The Gate Keeper

Chapter 4

She quickly ran down the hall to the elevator. She was on the fifth floor, and it was slowing making its way down from the tenth. She grew too impatient to wait and quickly ran down many flights of stairs, out the complex door, and down the street. She wanted to get to the alley-way quickly, before any workers showed up, and even though it was merely a couple blocks away, she wasn't too sure if anyone would show up early. She sprinted down a path between two buildings, dodging trash cans and broken glass. She stopped at an intersection of alleyways, her heart racing with excitement.

"Where do I go?" She thought to herself. Though she had seen the alley during the day, she was practically night-blind. Then, like a flame, she heard the voice again.

"...this way..." She looked left and bolted down the dank cold alley. After a couple feet, she found the police tape and the small stairway leading down to a green metal door, just like the one she had seen before. She ran down to the bottom of the steps. The door was boarded and chained up, along with more police tape, and looked as though no one had touched it in years. The door looked like a normal door. No standing pool of tar. No feeling of cold and dread. No portal.

A dead end. She looked around, wondering where to go now. As she spun in circles, looking for other doorways, she noticed something was off. The wall across from the steps, near the door, was darker than the rest of the poorly lit passage. She walked up to it, tapping her fingers against it. Like touching water, the wall rippled with the echo of her touch. One of the workers must have moved the portals so none of the civilians from earlier got any 'bright ideas.'

"Why isn't it black?" she thought to herself. Gates were always shadowy and pitch black, unless... "They're closing it now!" She thought aloud. "...but how?" She shook the thought away. There wasn't any time to sit and contemplate. She reached her hand in to it,

"Come on..." she muttered through gritted teeth. She felt no one or nothing on the other side. That's when it dawned on her. She needed to tell whoever was calling for her about the officers. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the notepad, scribbling down quickly,

"Theyre goin 2 close g8. Hurry!"

She once again thrust her arm into the gate, holding the paper. She waited for what seemed like a lifetime when she felt it. It was like a cold breath on her hand. Someone had brushed against her arm. The paper was ripped from her hand, leaving it empty. She stood at attention, waiting for something, like a sign or a voice. She felt fingertips on hers, then a whole hand. They grabbed onto her hand. She began to try to pull them through the gate. There was a lot of force keeping the dark one in the gate.

"This is it. This has got to be my host..." She thought as she grabbed onto the stair railing as an anchor. She pulled with all of her might, feeling her arm almost dislocate. Finally she could see her hand, and the hand of the one from Vacuus. With one more yank, she was able to pull it all the way through the gate. It fell to its knees, holding onto its sides.

"I know you're probably in a lot of pain, but we have to go. The officers will be here any minute to..." She fell silent. In the distance, she could hear voices and footsteps drawing near. "Shit... we have to..." The dark one grabbed her hand and started running toward the green door at tremendous speeds. Before she had time to brace for impact, they had materialised on the other side of the door. She took in a deep breath, looking around the abandoned warehouse they were now standing in. Without a second's notice, it tighten its grip on her hand and began running across the warehouse floor, tugging her along. They ran up some nearby stairs and up to the ladder that gave them access to the roof. Once up on the roof, they both began jumping from building to building. Melody nearly screamed with every jump.

As soon as they were ten blocks away from the warehouse, the creature clasped on the roof, holding onto its sides again. She quickly scampered over to it, placing a soft hand on its back. She noticed when she touched it, she could see more of it, like she was lighting it inside. It looked at her, backing away.