I really don't think that I need to write an author's note but I feel weird if I don't 0.o

Oh wait! I know what to write! Toilets weren't invented until…in recent history…so Altair thinks that the bathrooms are very foreign and doesn't know what the items inside of them are, i.e. the sinks, toilets, etc.

The world shook again and Malik and Yusef found themselves standing back in the center of the bureau, in the normal world, on the normal Earth, in the same mundane place. No rain, no monsters, just the bureau, and the pigeons on the ground pecking at the seed Malik sets out for them every other day.

Malik and Yusef looked at each other for a moment before breathing out sighs of relief. They knew that each other had multiple questions about what just happened, but really, what just did happen? And why was Altair running away, and why couldn't he see them if they could see him?

"I think we have a problem on our hands," Yusef said.

"Was that enough to convince you?" Malik asked.

"Yes, but…what just…I mean to say, I-"

"Save your breath," Malik said. "We need to do something about this. When I saw Altair, he was scared and must have been chased by something. Perhaps we should go to a mosque, or a synagogue, or a church, just to see if there is something that we might be able to do. It is the only thing I can think of."

"So you're saying that we will be…exorcising Altair?"

"Perhaps. I do not know. We cannot have him in that state, and he cannot stay here forever. He must pass on elsewhere."

"But who are we to do such a thing? We should bring a rabbi or a priest in here physically and see what can be done."

"No; in doing that, we could compromise the Brotherhood," Malik reasoned and turned his back on Yusef. Silence filled the room again for a few moments. "But then again, this is something supernatural we are dealing with."

"Exactly. We don't know what we're up against, but we can't just stand around and do nothing. You saw that person nailed onto the wall, saw how he was still alive. You heard that scream, and you saw those dilapidated buildings. What if we are sent there again? Why were we sent there in the first place?"

"Action will be immediate, Yusef. As to why we had gone there- unintentionally, of course -I do not know. Maybe Altair was trying to tell us something. Maybe something else was trying to say something. Either way, one thing's for certain; Altair needs our help. In fact, we are going to need help. If that happens again…well, I don't want to think of what made that person scream."

Altair quietly rummaged around the rubble inside of the dark building for anything that could be a weapon. He moved a few heavy bricks out of the way and found an axe laying carelessly on the ground. He tested the sharpened edge of it and figured that it was in good condition.

Great, now he had something to protect himself with, but the only problem was that the axe was heavier than his previous sword and was a bit more difficult to use. It would suffice for now, however.

Altair heard a moaning noise emitted from the bathroom a few steps away. He froze and turned in its direction. Was something else really here in this place?

Altair walked around the rubble and opened up the rotted, moldy door. The place had seen some seriously better days, to say the least. The walls and floors were splattered with blood and the metal walls were rusted and falling apart.

Altair was cautious in walking over to the stalls and opened the first with the butt of the axe. He saw just a bloody toilet; an object completely foreign to him. He decided to ponder about it later and walked to the next stall and opened it, but it was also empty. The third stall was locked.

"Is someone here?" Altair asked in the hopes of getting a response. No one answered, so he went down on the ground and looked underneath the doors of the stalls to see if anyone's feet were there. Instead, there was just no one. No one's here, but I swear I heard a human voice. I just know it.

As he began to walk away, he heard the locked door unlock itself and it creaked open. Altair whipped around and he held up his axe in the anticipation of an attack. There was a hissing noise as an arm shot out across the floor, dragging an attached body behind it. Its eyes were sewn open to prevent them from closing and its mouth was sewn shut. Its bald head had discolored blood vessels and veins clearly showing through the skin and its feet were tied together. It thrust out an arm and pulled itself towards Altair, letting out horrific-sounding noises as he crawled towards him.

Once it was close enough, Altair swung the axe and nearly decapitated it. The figure went limp and it didn't move again.

"Crawler," whispered Altair. "I'm going to call your kind Crawlers." He kicked it with his foot and walked around it. He headed to the stall it came from and saw that that there was an opening in the wall that he could crawl through that lead into another room. He managed to squeeze through and surveyed the place before going any further. His current objective was to find something that he could use for a source of light, so he started searching the area.

A piece of paper laying on a desk stood out against everything else and Altair picked it up. The handwritting was barely legible, but he could read some of the words:

My dearest love,

Today was the day Max was born. I cannot explain my excitement. Though the child is not yours, I do hope that when you return, you will share the very same joy that I have felt. Things are better now that my husband is gone. With his body in the river, no one will ever find him.

I did as you asked. I stuck his eyes open so that he could see the last moments of his life (it is his natural right, after all), and I sewed his mouth shut so that he would be silent as nature took him. Though it makes my heart a bit sad, I remember that his sacrifice will benefit us all.

I hope that my son will find you to be the father in his life.

With all my heart,

Elisa Usa

Altair paused for a moment. That creature that he just killed…was that this lady's late husband? The description fit it perfectly and he got an eerie feeling from the words. She had murdered her own husband to be with someone else.

He set the letter down and opened up the doors. There were just files so he quickly flipped through all of them, but one of the folders was large and bulging. He took out the item inside and saw that it was a short, black bar with circular glass at the end and what appeared to be mirrors on the inside. It was small and he could hold it in his hand, but what was it? A button was on the side and he pressed it. It clicked and light beamed out from one end.

It startled him at first, but it was giving him light. On the side of the 'bar,' he could read something that said 'Light-Giver Flashlight.'

"A flashlight?" Altair said and pressed the button again. The light turned off and he messed around with it a bit. It was a good find, and he'd need it, that's for sure.

Out of the all the papers there, a map eventually came out of the piles. On the top, it said LAKESIDE. That must have been where he was…wherever he is.

He stuffed the map into his pocket and left the room.

He explored the rest of the building without any confrontations and found several notes along the way. One said, They like light. Turn it off. They like light. They got him. They ripped him. He didn't listen. His light was on.

Another said, Keep it off! Keep it off! They'll see you, so keep it off! Be quiet, for they'll hear you. Sneak around them. They'll never know.

Stay away from the one with the spikes and the crow's wings. Once he catches you, he'll grab onto your hands and feet and stretch you like a noodle until you snap apart.

Stay away from the water. Bad things are in there. Bad things are in the clouds, too.

Get a knife get a knife get a knife get a knife get a knife get a knife before she knifes you get a knife.

To say the least, the letters were disturbing. People were obviously here before him and they had encountered the creatures before. Altair, for the sake of being alive, turned his flashlight off and was careful not to stumble around the darkness.

The one with spikes and crow's wings…what kind of monster would that be? They all sounded pretty darn bad, but that one that sounded like the worst. Altair made a note to himself to steer way clear of any monsters if he can.

The last thing he wants is to be snapped in half.

Yaaay now we're kind of getting to the part where Altair must survive :3