Shape

Chapter 12. The Pit

The staircase was dark and full of dust, the scientist leading me was old and walked with a cane that made clacking noises with every step. "Hey old man, where are we going?" My voice was a bit shaky from before, the sight of Mr. 2 collapsing on the floor was flickering in my mind.
"This is a back passage to your hall, no one uses it nowadays so I'm not surprised you haven't seen it." He responded slowly, his head not turning back to look at me.
I kept my distance from the old man while we walked, I was a chainless experiment afterall. I didn't want to hurt him, especially since his cane was the only thing holding him up; the sound of it tapping on the ground caused a loud echo throughout the hall. "You remind me of a young man who used to serve here." He laughed to himself, "Too bad he's dead, he would've liked you." My eyes widened a bit in surprise, I must've forgotten death is a normal thing here; something that happens to everyone at some point whether it be from testing failure or serving in wars.
"He died?" I quickened my pace a bit to hear him better.
"Indeed, in that room over there actually." He stopped for a moment to point at a blocked off room further down the hall, it was abandoned, yet the door seemed untouched by time. I was mesmerized by it.
"How do you know about it, old man?" I asked him without taking my eyes off the door, "I was the head scientist of this hall before they shut it down." His voice was now full of nostalgia.
He positioned his cane back on the ground and started to turn down a connecting hallway to where we were supposed to be going. Before I could take a step forward, I heard something calling for me. I turned around in an attempt to find the source but all I could see was the dark, ominous row of doors lining the hall, the marked off one being in the back. That's when I realized.
"GET BACK HERE 23!" The old man yelled at me in an angered panic.
My legs were suddenly filled with adrenaline, my footsteps were loud and thudding against the hard floor, the door was familiar to me, I had seen it in my dreams. When I reached the door I just stood in front of it, this felt too easy. I looked around just in case, and slowly opened the door about halfway.
"THERE YOU ARE, GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR 23." The old man must've called for backup.
Without turning back to look at them, I finished opening the door and created a wall of string using Sophie's ability to hold them back for a while.
Standing in the open doorway, I was met with stale and untouched air, similar to the door's condition, which caused trouble with properly breathing.
After gently shutting the door as to not wanting to cause a disturbance in the air, I looked down at the dirt covered floor which contained ancient footsteps from the last people in here. Although to be honest, the whole room looked like a time capsule from the staleness of the air, to the misshapen footsteps left in the ground. The most surprising part of the room to me wasn't how old or big it was, it was a giant structure in the center of the room that resembled a gazebo; It was beautiful to look at with its detailed dome-styled roof and openings that would in a normal setting, be windows and a door. I stepped closer and to my shock, discovered a massive sinkhole surrounded by crumbling rocks and small plants that I didn't recognize. I then took a step inside out of curiosity about how deep the sinkhole went. It looked dormant but I still had to check for myself.
"OPEN THIS DOOR 23!" The scientists had finally gotten through the string barrier and were trying to force their way into the room, the sudden shouts startled me causing me to trip over my own foot.
I let out a sigh of relief as I caught my footing right before reaching the sinkhole. There was nothing but darkness at the bottom, making it feel like an eerie experience.
Suddenly, the door swung open revealing the angry mob of scientists behind it. The sound of the door hitting the wall startled me and once again, caused me to lose my footing. This time however, I couldn't catch myself fast enough.
"Oh no... SOMEONE CALL THE HIGHER UPS!" The sound of their shouting echoed around me. I was falling down the sinkhole, with the cold air hitting my back being the only thing that felt real in the moment. The dirt walls surrounding me slowly turned into rock the further I fell, informing me of how far down I was.
I started to lose consciousness halfway through the fall, and I was in no-way prepared to fight to stay conscious. The strange sound I heard from below was the only thing keeping my mind occupied, I couldn't figure out exactly what it was, the thought of clapping crossed my mind, but that would be difficult since there were no people. Suddenly I hit the bottom, but I wasn't dead. My eyes widened as I realized I was now in a body of water, it was cold and the impact was harsh against my back. I was in too much pain to try and swim up for air, all I could do was sink. My colorless body contrasted against the dark, murky water and the sinkhole's dark, rocky walls. I couldn't bring myself to accept what I've become over the years, but I guess in this dark and lonely pit of water, I was finally able to embrace a small part of myself and its lack of color. So with my last bit of air, I allowed myself to fully relax in the water, my limbs slowly floating up as I
closed my eyes and smiled to myself, Mr. 2 is probably worried sick by now.