I awoke in an unfamiliar hallway. I sat up from the cold concrete floor below me and tried to collect myself.
"Where am I?" I asked myself.
"I can't remember anything."
I looked around to see that the narrow hallway I found myself in was not just cold and dark but made completely of cement. The only light came from a lantern that hung upon a metal hook. I tried to stand, using the wall as my leverage. I stumbled towards the lantern. I lifted the lantern off the hook and began my walk down the foreboding hall. With the new light I could see myself better. I looked down to see that I was only wearing a long night gown. The night gown was ankle length and made of off-white satin. This only confused me more. I held the lantern close to my body as if I were expecting to protect myself with the dim light that illuminated my face.
I dragged my hand along the wall as I searched for a way out. My mind ran wild with thoughts, I couldn't concentrate. I felt myself falling into the raging river of constant perceptions. Each conclusion crashed over my head pushing me deeper into the water. I felt as if I was drowning. I felt my last breath of sanity leave my lungs with one last suspicion,
"I was brought here to die."
I suddenly became frantic, I wanted to fall to my knees, and lose all hope. Accepting my fate. Then suddenly with the last step I had strength for, I saw it. The end of the hallway, and the only thing that was at the end of the hallway, was a large steel door. I brought myself to the door. The dark steel frame mocked me as it boldly looked down on me. I reached for the door's lever, but I was met with yet another puzzling obstacle. A locked door.
I looked around, in the hopes of spotting the key. I hit a rock over the lever but was met with the loud crashing sound of the rattling steel. I dropped the rock; Hearing the solid steel was unsettling and off-putting, but still fueled with the adrenaline of my discovery, I turned and walked back in the opposite direction.
"There must be something that I haven't seen."
I continued to stumble as I followed the narrow hallway back towards the place where I found myself. Only, I started to think about the numbness I was feeling, the numbness that had been met with hysteria. I wanted to fall to my knees but didn't. I wanted to know why, and how, but I never asked myself who or what. I found myself running now, but I didn't tell my body to run. I tripped, falling over a crack in the cement floor.
I sat myself up and looked down at my elbows and knees, now painted red with the blood that reminded me that I was still alive. I reached for my lantern that skidded across the floor as I fell. I picked it up, and something caught my eye. I looked up to the hook where I retrieved my lantern and saw a rusted key. I tore off some of the cloth from my nightgown and wrapped it around my wounds. I lifted myself and maneuvered the key off the hook that displayed it. I clutched the key tightly between my fists, and with my lantern ventured back to the steel door. As the steel door came back into my sightline, I pulled the key close into my chest. Within one rotation of my wrist the door opened. I lifted my head and pushed against the mighty door, where I unveiled a room.
I walked into the room and lifted the lantern to illuminate the new setting. All around me were staircases, some upside down, some right side up, and all in various directions. There was no second floor or lower floor, just one room, and forty staircases, each with a different roman numeral engraved on them.
I sat down the lantern in the center of the small room and began to look around. Some stairs were steep, some took two steps before reaching the next level. I wandered, searching high and low, investigating each corner of the unfamiliar setting.
A silence rang in my ears, until a foreign sound broke the quiet imprisonment on my mind.
"It came from the far corner... right?"
I looked to the one corner that was the most unsettling. I lifted the lantern and walked so carefully that the sound of the dirt beneath my feet was completely muted. My blood ran cold, and my heartbeat pounded against my chest. Each beat was another step, each one a racing thought, until I reached the corner. I raised the lantern where I saw a silver key lying perfectly upon the step. I would have seen this. Especially out in the open. There is someone, or something, else here with me. My only question is... Is it friend or foe?
I lifted the key and examined it. On the key was a small engraving. I squinted my eyes and read aloud the scripture.
"X-V-I-I...? That's seventeen!"
Within a moment I found myself at the staircase with the roman numeral XVII on it. I was confused. How can a staircase have a keyhole? I pushed and pulled against the sand bricks that make up this large, towering staircase. My mind was busy rambling, while my body forced all its weight into the action of finding an exit.
Alas, I hit the keystone brick. It was the only loose brick, and while I pulled out the gritty piece of the staircase, others fell to the floor. There was a keyhole. I took the silver key I had been storing in the lantern base and raised the small door that revealed a ladder. I crawled down to the small space, where I began to feel trapped. It was pitch dark and the sound of silence returned. I touched my foot to the ground and turned around to another, more terrifying, room. I heard the breaking of the walls and then a crash, the room began to fill with water. I was met with another crash. This one was of the small trap door above me being slammed shut. I hung my light on the ladder and fell to the floor feeling every inch. There must be another key, but where?
I grazed my hands over the concrete floor below me, the rough surface was now completely submerged underwater. I could feel the pain in my knees. The water soaked into the makeshift bandage I had made. My bruised and torn knees expressed their anger. I could not think about the pain when I was faced with a much greater threat. The water in the room continued to rise. I crawled from corner to corner, slowly making my way back to the center of the room. I felt as if I was in a tank. A fish tank.
I worried about losing the flame of the candle in my lantern to the rising water. Within a moment of that thought, the flame was washed away. The room should have been completely dark, but it was not. I saw a small dim light coming from between a crack in the cement wall. I grabbed the lantern and dived towards the light. I brushed my hand against the crack, feeling the brittle surface. I tried to use the lantern to force my way through. I tried once, but there was not enough force. I would try a second time, and I would have no luck. I caught a glimmer from the corner of my eye. I saw the glimmering of a new object. I turned to where I could grab the small item. I brought it back to the small light and saw it was another key, but a gold key.
Running out of air I looked back to the trap door that was slammed shut trapping me. I swam up grazing my hand over the surface. There was a keyhole on the underside as well. I fumbled but got the golden key in hand. I used the key and threw the door open. I lifted myself up onto the floor with my last bit of strength. I looked back to the trapdoor I lifted myself out of, but it was not there, there was only a manhole. I only heard the overwhelming ringing in my ears. I was hurt. I was tired. I was dying.
"Where am I?" I asked myself.
"I can't remember anything."
I looked around to see that the narrow hallway I found myself in was not just cold and dark but made completely of cement. The only light came from a lantern that hung upon a metal hook. I tried to stand, using the wall as my leverage. I stumbled towards the lantern. I lifted the lantern off the hook and began my walk down the foreboding hall. With the new light I could see myself better. I looked down to see that I was only wearing a long night gown. The night gown was ankle length and made of off-white satin. This only confused me more. I held the lantern close to my body as if I were expecting to protect myself with the dim light that illuminated my face.
I dragged my hand along the wall as I searched for a way out. My mind ran wild with thoughts, I couldn't concentrate. I felt myself falling into the raging river of constant perceptions. Each conclusion crashed over my head pushing me deeper into the water. I felt as if I was drowning. I felt my last breath of sanity leave my lungs with one last suspicion,
"I was brought here to die."
I suddenly became frantic, I wanted to fall to my knees, and lose all hope. Accepting my fate. Then suddenly with the last step I had strength for, I saw it. The end of the hallway, and the only thing that was at the end of the hallway, was a large steel door. I brought myself to the door. The dark steel frame mocked me as it boldly looked down on me. I reached for the door's lever, but I was met with yet another puzzling obstacle. A locked door.
I looked around, in the hopes of spotting the key. I hit a rock over the lever but was met with the loud crashing sound of the rattling steel. I dropped the rock; Hearing the solid steel was unsettling and off-putting, but still fueled with the adrenaline of my discovery, I turned and walked back in the opposite direction.
"There must be something that I haven't seen."
I continued to stumble as I followed the narrow hallway back towards the place where I found myself. Only, I started to think about the numbness I was feeling, the numbness that had been met with hysteria. I wanted to fall to my knees but didn't. I wanted to know why, and how, but I never asked myself who or what. I found myself running now, but I didn't tell my body to run. I tripped, falling over a crack in the cement floor.
I sat myself up and looked down at my elbows and knees, now painted red with the blood that reminded me that I was still alive. I reached for my lantern that skidded across the floor as I fell. I picked it up, and something caught my eye. I looked up to the hook where I retrieved my lantern and saw a rusted key. I tore off some of the cloth from my nightgown and wrapped it around my wounds. I lifted myself and maneuvered the key off the hook that displayed it. I clutched the key tightly between my fists, and with my lantern ventured back to the steel door. As the steel door came back into my sightline, I pulled the key close into my chest. Within one rotation of my wrist the door opened. I lifted my head and pushed against the mighty door, where I unveiled a room.
I walked into the room and lifted the lantern to illuminate the new setting. All around me were staircases, some upside down, some right side up, and all in various directions. There was no second floor or lower floor, just one room, and forty staircases, each with a different roman numeral engraved on them.
I sat down the lantern in the center of the small room and began to look around. Some stairs were steep, some took two steps before reaching the next level. I wandered, searching high and low, investigating each corner of the unfamiliar setting.
A silence rang in my ears, until a foreign sound broke the quiet imprisonment on my mind.
"It came from the far corner... right?"
I looked to the one corner that was the most unsettling. I lifted the lantern and walked so carefully that the sound of the dirt beneath my feet was completely muted. My blood ran cold, and my heartbeat pounded against my chest. Each beat was another step, each one a racing thought, until I reached the corner. I raised the lantern where I saw a silver key lying perfectly upon the step. I would have seen this. Especially out in the open. There is someone, or something, else here with me. My only question is... Is it friend or foe?
I lifted the key and examined it. On the key was a small engraving. I squinted my eyes and read aloud the scripture.
"X-V-I-I...? That's seventeen!"
Within a moment I found myself at the staircase with the roman numeral XVII on it. I was confused. How can a staircase have a keyhole? I pushed and pulled against the sand bricks that make up this large, towering staircase. My mind was busy rambling, while my body forced all its weight into the action of finding an exit.
Alas, I hit the keystone brick. It was the only loose brick, and while I pulled out the gritty piece of the staircase, others fell to the floor. There was a keyhole. I took the silver key I had been storing in the lantern base and raised the small door that revealed a ladder. I crawled down to the small space, where I began to feel trapped. It was pitch dark and the sound of silence returned. I touched my foot to the ground and turned around to another, more terrifying, room. I heard the breaking of the walls and then a crash, the room began to fill with water. I was met with another crash. This one was of the small trap door above me being slammed shut. I hung my light on the ladder and fell to the floor feeling every inch. There must be another key, but where?
I grazed my hands over the concrete floor below me, the rough surface was now completely submerged underwater. I could feel the pain in my knees. The water soaked into the makeshift bandage I had made. My bruised and torn knees expressed their anger. I could not think about the pain when I was faced with a much greater threat. The water in the room continued to rise. I crawled from corner to corner, slowly making my way back to the center of the room. I felt as if I was in a tank. A fish tank.
I worried about losing the flame of the candle in my lantern to the rising water. Within a moment of that thought, the flame was washed away. The room should have been completely dark, but it was not. I saw a small dim light coming from between a crack in the cement wall. I grabbed the lantern and dived towards the light. I brushed my hand against the crack, feeling the brittle surface. I tried to use the lantern to force my way through. I tried once, but there was not enough force. I would try a second time, and I would have no luck. I caught a glimmer from the corner of my eye. I saw the glimmering of a new object. I turned to where I could grab the small item. I brought it back to the small light and saw it was another key, but a gold key.
Running out of air I looked back to the trap door that was slammed shut trapping me. I swam up grazing my hand over the surface. There was a keyhole on the underside as well. I fumbled but got the golden key in hand. I used the key and threw the door open. I lifted myself up onto the floor with my last bit of strength. I looked back to the trapdoor I lifted myself out of, but it was not there, there was only a manhole. I only heard the overwhelming ringing in my ears. I was hurt. I was tired. I was dying.