Part VII

I nodded to myself and reached out a hand. Slowly raising it I moved my hand forward so it was less than an inch from the strange doorway. Holding my breath I pressed my hand through and followed suit by taking as step forward into the weird reddish purple liquid like doorway.

On the other side my foot hit solid ground. Opening one eye at a time I looked around the room I stepped into. The music was gone and the little white ball was no where to be found. Turning around I looked at the portal. The red and purple colors mixed and swirled around. I stuck my hand through it again, just to make sure it was still open. I turned back, facing forward to the two doors in front of me. Knowing that I could go back through the portal when I got what I came for.

OK, what’s next?

“Time to get the guide.” I took out Clothilde's map and read it. The map told me that I could take either route and end up at the Builder's Guide. Putting the map back I adjusted my bag again and walked through the metal door on the left. Quietly closing it I looked down the hall that lay before me. The earthy hallway was lit with a torch every four meters or so, giving the hall a red tint. Following my map I walked to an intersection.

"Join us. Join us now! Hahahahaha!"

I stood there frozen. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end as the thing off to my side laughed hysterically. I could hear chains rattling and the footsteps of someone running towards me from the hall leading off to the right of where I was standing.

"Join us!"

"So cold."

"HAHAHA!"

There were many voices now, and the air around me dropped significantly. I started running as fast as I could down the hall that stretched in front of me.

After three bends in the hall I saw a door at the very end. Literally running into the metal door I pushed it open. Jumping inside I slammed the door shut, leaning my full weight against it. Not a moment later the thing that was chasing me slammed into the door hard, making my feet slide a few inches back on the dirt floor.

Hold it, Dirk. Don’t let it get in, don’t let it get you!

Through the metal bars on the upper half of the door I saw a Hammerite soldier trying to open the door. It's uniform was old and tattered, as if he hadn't washed it for years. He stopped laughing and continued pushing on the door. Then he stopped pushing. For a moment he just stood there, looking down at the door handle. Keeping his face hidden from me he took a key off his belt and stuck in the door, locking me in the room.

I saw his shoulders start to shake as he slowly began laughing again. Those creepy laughs, many different laughs at the same time…. the kind that send chills up your spine.

Then he looked up at me. His face inches away from mine, those eyes peering at me through the metal bars. Except there were no eyes. Just black, empty, cold sockets. Where I would expect to see skin there was only bone. An empty skull with a chain mail hood that hung loosely down the sides of its face, topped off with a standard Hammerite helmet.

I stumbled backward, wanting to get as far away from the Haunt's face as I possibly could. I halted however when I stepped on something soft and squishy beneath my boot. A foul odor rose, and with it, a zombie. I screamed and stepped back, getting out of its way.

The zombie didn't do much, to my relief. It just stumbled around with its back to me. As I calmed down I looked at the zombie closer. Flaps of dead skin and muscle hung off its shoulders. Dark greenish brown blood dripped down through the hole in its abdomen as puss oozed from it's rotted wounds. Through a crack in its skull I could see the remnants of what was once its brain.

I looked around the room trying to find a good hiding spot, knowing that the zombie would see me the moment it turned around. Spotting an alcove a good two meters above the ground I quietly grabbed my bag and made my way to it. When I was close enough I tossed my bag in and mantled into the alcove.

Safe.

I leaned back and heaved a sigh of relief. Though as I heard the loud hiss and felt the spiny leg on my shoulder, I knew I was not alone…

***

I woke again in a cold sweat. Sitting up in the bed I looked over to my side, seeing Penelope sleeping peacefully. I was glad she remained in her dreams. I didn't feel much like explaining to her about mine.

Sliding off the bed I walked over to the chair where my clothes hung. I grabbed them and quickly put them on. Holding my boots in my hand I quietly walked out of Penelope's room. Moving across her wood floor I made my way to the front door. Glancing back to her room, I placed my hand on the doorknob and opened it. Turning back to the street I stepped outside. Closing the door quietly behind me I sat down and put my boots on. I wasn't going to be sneaking over her wood floor again, so I didn't need to tiptoe around.

Stamping my feet, keeping them snug in the boots I thought about what I was going to do next. For some reason I felt like visiting Rakool. I wanted to see how he was doing, how the letter to Karras was coming and stuff like that. So I did.

***