It Begins Again

The cellar was gone, without a trace, as was whoever was behind that door, leaving him alone, and surrounded by woodlands. But these were different from the woods he was just in, gone were the surrounding ruins, familiar oak trees, and muddy ground, this place had a sinister air to it, the trees were tall with sharp, spindly branches and possessed a very dark colouration. Moreover, it had turned night, the moon shining in the distance, half below the horizon and obscured further by clouds, and not a single star in the sky. On the higher up branches he could see a few small birds impaled and lifeless. "Wha…wh…what is this?"

He scanned the surroundings for anything that stood out, but it all looked the same, as far as the flashlight could see it was just tall, menacing trees and ankle height grass. "N-no, what? What the hell?" He sat down and shook his head. "No, this…what's happening?" He stayed there for a while trying to process what had just happened. "That doesn't make any sense, wh-who was that? What was all that smoke? How'd I get here?" He felt a drop of rain on his head. "Huh?" He looked up and another drop landed on his face. "Oh come on." He stood up and shone the light ahead. "Guess I…just get moving."

He started walking in the direction of the moon. As he walked, the rain began to pick up, going from just a few errant drops, to spitting, and after a few minutes, it was a full on downpour. "Not good." He said, trying his best to shrug it off. "Need to find-" A building appeared in the beam of the flashlight. "Shelter?" He ran up to the building and got against the wall, its roof extended past the walls, offering some cover from the rain. Once he got under, he inspected the wall. It was made from a combination of dark stone and wood that had been painted a dark green. There were windows, but only very small ones that not even a baby could fit through, and beneath each window was a scrap of cloth with a line of text, but they were in a language he didn't understand.

He was still getting hit by some of the rain even as he hugged the wall, so he walked around until he reached a corner, and after going round it, he could see a set of double doors made from stone. "Ah, nice." He said as he approached. He heaved them open and closed them behind him before looking around. He was in a 3 way intersection with a corridor going left, right, and straight across. The interior of the building was almost entirely made from stone, from the floor, to the walls and ceiling, to the door frames and fixtures on the walls that held intricate oil lanterns made from metal that illuminated the halls. The floor was composed of several different kinds of stone, forming an intricate pattern. Also along the walls were more scraps of cloth with unrecognisable writing. "What is this?" He said.

"Who's there!?" He heard the woman's voice say from straight ahead, further down the corridor. "Leave me alone!" He hesitated for a second, but came forward, unhindered by the demand. He could hear the woman sobbing from behind a door a handful of paces down, he listened in once he reached the door. "Please..." He heard her mutter in between breaths. "Please don't let her find me." He took hold of the door handle and slowly pushed it down. The door clicked and he heard the woman gasp and scamper further from the door, saying a few words in some other language.

"Listen! It's ok. I won't hurt you, alright?" Nicholas said as he opened the door a crack and peered inside. He couldn't see the woman from here though, so he steadily opened the door a little more, until eventually he had the door fully open. "Hello?" He didn't see her, but a brief scan of the room showed that there were no other exits beyond the door he was standing at. Where'd she go? His eyes ran across a few wooden benches, he came up to them and checked behind, but she wasn't there. There was a large stone statue at the other end of the room with a little space behind it. He looked back there but she wasn't there either. "Listen, you don't have to hide." He turned away from the statue and scanned the room again from this new perspective, spotting a closet standing next to the door. He approached and reached for the handle.

There was a sudden blur of motion in the corner of his eye, and he heard the sharp unsheathing of a blade. He tensed up and darted in the opposite direction, just as he did he heard a quiet little whoosh of something just barely missing his ear. He turned to face the woman, and only had time to affirm the dagger in her hand before she stepped forward and raised it to strike again. He jumped back and once again barely avoided the blow, then the woman closed with him to try yet again. "Hey! Hey! Stop!" He said, continuing to back away with his hands up. "I'm friendly! I'm friendly!" The woman stopped just as Nicholas reached the door, he stopped too. "You don't have to do this." He said, trying his best to control his breathing. The woman lowered the dagger slightly, then in a quick, shaky motion, slid it back into a sheath on her waist that was mostly hidden by her long, blossoming black dress that snugly covered her entire body, save for her hands and head. She didn't take her eyes off Nicholas, they were wide with a mixture of terror and fury, and glimmered a deep crimson. Half of her face was hidden by long strands of black hair that reached down to the floor.

"Who…who are you?" She said, briefly revealing sharp, ivory teeth as she spoke.

"Nicholas." He said, keeping his hands up and taking one more step away. "My name's Nicholas." The woman took a couple steps towards him, never taking her hand off the dagger in its sheath. "Look I'm not here to hu-"

"She brought you here, didn't she!?" The woman came closer, half pulling out her weapon again. "You're helping her aren't you!?"

"Hey, stop! Calm down!" Nicholas backed up further, but then the woman broke into a dash and drew the dagger, holding it high as she reached Nicholas, but he reached for her wrist and grabbed her before she could bring it down on his flesh. She shrieked, and went to clutch his throat with her other hand, but he stopped her with his other hand. "Relax." He managed to maintain a calm tone, but could not mask his shaking hands or the sweat forming on his forehead. The woman tried to pull her arms out of his grip, but he held on firmly. "Listen to me, lady. I won't hurt you, just take it easy!" He shoved her away and let go at the same time, she stumbled as he did so, tripping over and falling.

"Nooo…no. Why are you doing this to me?" The woman slammed her fist into the floor before starting to get up. Nicholas noticed a sudden stench of blood as she stood with her back to him.

"I don't wanna hurt you. I won't do anything to you if you just stop it." The woman's free hand started to convulse and twitch, that's when he noticed her fingernails, sharp as claws and several inches long, and they were getting longer, just as her hand was getting bigger. "Hey…" He took a step towards her. "You alright?" The woman turned around and a serpentine tongue flicked out of her mouth. Her eyes had gone pitch black and were leaking an alarming amount of blood, while at the same time it oozed from her mouth making her gargle with her words.

"Kill him." She raised the dagger. "Kill him for mother." Nicholas's eyes went wide, and he did not hesitate.

"Oh, fuck!" He turned tail and ran, slamming the door as he turned. He only just had enough time to reach the building's entrance before he heard the awful sound of splintering wood, and glanced back to see the woman was now at least a head taller. Blood was dripping from her fingers, leaving a grim trail behind her. Nicholas pulled the entrance doors but their weight made them difficult to get open. He managed to open them a crack but by then the woman was already halfway down the corridor towards him. He did not have time. "Shit!" He left the door and went right, passing by a few closed doors before reaching one that was open, leading to another corridor. He went inside and shut the door but it did little to stop the woman, whom he heard smash the door to splinters, barely slowing down.

The corridor came to a dead end with a stone door with a little window, displaying the outside of the building. Yes! Nicholas thought as he closed the door. He grabbed the handle No! No! It didn't budge in the slightest even as he yanked at the handle with all his strength. "Come on!" He pulled it again, and felt the door start to give, but then with a harsh snap, the handle detached from the door. "No!"

He fell to the floor, bringing the handle with him, and scrambled back to his feet, holding it towards the approaching woman as a makeshift bludgeon. "Come on, now." He backed up until his back was against the door. "D-Don't do this." The woman stomped closer, leaving cracks in the floor with each thunderous step. Nicholas raised his weapon just as she was about to get in range to strike, but then she stopped, and looked down at her feet. She started panting, and the blood ceased pouring from her mouth. She didn't move for a moment, and then with a defeated sigh, collapsed to her knees and dropped the dagger.

"She's doing it again. Don't let…don't let her in…" She said, groaning loudly after every handful of words. Nicholas dropped the handle and approached her, dropping to his knees and reaching for her hand, grabbing the dagger in the other and putting it in his coat pocket. "She's going to kill me if I don't do this."

"No no, she won't." Nicholas said. "Nothing bad's gonna happen as long as I'm here, you're gonna be okay. He gently took the woman by the hand. "Listen, what's your name?" The woman burst into tears and started to completely fall down, but Nicholas held her up and kept her standing on her knees. "Hey now, it's al-" Without warning, and with lightning speed, the woman grabbed him by the throat and stood up like a cold android. She lifted him up, choking the life from him as she stared him in the eyes.

"I have…to do this." Blood resumed leaking from her mouth and eyes. "For mother." Nicholas kicked her in the stomach but she hardly moved as he struck her, then he tried to swipe at her face but it was too far for him to reach.

"Stop…it." He tried to prise her off of him with both hands, but she held onto him with a steel grip. He started to lose consciousness as all he could do was meekly choke. He let go of her with one hand and shoved it into his pocket, finding the dagger, before pulling it out and jabbing her in the arm. She screamed and released her grip as he pulled the dagger out and was about to stab her again. He dropped to the floor and collapsed, desperately trying to get some air and stand back up. He was only able to get up on his knees though before she grabbed him by the head and started to lift him again. He was quicker to react this time, and immediately slashed at her face, catching her right across the eyes and creating a sizable gash. She let go again and he wasted no time getting up, shoving past her and running back the way he came.

Hardly watching where he was going, he took a right turn, then a left, then another left. He didn't look back, the sound of the woman's steps breaking the stone floor behind him was enough for him to discern that he should keep running. He reached another dead end, a wooden door just on his left. He turned and slammed into it as hard as he could. The door was hollow and broke immediately, but when he rushed inside, he found himself trapped. Fuck! He was in a small storage room, a few shelves on one side, and a pile of crates on the other, sitting underneath a small window near the ceiling. Nicholas eyeballed it for a second, it looked just big enough for him to fit.

He ran up to it and jumped, grabbing the edge of the window and starting to pull himself up, but the woman caught up with him, and grabbed his leg before yanking him away. He lost his grip, tumbled to the floor, and the woman was upon him before he could get up, pinning him to the floor and wrapping her hands around his neck.

"I won't let you. I won't let you get away!" She tightened her hold and started to choke him again.

"Get the fuck off me!" Nicholas swung his fist wildly, managing to snag the woman hard in the face. She staggered and loosened her hold, and he punched her again, which fully knocked her off of him. As he got up, he aimed a kick and buried his heel in her face, sending her stumbling across the room. Now was his chance. He stood underneath the window and jumped for it again, getting a firm grip and pulling himself up. He was halfway through the window when he felt the woman grab his foot.

"No! Don't leave me with her! Please!" She pulled him back, but by the time she started pulling he was already too far through. He shook his leg, grunting as he felt the window frame pressing into his waist, and managed to shake her off. "Nooooo!" He did his best to ignore the woman's cries as he scrambled all the way through the window, dropping down onto the ground below.

"Oof!" He landed hard on his rear, but managed to get back up and sit down against the wall, catching his breath. "Fuck…" The woman continued to scream from inside, he heard her throwing herself at the wall, presumably trying to follow him through the window.

"I'll get you! I won't let you escape!" Nicholas shuddered. He still had the flashlight in his pocket, and tried shining it into the distance, but he didn't see anything of note through the rain and darkness.

"Better get outta here." He got up and continued to follow the moon, taking a last look back at the building before quickening his pace, eager to get out of earshot of the woman's continuous wailing.