Crimson Wounds

Chapter Three - Journey Eastwards

(narrator: Mark) 

I was awakened by Mary, with her dirty, yet still, pretty face horrified. We were still in the drug store, but something was definitely different about the air again. This time I had a hard time catching a breath, even by the mall's standards. I asked my companion what was going on, but she just said that we need to hide. She took me by my hand (I am a person of the very lithe silhouette), and we dashed toward the music shop located opposite of the drug store. While we were in the corridor, I swear I had heard very heavy, leather boots, knocking on the black and white tiles. Most interesting was the thing that they were very... unhuman in its walking pattern – one time they were walking almost rhythmically, one time that thing waited seconds to set the second boot on the tiles.

When we went inside the music shop, we were met with a mostly deserted room, with the exception of piano and few wooden string instruments, similar to guitars. Mary took a rock which was lying on the floor and begun to bang on something. When I came closer, I realized that the thing she was hitting was a small and rusted ventilation shaft. Instantly, I rushed towards her in hopes of helping her. Let's try...

First hit – Nothing.

Second strike – Will not budge.

The third one – In vain.

Fourth time – it moved!

Fifth hit – It moved again and allowed us to move into the ventilation system!
In mere seconds, we were both in the system, battling the intense cold that was inside. That is interesting, apparently, the vent system works in this godforsaken place. I took a quick view ofMary's face. She looked relieved. And with that out of the way I finally could not resist :

„Can you finally tell me what on oblivion is going on?!" - I asked half angry, half curious. Without any word, she pointed her dainty finger towards the exit from the vent system.

Outside, the first thing I could see was a red aura. God. In the centre of this fog, a single person was standing, clad in world war two era officer uniform, complete with a hat, and long, almost knee-high leather boots and blue pants with red accents. Without a doubt, it was a red army officer, but what in oblivion he was doing here? And why Mary is so scared of him?

The character walked in his rhythmic pattern across the music shop, and in response to that, I quickly hid in the vent. It walked like he was inspecting his troops or something. Then, he suddenly disappeared without a trace, almost like he was pleased with his soldiers.

„What the hell just happened?" - I asked myself.
„It was a ghost, Mike. The exactly the same one which I was running from."- Mary explained.
„What? Didn't you said that you were running from some psycho?" - I asked confused.
„With time, my memories have gotten less and less foggy." - She explained.
„Well, that explains things. But how did you...detected him?" - I queried.
„I... have no idea. I just... felt that something was coming and that thing wasn't really friendly. And I was right."

We got ourselves out of the cold vent back to the music shop, looking for anything that would help us. Nothing, unfortunately, besides that the piano had really sharp strings for some reason, same issue with those guitar things. Disappointed, we ventured outside to the shop.

We decided to go north, where I originally met Mary, and turn left and travel through the corridor she came from. Going beside a closed shop and sealed with wooden plank doors, we finally arrived at the northern corridor, which was fairly different from the other corridors. Firstly, it was more tight, about two people wide. Next, you could not miss the fact that about every fifteen meters or so there is a fragment of celling, most likely fallen here because of age.