Horror Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadowlander's Dream: Book 1 - A Tale of Shadows ❯ Part 3 Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Shinigami_Shimai 
Miscellaneous: Horror Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Supernatural / Romance | Type: Shoujo-ai | Uploaded On: 11.12.2005 | Updated On: 08.29.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 231 | Status: Completed
Miscellaneous: Horror Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Supernatural / Romance | Type: Shoujo-ai | Uploaded On: 11.12.2005 | Updated On: 08.29.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 231 | Status: Completed
A Shadowlander's Dream - Book One: A Tale of Shadows
By Kathryn K Williams
Part Three: Death's Corridor
Chapter Thirteen - Smoke and Mirrors
Kimberly lay next to that door for longer than she could remember. Hoping that maybe, just maybe that the doors would open up and she would be allowed to see Lauren again. But the door never opened, and there was no day or night to judge how much time had past; only the flickering candles that never seemed to burn out. At one point she was sure she saw some of the wax dibble down the side of the candle stand but she was not sure if it was real, a trick of the light, or her own mind playing pranks on her.
She scanned the darkness around her, however there was nothing to see; even the line of people had disappeared. When she turned back the door, it too had disappeared. Now she felt truly alone. She considered crying, but she felt dried up from crying over the loss of Lauren. So instead she stood and started trying to think of where she would go from there. She couldn't just lay in the darkness now, could she?
Then she noticed that there was something different about her surroundings. A thin layer of fog was drifting around her ankles. Curious, she started to walk towards the fog's source and before long she came across a long wall with a single opening. The fog poured heavily out of the opening almost to her knees like a strange river. She peered through the opening in the wall, down a wide hall and noticed that the walls were covered with hundreds of oddly shaped mirrors and the fog appeared to be pouring forth from the mirrors themselves like strange, slowly moving, waterfalls. She stepped into the hall and gazed into one of the mirrors to see a reflection of herself as a six-year-old girl. A dark bruise covered the side of the child's face as she sat in her nightgown playing with a set of cards. Kim turned to her reflection in another mirror to be greeted by a much older version of herself, this time running a comb through her hair. Yet another mirror showed a version almost the same age, however this time sleeping soundly in bed. Not a single mirror mimicked her age or movements. They all seemed to go about their own tasks unaware that she was watching them.
Before long Kimberly found herself at an intersection. More mirrors stretched off into the distance in all directions. She turned around and realized that she was now lost within this odd hall of mirrors with no sight of the entrance, even though she was almost certain that she had only taken a few steps into the strange hall. She tried to remember how she entered the maze and began to backtrack, except when she came across yet another junction she was not sure if she had made a left or a right. Her mind began to race as she tried to remember which way to go. She took a quick guess and turned to the right only to come across another turn. With each crossroad Kimberly felt herself become more panicked. She started second guessing her decisions, taking four steps forwards then turning back, only to see a different hall than she remembered. After a while she found herself running. She took two lefts and another right nevertheless didn't recognize anything. With all these odd mirrors one would think it would be easy to remember if you had been somewhere, however none of it seemed familiar and not one mirror looked like another. She spun around trying to get her bearings, but the more she tried the more lost she felt. No matter how hard she tried it was like the exit didn't exist any longer.
She stopped running so she could catch her breath and staggered until she was leaning against one of the walls and felt tears begin to stream down her cheeks, "I'm sorry Lauren, I can't...." She sobbed, "I just can't..." Her back leaned against one of the mirrors.
"LIAR!!" A voice called out.
She glanced up at one of the mirrors and noticed that the reflection in the mirror behind her looked exactly like her and it was waving. Kimberly spun around in shock, "AHHHH!!" She shouted, "YOU!" She pointed at the mirror, "You stay away from me!"
The reflection crossed her arms "Is that any way to greet yourself?" She said angrily.
"Why would I want to talk to a murderer like you?" Kimberly almost spat at the mirror.
"KILLER?!?." The reflection countered, "I had no choice. Don't tell me you still think he would have changed. I sometimes wonder why I ever bothered saving you from him all the time." The reflection yelled.
"That's beside the point," Kim glared at the mirror, "He was only like that when he drank and he promised things would be different. Why couldn't we have just run away earlier or something? I wish you didn't have to be so violent all the time. Remember the boy from school?"
The reflection laughed, "He deserved it."
"No one deserves having their fingers broken." Kimberly began to turn away, "I don't want to deal with you right now."
"Listen, I'm sorry." The reflection said calmly, " I really don't mean to be, but every time he came near us like that I just... I just... Everything went black and I can't remember what happened. When I saw Momma lying there... I panicked I guess..."
"Momma..." Kim stopped in her tracks but didn't make a move to turn around.
"Enough reminiscing about the past." The reflection said leaned closer to the glass, "What are you doing wandering around a place like this? Weren't you looking for your friend?"
"Jenn...” Kimberly murmured as she took a step backwards until she was leaning against the wall next to the mirror.
"Ahhh, yes that was her name wasn't it?" The reflection smiled, "So what is wrong?"
"I can't get my mind off of Lauren's kiss." Kim whispered.
"Ahhhh," The reflection smiled, "And so you keep finding yourself walking in circles. Have you considered thinking about what it would be like to kiss Jenn then?" The reflection's grin began to broaden.
Kimberly spun around to face her reflection again, "NO WAY!!" She was shocked that her own reflection would even suggest such a thing. "I can't... I mean Jenn would never... She's... She's..."
"Cute, pretty, innocent, smart and all of the above. I see the way we look at her." The reflection leaned against the frame of the mirror, "She is such an innocent beauty. I still remember the feeling of her carrying us to the nurse's office. So strong for such a small frame, don't you think?"
"STOP IT!!" Kimberly yelled while covering her ears.
"Oh come on." The reflection moved closer to Kim, "You do realize that she had to undress us in order to bandage those wounds right?" She said still smiling.
"But she would never," Kimberly blushed while clenching her gown tight to her body, "It's not like that at all. We're just... friends"
"Ah yes, friends... just like you and Lauren."
Kimberly felt her blush deepen, "That... that was different..." her voice trailed off.
The reflection leaned on the frame, "Because she looks like a boy, am I right?"
Kimberly stared at the ground, "No..."
The reflection slammed her hand on the glass, "Oh come off it. You know you love her and you knew she was a girl. You can't keep using the same old excuses. How do you explain Jenn then?"
Kimberly felt herself smile a bit then forced the smile away before she looked back up at her reflection, "Will you stop that?!" She demanded.
"Fine, what about Kris? She's a cutie too and Natalie is turning into quite a hottie."
Kimberly closed her eyes and yelled, "FINE! I like her, all right? I found Jenn cute the first moment I saw her. That way she looked at me. Her smile, her voice, everything! Now will you leave me alone now?" Her voice echoed through the halls.
When Kimberly opened her eyes she was no longer faced with her own reflection. Now a simple wooden door stood before her with a small plaque, hanging from a string, which read "JENNIFER'S ROOM" in large bold lettering. Kimberly stared at the door trying to figure out if it was another trick of her mind. "Jenn..." She thought to herself as she reached out and touched the door. The wood felt cold to the touch and Kimberly found herself pulling back. She was not sure if she was really ready to see what was behind this door. She glanced around at the rows of mirrors to find all of her reflections were now watching her, waiting to see what decision she would take. Would she move forward and confront whatever may lay behind that door before her or would she run and allow herself to become forever lost in this maze of mirrors that only reflected the past. Kimberly turned back to the door and decided that whatever was behind that door would be a lot better than the madness of the hall in which she currently stood.
She reached out, grabbed the doorknob, turned it until she heard a click, and then pulled it open. A cold burst of air hit her in the face, blowing her hair around, causing her to slam her eyes shut, then as quickly as it appeared, the wind disappeared. Kim stood still for a moment unsure of what to think; when she opened her eyes she noticed that her nightgown had been replaced with her school uniform. She blinked a few time at the outfit, then peered into the room. On the other side of the door was a long thin, dark, hall with many doors on either side. Many doors or many mirrors? What kind of choose is this she wondered to herself.
The moment Kimberly stepped into the hall the door slammed shut behind her and locked. Kimberly went to open the door but found there was no knob on this side. She hit the door with her fist in frustration. Realizing that she had no other choice she started to walk down the hall, examining the doors as she passed them. Each door was of a different size, shape and colour. The only thing similar about them was that they were all boarded shut. Kimberly approached one of the doors and noticed that whoever nailed them shut must have been hurried because most of the nails were lopsided or bent. She wondered why someone would be so desperate to nail the doors shut. Whatever the reason it was must have been important, or maybe the person wasn't trying to keep people from getting in, but was trying to keep something from getting out.
Kimberly quickly stepped back from the door, suddenly afraid. She quickly turned to run down the hall when she saw a junction at the end of the hall and someone step out from around the corner.
"Ummm... excuse me?" Kimberly called out as she run towards the person. As she got closer she realized that it was a young lady with long black hair tied up in a bun. The lady turned and smiled at Kimberly. Kim was about to speak again when the lady placed a finger to her lips then turned to open one of the few unbarred doors. Kimberly watched as the door opened a crack then exploded in a burst of flames. The entire hall filled with fire and Kimberly felt herself being knocked off her feet to the ground by the blast. She quickly got to her feet and patted at her body only to notice that the flames were gone and the hall was empty. Suddenly a bunch of boards and nails flew from down one of the halls and sealed the door the women just passed through shut.
Kimberly stood still for a moment. She was sure she just saw the woman burst into flames, but there was no fire, not even a scorch mark upon the floor. Then there were those strange pieces of wood. Almost to reassure her a pile of wood flew past her and yet another door was nailed shut. Kimberly scratched her head in bewilderment.
She glanced up and down the halls trying to figure out which way to turn when she noticed a shadow move at the end of the hall. Silently the girl crept down the hall and peered around the corner. She could only see a bright light at the end of the hall like a streetlight shining through a window. She was about to walk down the hall when something slid into the light. It was an elderly person in an old wooden wheelchair. Kimberly could not see the person clearly because it was backlit but for some reason fear began to enter her heart and she felt herself begin to back up until she was pressed against a pair of double doors with wired mesh glass windows, doors that appeared to not be locked or boarded shut. She turned and peered through the windows to see a winding stairwell that ran up and down. Taking one last glance over her shoulder at the elderly person she moved backwards through the doors into the stairwell. The sound of the door closing echoed against the cold concrete walls of the stair well and Kimberly felt herself cringe against the sound.
Another woman in an old-fashioned brown schoolteacher's dress sat on the stairs with a child on either side of her. All three of them had no faces and where there should be eyes and mouths was just skin stretched over featureless skulls. All of them were looking up at Kim as she stood near the double doors, staring at her with faceless expressions however Kim could feel them watching at her. The woman had what appeared to be a large children's book in her lap. She turned back to the book and a voice began to echo through the halls, "The children all ran in fear just like children do," The faceless woman read. The children leaned over her arms to get a closer look at the pictures in the book, "But children should not fear, they should not run, because if they do he will come." The voice continued to echo off the walls.
Kimberly took a tentative step forward so she could get a closer look at the book. There were pictures on the pages but no words as far as she could see. Then she noticed the images start to move, "Yes, he will come looking for you if you run," As the voice spoke a drawing of two children ran across the page followed closely by a large man dressed in a white cloak. Kimberly's eyes widened as the man kept pace with the children without actually quickening his pace. It was almost as if no matter how fast the children ran he would always gain some ground. "Children who run must have done something wrong." The voice continued. The children in the book stopped at the edge of a cliff and one of them started to yell however Kimberly could not hear the words. She felt herself being drawn towards the book. The man in the book stopped for a moment then turned. She could feel him looking at her out of the pages of the book and the man started walking towards the front of the book. Getting closer and closer until he almost filled the entire page.
Suddenly Kimberly grabbed the book from the woman's hands and slammed it shut then threw it to the ground. Kim didn't notice before but she was holding her breath and it was now coming out in short quivering pants, her face was covered in sweat. She tried hard to swallow and her mouth was parched. She could not keep her eyes off the book, the cover of which showed two
young children huddled around a fire in the middle of a forest, Lauren and herself. The cover read simply "Things Kids Should Never Do." Kimberly kicked the book through the stair's railing and listened to it clatter as it fell down the spiral of stairs. She glanced up from where the book fell to see the faceless children and their storyteller watching her. The air started to fill with the sounds of children's cries, a shrill sound that pierced her ears.
Kimberly covered her ears in a vain attempt to save her ears from the sound. The faceless children began to rise and move towards her. The closer they got the louder the cries became. Finally Kimberly could not handle the sound anymore and fled down the stairs.
A voice called out after her, "Children all run. Children always fear what they should not do. Children always do what they fear." Tears filled Kimberly's eyes as she tried to block the voice from her mind. Down the stairs she ran, deeper and deeper in to the darkness, anything to get away from that noise and that voice. After some time she finally reached the bottom and as her foot left the final step the room filled with a bright flash of light followed by a tremendous crack of thunder. The light only lasted for an instant nevertheless in that moment Kim could see a young girl standing with her back to her. Her dark blue school uniform was ragged, stained and wet. Her hair draped limply over her shoulders. It appeared as if the girl had been standing in the rain for a long while and there was something about the girl that had the look of death to her. Just as Kim's mind began to process what she was seeing the room was plunged into darkness.
Within moments a single naked bulb turned on and Kimberly took her hands away from her ears and glanced back up the stairs. No one seemed to be following her, so she started to take a study around her new surroundings. The girl she saw in the flash was gone and Kim now found herself standing in the middle of a large room with white walls and tiled floors stained with scum and grout in much need of cleaning, the stairs she had recently disappeared leaving only opening at the far end of the room. All along the walls were many showerheads and rusty chains dangled from them as they awaited pulling. Kimberly felt unease fill her heart that the sight of the shower room and she carefully began to creep her way out of the room when the shower head off to her side abruptly turned on, spraying crimson droplets to the ground. One after another the showers turned themselves one and Kim quickly ran from the room, slipping slightly upon the slick ground. As she existed the shower room she found herself in another dank and dimly lit room, this one lined with a set of washroom stalls along one wall and the other wall housed a set of old white porcelain sinks with small rectangular mirrors above each, in pretty much the same state as the shower room. Steam from the showers had fogged the mirrors over, but Kim could still see the cracks in some of their surfaces. Abruptly the showers turned off and she felt slightly relieved for she was becoming very hot and sticky in her uniform. Her throat still parched she carefully found her way to the sinks and turned on the tap. The water seemed clean enough, even if the sink was stained yellow, so she leaned over and placed her mouth under the faucet to get a drink. The cool water felt good going down her throat and she drank heavily, then splashed a bit of water on her face, and lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror. There behind her stood a pale girl with long white hair clinging damply to her forehead and cheeks. Panicked Kim spun around to discover that the girl was indeed real and her not only was her hair damp but her clothes as well. The strange girl was a bit taller then Kim and her hair was curly at the tips. Kim wiped the water from her mouth and tried to force herself to smile.
The girl stepped forward, forcing Kimberly between two sinks, her skin almost sheet white against the light of the naked bulb overhead, "So you finally returned." She said with a smile.
*****
To be Continued...
*****
Note: The world of the Shadowlands, Its stories, Characters and ideas are a copyright of Kathryn K Williams.
This story is based upon my manga of the same name. If you wish to view art from this series please visit my deviant arts page at: http://shinigami-shimai.deviantart.com/
For more of my stories visit my deviant hearts page at: http://www.devianthearts.com/viewuser.php?uid=159
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at katwilliams @ rogers.com
By Kathryn K Williams
Part Three: Death's Corridor
Chapter Thirteen - Smoke and Mirrors
Kimberly lay next to that door for longer than she could remember. Hoping that maybe, just maybe that the doors would open up and she would be allowed to see Lauren again. But the door never opened, and there was no day or night to judge how much time had past; only the flickering candles that never seemed to burn out. At one point she was sure she saw some of the wax dibble down the side of the candle stand but she was not sure if it was real, a trick of the light, or her own mind playing pranks on her.
She scanned the darkness around her, however there was nothing to see; even the line of people had disappeared. When she turned back the door, it too had disappeared. Now she felt truly alone. She considered crying, but she felt dried up from crying over the loss of Lauren. So instead she stood and started trying to think of where she would go from there. She couldn't just lay in the darkness now, could she?
Then she noticed that there was something different about her surroundings. A thin layer of fog was drifting around her ankles. Curious, she started to walk towards the fog's source and before long she came across a long wall with a single opening. The fog poured heavily out of the opening almost to her knees like a strange river. She peered through the opening in the wall, down a wide hall and noticed that the walls were covered with hundreds of oddly shaped mirrors and the fog appeared to be pouring forth from the mirrors themselves like strange, slowly moving, waterfalls. She stepped into the hall and gazed into one of the mirrors to see a reflection of herself as a six-year-old girl. A dark bruise covered the side of the child's face as she sat in her nightgown playing with a set of cards. Kim turned to her reflection in another mirror to be greeted by a much older version of herself, this time running a comb through her hair. Yet another mirror showed a version almost the same age, however this time sleeping soundly in bed. Not a single mirror mimicked her age or movements. They all seemed to go about their own tasks unaware that she was watching them.
Before long Kimberly found herself at an intersection. More mirrors stretched off into the distance in all directions. She turned around and realized that she was now lost within this odd hall of mirrors with no sight of the entrance, even though she was almost certain that she had only taken a few steps into the strange hall. She tried to remember how she entered the maze and began to backtrack, except when she came across yet another junction she was not sure if she had made a left or a right. Her mind began to race as she tried to remember which way to go. She took a quick guess and turned to the right only to come across another turn. With each crossroad Kimberly felt herself become more panicked. She started second guessing her decisions, taking four steps forwards then turning back, only to see a different hall than she remembered. After a while she found herself running. She took two lefts and another right nevertheless didn't recognize anything. With all these odd mirrors one would think it would be easy to remember if you had been somewhere, however none of it seemed familiar and not one mirror looked like another. She spun around trying to get her bearings, but the more she tried the more lost she felt. No matter how hard she tried it was like the exit didn't exist any longer.
She stopped running so she could catch her breath and staggered until she was leaning against one of the walls and felt tears begin to stream down her cheeks, "I'm sorry Lauren, I can't...." She sobbed, "I just can't..." Her back leaned against one of the mirrors.
"LIAR!!" A voice called out.
She glanced up at one of the mirrors and noticed that the reflection in the mirror behind her looked exactly like her and it was waving. Kimberly spun around in shock, "AHHHH!!" She shouted, "YOU!" She pointed at the mirror, "You stay away from me!"
The reflection crossed her arms "Is that any way to greet yourself?" She said angrily.
"Why would I want to talk to a murderer like you?" Kimberly almost spat at the mirror.
"KILLER?!?." The reflection countered, "I had no choice. Don't tell me you still think he would have changed. I sometimes wonder why I ever bothered saving you from him all the time." The reflection yelled.
"That's beside the point," Kim glared at the mirror, "He was only like that when he drank and he promised things would be different. Why couldn't we have just run away earlier or something? I wish you didn't have to be so violent all the time. Remember the boy from school?"
The reflection laughed, "He deserved it."
"No one deserves having their fingers broken." Kimberly began to turn away, "I don't want to deal with you right now."
"Listen, I'm sorry." The reflection said calmly, " I really don't mean to be, but every time he came near us like that I just... I just... Everything went black and I can't remember what happened. When I saw Momma lying there... I panicked I guess..."
"Momma..." Kim stopped in her tracks but didn't make a move to turn around.
"Enough reminiscing about the past." The reflection said leaned closer to the glass, "What are you doing wandering around a place like this? Weren't you looking for your friend?"
"Jenn...” Kimberly murmured as she took a step backwards until she was leaning against the wall next to the mirror.
"Ahhh, yes that was her name wasn't it?" The reflection smiled, "So what is wrong?"
"I can't get my mind off of Lauren's kiss." Kim whispered.
"Ahhhh," The reflection smiled, "And so you keep finding yourself walking in circles. Have you considered thinking about what it would be like to kiss Jenn then?" The reflection's grin began to broaden.
Kimberly spun around to face her reflection again, "NO WAY!!" She was shocked that her own reflection would even suggest such a thing. "I can't... I mean Jenn would never... She's... She's..."
"Cute, pretty, innocent, smart and all of the above. I see the way we look at her." The reflection leaned against the frame of the mirror, "She is such an innocent beauty. I still remember the feeling of her carrying us to the nurse's office. So strong for such a small frame, don't you think?"
"STOP IT!!" Kimberly yelled while covering her ears.
"Oh come on." The reflection moved closer to Kim, "You do realize that she had to undress us in order to bandage those wounds right?" She said still smiling.
"But she would never," Kimberly blushed while clenching her gown tight to her body, "It's not like that at all. We're just... friends"
"Ah yes, friends... just like you and Lauren."
Kimberly felt her blush deepen, "That... that was different..." her voice trailed off.
The reflection leaned on the frame, "Because she looks like a boy, am I right?"
Kimberly stared at the ground, "No..."
The reflection slammed her hand on the glass, "Oh come off it. You know you love her and you knew she was a girl. You can't keep using the same old excuses. How do you explain Jenn then?"
Kimberly felt herself smile a bit then forced the smile away before she looked back up at her reflection, "Will you stop that?!" She demanded.
"Fine, what about Kris? She's a cutie too and Natalie is turning into quite a hottie."
Kimberly closed her eyes and yelled, "FINE! I like her, all right? I found Jenn cute the first moment I saw her. That way she looked at me. Her smile, her voice, everything! Now will you leave me alone now?" Her voice echoed through the halls.
When Kimberly opened her eyes she was no longer faced with her own reflection. Now a simple wooden door stood before her with a small plaque, hanging from a string, which read "JENNIFER'S ROOM" in large bold lettering. Kimberly stared at the door trying to figure out if it was another trick of her mind. "Jenn..." She thought to herself as she reached out and touched the door. The wood felt cold to the touch and Kimberly found herself pulling back. She was not sure if she was really ready to see what was behind this door. She glanced around at the rows of mirrors to find all of her reflections were now watching her, waiting to see what decision she would take. Would she move forward and confront whatever may lay behind that door before her or would she run and allow herself to become forever lost in this maze of mirrors that only reflected the past. Kimberly turned back to the door and decided that whatever was behind that door would be a lot better than the madness of the hall in which she currently stood.
She reached out, grabbed the doorknob, turned it until she heard a click, and then pulled it open. A cold burst of air hit her in the face, blowing her hair around, causing her to slam her eyes shut, then as quickly as it appeared, the wind disappeared. Kim stood still for a moment unsure of what to think; when she opened her eyes she noticed that her nightgown had been replaced with her school uniform. She blinked a few time at the outfit, then peered into the room. On the other side of the door was a long thin, dark, hall with many doors on either side. Many doors or many mirrors? What kind of choose is this she wondered to herself.
The moment Kimberly stepped into the hall the door slammed shut behind her and locked. Kimberly went to open the door but found there was no knob on this side. She hit the door with her fist in frustration. Realizing that she had no other choice she started to walk down the hall, examining the doors as she passed them. Each door was of a different size, shape and colour. The only thing similar about them was that they were all boarded shut. Kimberly approached one of the doors and noticed that whoever nailed them shut must have been hurried because most of the nails were lopsided or bent. She wondered why someone would be so desperate to nail the doors shut. Whatever the reason it was must have been important, or maybe the person wasn't trying to keep people from getting in, but was trying to keep something from getting out.
Kimberly quickly stepped back from the door, suddenly afraid. She quickly turned to run down the hall when she saw a junction at the end of the hall and someone step out from around the corner.
"Ummm... excuse me?" Kimberly called out as she run towards the person. As she got closer she realized that it was a young lady with long black hair tied up in a bun. The lady turned and smiled at Kimberly. Kim was about to speak again when the lady placed a finger to her lips then turned to open one of the few unbarred doors. Kimberly watched as the door opened a crack then exploded in a burst of flames. The entire hall filled with fire and Kimberly felt herself being knocked off her feet to the ground by the blast. She quickly got to her feet and patted at her body only to notice that the flames were gone and the hall was empty. Suddenly a bunch of boards and nails flew from down one of the halls and sealed the door the women just passed through shut.
Kimberly stood still for a moment. She was sure she just saw the woman burst into flames, but there was no fire, not even a scorch mark upon the floor. Then there were those strange pieces of wood. Almost to reassure her a pile of wood flew past her and yet another door was nailed shut. Kimberly scratched her head in bewilderment.
She glanced up and down the halls trying to figure out which way to turn when she noticed a shadow move at the end of the hall. Silently the girl crept down the hall and peered around the corner. She could only see a bright light at the end of the hall like a streetlight shining through a window. She was about to walk down the hall when something slid into the light. It was an elderly person in an old wooden wheelchair. Kimberly could not see the person clearly because it was backlit but for some reason fear began to enter her heart and she felt herself begin to back up until she was pressed against a pair of double doors with wired mesh glass windows, doors that appeared to not be locked or boarded shut. She turned and peered through the windows to see a winding stairwell that ran up and down. Taking one last glance over her shoulder at the elderly person she moved backwards through the doors into the stairwell. The sound of the door closing echoed against the cold concrete walls of the stair well and Kimberly felt herself cringe against the sound.
Another woman in an old-fashioned brown schoolteacher's dress sat on the stairs with a child on either side of her. All three of them had no faces and where there should be eyes and mouths was just skin stretched over featureless skulls. All of them were looking up at Kim as she stood near the double doors, staring at her with faceless expressions however Kim could feel them watching at her. The woman had what appeared to be a large children's book in her lap. She turned back to the book and a voice began to echo through the halls, "The children all ran in fear just like children do," The faceless woman read. The children leaned over her arms to get a closer look at the pictures in the book, "But children should not fear, they should not run, because if they do he will come." The voice continued to echo off the walls.
Kimberly took a tentative step forward so she could get a closer look at the book. There were pictures on the pages but no words as far as she could see. Then she noticed the images start to move, "Yes, he will come looking for you if you run," As the voice spoke a drawing of two children ran across the page followed closely by a large man dressed in a white cloak. Kimberly's eyes widened as the man kept pace with the children without actually quickening his pace. It was almost as if no matter how fast the children ran he would always gain some ground. "Children who run must have done something wrong." The voice continued. The children in the book stopped at the edge of a cliff and one of them started to yell however Kimberly could not hear the words. She felt herself being drawn towards the book. The man in the book stopped for a moment then turned. She could feel him looking at her out of the pages of the book and the man started walking towards the front of the book. Getting closer and closer until he almost filled the entire page.
Suddenly Kimberly grabbed the book from the woman's hands and slammed it shut then threw it to the ground. Kim didn't notice before but she was holding her breath and it was now coming out in short quivering pants, her face was covered in sweat. She tried hard to swallow and her mouth was parched. She could not keep her eyes off the book, the cover of which showed two
young children huddled around a fire in the middle of a forest, Lauren and herself. The cover read simply "Things Kids Should Never Do." Kimberly kicked the book through the stair's railing and listened to it clatter as it fell down the spiral of stairs. She glanced up from where the book fell to see the faceless children and their storyteller watching her. The air started to fill with the sounds of children's cries, a shrill sound that pierced her ears.
Kimberly covered her ears in a vain attempt to save her ears from the sound. The faceless children began to rise and move towards her. The closer they got the louder the cries became. Finally Kimberly could not handle the sound anymore and fled down the stairs.
A voice called out after her, "Children all run. Children always fear what they should not do. Children always do what they fear." Tears filled Kimberly's eyes as she tried to block the voice from her mind. Down the stairs she ran, deeper and deeper in to the darkness, anything to get away from that noise and that voice. After some time she finally reached the bottom and as her foot left the final step the room filled with a bright flash of light followed by a tremendous crack of thunder. The light only lasted for an instant nevertheless in that moment Kim could see a young girl standing with her back to her. Her dark blue school uniform was ragged, stained and wet. Her hair draped limply over her shoulders. It appeared as if the girl had been standing in the rain for a long while and there was something about the girl that had the look of death to her. Just as Kim's mind began to process what she was seeing the room was plunged into darkness.
Within moments a single naked bulb turned on and Kimberly took her hands away from her ears and glanced back up the stairs. No one seemed to be following her, so she started to take a study around her new surroundings. The girl she saw in the flash was gone and Kim now found herself standing in the middle of a large room with white walls and tiled floors stained with scum and grout in much need of cleaning, the stairs she had recently disappeared leaving only opening at the far end of the room. All along the walls were many showerheads and rusty chains dangled from them as they awaited pulling. Kimberly felt unease fill her heart that the sight of the shower room and she carefully began to creep her way out of the room when the shower head off to her side abruptly turned on, spraying crimson droplets to the ground. One after another the showers turned themselves one and Kim quickly ran from the room, slipping slightly upon the slick ground. As she existed the shower room she found herself in another dank and dimly lit room, this one lined with a set of washroom stalls along one wall and the other wall housed a set of old white porcelain sinks with small rectangular mirrors above each, in pretty much the same state as the shower room. Steam from the showers had fogged the mirrors over, but Kim could still see the cracks in some of their surfaces. Abruptly the showers turned off and she felt slightly relieved for she was becoming very hot and sticky in her uniform. Her throat still parched she carefully found her way to the sinks and turned on the tap. The water seemed clean enough, even if the sink was stained yellow, so she leaned over and placed her mouth under the faucet to get a drink. The cool water felt good going down her throat and she drank heavily, then splashed a bit of water on her face, and lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror. There behind her stood a pale girl with long white hair clinging damply to her forehead and cheeks. Panicked Kim spun around to discover that the girl was indeed real and her not only was her hair damp but her clothes as well. The strange girl was a bit taller then Kim and her hair was curly at the tips. Kim wiped the water from her mouth and tried to force herself to smile.
The girl stepped forward, forcing Kimberly between two sinks, her skin almost sheet white against the light of the naked bulb overhead, "So you finally returned." She said with a smile.
*****
To be Continued...
*****
Note: The world of the Shadowlands, Its stories, Characters and ideas are a copyright of Kathryn K Williams.
This story is based upon my manga of the same name. If you wish to view art from this series please visit my deviant arts page at: http://shinigami-shimai.deviantart.com/
For more of my stories visit my deviant hearts page at: http://www.devianthearts.com/viewuser.php?uid=159
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at katwilliams @ rogers.com