Chapter One
Damn it!
He must have missed the turn somewhere. That's what he got for trusting a crusty map that looked like it would crumble to dust any moment.
Draven held the map up to the sun hoping to see the fading ink markings better. But it didn't help, the only thing that happened was the sun seeping through the holes that had formed in the crease lines of the map.
How old was this thing? He thought stretching it out horizontally and vertically hoping to get some bearings of his current location. It seemed like he was walking around in circles.
Draven thought back to what the old man had said, maybe he had missed something that could help him.
'I represent a secret society...... think of us as humanity's last defense against sinister forces.... you have to find the door.... rescue the woman inside...'
Draven frowned, the more he thought about it the more he realized that it sounded like one of the crappy books his bestfriend Malvi would read.
But he had to go along with this goose chase that sounded like something cooked in a mental asylum. The old man had come with an irresistible offer, a chance for him to finally find out who left him on that doorstep thirty-two years ago and why.
He had to keep trying to find the damned door, if it even existed in the first place.
Draven continued his relentless match through the woods in some unknown part of Romania. Even the ride he got to his supposed drop off point looked at him like had a screw loose rattling around somewhere in his head.
The drop off point was just a random spot along a long winding road flanked by enormous amounts of forestry.
Draven's head was crooned up as he downed the last bits of water remaining in his bottle completely unaware to the sudden change in his surroundings.
When he was done with the bottle he looked away for a second to toss it into the nearest bushes going completely against what Malvi had tried to drill into him about saving the economy. The moment his head turned back to the non existent trail he was suddenly propelled backwards and onto the leave covered forest floor.
It all happened so fast he couldn't exactly comprehend what had exactly transpired. Even as he got back on his feet he looked around him skeptically trying to identify the cause for his falling.
Draven stood there completely dumb struck for a few minutes. It took another few minutes for him to start walking again. Being particularly careful about the spot where he was tossed back senselessly like he had done to that water bottle.
Could it be that Malvi's threats about mother nature getting back at him for his lack of interest in recycling be true?
"Damn it Malvi, I hope you didn't jinx me." As he slowly got closer paying closer attention to his surroundings this time, he now noticed a line of white stones forming some sort of boundary line.
He couldn't tell where it begun or ended because it just went on and on. Gingerly he lifted one of his legs to get across but the moment his boot made it a fraction of an inch over the line he was met with the invisible force again. And this time it was more ruthless, he couldn't see it but it threw him back like a rag doll into the nearest tree.
As he hit the ground he couldn't identify what exactly on his body was hurting, or broken. But he could swear that for a split second he saw something glow and ripple angrily mid air in the distance. His vision grew dark as he passed out.
It felt like hours went by when really it was maybe forty minutes. Draven sat on a rock, blood trickling from the cut on his forehead above his eyebrow. He ignored that as he did too to the blood oozing to the forest floor from the nasty cut on his palm.
His eyes glared at his invisible enemy as the uninjured hand brought a hip flask of whiskey to his mouth. He was hoping it was going to help him deal with the pain and at the same time, the fact that supernatural forces existed.
Because he had no idea what to call whatever that thing was. Oh God. He brought his hand over his head intending to lock them but the stinging in the other changed his mind so he fisted them instead.
His mind came to a stand still, he couldn't believe the old roster was right. The deal had been on the condition that with or without bringing whoever the heck this woman was back, he was still going to get the truth.
But this, this changed things, if not everything. Suddenly he wasn't so sure about what he was doing. What else could be real? He didn't know but he was sure as hell going to find out.
Draven forced himself to his feet and walked forward. This time, caution marked his every move. He had no intention to cross the boundary, only inspect what the invisible barrier was. He stopped just a foot away from the stones and gingerly brought his blood stained hand up.
The dread of what would happen weighed down in the pit of his stomach. So as slowly and as carefully as he could, he drew his hand closer. When it was just the hair length away, a small glow begun on where his hand was obviously going to touch. It glowed green and kept growing brighter until he dared to rest his had against it.
He tensed awaiting his obvious catapulting but much to his relief it did not happen. The part he touched cackled like a fire he almost yanked his hand back when the green started turning to red but decided rather against it. He was going to wait and see what was going to happen.
The red grew brighter until no green could be seen but it didn't stop there. It suddenly shot out in two direction simultaneously. Up and down, his eyes crooned up and he couldn't see where it ended, it became a crimson glowing line. Draven took his hand away fearing he was really going to get it this time. It was probably going to strike him dead on the spot.
He took a step back still looking at it, as he contemplated what to do, it split into two vertically and moved apart in opposite directions. It was so quick he almost missed it.
Curiously Draven tried to touch it again, and finally. His hand went through. Just like that, it was gone. No glowing, no rippling. Gone. He was still skeptical, he retracted his hand and held it out again. Still, it went through. Next he tried his other hand. He was sure this thing was just laying a trap for him.
His eyes darted around as he lifted one foot, when it went through he now confidently strolled in. It seemed it wanted to knock him around a bit before finally letting him through. He only hoped that the door was going to be close and not lurking behind something ready to fling him through the woods faster than he could blink.
As he walked something about the atmosphere changed, an unnerving feeling of something watching him crept up. He stopped numerous times to look around but nothing was in sight. Yet the more he walked the stronger the feeling got. At one point he even thought he heard growling.
He tried his best to ignore it but when it happened the third time, and more clearly and loudly this time he stopped cautiously. It was obviously a wolf or something, he could maybe scare it away with a stick.
As he contemplated Draven tensed when he felt something breathing down the back of neck. He had no interest whatsoever in finding out what it was, because he was certain no wolf was big enough to match his six foot seven height. He couldn't even reach for his gun even if he wanted to, any slight movement was voted most likely to leave him as just a memory.
He took a deep breath, braced himself and took off running as fast as he could. He could feel it running after him so he pushed himself to run faster. Ignoring the burning in his chest as his lungs desperately called out for oxygen and for someone who never missed a work out day, it meant that he was pushing his body past it's limit.
He was now in a full time sprint, the fight or flight response taking over. The speed he had reached didn't allow him to gasp when he suddenly fell forward. What had seemed like the ground in front of him moments ago now enveloped him in an unseen body of water.
There was no light just a force that dragged him down under. It sucked him down like a vacuum, he got the wind knocked out of him when he hit the bottom. It felt harder than he had thought the water bed would be.
His eyes snapped and he was shocked to find the sky above him. Eyes wide in disbelief, he sat upright. His clothes where completely dry.
What the hell was happening?!
Draven was already preparing the cursing he was going to rain down on that old man after all this was done. He stood up and took in the endless masses of sand surrounding him, it appeared he was in a desert. How the heck had he arrived in a desert?
He looked above him, below him, and yet there was no sign of where he had come from. Had he drowned and someone found him and somehow brought him here? But how? It was a freaking desert for crying out loud!
Another realization stunned him. He cautiously reached a hand up to his forehead and to his amazement he couldn't feel any moisture from the cut or any pain as he touched himself. He looked at his hand to be sure and nothing. Even the cut in his palm was gone.
What had he gotten himself into? But it was too late anyway. Grateful to be rid of his aches, he mentally played a game about which direction to go, with the way his day had panned out lately, any direction was probably going to lead to the same destination anyway. So he begun his dedicated walking.
He didn't know where to but he had to go somewhere right? Thoughts about Malvi filled his mind, she was going to have a field day about this. Probably write about it on her silly little tourist blog. If he ever got back he had to prepare himself for her interrogations, she was going to grill him like a juicy pair of pork ribs. Or maybe it was just his hunger talking
Just when he was beginning to be irritated about his pointless walking, a structure appeared in the far distance. That prompted him to walk faster, and the closer he got, he could see a massive pair of iron wrought gates. When he arrived he took a few moments to look at the monstrous staggering height of the gates.
At the very top, words made out of iron, Draven had to take a few steps back to read it.
"HOUSE OF THE HIDDEN"
Well, it was as close to a door as he was going to get. Before he could knock the gates swung inwards, beckoning him in. He really tried to down play it but at this point, what's the worst that could happen?
He must have missed the turn somewhere. That's what he got for trusting a crusty map that looked like it would crumble to dust any moment.
Draven held the map up to the sun hoping to see the fading ink markings better. But it didn't help, the only thing that happened was the sun seeping through the holes that had formed in the crease lines of the map.
How old was this thing? He thought stretching it out horizontally and vertically hoping to get some bearings of his current location. It seemed like he was walking around in circles.
Draven thought back to what the old man had said, maybe he had missed something that could help him.
'I represent a secret society...... think of us as humanity's last defense against sinister forces.... you have to find the door.... rescue the woman inside...'
Draven frowned, the more he thought about it the more he realized that it sounded like one of the crappy books his bestfriend Malvi would read.
But he had to go along with this goose chase that sounded like something cooked in a mental asylum. The old man had come with an irresistible offer, a chance for him to finally find out who left him on that doorstep thirty-two years ago and why.
He had to keep trying to find the damned door, if it even existed in the first place.
Draven continued his relentless match through the woods in some unknown part of Romania. Even the ride he got to his supposed drop off point looked at him like had a screw loose rattling around somewhere in his head.
The drop off point was just a random spot along a long winding road flanked by enormous amounts of forestry.
Draven's head was crooned up as he downed the last bits of water remaining in his bottle completely unaware to the sudden change in his surroundings.
When he was done with the bottle he looked away for a second to toss it into the nearest bushes going completely against what Malvi had tried to drill into him about saving the economy. The moment his head turned back to the non existent trail he was suddenly propelled backwards and onto the leave covered forest floor.
It all happened so fast he couldn't exactly comprehend what had exactly transpired. Even as he got back on his feet he looked around him skeptically trying to identify the cause for his falling.
Draven stood there completely dumb struck for a few minutes. It took another few minutes for him to start walking again. Being particularly careful about the spot where he was tossed back senselessly like he had done to that water bottle.
Could it be that Malvi's threats about mother nature getting back at him for his lack of interest in recycling be true?
"Damn it Malvi, I hope you didn't jinx me." As he slowly got closer paying closer attention to his surroundings this time, he now noticed a line of white stones forming some sort of boundary line.
He couldn't tell where it begun or ended because it just went on and on. Gingerly he lifted one of his legs to get across but the moment his boot made it a fraction of an inch over the line he was met with the invisible force again. And this time it was more ruthless, he couldn't see it but it threw him back like a rag doll into the nearest tree.
As he hit the ground he couldn't identify what exactly on his body was hurting, or broken. But he could swear that for a split second he saw something glow and ripple angrily mid air in the distance. His vision grew dark as he passed out.
It felt like hours went by when really it was maybe forty minutes. Draven sat on a rock, blood trickling from the cut on his forehead above his eyebrow. He ignored that as he did too to the blood oozing to the forest floor from the nasty cut on his palm.
His eyes glared at his invisible enemy as the uninjured hand brought a hip flask of whiskey to his mouth. He was hoping it was going to help him deal with the pain and at the same time, the fact that supernatural forces existed.
Because he had no idea what to call whatever that thing was. Oh God. He brought his hand over his head intending to lock them but the stinging in the other changed his mind so he fisted them instead.
His mind came to a stand still, he couldn't believe the old roster was right. The deal had been on the condition that with or without bringing whoever the heck this woman was back, he was still going to get the truth.
But this, this changed things, if not everything. Suddenly he wasn't so sure about what he was doing. What else could be real? He didn't know but he was sure as hell going to find out.
Draven forced himself to his feet and walked forward. This time, caution marked his every move. He had no intention to cross the boundary, only inspect what the invisible barrier was. He stopped just a foot away from the stones and gingerly brought his blood stained hand up.
The dread of what would happen weighed down in the pit of his stomach. So as slowly and as carefully as he could, he drew his hand closer. When it was just the hair length away, a small glow begun on where his hand was obviously going to touch. It glowed green and kept growing brighter until he dared to rest his had against it.
He tensed awaiting his obvious catapulting but much to his relief it did not happen. The part he touched cackled like a fire he almost yanked his hand back when the green started turning to red but decided rather against it. He was going to wait and see what was going to happen.
The red grew brighter until no green could be seen but it didn't stop there. It suddenly shot out in two direction simultaneously. Up and down, his eyes crooned up and he couldn't see where it ended, it became a crimson glowing line. Draven took his hand away fearing he was really going to get it this time. It was probably going to strike him dead on the spot.
He took a step back still looking at it, as he contemplated what to do, it split into two vertically and moved apart in opposite directions. It was so quick he almost missed it.
Curiously Draven tried to touch it again, and finally. His hand went through. Just like that, it was gone. No glowing, no rippling. Gone. He was still skeptical, he retracted his hand and held it out again. Still, it went through. Next he tried his other hand. He was sure this thing was just laying a trap for him.
His eyes darted around as he lifted one foot, when it went through he now confidently strolled in. It seemed it wanted to knock him around a bit before finally letting him through. He only hoped that the door was going to be close and not lurking behind something ready to fling him through the woods faster than he could blink.
As he walked something about the atmosphere changed, an unnerving feeling of something watching him crept up. He stopped numerous times to look around but nothing was in sight. Yet the more he walked the stronger the feeling got. At one point he even thought he heard growling.
He tried his best to ignore it but when it happened the third time, and more clearly and loudly this time he stopped cautiously. It was obviously a wolf or something, he could maybe scare it away with a stick.
As he contemplated Draven tensed when he felt something breathing down the back of neck. He had no interest whatsoever in finding out what it was, because he was certain no wolf was big enough to match his six foot seven height. He couldn't even reach for his gun even if he wanted to, any slight movement was voted most likely to leave him as just a memory.
He took a deep breath, braced himself and took off running as fast as he could. He could feel it running after him so he pushed himself to run faster. Ignoring the burning in his chest as his lungs desperately called out for oxygen and for someone who never missed a work out day, it meant that he was pushing his body past it's limit.
He was now in a full time sprint, the fight or flight response taking over. The speed he had reached didn't allow him to gasp when he suddenly fell forward. What had seemed like the ground in front of him moments ago now enveloped him in an unseen body of water.
There was no light just a force that dragged him down under. It sucked him down like a vacuum, he got the wind knocked out of him when he hit the bottom. It felt harder than he had thought the water bed would be.
His eyes snapped and he was shocked to find the sky above him. Eyes wide in disbelief, he sat upright. His clothes where completely dry.
What the hell was happening?!
Draven was already preparing the cursing he was going to rain down on that old man after all this was done. He stood up and took in the endless masses of sand surrounding him, it appeared he was in a desert. How the heck had he arrived in a desert?
He looked above him, below him, and yet there was no sign of where he had come from. Had he drowned and someone found him and somehow brought him here? But how? It was a freaking desert for crying out loud!
Another realization stunned him. He cautiously reached a hand up to his forehead and to his amazement he couldn't feel any moisture from the cut or any pain as he touched himself. He looked at his hand to be sure and nothing. Even the cut in his palm was gone.
What had he gotten himself into? But it was too late anyway. Grateful to be rid of his aches, he mentally played a game about which direction to go, with the way his day had panned out lately, any direction was probably going to lead to the same destination anyway. So he begun his dedicated walking.
He didn't know where to but he had to go somewhere right? Thoughts about Malvi filled his mind, she was going to have a field day about this. Probably write about it on her silly little tourist blog. If he ever got back he had to prepare himself for her interrogations, she was going to grill him like a juicy pair of pork ribs. Or maybe it was just his hunger talking
Just when he was beginning to be irritated about his pointless walking, a structure appeared in the far distance. That prompted him to walk faster, and the closer he got, he could see a massive pair of iron wrought gates. When he arrived he took a few moments to look at the monstrous staggering height of the gates.
At the very top, words made out of iron, Draven had to take a few steps back to read it.
"HOUSE OF THE HIDDEN"
Well, it was as close to a door as he was going to get. Before he could knock the gates swung inwards, beckoning him in. He really tried to down play it but at this point, what's the worst that could happen?
