Escape the Night: The Dark Dimension
A/N: Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
Yes, it's time for the first chapter and to see how the survivors will handle being chased around by the Devourer. Onward!
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Escape the Night. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER ONE: A NEW THREAT
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the group went through a doorway and found themselves in the red hallway from when they had tried to repair the Automaton Bride, which had cost Gabbie her heart, and they walked down it, heading for the elevator at the other end.
"Are they coming?" Joey asked as they slowed down to catch their breathes.
"No," said Alex, glancing behind them. "I don't see anyone."
"That was insane," Joey said, staring at the gem in his hands. "We have a gem, at least." And that was the only good thing to come out of this, that and Andrea was alive, too.
"And this letter," Dawn added, clutching the letter like a lifeline, and for all she knew, it could be a lifeline that they would be able to use to find the next gem.
Andrea was confused since she'd fully expected to be torn apart by the werewolves, and the fact that Alison had just given up her own life to save hers was shocking and confusing. "What just happened?"
"You're alive, that's what happen," Ernie stated.
"But did we cheat the system?" Andrea wondered, recalling how their last attempt to do so had cost the lives of Sampson and Liza. "Does that mean we went around the rules?"
Before any of her friends could answer that question, the door to the elevator suddenly slid open to reveal a hideous pink/white creature, which stepped out of the elevator and roared at them.
"What is that?!"
"I don't know!"
"What the hell?"
"Go! Run! Run!"
Screaming, the group turned and ran back the way they came with the creature chasing after them.
Somehow, by some miracle, the group managed to get back up the stairs and they were once again outside the mansion.
Alex checked to see if the creature was following, but there was no sign of it. "I don't think we're being followed."
"What was that thing?" Tyler wondered.
"It looked like something you would expect to find in a Guillermo Del Toro movie," Dawn said, shaken and she leaned against the nearby railing of the balcony. "You know, Pan's Labyrinth?"
"Yeah, that thing does seem like one of those sort of creatures," Ernie agreed.
"What do we do?" Joey wondered.
"I don't know," Tyler moaned. "We don't have Alison anymore. But there is that letter that she gave to you," he added, nodding to the letter that the brunette was still clutching in her hand.
Realizing that he was right, Dawn opened the letter and read it, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline. "Whoa, listen to this," she said and read it to her friends as they gathered around her.
My dear friends,
If you are reading this letter, and my worst fear has been confirmed. I haven't left the mansion alive, but it also means that I was able to help some of you to escape from the Sorceress and stop her evil plan. I had hoped to leave this cursed place and explore the outside world, but deep down, I knew that it would probably be unlikely, and so I write this letter while you all are asleep in the lounge.
I have never had friends before other then Sampson, at least, not real friends that weren't followers of the Sorceress, and your friendship has proven that I was right to help you regain your freedom from the Sorceress. There is much I wish I could've told you all before this nightmare began, but I am writing it here so you can understand fully while I turned against my own father to help you.
My parents and the other vampires in our nest hadn't always lived in the mansion, instead they once lived in a village in a distant land, and none of them ever fed on humans except for special occasions. Or if the humans were at the point where they couldn't live any longer due to either old age, illness, or a fatal injury.
For centuries, this was how my ancestors lived, having forsaken the commands of the Cursed God that first created the vampires, and they lived in peace with the humans that also lived in the village. That was until the vampire hunters arrived.
Most of the nest was wiped out and I was just a baby at the time when my parents took the survivors and they fled to find a new home, one where I and other surviving children could be raised safely. That was how they ended up at the mansion, where my father agreed to serve the Sorceress in exchange for one of the gems, and being able to call the mansion home. A part of the agreement to serve the Sorceress was to start feeding on humans, and I could never do it.
I only ever tasted human blood once and I rebelled against ever drinking it again, for it made me want more, and that scared me. I was a disappointment to my parents and the rest of the nest, but it was my choice to make, just like it was my choice to look after Joey when the Sorceress gave you to my father and the vampires after she forced you to write those invitations to bring your friends to this cursed place. I kept an eye on you while you were hooked to the machine and the nest used it to take your blood.
Two weeks before your friends were to arrive, I snuck into the ballroom one night when my parents and the others had gone, and I could tell that you didn't have much life left in you, which meant I had to do something to ensure that you would live to see your friends again. I was honest when I said that I never fed on you during that month, but I did do something that, had you known you probably would've been very angry with me, was the only way I could keep you alive.
Twice during those two weeks, I compelled you to sleep so that I could inject some of my own blood into your system in order to heal you enough so that you could survive this night. Rest assure that it wasn't enough to turn you into a vampire, Joey, and I expect that thought would run through your head after reading this. No, the blood was enough to help you stay alive. Even the tea that I gave you all had a little bit of my blood mixed in, along with a mild sedative, for I knew that you would need to rest up in order to find the remaining gems.
I did all of this to help you all win against the Sorceress. I admit that when you first arrived, I just wanted to get you all out of there before it was too late, and I was surprised when you, Dawn, refused to leave without Joey. But it was in that moment that I realized that you were a Light-bearer, and while you don't know for sure what that means, I do. A Light-bearer is one who can overcome the darkness and evil of the world, and the Light-bearers have been helping the Society Against Evil fight against the forces of the Cursed God for an unknown period of time.
I don't know where the Light-bearers come from, but I know that just being in the presence of such a person can rid one of darkness, and having you as a friend has taken much darkness out of myself. Goodbye, my friends and good luck.
Alison.
The group stared at the letter, dumbfounded by all that it had revealed, especially why Alison had helped them in the first place.
"I so misjudged her," Joey said, shocked and saddened that he hadn't trusted the vampire girl when he first met her, but she'd understood why he had acted the way he did, and she hadn't hated him for it either.
"Yeah, Alison gave up a lot to help us out," Dawn agreed, folding the letter and putting it inside her coat. "But, what are we suppose to do to find the next gem?"
Alex looked around and noticed something that clearly hadn't been there before. "Uh…what is this?" he asked, pointing to a strange grey, squid-like monster statue that was in a crouching position on one of the balcony supports.
Exchanging looks, the group went over to the statue and saw that there was an inscription on the base, which Andrea read. "'Speak to us, forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see'. Steal the light?"
Alex examined the statue, noting that it had pale stones for eyes. 'Do we have to remove the stones?' he wondered, trying to remove them, but they were stuck. "Wait."
"What?" Joey asked, but before he could get an answer, there was a loud banging on the glass doors behind them, making them all jump and scream.
The group turned and they saw that the creature was now banging and clawing on the glass doors that stood between them and it.
"Ok, that's an ugly creature," Ernie stated. "And it does look like one of Guillermo Del Toro's creations."
"Omigosh," Joey gasped. "He's inside. We should maybe just stay out here."
"Given that it's probably one of the Sorceress' lieutenants, that's probably a good idea," Dawn agreed, and protested when Joey moved closer to the glass doors. "Joey! Get away from there!"
"Wait…I just wanna take a closer look at him," Joey said, moving closer to the door "…maybe just to see…" Stopping short of the door, he got a good look at the creature and backed up a bit. "Omigod!" And when the creature lunged at the door, trying to get to him, he screamed and jumped away, returning to his friends. 'Nope! There is no way that I'm going anywhere near that thing! Nope, nope, nope!'
Tyler looked between the statue and the creature that was growling at them through the closed door, trying to make sense of the inscription. "What if we talk to it?" he suggested, looking at the creature. "Speak to us?" But all the creature did was growl and banged on the glass. "Ok never mind." He took another look at the statue and noticed that there was a drawing of some kind on the side near the base. "What is this?"
Andrea also took a look at the drawing. "They're raising their hands." And sure enough, in the drawing, there were six people, positioned in a trapezoid-shaped formation, and they all had their hands raised while they were looking forward. "Maybe we need to do that."
Figuring that it was their best option, they positioned themselves so that they were standing in the same shape, and had their hands raised while they faced the statue, just like in the drawing.
"Think this is it?" Alex asked. "Nothing's happening!"
"Maybe we do this while we say this all together," Ernie suggested.
Agreeing, they all spoke the words from the inscription together. "Speak to us, forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see."
For a moment, nothing happened, and then the statue itself started to glow an eerie blue/green color. The group stared in confusion and then they yelped, startled when the plaque fell off the base of the statue.
"Freaking jump-scares," Dawn grumbled as they moved closer to see what was in the opening.
Tyler reached inside and took out a dark green book with yellow eyes on the cover that grossed them out, and he opened the book, finding information that he immediately read. "'The Sorceress has used the final gem to summon a Devourer to aid in her end game. To retrieve the gem, you must venture into the Dark Dimension, where it is being kept. Only the twin idols of the Cursed God allow passage. To recover the first one, you must make a phone call to hell and share secret words with its Gatekeeper'."
"That's the Devourer," Joey said, pointing to the creature that was still at the door. "We need to go to the Dark Dimension?"
"And call hell!" Tyler yelped.
Dawn threw her hands up in frustration. "Oh great!" she said sarcastically. "Let's see how the devil's doing!"
Alex noted that there was a map on the bottom of the map. "This is where we are," he said, pointing to a spot on the map. "We have to go down…"
Tyler found the destination on the map. "We have to go that way. Ok."
"Ok, let's go," Ernie agreed and they all headed for the stairs. Unfortunately, the Devourer was following by going from window to window to keep them in view.
A/N: It hadn't occurred to me at the time, but that statue that they found, it was actually a statue of the Cursed God. Creepy huh?
Ok, I will see you all next week with the next chapter. Bye for now! R&R everyone!