The Holder Series

The Holder of Midnight

The Holder of Midnight

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask very politely to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Midnight". The worker will give a solemn, knowing nod and beckon you to follow him.

He will lead you down a long hallway and eventually gesture for you to enter a door. Do not enter this door. Instead, enter the door on the exact opposite side of the hall. You will come upon another hallway. At the door you entered will be a man who is almost identical to the worker who led you, except this one is a mirror-image version, with all features reversed. Ask once again for the Holder, and this mirror worker will give a solemn, knowing nod and beckon you to follow. If you say anything else after this point, then this mirror world will collapse upon you, erasing all evidence that you ever existed.

The worker will take you back to the front desk and gesture for you to exit out the front door. Do this, and you will find yourself in an incalculably vast room. It will be impossible to determine the room's appearance or features, as it is filled with sourceless, eye searingly bright lights - too bright for your vision to adjust, so that the entire room appears to be a blaze. Just walk forward on ground that feels like sand.

Start walking in any direction into the room. Everything should be completely silent, but if at any point you hear a high whistle, like the sound of a teapot, then stop immediately and shout with all the ferocity you can muster, "I can see what I must do!" It is best you not know what eternal horrors await you should the whistling continue.

If the whistling stops, however, then you are to proceed as you were. Eventually, no matter which direction you walked, you will come upon a small area of the vast room where the lights, by some strange means, are not quite as blinding. Sitting in a meditative cross-legged position in the exact middle of this area is a peaceful-looking thin man wearing nothing but a loincloth. He has not a single hair on his entire body, but it is his head that is truly unusual. He has neither nose nor ears, and his mouth has no lips, so that it is just a slit on his placid face. His eyes have odd pupils, exactly like those of a goat. This man will have his arms held forward and his hands clasped together as though hiding a small object between them. He will stare at you impassively until you ask one question: "What lies in the depths of His heart?"

The man with the goat eyes will give a knowing but benign grin, then open his hands. Darkness will flow out from them like a mist, very slowly filling the room. It is crucial that during this time you stare intently into the man's strange eyes, for otherwise you will be consumed by this darkness forever.

As the darkness overwhelms the light, it will reveal the true forms of the goat-eyed man and this vast room. The man is a truly nightmarish specter, more bone than flesh, his countenance no longer suggesting peaceful benevolence but rather a dark and violent hatred. You will see in the distance the immense walls of this room; they are made up of a collage of anguished faces. These are the souls of every Seeker who has ever failed the test of any Holder. The visions of the man and the room will overwhelm your sight as a loud crackling sound, like that of a raging fire, overwhelm your ears. No matter what, though, you must keep your gaze fixed upon the man's eyes. After what seems like an eternity, the assault on your senses will stop abruptly, and the room will revert back to its light-filled state, the man once again a tranquil in meditation. The goat-eyed man's arms will be outstretched, presenting a little brown bag. Take the bag gently and give a respectful bow before turning to leave. Go back the way you came: back through the mirror world and into the hallway of the regular world.

The gelatinous substance in that bag is Object 121 of 538. Never open the bag.