The bell rang, announcing lunch was over. I got up and waved goodbye to my friends then headed down the east hallway toward my Spanish class. I was the only one in the hallway as I always walk faster than everybody else. I was halfway to my classroom when I heard a telltale sobbing. I stumbled to a stop, taken by surprise. Who was crying? I rotated in a circle, but I saw no one. The sobs seemed to escalate in sound. It was reverberating off the walls. I tried to call to the sobbing person, but when I attempted to sound my question, my voice failed to comply.
Cold fear swept down my spine as I walked forward. I looked to my right and saw a beautiful wooden ornate door with odd symbols and writing engraved into its frame. I heard a voice whisper for me to walk forward and unlock the door. I didn’t have a key, though.
And just as I thought it, the key was in my hand. It was warped unlike an ordinary key that you would normally use. This one was instead twisted in on itself with the same symbols and language etched into it as the door. The end that was supposed to go in to the key hole had a pointed tip as sharp as a dagger. I softly traced its beautiful pattern, afraid if I held too tightly it would break. The key was so miniscule and the keyhole was so huge.
Unlock the door…
I jumped at the voice in my head. It sounded as if it was the same voice as the one who told me the same suggestion before, but this time it was much louder. It wasn’t yelling at me, but it was a harsh whisper; the sound of a raven’s cackle was not what I had expected the voice to sound like, though. The voice was clipped as though it was hard to speak. It was a female voice, of that I was sure.
The problem was that I wanted to unlock the door, but I was unsure if I should obey the raven voice….
Yes…
I hesitated for a several moments before curiosity finally got the better of me. I stepped up to the door and held it up to the key to the hole. The voice continued egging me on. I slowly put the key in the slot, but just as it was about to go in, the key shifted form. The body of the key remained solid; only the dagger tip transformed into four indented tips. I stared in amazement until I looked up at the door. The keyhole had shifted as well to match the key’s form.
Unlock the door…
I shoved the key in the slot before it took shape again. There was a pause before I heard the satisfaction of a click to show it was open.
Go in…
I stepped inside the room and the ornate door slammed behind me. I flinched as I heard the sobs echo around the room. It was so utterly dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. With the thought came bright light. I blinked a few times before my vision cleared to reveal a library. The library had a golden hue that seemed like a protective covering. I looked beyond it to see that the room was wavering like it was underwater.
It’s a painting…
I stared in shock. How could I be in a painting? How could that be true? The last I remembered I was…
Hm. That’s odd. I can’t remember where I was before the sobbing started. I noticed how the voice in my head remained silent about my amnesia. I put that in the back of my mind for future evaluating. I tuned back into my surroundings.
I have to find out who is crying, I thought. I walked past shelf after shelf until I paused at one aisle. I looked beyond the wall of books to a tip of black and blue hair that looked almost like a feather. I walked forward cautiously so as not to startle her. Once I was in front of her I bent down and petted her silky soft raven feathers.
Wait. Raven feathers?
The girl looked up to reveal sculpted perfection. Her skin was a flawless cream color surrounded in black and blue raven feathers. The feathers stretched all the way from the crown of her head to the tip of her toes only to avoid her face. She looked about eighteen. All of this I took in with calm consideration—all except her eyes. They reminded of a shattered mirror under the sun’s rays. They were literally cracked, each shard holding a different color of me in its view. I felt like I could drown in those eyes that seemed to fill me with rage and torment. It was like she could see all my darkest secrets and it terrified. The tears seemed to be the only thing human about her.
“You have to help me please.” I stepped back in surprise. That voice…no. It couldn’t be…but it was. She was the voice inside my head. The raven’s cackle and her ragged tone of voice sent shivers down my spine. “Please? Someone locked me away in here and I can’t find my way out,” the raven girl pleaded to me. “Only you can help me.” I could only nod my head in response, unable to refuse. I don’t think I could have spoken even if this place gave me my voice back.
She took the hand I held out and stood up from her crouched position. She was much taller than me. She probably could have pulled off being a lamppost. She looked down at me and smiled, showing perfect, dagger teeth that froze me in place. It went as quickly as it came and my horror fled with that inhuman smile. I pulled her along the corridor from which I came, but the raven girl came to an abrupt halt that made me stumble. I turned to look at her questioningly.
“You have to go the opposite way. This place is kind of like playing the opposite game. If you usually go forward then go back.” I stared a moment, taking in her knowledge, before finally turning to head opposite the direction of the gorgeous door. How did she know where to go? I thought she said she couldn’t find her way out? I dwelled on this a moment longer before shoving the thought aside. She’s probably travelled this place a while and maybe figured out a pattern. Instinct told me that this probably wasn’t true, but I blocked out the chiding voice, refusing to acknowledge it.
We walked in silence for seemed like an eternity before we arrived at a door that looked almost exactly like the door at the entrance. The difference was that it had different symbols, pictures, and the door was charcoal black iron. I stared long and hard until I sighed in defeat. I looked back at the raven haired girl sadly and shook my head in rejection.
“Don’t be silly, look,” she pointed at the door and when I looked back, the door had a hand scanner in the middle of its body. “Just put your hand on that scanner and the door will open for you.” Anticipation was running on the edge of her words and her voice sounded like a squawking more than anything else.
I ignored her as I stepped up to the scanner and looked at it. It was the ones you see in those spy movies. I pressed my hand against the scanner without hesitation and immediately the door burst open. A bright darkness I had never witnessed before in my life opened before me. I heard the raven girl give a pure bird noise that seemed to fill a sense of death inside my stomach. I felt the floor slam against my already bruised face as the raven girl pushed me aside and stared in longing at the void beyond the door.
“You helped me my little mortal,” she said in such a raspy voice I could barely understand her. “In return for your setting me free I will award you a gift.” She turned to look down at me with her crazed, broken gaze. I trembled as she spoke.
“I will come back the day your soul is filled with hate, fear, and greed. When that day comes you will tell me your greatest desire and I will grant it. Goodbye my little mortal.”
And with that said the raven girl spread black and blue wings—spanning at least twenty feet long and as tall as her long slender body. She leaped into the bright darkness and disappeared. I stared at the space she had been standing in, rubbing my cheek gently. That’s going to leave a mark. I stood and brushed myself off. Just as I was about to turn and leave to find another exit, a black hand that was darker than the void reached out and gripped my waist. I wanted to let out a shriek, but this place restrained me from doing so. I fought, but the hand did not falter. Without a pause the hand pulled me into the void and I was gone.
Cold fear swept down my spine as I walked forward. I looked to my right and saw a beautiful wooden ornate door with odd symbols and writing engraved into its frame. I heard a voice whisper for me to walk forward and unlock the door. I didn’t have a key, though.
And just as I thought it, the key was in my hand. It was warped unlike an ordinary key that you would normally use. This one was instead twisted in on itself with the same symbols and language etched into it as the door. The end that was supposed to go in to the key hole had a pointed tip as sharp as a dagger. I softly traced its beautiful pattern, afraid if I held too tightly it would break. The key was so miniscule and the keyhole was so huge.
Unlock the door…
I jumped at the voice in my head. It sounded as if it was the same voice as the one who told me the same suggestion before, but this time it was much louder. It wasn’t yelling at me, but it was a harsh whisper; the sound of a raven’s cackle was not what I had expected the voice to sound like, though. The voice was clipped as though it was hard to speak. It was a female voice, of that I was sure.
The problem was that I wanted to unlock the door, but I was unsure if I should obey the raven voice….
Yes…
I hesitated for a several moments before curiosity finally got the better of me. I stepped up to the door and held it up to the key to the hole. The voice continued egging me on. I slowly put the key in the slot, but just as it was about to go in, the key shifted form. The body of the key remained solid; only the dagger tip transformed into four indented tips. I stared in amazement until I looked up at the door. The keyhole had shifted as well to match the key’s form.
Unlock the door…
I shoved the key in the slot before it took shape again. There was a pause before I heard the satisfaction of a click to show it was open.
Go in…
I stepped inside the room and the ornate door slammed behind me. I flinched as I heard the sobs echo around the room. It was so utterly dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. With the thought came bright light. I blinked a few times before my vision cleared to reveal a library. The library had a golden hue that seemed like a protective covering. I looked beyond it to see that the room was wavering like it was underwater.
It’s a painting…
I stared in shock. How could I be in a painting? How could that be true? The last I remembered I was…
Hm. That’s odd. I can’t remember where I was before the sobbing started. I noticed how the voice in my head remained silent about my amnesia. I put that in the back of my mind for future evaluating. I tuned back into my surroundings.
I have to find out who is crying, I thought. I walked past shelf after shelf until I paused at one aisle. I looked beyond the wall of books to a tip of black and blue hair that looked almost like a feather. I walked forward cautiously so as not to startle her. Once I was in front of her I bent down and petted her silky soft raven feathers.
Wait. Raven feathers?
The girl looked up to reveal sculpted perfection. Her skin was a flawless cream color surrounded in black and blue raven feathers. The feathers stretched all the way from the crown of her head to the tip of her toes only to avoid her face. She looked about eighteen. All of this I took in with calm consideration—all except her eyes. They reminded of a shattered mirror under the sun’s rays. They were literally cracked, each shard holding a different color of me in its view. I felt like I could drown in those eyes that seemed to fill me with rage and torment. It was like she could see all my darkest secrets and it terrified. The tears seemed to be the only thing human about her.
“You have to help me please.” I stepped back in surprise. That voice…no. It couldn’t be…but it was. She was the voice inside my head. The raven’s cackle and her ragged tone of voice sent shivers down my spine. “Please? Someone locked me away in here and I can’t find my way out,” the raven girl pleaded to me. “Only you can help me.” I could only nod my head in response, unable to refuse. I don’t think I could have spoken even if this place gave me my voice back.
She took the hand I held out and stood up from her crouched position. She was much taller than me. She probably could have pulled off being a lamppost. She looked down at me and smiled, showing perfect, dagger teeth that froze me in place. It went as quickly as it came and my horror fled with that inhuman smile. I pulled her along the corridor from which I came, but the raven girl came to an abrupt halt that made me stumble. I turned to look at her questioningly.
“You have to go the opposite way. This place is kind of like playing the opposite game. If you usually go forward then go back.” I stared a moment, taking in her knowledge, before finally turning to head opposite the direction of the gorgeous door. How did she know where to go? I thought she said she couldn’t find her way out? I dwelled on this a moment longer before shoving the thought aside. She’s probably travelled this place a while and maybe figured out a pattern. Instinct told me that this probably wasn’t true, but I blocked out the chiding voice, refusing to acknowledge it.
We walked in silence for seemed like an eternity before we arrived at a door that looked almost exactly like the door at the entrance. The difference was that it had different symbols, pictures, and the door was charcoal black iron. I stared long and hard until I sighed in defeat. I looked back at the raven haired girl sadly and shook my head in rejection.
“Don’t be silly, look,” she pointed at the door and when I looked back, the door had a hand scanner in the middle of its body. “Just put your hand on that scanner and the door will open for you.” Anticipation was running on the edge of her words and her voice sounded like a squawking more than anything else.
I ignored her as I stepped up to the scanner and looked at it. It was the ones you see in those spy movies. I pressed my hand against the scanner without hesitation and immediately the door burst open. A bright darkness I had never witnessed before in my life opened before me. I heard the raven girl give a pure bird noise that seemed to fill a sense of death inside my stomach. I felt the floor slam against my already bruised face as the raven girl pushed me aside and stared in longing at the void beyond the door.
“You helped me my little mortal,” she said in such a raspy voice I could barely understand her. “In return for your setting me free I will award you a gift.” She turned to look down at me with her crazed, broken gaze. I trembled as she spoke.
“I will come back the day your soul is filled with hate, fear, and greed. When that day comes you will tell me your greatest desire and I will grant it. Goodbye my little mortal.”
And with that said the raven girl spread black and blue wings—spanning at least twenty feet long and as tall as her long slender body. She leaped into the bright darkness and disappeared. I stared at the space she had been standing in, rubbing my cheek gently. That’s going to leave a mark. I stood and brushed myself off. Just as I was about to turn and leave to find another exit, a black hand that was darker than the void reached out and gripped my waist. I wanted to let out a shriek, but this place restrained me from doing so. I fought, but the hand did not falter. Without a pause the hand pulled me into the void and I was gone.
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