I had no control over them.

The floor was hard and showed no signs of the apparent slaughter. The blood, bones, bodies, flesh, all of it, was absent. I was about three steps in when my eyes adjusted minimally to the darkness. I could see what appeared to be faint outlines of monolithic cocoons swaying back and forth from the ceiling. As I strained my eyes to see I found that they were suspended by lengths of ropes, tied around a bulge at the top of them which was obviously their heads. It was wrapped around and tied like a noose. Their were dozens of the creatures occupying the upper part of the room. Their bodies descended down until they were about only three feet from the ground. They were everywhere, the thickness of them prevented me from seeing any of the walls of the room. I walked slowly and cautiously up to the closest one.

It's face was covered in stained bandages save for the dark hole which was its mouth. Faint circles of eyes could be seen through the bandages as well, seeing as it was torn in some places, swaying at the side. The rest of its body was wrapped up in what appeared to be a cocoon straight jacket. Parts of its body bulged out through the thick cloth. It's arms and back ascended outward like the legs on a spider. Its entire body pulsed from time to time, and a strong and warm air penetrated through its mouth. This one and the rest were covered in massive amounts of chains and padlocks which wrapped around their bodies loosely and tightly at places. Some chains were broken and lay dangling and swaying at their feet. I walked forward, twisting my body in all directions, careful not to touch the hanging bodies or make the smallest of noises for fear of awakening them. A small voice in my mind told me that once they awoke their chains and nooses probably wouldn't hold them. As I continued forward, trying to find my guide, following his faint footsteps in the distance, I witnessed a horrifying discovery. There were lumps of chains lying on the ground in places and some strewn about like snakes. There were empty sacs swaying from the ceiling, large tear marks in the cloth were the things emerged from, the noose ripped impatiently and hanging from the distance of the ceiling which until now I didn't realize was extremely high as I couldn't see the top. Hundreds of feet up maybe.

I stood there in terror, the thought of mangled bodies running around the room towards me consuming me up. A small bead of sweat fell down my forehead, I wiped it away, determined not to be bothered by the mere thought of it.

As I approached the end of the hellish room, I became relived. No encounter with the loose monsters had taken place. I hadn't even heard them moving about. The child was there waiting for me at door leading to the next room. The same expressionless look.

The door leading to what was next was familiar. It was your average wooden door with a golden knob. He opened it up and walked into the darkness. I hesitated, there's no way in hell I'm going through that door. The darkness coming out of it was unparalleled. Also, as he opened the door a unbearable burst of heat swarmed out and hit me in the face, and from the depths within there came a small whirring noise, like an engine or a generator. And, much like before, I was drawn in against my will. I was truly scared now.

My feet carried me in about fourteen or so steps, right behind the child. We stood there for a few moments in the darkness for some reason. He appeared to be unsure of what to do next. As we stood there, the heat in the room became intolerable, and I started to sweat intensely. The child in front of me didn't appear to be affected by it though. I could still feel the mist of coldness coming off his body, like an open freezer. The whirring noise matured into a massive static, the same noise as before and its source became apparent. It was coming from the right corner of the room, just ahead of us.

I walked towards it, determined to find out just what it was, but something cold and lifeless grabbed onto my arm and squeezed hard. It was the child. His features became visible as a light from somewhere in the room slowly began to gain strength. The cold, apathetic, and expressionless look was gone and replace with a look a deep terror which distorted his face making it look inhuman. He was shaking violently, his grip on me getting tighter as more light flooded into the room. His eyes met mine, dark and cold they were. But as the seconds passed they became more lifelike as color flooded into them. A loud noise came from the corner of the room, the same as the static. The child let go of me and cowered back into the dark part of the room, the safety. I stood there staring at the corner where the noise came from and the static was at. That was where the light was originating from. A lantern of some sort and a small circular orange light a few inches above it. At that time, a familiar strong scent flooded into my nose.

The light began to move and approach me. Like the child I backed into the darkness as well. Finding my place against the cold wall on the opposite side of the room. The light moved closer, illuminating the room. It was bare, the walls were old and moldy. They were stained with rust and dirt which descended from the low ceiling. Chunks off the wall were missing and found their place on the floor.

The light was being guided by someone, but what was holding the light was nothing but a mere shadow behind it. Only its hands were visible, grotesque and malformed. Bone was exposed through the rotting flesh. The creature placed the light on a fixture on the ceiling in the middle of the room. The moment the lantern was placed on the hook with a tiny thud, the child let out a loud whimper which caused the shadow to look our way. Luckily the pool of light ended feet away and we remained inconspicuously in the darkness. A few seconds of looking our direction he gave up all worry and returned to the static corner. The circular orange light reappeared once the figures footsteps faded away. As we stood there, waiting for God knows what, a faint smoke began to fill the room. And then it dawned on me, the smoke, the circular light. Now it was blatantly obvious if it wasn't before. A cigar, my father used to smoke them. Slowly I gained confidence and emerged from the darkness not expecting what happened to actually happen.

"Well, hello there." A scruffy, male's voice said to me from the corner of the room. As he said it, the child gave another whimper. I was too surprised to answer him. He inhaled more of the cigar and blew it out, the cloud of new dark smoke stopping only millimeters from my face. He sighed and continued.

"Don't feel like talking much Darren, I can understand that." He said in another exhalation of strong acidic cigar smoke. I finally answered him, not knowing what to expect. I don't think this person is human, no normal person would ever dare live in a hell hole like this and if they did, there's no way in hell they'd be able to survive.

"Ummm, who are you?" I said defiantly, not realizing until later how stupid it sounded.

"Hah, you seem to be the one paying me a visit." He said with a laugh. He coughed a little and spit to the side of him. He still remained in the darkness as I stood under the intense glow of the lantern above me. I gave no answer, unsure what to say.

"Ahh, I see, he must've brought you here." He said. I couldn't see him but I felt pretty sure that he was pointing at the cowering child behind me.

"Yes, he did." I said, my voice cracking with nervousness.

"Well, I'm not sure what to say." He said. What the hell is he talking about, surely he must know why I was brought here. Before I could answer him, he continued, not talking to me though but rather to the child.

"Come here boy." He said angrily. The child behind me whimpered again but showed no sign of movement.

"I said come here!" He said near screaming. Instantly I thought of the hanging creatures in the other room, suspended in their catatonic state. I was going to warn him of the danger of his loud voice but then remembered that he must know, but in the most part I was stopped by the emergence of the child out of the darkness. He came out staggering about, afraid of anticipation. It was at that moment that I realized that the child must know this strange man, therefore he must have a reason to be afraid of him. I shuddered at the mere thought.

The child spoke before the man could and surprisingly I could understand him, he no longer spoke an undistinguishable language.

"I'm sorry." He said, barely audible. His voice was very light and feminine, that of a young boy's. Tears were spilling off his face on the floor. My eyes began to water as well as more smoke filled the room.

"Yeah." The man said in an angry laugh. He continued.

"Can't do anything right." He mumbled to himself and then he addressed me again. " Well, I'm sorry Darren. But it's apparently now or never thanks to this little bastard." he pointed at the child.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, the first question on my list of thousands.

"Ahh, I knew you wouldn't know yet." He said sighing. I was beginning to get annoyed. It was then that he emerged from the darkness. He was dressed entirely in black, black pants, shirt, and shoes. His tie sticking out like a sore thumb, a creamy silver color. He had a black hat on as well, a rather large one pulled down just above his eyes, casting a dark shadow over his face. This shadow covered up his facial features rather well preventing me from seeing him. A cane rest in his hands, wooden and smooth. A silver necklace hung around his neck, a golden heart at the end of it.

"Is that all you intend to ask. Must not be very perceptive I see." He said laughing.

"What! I have a lot to ask mind you." I said angrily, not much paying attention to my choice of words. He smiled.

"Well then."

"Well first of all, where the hell am I."

"Mmm, I'm sorry but I can't tell you that." he said. That got me angrier. What a bunch of crap, a clichéd movie saying.

" Okay then, what about those damn things outside, hanging from the walls, what the hell are those." I said. He smiled.

"Oh, you can see those too, I can't really answer that question. But I can tell you this. It would be best to stay away from them." The words only made me angrier. Stay away?

"What about all that screaming I heard, the chainsaw, the pathway leading to hear! All the dead bodies, the blood, that rain! What the hell is going on?" I screamed. The minute the words left my mouth a horrendous beating noise started on the door. The static noise increased tremendously and distorted mumbles could be heard from the outside. We all looked across the room at the door. I, much like the child was scared, but he strange man smiled.

"Well there you have it. You've awoken them. Those are the creatures hanging, or to put it more accurately, those are the ones that hatched. Best stay away. They're attracted to light and darkness." he said as he moved to the center of the room and extinguished the light. The minute the room delved into darkness the noise from outside the room stopped.

"You see?" He said. I just stood there in the darkness confused as ever. The static noise went down into just a low whirring again and a faint rush of cool air swept across the room. A door opened at the other side and the man walked out, I followed him. The door was closed when I got to it and from the other side I heard the faint sound of footsteps in fresh earth. I opened the door and stepped out.

I was in a forest drenched in fog. The faint shadow of the man in the distance, walking slowly towards some unknown destination. I set out after him but as I walked through the fog I began to lose sight of the trail, everything became blurry and began to spin around. I became dizzy, a strong headache permeated my head and I blanked out.

I awoke in a hospital bed, warm and cozy. Sunlight pouring in through the window and the sound of mockingbirds filling the room. A dream, it was only a dream?