The Truth

Chapter 30

-Jack-

     The sickly sweet smell of poison filled the air as I descended. I had barely reached the fifth step when I begin wheezing. I know it's not poison. It's magic.

     When heavly condensed, pure magic can be one of the most poisonous substances known to mankind. It can kill a person within five minutes of continuous exposure, creating painful blisters in their lungs and throat. It is known to create hallucinations and an overwhelming urge to sleep.

     The words came to my mind as quickly as my own name would. I couldn't remember where I read them, but the knowledge didn't lessen my fear. At the seventh step my knees give out and I tumble down the stairs, landing with a painful "oof". My eyes grew heavy and my throat was on fire. I slowly crawled across the floor, as though moving through Jello. I felt my hair begin to fall out and my skin begin to peel. Feeling something wet on my cheeks, I reached up and felt it. Looking down, I saw it was blood, seeping through my eyes.

    

     Coughing painfully, I long to crawl to the corner and take a nap. I smell lavender coming from an area between a rotten bookcase and a dusty piano small enough for me to squeeze into. The smell slowed my breathing and I felt my heart rate slow as well. I crawl over to it, and almost choke as I see a skeleton laying there. His skin is peeled off, the bones pure white as though carefully polished. What's left of his clothes lie on the floor, the magic disintegrating it at a rapid pace. I'm about to completely loose consciousness when I hear her voice again, exactly the way it sounded in the train compartment.

     Jack, get up. Keep fighting, you're going to make it. Save Jason, save Cindy. Wake up Jack.

     For a moment I regain enough strength to take a deep breath and force myself to keep crawling. I reach for the door, willing it with my mind to open. For a terrifying second, nothing happened and I thought I was too weak even for the easiest of magic. But to my relief, it swung open, and an invisible force pushed me out of the death room.

     The minute I leave the room the wall swells and closes, leaving nothing behind. I gasp for clean air and the blood turns into normal tears of pain. I reach up and feel all my hair back in place and my skin is back to normal as well, despite being a little tender. I stand shakily to my knees, a sob of pain and fear building up in my chest. I'm about to step foward and keep going when I feel a tingling feeling in the back of my neck. I whirl around but nobody's there. I breathe a sigh of relief until I feel someone behind me, breathing down my neck. Adrenaline courses through me and I feel a hand grab my arm.