Glass

Hallways

Author's Note: Just really quickly, I hope you like this chapter! I tried my best to make it longer than my chapters have been in the past. Enjoy!

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"What the hell just happened?"

"Can't you see that I'm trying to sleep?"

I look from the boy to the pool of black on the floor, then back. "You better start explaining things because I've almost died at least 5 times in the past 24 hours, so wake up and start talking!" I'm shouting, even though my voice is scratchy and hoarse.

"Look, you just have to calm..."

My vision goes black.

I know I'm not asleep, I can still feel the ground beneath me. But I can't see.

"Damn it," the boy whispers. "What are they up to now?"

I reach into my pocket and pull out the speaker. I place it gently in my ear. "Hello? Are you there?"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Shh, be quiet," I say. "Hello?"

There's no answer. I scowl and put the speaker back in my pocket.

"Are you trying to talk to the witch?!"

"She's not a witch, she helped me, so shut up."

"Jesus... since when were you so aggressive? You used to be so nice and quiet."

"You mean when I was passed out on the floor?"

"Exactly! Could you go back to doing that please?"

Drip.

We stop and listen.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The dripping sound is coming from behind one of the doors.

Woosh.

Click.

I grab onto the boy's arm, and he gasps in pain. I let go quickly. I'm shaking too much to whisper an apology.

"Kanna? Where are you Kanna?"

It's the voice from before. The one from the glass. The one from the crunchers. I bite my lip to keep from crying.

"Come on man, stop playing this stupid game. She doesn't have it, okay?"

I hear the boy standing up. As he speaks, the room is filled with a red light. It's pulsing from inside a tall cruncher that stands in the middle of the room. A drop falls off of it's slimy skin. Drip. Drip.

"Could you turn the lights back on, please?"

The cruncher stands still, silent.

"Seriously? You're gonna make me do it by myself?"

Silence.

"Fine. Come on bandages, let's go."

"What?" I say in disbelief. "What are you even doing? That thing'll kill you!"

"Nah, he's harmless."

"He tried to eat me!"

"What?" The boy turns around, stares at me for a moment, and then breaks down laughing. "If he was going to eat you, he would've done it a loooong time ago. He was just carrying you to me, since you got yourself stuck in that extremely sharp version of hell."

"But..."

"Just shut up, bandages. Follow me, you'll be fine."

Listen Kanna, he's dangerous. He's not on your side.

I watch as he reaches down and pulls me up. "Here, you can hold onto me on the way, since you can't walk very well."

You can't stay with him, you have to get out of there.

I pull away from him. My shoulder stings as I fall back into the wall. "No."

"Bandages, calm down. You're fine, you aren't in danger."

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

He looks at me, confused. "What?"

"They said not to trust you."

"Who? The witch and her little boss? They aren't on your side, Kanna."

"How do you know?"

He sighs in exasperation, then holds out his hand. "Look, just... just come with me, and things will start to make more sense."

Red light is pulsing throughout the room as we talk. I look at the cruncher, then back to the boy. "Fine." I take his hand and let him put my arm over his shoulder.

"There, see? Wasn't that hard." He gives me a small smile, then leads me out the door. We work hard to swerve around the puddles of black goo. I look back to see the cruncher is following us out. I grit my teeth and look back ahead. Just forget he's there, just forget about him...

There's a hallway on the outside of the doorway, with many other hallways branching off of it. At the end of each hallway is another door. Above them are words that are scratched into the wall with messy handwriting. I read each as we pass them.

Alligators

Ocean

???

Corn

???

Knives

Heights

My eyes widen as we pass another door labeled "Glass." Blood and black slime cover the door and the rest of that part of the hallway. I have a feeling that the blood is mine. I shudder and look ahead, deciding not to read the doors anymore. We finally stop, then turn a corner to a room that says "Electric."

"Like the labels? I made them myself. All the doors were getting pretty confusing."

"Alligators?"

"Yeah, I'll explain later." He opens the door in front of us and we step inside. The room is filled with wires, switches, and metal boxes nailed to walls. He moves towards one set of switches and flips each one up. "There, that should fix things." Then he looks at me and smiles.

But then his smile falls.

I frown. "What is it?"

"Are feeling okay?" He asks.

"What? Do I look weird?"

He stares at my face for a moment, then shakes his head and turns us back towards the door. "It's nothing. Let's just get you back to the room."

We take a step forward, and instantly my knees give way and I collapse on the ground. My body feels like jello.

"Woah, woah, okay! Why don't you lay down for a second, alright?" The boy helps me lay back. "Just stay here for a little bit."

"I feel tired," I mutter. My eyelids are heavier than stones. What's happening? Why do I feel this way all of a sudden?

"Stay awake, bandages. I need you to help me eat the rest of that corn."

I nod lazily.

"Hey! Drippity drip drop, could you watch her for a second?" The boy turns to the cruncher standing in the doorway.

"No..." I groan.

"You'll be fine, he won't hurt you. This is like the third time I've had to save your ass, bandages. You owe me, you know that?"

Author's Note:

Thanks so much for reading! If you liked that, please vote and even better, leave a comment! If there's anything you think I can improve on I'd love to hear it!

What do you think will happen next? Why is Kanna feeling that way? Also, how do you feel about the nickname Bandages, I'm definitely a fan! XD

I've reached over 100 views,  thank you so so much! I'm so excited that people are interested in the story I have to tell!