A sudden noise from the dark wakes you. Where are you? Unfamiliar walls, rough floors, odd lighting. The room looks like someone tried to build it but gave up. A massive hole in the wall lets in a chilling gust of air. It’s too dark to see what’s inside that hole from where you are sitting. You try to stand, but your legs just aren’t working. You look down. Fear paralyzes you. You sit there for many long minutes, trying to comprehend what you see. Where your legs are, there are two normal pairs of legs. But they’re not yours. Oh no, these are certainly from another human. Or at least you think they are. A saw lays discarded in a corner, right next to a century old skeleton with one foot missing. The missing foot is close by, chained to the wall. Poor fellow. But you realize you have bigger problems than the skeleton. You try to walk again, but the legs underneath you are flimsy and weak. You decide to crawl instead, and make your way over to the hole. A gust of freezing air hits your face. Sudden memories of a past life flash before your eyes-your life before this. You calm your mind, and try to think. You can’t even remember your own name. Pat, Matt, Patricia-names flash before your eyes, but not one of them seem to ring a bell. But then again, if you die in here, it won’t make a difference. Then, a torch lights from somewhere up the long stairwell in the middle of the huge cavern. You see a face, yet can’t make out any distinguishing features. All you can see are two small, white eyes, and a bright, white smile. A smile that spreads too far on the face to be human. Then the torch goes out, and you are once again immersed in omnipresent darkness. Once again, you try and stand. But this attempt yields different results, as you find that you are able to stand, but just barely. A shiny doorknob catches your eye, and you make your way slowly over to where it is. Something skitters across the floor, causing you to fall down in fright. Must be a rat-at least you hope it is. You slowly stand up again and make your way to the door. It’s locked, just as you thought it would be. Footsteps echo from the stairwell and your heart stops. You slowly back against the wall; hoping whatever is there doesn’t see you. The footsteps get closer, closer, closer. You can almost hear the thing breathing. You don’t dare open your eyes and look. Then the footsteps begin to move away, but you don’t move a muscle. As soon as the footsteps are a distant noise, you open your eyes. Nothing has changed. But the puddle next to you is still rippling. The building itself is shaking. You try to breath, and take a moment to think. If you run, you risk that thing hearing you. But if you stay, you may go down with the building. You hear whispers. Lots of them. They are all around you, but you can’t find out where they are coming from. You decide to move and try to escape. Even if you stay and manage to survive for now, starvation and madness will begin to set in and take their toll. The stairs look weak and old, but they are the only escape. And up seems to be the way out right now, so you begin to climb, very, very slowly. Halfway up, you head big, loud footsteps. Something or someone with huge feet is at the bottom walking around. You hear rattling chains, and a loud roar. The beast knows you escaped. You panic. Now what? Keep climbing; hope that thing doesn’t like stairs. But then again, why would it take shelter here if it didn’t? Higher, higher, higher. The seconds pass by slowly, each step agonizing. There are the loud footsteps again, but this time, closer. You look around for a way out, and see nothing. You keep climbing, and find a door. Locked. But the stairs end here, and there is no other way out than this door. You can see rays of sunlight coming from cracks in the huge wooden door, and cry out in agony. Big mistake. You hear another roar, much closer now. You panic once again, and then take a few deep breaths. There has got to be a way out. Or is there? Does this thing coming after you have the key to the door? Probably, but how powerful is this beast? Can you fight it? Can you hide? You lie on the floor and begin to cry. Then you have a revelation. The beast, hopefully, can’t smell you, otherwise it would know you had left and where you went in the start. The element of surprise is your only hope. You look frantically for something to fight with, anything. Nothing. Pebbles, small rocks, and puddles are all that are around you. Again, you feel defeated. But then your foot hits something shaky. A rock! This rock is much larger than the others, and could be used as a weapon. Hell, you’ll try anything right now. Quickly, you try to unearth this huge stone. But it’s bigger than you expected. You struggle with it in vain, and the footsteps get closer, closer, and closer. Its feet away now, for sure, and getting closer every second. Then, as if someone heard you, the door opens and-

To be continued……………………..


The door opens, knocking you to the ground. The beast is just around the corner now. You glance at the door and see-no one. The door must have swung open for some reason. You don’t stop to wonder, and bolt out the door and into the sun. The sunlight feels warm on you face, and you look down at your legs. They’re yours, thankfully. “Pat!” You hear someone call your name from afar. Pat! That’s your name! Looking back, you see no door, no trace of anything underneath the ground at all. “Pat, come on! We’ve been looking for you for ages!” Was the whole thing a dream? Was it all in your head? You shake it off, and run towards the voice. But behind you, an agonizing roar stops you dead in your tracks.