A Guide to Crystarix

Chapter 4. 08:23

I've spent days aimlessly wandering around my small hotel room. It feels as if I've explored every square centimeter this apartment has to offer. Which wasn't that much in the first place.

The only good thing about this room? The view. Oh my god, the view. I have never seen something prettier. My bedroom window faces the west which means I see the sun go down every single evening. It's beautiful.

I've looked trough the window for hours a time, attempting to grasp the situation I'm in and what my next action will be. It helps me calm down, and that is very appreciated.

Those creatures haven't found me yet, I don't know if they're actively looking for me but it feels like it. Sometimes, when I look trough the window —like I usually do— I catch the sight of one of those searcher things, walking around. Almost like they're looking for something, if it's me they're searching then I'm in trouble. They've raised their heads in my direction before, their eyes glaring at me, I don't think they know that I'm here but you've never felt fear before if you've never looked into one of their eyes.

It's like a whole pocket dimension of some sorts. They're glassy and depressing, I feel the same way looking into their eyes, it's like their sadness got carried onto me.

It's abominable. They're abominable.

I have been wallowing in my own misery for about a fortnight. My shitty hotel room, along with those searchers and the fact that no publisher is interested in A Guide to Crystarix really ruined my confidence.

I've come to realise that these creatures aren't doing this for their own cause. They're being sent here for some despicable reason from God knows where.
All I can muster doing these past days is read, discover more about them and the rest. It's boring, but it's the only way I can stay alive.

                                            

I woke up to the sound of my bedroom window shattering. My eyes opened in a split second and the first thing I saw were the tiny pieces of glass and a large mahogany looking staff stuck in the plaster wall.

I took a quick look at the clock, one of the hands was torn off but I just about managed to read what time it was. 08:23.
I immediately knew what had occurred, they've found me. The gravel outside crackles underneath the Searcher's feet. Then, almost as if they could sense my fear, the crackling stopped, but not for long.

The crackling began once again along with a downpour of mahogany staffs flying trough the air with high speed. I grabbed the book as the wooden staffs tore trough the walls. One of them hit my arm but luckily the staffs lost all their velocity when colliding with the wall.

I glanced nervously at the huge holes that have appeared and stood eye to eye with one of the Searchers. He moaned weakly, almost as if trying to say something. It was the only one of the bunch that still held a staff. It held it close to their chest.

"-I -I'm so-" It's broken words turned into a deafening screech as it launched its staff in my direction. It nearly hit me but I managed to flee the hotel room. I'm going to miss it but staying there for even longer would place me in even more danger.

I ran down the stairwell and entered the reception, it was quiet, in hindsight I should've known something was wrong. Alicia, the nice receptionist I met on  my first day staying here, was gone and the eerie silence was only a sign of what was to come. The lovely old men completing a puzzle together had disappeared and the room looked like it was evacuated and everything was left behind.

I stepped trough the puzzle pieces and pieces of paper that had fallen on the ground and looked around. The carpets had been torn slightly on the edges. A cold breeze flowed trough the room, I hope everyone in the building is okay.