The holders

5-8

5-The holder of light

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, close your eyes and ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Light." You will be guided to a single door leading to a long, winding hallway. You will be told to open your eyes. The hallway will be pitch black, narrow enough only for you to feel the walls and move yourself forward.

If, at any moment along the way, the hall is suddenly bathed in light, shut your eyes immediately and quickly make your way back to the door you came in through. If your eyes stay open for more than a second, what you see will force you to instinctively tear them out.

If the lights stay off long enough for you to navigate the entire corridor, you will reach another door. If you can see any light escaping from the crack beneath the door, flee immediately, for what you seek is not there. If no light can be seen under the door, carefully turn the handle and enter.

The room beyond will be completely dark aside from a single, dimly-lit candle in the center. What little light it issues will reveal the outline of a cloaked figure huddled over it. The man underneath the cloak will seem to remain perfectly still. There is only one question that the man will respond to: "What can protect us from Them?" Say anything else and the man will tear out your eyes and devour your soul; you will then be forced to take his place under the cloak for the rest of eternity.

If you ask the above question, a piercing scream will ring out from the candle and a series of lights will illuminate the room, revealing images of the most horrifying thoughts, fantasies and memories from all consciousness throughout history. Most people cannot handle this event; they will either go insane or die instantly. However, if you should somehow manage to survive the ordeal, the cloaked man will rise slowly and put his hands to your head. You will be forced to gaze upon his face. He looks like a young man, but his eyes are merely empty sockets. At this point you must not look away, lest you be stranded in this room, forever forgotten in time. He will then open your hand and place a small, round object into your right hand. From this point on you will feel no pain (unless you are in the process of obtaining another Object, for the pain you feel then is nowhere close to normal), but the horrifying images you witnessed in that room will be burned into your memory for all eternity.

The eye you hold in your hand is Object 5 of 538. The awakening has begun; they must not be brought together.

6-The holder of song

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls herself "The Holder of Song." You will then be guided to a single door leading to a long, winding staircase. It will spiral higher than the building stands; at the top is a door that opens into a hallway.

A sudden wave of heat will wash over you upon opening the door. Proceed down the hall; eventually you will feel much colder. You must then stand perfectly still and make no sound. If you hear a baby crying, turn and run. No harm will befall you, but the baby's cry will follow you wherever you go. If you hear it for the rest of your life, count yourself lucky; if and when it stops, your firstborn child will die.

If there is no cry and the heat returns, proceed to the door at the end of the hall and open it. The room beyond will be awash in green light. In the center will be an old woman turning a music box that produces no sound. Her legs have both been severed at the knees. When you speak to her, you must look her in the eyes. She hides a spear fashioned from the bones of her legs; break eye contact, and she will impale you with it and leave you, in seemingly unending agony, to bleed to death. She will respond to only one question: "What was the song they used to play?"