Ghost Towns

3- From Northbrook

                   It was sudden. It felt almost as if I had blinked- and then pain flooded over me in waves. The ground felt icy and my breath caused a faint rain of mist to fog the tiles. My eyes squeezed together as I winced at a killer pounding inside of my skull. "What the hell?" I breathed in sharply, drifting my gaze over the solemn, and almost haunting, room.

                   Wanting to put my hand over my head to feel if there was some sort of dried blood, I realized that my hands were bound together with a rough, scratchy rope. It was old, and the glaze that was placed over the fibers was cracking, eroding a foul stench. My wrists were blistering from their attempt to force the knot apart.

                I growled out of frustration. This was too much for just one day. I was alone and there was no way of me finding my sister like this. Rolling myself onto my back, I felt that there was enough slack to wiggle my legs through. Slipping one foot behind my hands, with more difficulty than I had initially anticipated, I managed to jerk my other over.

                 Bringing myself up, with caution, I slowly made my way over to the door. Out of convenience, the knob opened just a peep. Swiftly stepping behind the door, in my enemy's blind spot, I patiently waited for something. Perhaps it was a voice or some sort of signal that they were really human. It was annoying how defenseless I was throughout this whole game.

                 Then the familiar tapping of a leather boot clicked in about three steps. Impatience took over me and I acted out of fury, allowing myself to white out. My fists, that balled up together, slammed the door open and I viciously kicked the person that let out a shocked gasp. There was always a voice in my head that told me that I had the upper hand, despite these liabilities. It was probably the only thing that was keeping me alive lately.

                 Shoving myself past this person, who was undoubtedly female, I scrambled outside of my exit. She grabbed at my waist with her nails, but I whipped around, putting a minimal amount of impact on her cheek; however, it was just enough for her to let me go. "Amethyst, it's the older girl, she escaped!" that feminine voice hollered. It was so shrill that shivers shook through my spine.

                  What was I doing? I had no idea where Solenne was and I was just blindly thrashing like a trapped cat. The staircase was blocked off as a danger zone and it was impossible to go up there even if I wanted to, but with that being said, it was enough to tell me that my sister was on this floor.

                  "Go through 226, to your right!" another voice ordered, alarming me that there were definitely more people than I thought. It was masculine this time. Solenne must have been in the same hallway that I retreated from, making this whole mission all the more difficult.  

                    Crouching down, feeling my legs shudder from exhaustion; I smoothly started to go back from where I escaped. It probably wasn't the smartest thing, but then again, I hadn't been thinking clearly. There were so many questions that I had and there was never any time for answers, or anybody to ask for that matter. For several years, it was my lack of knowledge and conjectures that would play over and over in my head like a record. I've gotten tired of the same songs, making me even more irritable lately.

                    My arms reached for the first door, finding it tricky to open. There was nobody there. Strangely, my heart was calm and the adrenaline was beginning to die down. It was probably because I knew that it was people I was dealing with and it was sick to say, but I missed contact with them, even if they were trying to kidnap me. There was a sense of assurance as I searched through the next two doors.