Author's Note: I do not own Another or Eternal Darkness. Another is property of Yukito Ayatsuji and PA Works. Eternal Darkness is property of Silicon Knights and Nintendo.

Chapter 4: Another Dimension

The white light cleared from Kouichi Sakakibara and Mei Misaki's eyes slowly, revealing somewhere that was definitely not the entrance foyer to Yomiyama North Middle School. Instead, they appeared to be on a floating island of bare rock, one of five floating in a vast abyss. Directly in front of him was a column of colored light that changed color every few seconds, from red, to green, to blue, to purple, and back again.

"Where… are we?", Kouichi asked.

"Another Dimension", Mei said simply, flipping through the "Tome of Eternal Darkness"

"We must have been caught be the blast from a "trapper", Mei said.

"Well how do we get out!, Kouichi asked.

He was interrupted the sounds of thunderous footsteps and crackling electricity from the platform to the right. A "horror" was charging up for its energy attack.

"Get down!", Kouichi said, as he and Mei dove to the floor, a glowing red beam of energy flying overhead. As the beam of energy dissipated, Kouichi got up and took aim with his MP5, firing two three-rounds bursts. The rounds, enhanced by the enchantment cast by Mei, tore through the creature, leaving gaping holes in its body as it fell to the ground, dead.

"Thanks", Mei said"

"Your welcome", Kouichi replied, "Anyway, how do you get out of here?".

"Walk into the column of light as it turns purple, that should take you to the exit", Mei said.

"You sure about this?", Kouichi asked.

"I am", Mei said , as she stepped into the column of light the moment it turned purple. She immediately disappeared and reappeared instantly on another floating island, this one with a semicircle of stone columns surrounding a white "portal".

Kouichi jumped into the portal while it was still purple and appeared next to Mei. As they walked towards the white portal, two zombies, these ones brown and much scrawnier than the ones they had faced earlier, rose up and blocked the way.

Two gunshots rang out as Mei fired her Benelli M4, blasting the two zombies clean in half with the enchanted shells. Kouichi and Mei walked over the bodies of the zombies and into the portal.

Once again, in a flash of light, the world around them disappeared. Less than a second later, they were back in the entrance foyer of Yomiyama North Middle School.

"Let's not go there again!", Kouichi said.

"Agreed", Mei said.

Kouichi walked through the exit of the building, MP5 at the ready, scanning the outside. The hundred or so meters separating the main school building from the old building was clear of zombies and monsters. Kouichi motioned for Mei to following him, and started running across the grassy area separating to two buildings.

"I'll go first", Mei said, slowly opening the door to old school building. As soon as she entered, she fired her shotgun three times, eliminating two zombies and a "trapper" in the entrance foyer, as a Kouichi entered behind her and checked the other side. It was completely devoid of any enemies.

"All right", Kouichi said, walking over to a door marked "basement" and standing to the right of it, back to the wall, imitating military entry techniques he'd seen in a movie once. "Mei, get on the other side and open this door when I say so".

Mei stood on the other side, handle on the door. After as second, Kouichi exclaimed "NOW!"

Mei pulled the door of the basement open and Kouichi turned into the door, pointing his MP5 down the stairs. There was nothing there.

"Come on, its clear", Kouichi said.

Mei followed Kouichi down the stairs. "You go left, I'll take the right", Kouichi said as they ascended into the school basement.

As they planned, Kouichi turned to the right of the door at the lower end of the staircase. The basement room was storage room about the size of a classroom, with old desks, shelves and other items lying against the walls.

In addition to these items, there were some decidedly unwelcome contents of the room. Kouichi fired a short burst at surprised "bonethief", the bullets hitting before it could even attempt to dodge, tearing its torso almost in half. Mei, meanwhile, fired to shotgun shells, killing two zombies, one of which had a "bonethief" inside it. Mei used her glass eye to see the "bonethief" inside the zombie and fired a shotgun blast that killed the creature inside the undead corpse.

"I think its clear", Kouichi said.

"Watch my back", Mei said, "I'm reloading".

"Got it" Kouichi said, placing himself between Mei and both doors to the basement, the one they came in from the stairs from, and the one leading into a second room.

After replacing all of the spent shells in her shotgun, Mei said, "I'm done, lets go".

Kouichi walked up the door into the next room, and turned the knob, slowly opening the door as Mei stood in front, shotgun ready shoot down anything that may come through the door. The room, however, was devoid of any enemies. The only things in the room were a hot water heater and furnace, and a manhole in the floor with a ladder sticking out. The metal cover of the manhole lay on the floor to the side.

Kouichi pointed his flashlight-equipped MP5 down into the hole. Mei stood next to him and looked down. It went down a long ways, perhaps thirty meters or more. From what little, he could see from the light, the floor appeared to be carved from stone, with a texture that suggested it was carved into the rock with picks.

"I think this is the entrance to the underground catacombs that Misaki Yomiyama and the others found", Kouichi said, "I'll go down first".

Kouichi slung his MP5 over his shoulder and placed his feet on the ladder, grasping firmly onto the first rung with his left hand as he drew his revolver with the other hand, in order to ensure he wouldn't be blindsided by any enemies that might wait below.