A strange Encounter
You sat with your back to the wall in a corner of a long, dark hallway in an even darker house. A few choice words flitted across your mind as you thought back to how you got in this situation. Rufio mostly, who had dared you to enter the long abandoned home and stay there until midnight. Wrapping one arm around your knees to pull them closer to yourself, you flung the other arm over your head as you rested it against the top of your knees. You had taken the dare, and within minutes found yourself lost in one of the many dark corridors. Pulling out your phone, you unlocked it and squinted against the sudden brightness, 11:43 you sigh slightly relief, it was almost midnight. You frowned at the battery symbol that flashed an ugly red exclamation point at you, alerting you to it’s 3% Status. As long as nothing is open, it should be fine you thought to yourself as you adjusted your headphones, your music so loud it hurt your ears a little. again, you thought you saw something, squinted into the darkness. A few minutes passed and you rested your head again on your knees.
~~
On the edge of sleep, you jump and let out a small squeak sound of surprise when you heard a loud CRASH echoing from a distance. Your phone had died and your music had stopped, pulling your earbuds and shoving them into your hoodie pocket, you stared down the hallway. What the hell was that crash? an animal, you hoped to yourself. The thought of not being alone in the dark mansion made you more afraid than being lost and alone. Clamping your hands down over your ears, you tried to calm down. Taking deep breaths, you froze with fear and hid your face in your knees when a light appeared down the hall. casting shadows on the wall as the footsteps made small sounds on the floor. They neared closer and your heart felt like it was stuck in your throat. You jumped again and full out screamed when a hand gently touched your shoulder.
“Are you okay?” said a voice softly, the odd accent causing you to look up. In the light of what you now noticed was a candelabra filled with lit candles, was the face of a guy. He couldn’t be much older than you, you noticed as you took in the violent shade of deep sea purple eyes, and sitting above his right eye sat a set of funny looking scars. Realizing you had been staring, and also realizing that you probably looked like a scared rabbit, you turned your head away and wiped the tears off your face with your hoodie sleeve. Taking a deep breath, you turned back to him and with the panic subsiding, you got a better look at the strange man's appearance. The way he was dressed reminded you of a character from a book, dark jeans, white tshirt and leather jacket, his hair slicked back and a tiny silver hoop in his ear. You stared at him again until the word came swimming back through your memory. Greaser. He smiled at you and you flushed when you realized you had said the word aloud. Shrugging out of his jacket, he sat it on the ground next to you and he sat on it. Setting the candelabra in front of the two of you, he stretched and you got a decent look at the full sleeve of tattoos that ran down his left arm.
“So, what are you doing here?” he asked, staring at you expectantly.
“I..I” you winced at the stutter, turning instead to stare at the wall. You launched into an explanation of how you came to be in your little moping corner, internally praising yourself when you only briefly stuttered. He listened through without interruption, but he did raise his eyebrows at you when you explained that you were in this situation due to a dare.
Feeling comfortable enough, you turned towards him, adjusting so your back was against the other wall and you were facing him.
“So why are you here?” you asked, when he didn’t answer you swept your hand to gesture towards the house. he chuckled lightly and leaned his head against the wall.
“That, in general, is a very long story, Chief. but I hang out here a lot” he said, closing his eyes for a minute and you thought he had fallen asleep when the candle stubs burned out. Flickering out, the last bit of light struggled to stay up and you and him were both plunged into darkness again. It was then that he light another candle, wedging it into the old wax before it dried. A moment of silence passed before he chuckled again and began telling you a story about his younger brother, which turned out to be quite funny. You two swapped stories for the better part of a few hours when you glanced down the hallway, expecting to see the starting rays of sunlight when it struck you that this hallway had no windows. Just an endless sea of black. Noticing your confusion, your conversation partner stood and cupping the candle holder in one hand, he offered you his free hand. You frowned at the outstretched limb
“C’mon chief” he spoke aloud, his voice instantly soothing some of your nerves.
“Where are we going?” you asked, not reaching for his hand nor moving from your spot against the wall.
“You’ll see” You crossed your arms over your chest and narrowed your eyes at him
“I don’t even know your name” Your statement seemed to take the boy by surprise, he crouched so his stance was even with yours, again, extending his hand.
“Name’s Cronus” he smiled at you, sliding your hand into his, you shook it slightly.
“Kankri Vantas” you replied, you could see him mouthing the name silently. Turning it over on his tongue and getting a handle on pronouncing it. Standing up and pulling you with him, so both of you were standing. He released your hand and started to back slowly towards one end of the hallway.
“Are you coming, Kankri?” his smile lingered in the fading light longer than he did, you followed after him. After walking for an unknown amount of time, you began to feel a little claustrophobic in the short, dark hallways, he led you through several sets of doors before you recognized the large great hall . On one side sat the large front door, the windows on each side showing the sky outside was starting to lighten. directly opposite sat a broad staircase that led upwards and to each side of the house, set slightly back farther were doors that you figured led to other rooms or downstairs. You went to grab for the handle when you remembered Cronus, turning with a thank you formed on your lips, you found yourself to be entirely alone. You quickly left the house and even shut the door a little harder than you had meant to, the slam echoing across the silent morning like a gunshot. Wincing, you picked your way through the tall grass and walked the path that served as a road to where you had attended the party the previous night. Finding your car, You drove home in the rising sunlight, your thoughts miles behind you , with a strange greaser with a strange accent.
