"𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."

- 6 -

The echo of water dripping down from the ceiling created a type of subtle sound that gave a sense of emptiness, dread of what was to come. That moment when the water would drip down from the cracks in the ceiling was the least of concern to the two young men that stood on the stairs of the stretching stairwell down to cold and hollow darkness.

"I wrote a book, a few actually..." I shrugged as Leon and I traversed further down the stairs. I couldn't shake the feeling something was off; it was as if I had been here before walking down these stairs myself only to meet an unfortunate end.
"The first one was...a nightmare. So many spelling mistakes and grammar errors." I laughed to relive the sense of awkwardness that was obviously lingering between me and Leon. Or at least thats how I felt but I wasn't quite sure about him.

"What was the first one?" Leon peered over his shoulder with a curious grin. His steps were slow yet confident as he held onto his Matilda handgun with ease. His uniform had some wear and tear but he walked deeper into the darkness like nothing could ever hurt him.

"Don't make fun of me but...it was a romance. And it was horrible." My hands rubbed my eyes, expressing my displeasure of reminiscing on the book.

It was a horrible and poorly written book; pasted together off my fantasies at the time. I had wrote the first couple of pages, which soon enough I had lost all interest in finishing it but I egged myself on to complete it years ago. Yet now I wish I hadn't.

"Hey, I bet it wasn't all that bad. You seem to write pretty fantastic stories." He faced back towards the stairs. We were rearing towards the end of the stairwell.

"You've never read any of my books, how would you know?" I gave him a smirk with a raised brow genuinely wondering what Leon was thinking.

"Sure I haven't..." he started, looking back over at me once again. "But I'd love to someday." It seemed to be a reoccurring thing with him, always smiling or being optimistic. At first I found it a little strange due to the fact of people eating each other and buildings on fire. But now? I wouldn't want his smile to go away.

Boots met the cold concrete floor of the eery stairwell. Two boys standing side by side as if they were exploring a cave full of mystery. A place where maintenance would wonder off into to fix some pipe or electrical issue, was now quiet and hummed mechanical drones. Leon looked back at the one boy he had shared a kiss with just moments before.

"Your arm feeling okay?" Leon asked with his gloved hand pointing to my shoulder.

"Yeah a lot better, thanks." I gave him a somewhat awkward thumbs up. The second I did: I regretted it. Leon didn't seem to mind though as he held his thumb up in return.

"C'mon, we're almost out of here I can already feel it." Leon gestured his head to what seemed to be a jail cell door. Together we traversed deeper into this underground mystery. Who would've guessed it was cold and large underneath this gorgeous museum. At least in my heart it was still that place of history not authority.

Pipes hissed and metal creaked beneath the weight of the men's bodies. Dim light above illuminated the strange, winding tunnel that led out into a large and open boiler room.

"This is under a police station?" My eyes looked around the boiler room. It was full of a dense steam that lingered like a cloud of fog.

Leon jogged up to the railing. His hand resting on the rail. The rookie sat there for a few seconds inspecting the room. His blue eyes danced across the space until they fell onto a bridge that seemed to connect our path to getting out of here.

"Right there. Seems like that'll move and connect somehow." Leon pointed towards the bridge. "Let's see. Over here, seems like that'll be our answer." Leon turned to face a boxed off room just to the right of us.

I nodded before the two of us headed over. The mechanical drone was heard throughout the room along with the boiler room producing steam with occasional noises. The room had been blocked off by a supply cabinet. Leon stepped forward, placing both his hands underneath the cabinet to secure the weight as he began to lift it up. He grunted while attempting to lift the heavy cabinet. 

My spine shivered as a sense of fear rolled up my back. I could feel my hairs on my skin rise. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

"Leon wait—" my hand reached out for his shoulder.

Before I could even place my hand on him my heart dropped as that blood rising, screeching scream erupted from the ceiling. It was a Licker. My eyes widened as I was quick to realize it was lunging towards me from the ceiling. My throat felt dry and I froze.

"Shit! Look out!!" Leon reached for my arm but it was too late. The Licker had already pounced onto me.

The force of its body thrusting onto mine had caused me and the Licker to tumble over the railing and down into the cloud of steam. I heard Leon shout from above as my back slammed onto the hard metal floor. I winced out in pain. My back felt like it had been crushed. And that ache in my shoulder had returned.

Then, and only then in that moment of silence during the fall I felt a sense of unknown. A space of quiet and no fear I felt in control even if I may be falling with a Licker tumbling on top of me. I was in control, sadly in a way of feeling not action. Once we slam into the ground beneath us I'll soon meet an undecided fate...