Alfred bit his lip. There was the promise of something on the left path, but that didn't necessarily mean that something would be good.
Then again, the darkness of the right path wasn't much better.
No, it's too obvious, he decided. Would the person who'd brought them here really leave him a warm light to lead him in the right direction?
It was with that thought that he took the right path.
It was like walking with his eyes closed. The darkness was so vast. He held his hands out in front of him so he wouldn't bump into anything.
He couldn't even see the moon this deep in the forest. There was nothing but the sound of his heart and the two pairs of footsteps that he desperately tried to convince himself were just his own echoing.
There was something up ahead.
With newfound confidence, he sped up. In an opening stood a small wooden shack, windowless and darkened with rot, but in the light that now cast through the branches, the sight of it was heavenly. He quickly made his way to the door and pulled it open, the hinges creaking. He went inside and the door slammed shut behind him.
Since the shack was so small, Alfred quickly found the generator. A few seconds later and it was on, buzzing loudly. He blinked in surprise when a light bulb suddenly flickered on in the shed, his eyes stinging in the sudden light.
Items cluttered the shelves around him. He stood and his gaze roamed over them curiously. Flower pots, shovels, pitchforks.
A chainsaw.
Hell if he was going to let this opportunity pass.
He picked up the chainsaw, hoping it worked, but decided to test it out once he got back to the manor. It wouldn't do him good to draw attention to himself with a loud noise.
The shed was actually full of several good weapons, but there was only so much he could carry. He looped his arm through the chainsaw's front handle and shoved a pair of garden shears into his pocket.
After a little more searching, he also found a flashlight.
There were footsteps outside.
Alfred stilled, coming out of his happy stupor. His eyes flicked to the door as the footsteps drew closer.
He clicked the lock shut and held his breath.
The footsteps neared.
Stopped.
The doorknob rattled.
And then, finally, it stilled.
The footsteps retreated until he could no longer hear them, but he still stood.
He stood until long after that voice had stopped calling his name.
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Alfred's relief when he returned to the manor was indescribable. He could already see the yellow glow of lights in every window, meaning his work had paid off.
After he had left the shed, he retraced his steps through the forest and was glad when the walk back didn't seem as long as it had the first time. The flashlight guided his way and he felt safer with the chainsaw in his hand and the shears in his pocket.
He nudged open the heavy front doors of the manor and was glad to see that it wasn't nearly as frightening as it had been in the dark. Deep, red carpets covered polished floors and a large staircase in front of him led up to a second floor.
"You're back."
Alfred looked to the source of the voice. The man before him had slightly wavy blond hair and round glasses. His eyes looked almost violet.
"Yeah, uh.. Marty."
"Matthew."
"Yes. That."
Matthew eyed the chainsaw in his hand. "What are you planning to do with that?"
"I dunno, but it's better to be prepared."
"You have a fucking chainsaw?" someone questioned, voice full of trepidation. He and Matthew both turned to see the girl with long, platinum blonde hair, Natalya. "Get rid of that thing! You can't have that in here!"
"You say that as though you didn't just hoard all the knives from the kitchen," Elizaveta stated cooly, coming up behind her.
"That's different!" Natalya argued. "What's he going to do with a chainsaw? Slaughter us?"
"Hey, there's no point in getting suspicious of each other," Ludwig said, entering the hall, followed by two brunette twins, though one looked less willing than the other. "We're all trapped here and need to work together, not make enemies."
"Oh I'm sorry, let me get friendly with the guy waltzing around with a chainsaw," Natalya sneered. She spun around and left the hall, her heels clacking loudly with each step.
"I'm glad you made it back alright," Ludwig said after a moment. "Did you run into any trouble?"
"Nah," Alfred answered. "I mean, I think something was following me the entire time, but I didn't get attacked," he added after a moment, deciding to leave out the part where he'd cowered in the shed after hearing his name called.
"That's good," Ludwig said.
"You got the power on just in time!" one of the twins who had been following Ludwig finally spoke. "We were down to just one candle!"
The enthusiastic twin's darker haired brother just rolled his eyes.
They walked back to the dining room they'd first awoken in and Alfred set the chainsaw and flashlight on the table. He reached into his pocket for the shears when Natalya's words flashed in his mind. He pulled his hand back empty.
Maybe it was better off if some things were kept secret.
"Did you find the computer?" Alfred asked.
"No," Elizaveta said. "At first, Yao and Ivan went to search for it, but then we realized just how big this place really was, so we split into groups and all gave it a shot, but still nothing."
"We did find some stairs that probably lead to the cellar," Matthew added.
"No one went down?"
"Ludwig said to wait until you got the lights working."
Alfred nodded in understanding. He pulled out a chair and took a seat at the long table, grateful that at least for now, he wouldn't have to worry about dying. Maybe the chair wasn't such a bad place to sleep after all...
"So while we drive ourselves crazy looking for that computer in this bloody maze, you lot get to stand around?" a snide voice asked.
Alfred picked his head up off the table and looked up to see none other than Arthur, standing with his arms crossed and looking down his nose at them.
"Hey, I just wandered around a forest in the dark searching for that generator!" Alfred protested.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Frankly, I don't care if you drop dead from exhaustion. You don't get to nap while the rest of us work."
"Don't be so hard on him, Arthur. He does have a point," Francis said, making his way into the room and looping an arm around the shorter blond's shoulders, which he promptly shoved off.
"We'll keep searching," Ludwig said. Elizaveta and Matthew had already left the room, and the twins looked ready to go as soon as Ludwig said so. "Are you coming, Alfred?"
Alfred sighed. There goes his nap. "Yeah."
"Now that we're not meandering around in the dark, we can go down to that cellar," Arthur said from somewhere behind him as they followed Ludwig through the labyrinthine halls of the manor.
"Because that's the obvious place to keep a computer," Francis said.
"Shut up frog, it could be hidden anywhere."
"Even if we don't find it there, there's probably something else important!" Feliciano chirped.
"Yeah, like a serial killer," his brother said.
Ludwig suddenly stopped, Alfred almost walking into his back. Feliciano did walk into his back.
"Here are the stairs we found," Ludwig told him, pulling open a door. He flicked a light switch and the stairs lit up.
Alfred glanced down, but he couldn't see to the bottom of the winding staircase from this angle.
"Are we going or not?" Arthur questioned.
"You know, on second thought maybe we should keep searching up here..." Feliciano said, already tugging on Ludwig's arm. Lovino quickly nodded.
"Well I'm not going to chicken out," Francis said, heading down the first step. "Coming, Arthur?"
"Don't stay down there too long," Ludwig said. "I'll take a look myself later, but for now..." his words faded away as he turned into another room with Feliciano and Lovino.
Alfred uncertainly glanced back to the other two blonds as they began to steadily make their way down to the cellar.
Should he follow them, and risk meeting whatever had scared the twins from going down? Or should he search for clues in another room (and maybe find a nice bed to sleep in)?
let me know if you like this story and maybe ill continue soon (: