The Steel Stone

Chapter 2

My brain started to feel like it was pounding against my skull repeatedly. I managed to slowly open my eyes and turned my head to the side to see a damp wall across this dimly lit room. Slowly I put my hands onto the bed I was laying on and rose up still sitting on the bed.

"Where am I?" That question rang through my mind as I rubbed my hand across my face in hopes I could get my eyes to focus. My vision finally started to clear as I looked around the room. It was damp and their was a strange musk in the air. Almost as if there was the stench of blood and decay within the room. I slowly got off the bed and stood up, my legs felt weak and numb as I started to move them. I nearly stumbled to the floor but caught myself by pressing myself to a wall. I looked around the room and saw that the walls were cracked and that their were webs in the room. I heard a loud crash as if something had fallen come from outside the room. I went to the steel door and looked through the small bars to see what happened. I looked around and all I could see was a moss covered hallway filled with other cells like mine. Just as I was about to let go of the bars I started to hear a hum, for some odd reason the humming sounded familiar like a tune hummed for children.

"W-Who's there, can you let me out of here?" As I spoke I felt the sinking feeling that i'd instantly regret opening my mouth. The humming got louder and closer the sound feeling like it was surrounding me, suffocating me, making it difficult to breathe. I backed away from the door fearing what was coming closer, my body trembling in pure terror as the anxiety was building upon me. Sweat poured from my head as I could hear the drip hit the floor. I tried to ready myself for whatever was coming closer but my act of toughness didn't last long as the humming got so powerful it felt like it was piercing my body and shaking it as if it was a dog's chew toy. Then as it felt like the humming was right at the door it felt as if it was calling me to get back closer to the door. Trying to avoid possibly angering whatever was humming I slowly walked closer to it.

"S-Show yourself w-whoever you are?!" Suddenly the humming stopped instantly and the room became eerily silent. My body was so tense that it wouldn't even move an inch and my heart felt as if a thousand small needles were stabbing it repeatedly. Slowly I built up some courage and slowly tried to inch my way to the door iron bar opening. What was mere feet felt as if it was miles until I finally reached to the bars. Suddenly the door started to rumble as if someone or something was trying to get inside the cell.

"Why are you here?" I could hear a young girl's voice whisper to me. The voice sent chills down my spine as if she was right behind within inches of my ears. I backed away from the bars as I started to feel sick from all this pressure. She could see that I was panicking and started to sound annoyed with my reactions.

"It is not time for you here. " This time she spoke with a sharp tone as if a knife had been at my throat. I tried to compose myself and managed to get back to the bars even though every part of my body was telling me this was a terrible idea.

"Not until you...until you find out the truth." Suddenly on the other side of the door I could see a young girl probably a year or two younger than me. She had this long beautiful  black hair that reached down to her knees. Her skin had a strange tone almost like a light blue color and yet it was mystifying to the eyes. She had her eyes closed but she looked right at me as if she could still see me. She wore a lovely silk kimono that was black and had blue trim along its ends. I felt terrified and yet uncertain if she was truly out to hurt me. I glanced down for a moment, trying to build the courage to actually say anything and when I finally got the strength and looked back through the bars she was gone. I looked around frantically trying to find her when suddenly the cell door flung open sending me flying back to the cell wall on the other side of the room. I dropped to the floor trying to gasp for air as my lungs felt crushed by the impact. I manged to reach for the bed and pulled myself up and having one hand to my chest I hobbled back to the door. I peeked around the side of the frame and could see the young woman down these strange dungeon like halls. I had one hand on the walls that felt wet and warm with some substance but I couldn't see with how dim the light was within these halls. Slowly I made my way towards her as she walked past the corner. I got to the corner and peeked around it to see that it just leads to a dead end wall. I found it rather strange so I walked up to the wall cautiously and examined it carefully. I slowly put my hand to the wall and felt the strange rocky texture of the walls that was unlike the other walls in this hallway. I could hear screams come down from the hallway I had just come from so I decided too peek around the corner to see what was making that noise. I see some kind of horrid four-legged beast with blood soaked fur crawl out from the cell I was just at. I had never seen a monster before but it somewhat resembled a wolf but much larger and looked deformed with strange bubbles coming from its skin. I could see that it was slowly making its way down the hall toward me and quickly hobble back to the strange wall. I could feel a faint breeze come from a crack within the wall. I start frantically pulling stones from the wall and could hear the beast start to run towards my direction.  As I pulled the stones I could feel my hands getting cut from each stone but the adrenaline was kicking in and I felt none of it just my heart that was racing a million miles an hour. I could see a bright light pierce through the enlarged crack as I could hear howls from the beast and its feet rush through the cobblestone flooring. I keep throwing rocks until the wall finally collapses just as the monster turns the corner and charges towards me.  I quickly crawl through the opening and look back to see that the monster backed away from the light. I looked forward and continued to crawl into the blinding light.