The Gateway

Part 2

Hayley’s eyes flutter open. Her room is still dark so it must not yet be morning. Reaching her hand out, she fumbles for her nightstand and the lamp perched on its surface.

But instead of the cheap touch lamp, her hand slaps down onto the hard ground that Hayley is only just realizing is beneath her. Her overly soft mattress was nowhere to be found.

Bolting upright, her heart is instantly pounding as fear once more has her in its grasp. Memories from the last few minutes? Hours? Flood her consciousness and she nearly gags at the realization that it’s not just a bad dream.

Her head whips around searching for the creature but finds only faded blackness in every direction. She must have fainted after witnessing its deathlike visage.

Hayley tries to steady her breathing; a panic attack now won’t do her any favours. For some reason, she’s still alive. “But for how long?” she whispers to the darkness, thankful that at least she can hear sounds once more.

Speaking of sounds, Hayley strains her ears, listening for anything that might give her a clue as to where she was. Had she fallen underground? Was this…hell?

The creature had called it the Gateway, but what did that mean?

But there is nothing here. There is a complete and utter lack of…anything. Hayley has never experienced the like before. Everything had some sort of noise, even a quiet night had the sound of wind, insects, grass or trees swaying in the breeze. Her house made noise, what with the quiet buzz of electricity running throughout.

Nearly panicking again, she clears her throat just to hear something.

Pushing herself up, she tentatively gets to her feet. Expecting the creature to jump out at her at any moment, Hayley braces herself. But nothing happens.

Sighing in relief, she takes another look around.

The ‘horizon’ in every direction looks endless, a dim sort of blackish gray. But for all she knows, it could be a trick of the eyes and she’s in some sort of weirdly painted room.

The floor beneath her is smooth, dull, and the same colour as everything else.

“Well, I won’t get anywhere standing still,” she mutters. Picking a direction, Hayley starts to walk.

She walks and walks and when nothing around her changes she runs. Hayley’s breath starts to come erratically and not just from the exertion.

Stopping abruptly, she falls to her knees, a sob leaving her lips.

Pulling in gasps of breath, Hayley swipes at a tear that slides down her cheek. “Fuck!” she yells into the darkness. The spot she landed looks exactly like the spot she left.

Closing her eyes, Hayley wills herself to calm down. “Please god, let me find some way out of this hell!” Not an overly religious type, Hayley feels the hypocrisy of her words. Nevertheless, she follows them up with more whispered promises to that ever-elusive being.

“Words to a god you don’t believe in. How very human.” The slithered words run up Hayley’s sweat-soaked back, causing her to shiver.

Snapping her head around, she searches for her abductor but sees nothing. “What do you want with me? Why am I here?” She meant to shout those words, to show the decrepit thing her anger, but her words are barely above a whisper.

A hissing chuckle has her heart pounding.

“Where is it you are trying to run to little rabbit? Or…are you running from something? That is always the question is it not?” Its words are everywhere, surrounding Hayley, making her dizzy.

Closing her eyes once more, she swallows the fear lodged like dry bread in her throat.

Maybe I need to play its game, maybe there will be a way out of this nightmare. Her thoughts help to center her until the creature speaks again.

“Maybe, little rabbit. Or maybe this isn’t a game at all. At least not my game.” This time its words are a whispered breath against her ear causing Hayley to gasp and fall back onto her ass.

She had forgotten that it seemed to be able to read her thoughts.

Another hissing laugh.

“Why do you think you saw my light rabbit? Why did you follow it?”

The question hangs heavy over Hayley’s head, the being waiting for her to answer.

“I…I don’t know. I thought it was a stupid candle! I thought it might start a fire, so I wanted to put it out before it did…that’s…that’s all, I swear!” She’s pleading. Her words were spoken in an attempt at placating a creature that had no right to even be real.

Moments stretch with only Hayley’s panicked breathing sounding in the darkness.

“Poor stupid thing. You understand so little.” A caress over her hair has Hayley ducking her head at the ghostly touch.

“Let me ask you another question, stupid little rabbit. Are you a good person?” Another pregnant pause has Hayley blinking rapidly at the question.

“What? A good person? I…I don’t know, I like to think so. Yes?” She finishes weakly, bracing herself for another derisive remark.

“Really? Shall we see?” Those few words are filled with dark intonations that seem to ripple outwards from where Hayley sits.

The air shifts and the ‘world’ around her seems to change subtly. It’s not so much in its appearance, as everywhere is still blackness, but in the feel of the place; it’s all at once more ominous and less empty than before.

Hayley still doesn’t see anyone or anything around her, but she can feel them there…lurking.

“Shall we begin?” A tug on her hair has Hayley yelp in pain and she scrambles to her feet.

“I still don’t understand! What is it you want me to do?” She twirls around, desperately trying to find that hideous creature.

“Run.” That one word grazes against her cheek, the smell of something foul accompanying it. Surprisingly it’s not from the creature’s breath but instead seems to emanate from all around her.

A deep rumbling growl issues from the darkness. The noise is not from her abductor but from something else, something that instinctively she knows is much, much worse.

That threatening sound spurs Hayley to move, and she bolts like the rabbit the creature calls her.

Her mind is blank as she runs, her only thought on escape.

So focused on keeping ahead of the deep grunts and growled huffs behind her, Hayley doesn’t notice the ground has changed until she stumbles over a root.

Somehow keeping her footing, Hayley gasps at the vague outline of trees and shrubs that start to emerge from the darkness around her.

She can’t slow down to try and make sense of these changes, so she does her best to keep moving. Her lungs feel like they’re on fire as she dodges a boulder here and a rickety fence there, but the heavy panting, still so close behind her, doesn’t let her stop.

How am I keeping ahead of it? I’m not that great of a runner. Her thoughts are cut short when she feels a whip of wind behind her, as if a great paw took a swipe at her head.

Indeed, a deep rumbling growl nearly vibrates up her spine with how close the beast has gotten. Hayley hasn’t been able to look over her shoulder at it, fearing she would fall.

Besides, what’s the point in looking into the eyes of hell when very soon she’ll become its meal?

Suddenly, a house looms ahead of her, its door open and beckoning.

Pulling in a desperate breath of air, Hayley pushes herself to her limits, making a mad dash for the door.

A sob leaves her when she almost trips on the stairs of the porch, and she feels another swipe of air at her back. But managing, yet again, to keep her footing, Hayley stumbles through the doorway before whipping around to slam the flimsy barrier closed.

Flimsy is too strong a word for the strength of the door against the beast just beyond it. But somehow it stops whatever it was that was chasing her.

Hayley braces herself against the door, pushing her feet against the floor to add more resistance against the onslaught that the beast is sure to wage.

But it never comes. Hayley’s rough breaths are the only thing that fills the air.

Pressing her ear against the door, Hayley tries to quiet her breathing to hear if anything is still out there.

Nothing. No grunts, no growls.

Her mind tries to come to terms with what just happened. I was being herded. The truth of her thoughts jolts her, and she eases herself back from the door.

Looking around at the colourless walls and furniture, it suddenly strikes her. I know this place!

But as that thought sinks in, as the knowledge of where she is, sinks in…she shudders, and the words repeat a lot more darkly in her mind…I know this place…

**please see below for Part 3 (finale)