Stairs

Emil

Wind whistles through the dank hallways and makes me shiver. The darkness surrounding me is impending and I look around warily only to see more, more of that darkness. I begin to panic. I feel like it is closing in on me and trapping me, suffocating me. That's when I scent them. The awful smells coming from the next room; they are horrid and stink of rotting flesh and decaying bone. Ugh, they almost make me want to be sick. I forget about the darkness almost immediately when I see someone coming towards me with a light. For a moment, I have to admit, I thought he had come to take me. The flickering shadows dance along his face as the flame dances in turn in the old, dusty brass oil lamp. A small, maniacal smile is spread across his face, hidden in the shadow behind what he had done.

"Is he...?" I ask, hoping, no, praying the smells aren't what I already know them to be.

"He is, Emil. He will feed us for days, pray, maybe a week." The man kneels down and sits next to me on the dusty floor, sighing.

"Berwald, did we really have to...?" I whimper, looking up at the taller man as the small flame reflects off of his cracked glasses.

"Em, you know we will starve if we hadn't..."

"But Mathias was our friend and our family!" I blurt, then hang my head and try not to cry.

"Save your voice Emil, you'll need it if someone comes along." Berwald soothes me, rubbing my back. "We'll get out of here, I know we will." I nod and rest my head on his shoulder, sighing in turn.