Into The Aether

Chapter Two: A Strange Night

It felt like an eternity before we reached the door to Richtofen's office as we navigated endless winding corridors and stairwells. Richtofen's boots clicked on the metal edge of the stairs as he climbed the last landing. We took a right through double doors which lead to a corridor lined with offices on both sides. There was debris and paperwork strewn everywhere along with the odd splatterings of blood on the walls and doors.

Each door appeared to have a nameplate although some were missing theirs. I tried to read as many names as I could as I passed with each large lumbering stride Richtofen made. Then, the letters of one shimmering bass nameplate in particular caught my eye. I turned to my left as my eyes scanned the embossed nameplate which read: 

"Dr Sophia Ziegler".

"Is that really Sophia from the game?!" I wondered.

The next name I found read "Dr Tobias Schuster". Although part of the plate was severely cracked I could still discern the letters amongst the shattered web of cracks. The rest were either illegible or completely missing, however. As we neared the end of the corridor there were two doors left. Richtofen turned to the door on his right as I looked around him to see the name on the other; and as I suspected, the plate read "Dr Ludvig Maxis". 

Surprisingly, Richtofen's name plate remained unblemished unlike the rest. In fact, it looked freshly polished.

Richtofen nudged the handle of his office door with his elbow causing it to creak open. The room became bathed in light after a nudge of the light switch and I drank in the room. A large oak desk stood proud on the left half of the room near the windows. The right half was outlined by cluttered bookshelves, cabinets filled with various drugs and boxes of medical supplies. Near a cupboard door on the right side wall sat a makeshift medical table. The cupboard door itself lay ajar and I was able to make out the shapes of various boxes which likely housed paperwork and supplies.

My heart sank when I eyed the cabinet containing various needles, syringes and vials of unknown substances. Above the counters were different gruesome looking tools all hung on hooks which were more befitting of a butcher's shop. But I knew those were the tools he used during his interrogations.

The sink nearby looked rotten with aged blood crusted onto the sides. Faded residual trails of blood had dripped down the outside of the bowl before drying in the dusty air. Richtofen really did pride himself in his ability to extract whatever information he desired from his victims. His tools were immaculate without a trace of their victim's blood as they hung proudly on display.

My attention was brought back to Richtofen as he was about to lower me down onto the crude table before I requested to sit on a nearby chair which I suddenly spotted. He eyed it before reluctantly agreeing, however, he kicked it towards the desk before allowing me to rest in the chair.

"Vhat vere jou doing? Playing with electricity?" The doctor scoffed as he towered over me while examining my arm.

I tried my best to remain stoic as his face frowned in deep concentration whilst his gloved fingers traced the length of the burn marks. I stayed silent in the face of his question as he then walked to sit behind the desk. I felt light with relief now that the distance grew between me and the doctor.

"Maybe I could run to the door before he could get to me", I thought as I hurriedly tried to figure out a possible escape.