UnderAsriel

2 - Rabbit Hallway

Dang it, Kel. Well, of course they have a door. They want to catch you, don't they?

She'd finally mustered the courage to charge out the doorway and down the hallway beyond, only to find that it led straight up to a dead end. A metal slab of a sliding door, with no handles or buttons or switches around to try. She'd tried pushing it, pushing on the tiles around it, pulling on the silver torches jutting from the cracked walls... no avail. And it wasn't like there were any other exits around.

She was trapped.

Kel paced back to the mattress room, weaving through the marble pillars lining the narrow corridor. Sooner or later, they'd come back, and they'd find her and drag her away. Or they wouldn't, and she'd starve here, never knowing what'd happened to Frisk. Neither option sounded particularly great, especially considering she didn't even know what the robots wanted her for.

I could probably set off the alarm again and try sneaking past them...

Kel regarded the pillars doubtfully. She could probably fit behind one if she tried, but wouldn't they be watching for that? Catching people was kind of their job, as far as she could tell. Something told her it wouldn't be wise to attempt something so risky.

On that note, it hadn't been wise to come down here, either. But she'd done it. She hadn't exactly had any other options. And because she'd done it, she now knew Frisk might still be alive...

I have to try.

Kel carefully wound up the rest of her rope and tucked it under the mattress. She wanted to take it with her - she had a feeling it would come in handy - but it was just too bulky to really run with. And run was what she had to do.

Kel crossed back to the doorway, planted herself in front of the mattress, and took a deep breath.

Then she jumped.

Her feet hit cushion, and the alarm burst alive again, just as earsplitting and murderous as before, but Kel was already off the mattress and sprinting down the hallway, moving too fast for fear to catch her. She reached the last pillar, grabbed it, and swung around behind, just as she heard the familiar clunking footsteps reach the metal slab. There was a click of a button, the whoosh of a door sliding upward, and a flash of silver as the captors, oblivious to their hiding prey, charged down the hall - and then Kel was out, flinging through the doorway like a red-haired Frisbee.

"Hey, wait..." said a sharp voice, and the footsteps abruptly ceased, but Kel was already fumbling with the bright purple button on the outside wall and the sliding door was crashing back down.

"STOP!!" bellowed a now heavily muffled voice, and there was a skid and an incomprehensible scream as the footsteps stormed up and something insanely heavy began pounding on the door. The floor rattled. Dirt shook down into Kel's face, but she brushed it away, quickly scanning her surroundings as dents began appearing in the metal. She was in another wide purple room, this one with much lower ceilings and a much more comfortable air about it - there was even some sort of dark green underground ivy clinging to the walls, and a couple of intricate rugs on the stone floors. Kel didn't have much time to admire them, however - there were three identical open hallways branching off in front of her, and she had no idea which one to choose.

"OPEN. THIS. DOOR!!" shouted the angry metallic voice, but Kel had no intention of doing so. She ducked away as more dust rained down and pelted off for the hallway to her immediate right, trusting her instincts to guide her well.

I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, her mind chanted, and Kel found the mantra soothing as she raced down the twisting path, leaping the strange underground streams sometimes cutting the floors and trying her best not to smash into walls. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this...