A Darker Reality

The Eight Pages

She stuffed the second page in her pocket and moved on.

As she followed the trail she soon came to a large clearing with a big, brick building. It was oddly shaped and looked like it was some sort of public restroom. There were no doors leading into it, and it appeared from the outside that there were no windows either. There was just a dark, empty, lonesome looking doorway leading to an even darker hallway. She came to the building, wondering if it was a good idea. She figured it wasn't but went inside anyway.

The walls were an ugly brown color, and in some places an unknown type of mold grew in the damp corners of the maze-like hallways. Cecily's footsteps clicked and clacked along the white tile floor. Cecily would glance up nervously at the cracks travelling across the ceiling, and wished that she hadn't gone in. However, she continued as if there was something she had come in here for. It was like something was calling her, and she had to find it. As she walked through the building she found it strange that there were no toilets or sinks or anything in it. It was like the building had no purpose and was there just to exist.

The further she traveled into the building, the more uneasy she felt, and she was just about to turn and go back outside when something caught her eye.

At one end of the hallway was another page taped to the wall.

Before Cecily had comprehended the page's appearance she had ran over to it and snatched it off the wall, like a hungry lion snatching food from the hands of a zoo keeper. She felt desperate to get her hands on the page. This one simply said "Don't Look...Or It Takes You."

She wondered what that meant and was turning to leave the bathroom. As she stuffed the page into her pocket, she looked up and saw the....thing from before.

The tall, faceless man was standing at the other end of the hallway, the top of its head barely grazing the ceiling.

It was blocking the way out.

It tilted its head to one side and stared at her. Her heart thumped in her throat, and without thinking she turned and ran from it, down through the dark hallways, not really knowing where she was going. She ran and ran, occasionally looking over her shoulder to find each time that he was getting closer and closer. She soon found another doorway leading outside, and as she was crossing the threshold she threw one last glance over her shoulder. He was only a few feet away from her, reaching out to her with one white, long hand. She squealed as he swiped at her and just missed the hood of her jacket. With a final burst of speed she turned the corner of the building and saw further ahead in the clearing an assortment of what appeared to be tanks. Thinking she could perhaps lose the thing--or at least slow it down--by running through those, she ran towards them.

She weaved and zig-zagged her way through the red and brown, rusted tanks, and tripped near one of them. She wasn't as graceful as she wished.

She panicked when she could hear light footsteps behind her, and she knew that the thing wasn't far behind. She slid her slender body as far under the nearby tank as she could fit, and held her breath.

She watched as a pair of black, polished shoes slowly stepped towards her tank, and stopped a few feet from her face. Her whole body tensed and she stared at the shoes. Go away, she thought. Please go away. He didn't leave. She started practically begging him in her mind to leave her alone--to not notice her barely squeezed under the tank. She watched as the owner of the well-polished shoes turned, the toes of the shoes now facing her. This is it, she thought to herself, I'm done for.

But then they disappeared.

Cecily blinked. Was he gone? If so, how did he disappear like that? Was it perhaps the same kind of magic--or whatever it was--that brought her to these woods?