Broken Glass - Taekook

18

We're led forward, directly towards the giant wooden door. For a moment, I find myself wondering whether the guard in front of us has forgotten that he's supposed to be granting us entry as quietly as possible. But as we come up to the grand entrance, he turns suddenly, without warning, guiding us in another direction. 

The entrance of Rushgrove juts out from the fortifications by a few feet. As we get closer, I slowly realise that the guards above stand on a platform, which is possible because of this difference in distance. It must be a cramped space, but it seems to work well. Our guide leads us around the side of the entrance, so that we're facing this extra stretch of jutting out wall. He takes a deep breath, and then forms a fist with his right hand, knocking twice on a large stone brick at about shoulder height. 

After a brief pause, a section of the brickwork slides sideways, the stone groaning against the ground below. Waiting for us behind this secret door is another guard, manning a small circular mechanism that must control its movement. The two guards nod to each other silently, and then our guide beckons us forward. We walk past the guy who's now working to close the door again, into a dark hallway within the fortifications of Rushgrove. 

As we continue rushing forward, I have to blink a few times to get my eyes to adjust to the dim light, but once they do, I'm no more comfortable than before. The passage was probably designed for fewer people than are in our party, because we have to cram together in order to avoid pushing each other into the cold stone walls. It's difficult to keep to the pace set by the man leading us, but he doesn't pause often. 

This is a grey, dank place. The walls are slick to the touch, though I don't know if that's caused by moss or damp. Every so often we pass a dying lantern, which our guide blows on to bring back to life as he goes. Once or twice, Seokjin clearly considers using his own abilities to help the struggling flames of a lantern, before one of his partners smacks him gently in the arm, and he remembers the danger of doing so. 

Somewhere, water is trickling, and our footsteps land hollow and heavy on a hard floor. The screams are more muffled here, as if my ears have been covered by two giant hands, but it doesn't drown the sound out enough for me to wonder what they are. And even though I want to, I can't forget what I heard when I was standing outside of the town. 

Not long after we enter this strange little hallway, the secret door behind us finally slides shut completely, removing any of the light from the outside world, and my shoulders hunch up of their own accord. A dim stairway curls up in a spiral to our right, but this must lead to the parapets, because our guide pushes on further, beckoning us forward even when we stumble. Footsteps echo behind us, the movement of the guy who let us in perhaps, because the man in front of us doesn't even flinch at the sound. 

And then, finally, we come up against another door. This one is wooden, tattered and rotting in places, and the young man ahead of us has to kick it slightly in order to get us through. As he does, a dull thud reverberates through the entire structure, and I wince at the noise. 

Someone is going to hear that. 

The moment we walk through the doorway, I can feel it. 

It's like a presence, a weight in the back of my mind, that hunches my shoulders and makes me stumble with every step. It's like an invisible hand pushing me back, forcing me to consider retreat as a legitimate option. My chest goes tight, and for a moment I feel suffocated, unable to move. 

Then something flashes at the corner of my vision, and a 'thwack' echoes in the corridor, as a stinging pain makes itself known across the right side of my face. As I blink away the white spots in my vision, I realise that Taehyung is shaking out his hand, wincing slightly. I send him a glare. "What the fuck? That's the second time you've done that." 

"It's an intimidation tactic. Unexpected events can snap you out of it," he hisses, keeping his voice low. "Works on anyone who can't access the river." He gestures towards our guide, who's now struggling to keep leading us down the corridor. "Especially if they know what's causing it. Part of the fear comes from the knowledge that you're being attacked by something so powerful. We have to combat that in order to survive, and it's difficult."