Frédérique Bonnet rushes to the bottom of the stairwell. The boy had fallen through three stories, bringing the monster down with him. She makes it to the bottom floor and pushes through the doorway.
Rubble of their fight is everywhere. A TV lays broken amongst it. She takes and something crunches under her foot. She looks down to discover a gas mask with both it's lenses shattered.
Non, non, non. Frédérique thinks.
Seeing the gas mask here is a worrisome sign. He had rarely taken it off when the two were around and now here it is left on the ground, abandoned and broken. With great care, she picks it up. The lenses were shattered before she stepped on it, though no blood thankfully. She puts the mask in her bag and continues looking around.
"Ce n'est pas bon. Pas bon du tout," she whispers to herself.
Little else remains around the crash site. No blood, no more belongings. She had hoped that there would be some kind of trace for her to follow but no such luck. Instead, she is left with one thought: M'a-t-il quittée? No, that's crazy. He wouldn't leave her... right? She shakes her head and looks down at the pistol in her hands. No... he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't.
She looks at the destroyed television. The screen is completely shattered with glass scattered all over. It almost looks like the device exploded from the inside but that can not be possible. It must have been from the crash. She backs away from the scene. Despite everything that has happened, rain continues to pour down into the room washing away what little evidence she had left.
With nothing else to do, Frédérique goes back upstairs to the room where it happened; perhaps there will be a clue there? Making it back up the stairs, she passes by the same message as before.
Is it any wonder where your mind will wander down in the slumber of dark thoughts?
While her English is pretty good, she still doesn't grasp the full meaning of the message. Whatever it truly says remains lost to her as she continues to climb the steps.
Finally, she makes it to the floor they were on. The door is still ajar with a few feet of the floor still being present. From there, is the drop. She looks down, suddenly a bit more nervous. That's when she notices a room off to the side. The way there is separated only by a few feet of floorboards clinging to the wall. A fall from this height would mean certain death.
She gulps and slides her backpack off. The extra weight and space it takes up might be enough to send her over the edge. Ever so slowly, she begins to shimmy to the door.
Merde. Merde. Merde. She curses herself, C'est stupide. Pourquoi tu fais ça à toi, Frédérique ? Tu as tant de raisons de vivre.
The floorboards groan under the weight, not helped by the fact that it is still raining. After an eternity, she makes it to the other side and lets out a sigh of relief. Her hand reaches for the doorknob and tries it. It doesn't budge. She grunts in frustration and pulls harder. Still nothing. That is when she notices a peculiar lock right above the doorknob.
Instead of a normal key slot, this lock has two distinct holes on either side of the lock. She actually thinks it looks vaguely familiar. A pair of wires twist out to a screen right next to the door. She wipes a thick layer of dust off the keypad and presses one of the buttons on it. All of a sudden, the keypad lights up with a warning message.
WARNING: KEY Required for Authorital Access. If no key is present, please insert a key pin.
A sense of dread fills her as she recognizes what the lock reminds her of.
YOU ARE READING
This World I Live In
Science FictionA lone boy finds himself falling into the woods. He soon discovers he has no memory of who he is, where he is, or why he is even here. After traversing the woods for a day, he discovers a scared girl by the name of Frédérique who he convinces to spe...
