Encountering Darkness: The Great Pursuit (Book One)

Chapter Three

Staggering to a considerable degree, he came home late, but still recognized that none of the street lights went on. He was angry because he made sure his town had important things, let alone street lights so people could get home without getting hurt.

When he got to his house, he forced himself to the door, but halted because something didn't seem right. He opened the door and would have fallen if the door let go of him, but instead he swung around with it and nailed his hands into the wall. With the door and the wall on his hand, he was forced to wait until they released him.

He cried out, "I've been good! I've been good!" And with those words the door and the wall let him go, and he fell to the ground. He got back up and was about to go upstairs when he noticed the same foul smell. He thought it was strange the smell came back because he believed he got rid of it.

In great determination, he moved towards the odor, but it stopped him in his tracks and threw him hard to the ground. He tried to get back up, but his head spun and he didn't know which way was up. Not only was he moving, but everything else was as well. The world was spinning with him.

The movement was too much for him and he gave his master what it decreed all over the floor. As he laid on the ground he felt lost, but once his stomach seemed better, he soon went to sleep.

When he woke up, everything still spun for quite some time, but soon it stopped. He got up and moved about. He found himself in a strange room. As he continued to look about he noticed that he was in the kitchen. His heart froze. It skipped a few beats. Although he panicked for a short while, he thought this room should be more frightening, but somehow it seemed different. He relaxed and became at ease in this room, unlike what he normally felt.

The windows were always closed. The drapes were shut, so it was always dark. The little bit of light that entered the room seemed only to disappear. The light fixtures in the kitchen did not give off light anymore because he stopped changing the bulbs. Pete use to replace them, but the bulbs would burn out in a day or so. Sometimes they would even explode.

The strong smell he noticed the other day was not here anymore, or at least it was a lot less pungent. He couldn't pinpoint the location of the distant scent, but felt he better leave the kitchen and go to his bedroom. When he walked out of the room, he congratulated himself for his courage in being in the kitchen and not running away.

As he continued to his room to sleep, he observed that his whole house smelled a little funny, but didn't care because he was weary and his head pounded.