Prologue
A young girl with shoulder-length black hair skidded to a stop in the middle of a long dark hall; the wallpaper was striped, but the color long since faded and had begun to peel. She brushed the hair out of her turquoise eyes as she gasped for air, then she wiped her sleeve across her tear-streaked face. She was dressed in a baby blue shirt and a cherry red skirt, but both had gotten ripped and dirty from her time in the halls. Just then, a door across the hall creaked open, and the girl bolted down the dark, decrepit corridor, her heart raced once more. She watched the walls pass by, endlessly repeating, a horrible nightmare of fast-approaching footsteps and long unending halls.
She gasped as the floor disappeared from beneath her and yelped in pain as she hit the stairs. She tumbled down the last few, hitting the bottom with a painful thud.
“Ow.” She exclaimed, rubbing her back. She glanced around; she was in a small room, the paint was peeling off the walls like dead skin and there were three doors. The doors were wooden, old and worn; she scrambled to her feet and stepped forward to the first door. The handle was old and rusted; she turned it and pulled open the door, wincing as it squeaked loudly. Beyond the old door was a dark living room a worn couch sat in the middle, tears in its fabric, a gothic brick fireplace, lit with a fire casting a reddish glow into the room. She shivered as goosebumps rippled along her skin, then a loud, deep dinging sound caused her to jump. Glancing to her right, an old godfather clock sat against the wall by the door, the hands on the clock spun around chaotically, never able to settle on a time.
She stepped forward cautiously, looking around; a door to the left of the fireplace was closed. The curtains on the window in the middle of the left wall were closed. Her heart was finally slowing down as she reached the couch and glanced over, empty. She sighed and sat down, feeling like she’d been running forever. She felt safe here, she glanced up at the door, but she was curious as to what was beyond.
Finally, she couldn’t hold back any longer; getting to her feet, she crossed to the door and took the surprisingly unrusted doorknob in her hand. Pausing a moment to work up her courage, she twisted and pulled open the door. Huh? A wall? She put her hand on the bricks in front of her; it didn’t make any sense; Click! Click! Click!
She looked over her shoulder and watched as a creature slowly began to emerge from the shadows; she turned and bolted out the door she had entered. She tried the door on the left, wiggling its rusty handle; it opened to reveal a gaping hole. She turned to the door on the right; her heart began to beat faster, she wiggled the handle locked.
Click! Click! Click! Her body shook with fear as she approached the hole behind the left door. She crouched down and stared into it; it just keeps going, she thought. She jumped in quickly, not allowing time for second thoughts. She fell, watching the small circle of light above her shrink until she fell in complete darkness.
Suddenly she felt like she wasn’t falling anymore; she opened her eyes and looked around, she was sitting in the front yard of an abandoned house. She stood up and glanced at the starless sky, she frowned at the sheer emptiness above her. She began to walk towards the house, an odd pull keeping her on track, but a sound made her pause. She was about to step onto the porch when she heard it.
Pssst She glanced over her shoulder; an older boy stood there, about sixteen with shaggy, brown hair and ocean blue eyes. He wore a light blue tee-shirt and black slacks, his shoes were mostly black, but with white highlights.
“Hey, Ashley, come this way!” He called, saying her name; she smiled at her brother and dashed over to him.
“Hey, Zora, where have you been?” Ashley asked, frowning as she glanced around as if she was seeing it for the first time, “and where are we?”
“Cleaning the house, are you ready to go home?” He asked, eyeing the door of the house behind Ashley, which slowly began to creak open; he took her hand as she nodded.
Zora sat up in bed. Ashley sat up beside him, glancing around. The room was big and spacious; more of the beds that Zora had awoken in surrounded the place. A glass staircase spiraled up from the center to a command Deck where a couple of men in blue and a Detective stood talking in hushed voices. Zora slipped from the bed and helped his sister to her feet. He led Ashley up the glass stairs and stepped over to the officer.
“Excuse me, sir.” Zora spoke up. The Detective wore a brown button-up shirt, a small armored chest plate, and shoulder pads completed his upper wear. He wore black slacks with knee pads; boots protected his feet and sunglasses covered his eyes.
“Yes, did you retrieve her?” Zora nodded and handed him his ID card, he was still quite surprised he’d been permitted to go in and retrieve his sister, and he was almost positive it was to test for something. Zora didn’t care though, and he smiled down at his younger sister as they stepped through the sliding glass doors into the street beyond.
