In Between

Chapter VII:

Josh's eyes wandered through the dark blackness, no idea where he was, there were no windows no cracks shedding any light, there was no clarity of where he was and even less of how he got there.  A burst of claustrophobia raced up his spine, like if he were trapped in a box or coffin. His arms extended out searching for a door. "Where the hell am I?" Josh whispered, his words echoed back at him. He seemed to be alone, the only other sound to be heard was that of his footsteps gently trying to find there way through the land of nowhere and nothing-ville. His hands searching relentlessly found what seemed to be a door, both hands rushed up and down until finding a chilly knob twisting  it immediately, he exited into a Stygian narrow hallway, bumping into a stranger rushing by, pinning him against the wall. The stranger kept moving at the same pace, no hesitation or worries of if Josh was hurt or not. "SORRY, BUDDY! I DIDN'T SEE YOU!" Josh shouted, coming to a full stop the stranger turned towards Josh with a smirk on his face."You bet you are," the stranger smiled at Josh, serious and hostile, as if he were going to attack him. Josh stood frozen, but not from of the stranger's reaction nor his word. It was the stranger's eyes. They were pitch-black, no white or shades of color. Just pitch-black beady eyes, those eyes punctured through Josh's green  eyes paralyzing his soul. The stranger laughed at him, and then quickly rushed off down the hallway where he'd soon fade away into the darkness.

Josh took off towards the opposite direction after seeing the stranger's eyes. He wasn't willing to voluntarily wait for the stranger to change his mind and come back his way. As he made his way through the hallway, it seemed the further he'd go, the longer it become. He looked back and no longer could see the room where he came from.   Anxiety slowly took control, breathing suddenly was feeling a little harder than the usual, a storm of fatigue attacking his body. "Hello!" Josh's ear caught onto a rumbling sound as his body trembled along with the shaking movement of the floor below his two feet.   He rushed forward until meeting a dead end wall he stood astonished as he witnessed the cement wall slowly transform into a brown wooden door. How this was possible was beyond his imagination, but his fear was slightly overpowering his sense of logic.

Pushing all thoughts and doubts aside turned the silver metal door knob, hoping things wouldn't get worse. The door opened to a vast, empty space, the room had the size of a nightclub, as Josh turned in circles.   The floor was covered in a dark red carpet, at the center of the room stood a seven light globe chandelier dangling from the white painted ceiling giving the room a rustic vibe.  As his eyes searched the room all he could see were four white walls. He searched for another door, but there were to be found. He thought to himself, the only option would be to backtrack back through the hall he had just come from.  Just the thought of having to go back into the hallway brought goosebumps to his forearm.  But there was no plan B, it's all he had.  He slowly counted to three in his head and turned, only to find that, to his surprise, the door was gone. It was impossible. He had just entered the room seconds ago. How could it just disappear and vanish? He couldn't understand or comprehend what was going on. Doors appearing and disappearing, strangers with black eyes, nothing made sense. 

A stumping sound was heard from behind him. As he turned he found a bar standing right in front of him "What the hell?" Breath taken Josh stared  at the space that was completely empty just seconds ago; he felt like he was sitting front row at a David Copperfield show. He hesitated for a moment, wondering what to do. It seemed like every new surprise he'd find in this place was even more unpleasant than the last. Josh slowly walked over and took at seat on one of the round stools that sat in front of the dark brown oil stained wooden bar.

The stumping noise heard a few seconds ago returned followed by the clashing sound of glass bottles clanging against one another. Josh looked around but saw no one. "Is anyone there?" Josh sighed, fearing of what the answer may be.