[TheMHasSpoken]: 599.Mini Tales.The Ascent to Torn Reality

Chapter 20

"Do not fear the lights. They cannot harm you. They are not of this world… not yet. Reality is stretched thin here, stretched to a film. You can see the worlds beyond this one, but theirs and ours are still separate. The lights are still bound on their side. They cannot cross over and cause us harm, I assure you. We are safe now.

"There is nothing to fear. I understand that seems hypocritical of me. I am plainly shaking, I know, I feel it. But that's not because I fear the sights around us. On the top floor of this hotel, reality has snapped. There is a hole between the worlds, and foreign energies and beings are seeping through. The beings are trapped behind many doors. The energy, however, oozes through the pores of the building and is so alien to our senses it causes instant fear. I again promise there is nothing to harm us on these floors.

"But we, with the knowledge we posses, must venture forth. I have told you all of the last time this happened, the pain and suffering it caused, and how much more it could have done if not stopped. We must seal this breach into our reality. We must stop these beings from coming through." 

I did not believe him before. Oh, how could I. In such an age of reason I still did not believe my eyes and nerves.

"Malmstrom," I asked our guide and his pricked up his brows and looked at me, as alert as a cat. "Malmstrom, after all you're told us, you've still managed to be vague as to what awaits us up these steps."

"How can you describe something that bears no resemblance to anything in this world?"

My already rattled nerves gave a shiver within me. I did not want to do this, but for all I loved, by God, I had to. Malmstrom was the only survivor to have faced these creatures before. Our failure would be the end of all hope. We alone knew what had to be done.

This hotel was recently filled with people. It was high end, luxurious. To look at it now you would never think such a thing.

The light bulbs had all exploded, and now were tarnished metal sockets, topped with jagged glass crowns. The walls were warped, as though submerged underwater for weeks, and dripping down them was a thick amber slime.

"It's from the top floor," Malmstrom noted when he saw me examining the ooze. "It's leaking through."

Everything smelt bitter sweet, not at all a familiar odor, and the hardwood floors were bent up in peaks as if laid over spikes. Wallpaper fell in slides and splashed onto the floor, causing all to jump, even Malmstrom.

Foreign light was in the air. The windows were caked by the slime, which had apparently solidified from the heat outside. No light would logically fill the room, but there was a heavy gray tint in everything, making our lanterns pointless. Then, of course, there were the orbs. Bright white pin points dancing about the darkest corners. Whether they were many sets of eyes or unearthly fireflies, I do not know. All that was certain was that they were watching us, as we were watching them.

As we walked down the thin halls, tiled with doors, I couldn't help notice the doorframes, which were warped in such ways the doors cracked or sat before a hole they could not cover. As I looked into the darkness beyond them, fear gripped me. This feeling, this unshakable feeling. It was like paranoia but sharper.

"Oh God!" screamed my Sam beside me and he stumbled in a fit, grabbing onto the wall for support but pulling off the paper and falling to the ground. I turned to help him.

"Calm down boy!" Malmstrom yelled. "There is nothing to fear on these floors! Haven't you been listening? Don't let your fear consume you, man! I need every hand I have!"

"Yelling at him won't help!" I exclaimed, and leaned into the molasses like slime on the ground. It was so thick, it took some time for my knee to even sink through it. Malmstrom closed his eyes and turned forwards, scolding himself. As I pulled up Sam a great sucking static moan echoed as the slime was torn away from his clothes. I steadied him and put my hands upon his shoulders.

"Sam," I said gently. "I need you to stay strong for me, ok?"

My friend shook his head and wept.

"Sam… if you can't be strong for me, at least be strong for your wife. Can you be strong for Marry, Sam?"

His eyes looked up from his bowed head and he sucked in his lips. I urged him to nod and he did, and without a pause longer Malmstrom was off again.

"Come on," he ordered. 

The stairs tilted, each step much higher on one end than the other. The once polished brass banister, now bent and twisted, snaked on the wall besides us, and was often slippery and useless.

"Forget the monsters," said the man beside me. "We'll die on these steps instead."

"If that was an attempt at humor-" Malmstrom said, turning with a tight look. "I suggest you shut up."

As I ascended I had to lean into the thick oozing wall, dragging sopping wallpaper with me. After this trek, I wouldn't be surprised if we look as unearthly as the creatures were. We would assuredly smell like them.

With such a quick stop almost everyone fell behind him, Malmstrom froze and craned his neck forwards.

"M-M-Malmstrom?"

He didn't respond. Sam let out a whimper as we stood there, slime dripping onto our shoulders.

"Do you hear that?" Malmstrom asked.

Straining my ears, I looked about us. Faintly on the floor above us, I heard a weird noise like a seal moving, flopping about in the slime at a quick pace. After a few seconds of listening. It stopped.

"Sir-"

"Shhh… it is listening to us too…"

All was silent, but I couldn't help fidgeting, so horrified I was, so filled with questions. Malmstrom's hand looked tense enough to crush the banister he held onto.

Something of a squeak came from Sam. Malmstrom's head spun around with a look more horrifying than anything yet seen, and Sam clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

Silence. I looked up, my breaths shaking. More ooze was leaking through. Big droplets like oversized cocoons swayed above us.

Malmstrom's nervous eyes darted about and he waved a hand at us to go back down the stairs. I turned to Sam to signal to him the news, when down from the ceiling a ball of slime fell upon his face. Horrified he screamed and slipped, grabbing onto the banister and crying for help.

"You fool!" Malmstrom cried.

The quick slapping bangs above us began pounding, and we all scrambled for dear life.

"To the last floor! It will be easier to fight there!" screamed Malmstrom, slipping passed me as I tried to get Sam off the banister.

"Come on! Oh come on! It's coming you idiot! You can't stay here!"

"Oh God! Oh God!"

"Sam please! Let go! We must get down! We have no chance on these steps! We can hardly stand let alone anything else!"

"Forget him!" cried Malmstrom.

"Sam!"

"Forget him!"

I tore at his shirt to drag him down, but the damned fool had seized up! My hands slipped on his jacket and I spilled down onto the floor below where Malmstrom grabbed me and pulled me around a corner.

I heard the door break open. I heard Sam scream. A spray of blood blasted out of the door beside me and I grabbed onto Malmstrom's arm for dear life.