Amnesia: The Dark Descent [Part One]

Nothing

Daniel woke up in the dark and immediately started panicking. Where was he, what was he doing here, what happened? He felt around him, there were solid walls in front of him, to the right of him, to the left of him... He pushed himself against the back wall of the small space and tumbled out onto the carpeted floor of the secret room. He stared at the cupboard he'd fallen out of. 

"I must have fallen asleep." He muttered, forcing a laugh. His mind wasn't in it though, his mind was trying to make him go back into the cupboard. 

"Oh it'll be fine. It was probably just my imagination." Still, he hesitated at the broken door.  Carefully, lamp in hand, he tip-toed down the empty corridor. By the time he got to the end his heart was beating faster than a race horse runs. He waited.

Nothing.

He breathed a sigh of relief and peeked round the corner, nothing. "I'm so worked up over nothing." He said aloud, noticing the piano in the corner. The light from the windows was enough to see by so he blew his lamp out, no point wasting the oil. 

"You were in on it too, weren't you?" He asked the piano, who surprisingly enough didn't respond.  He shrugged, turning right, and continuing down the hall. There was another corridor to the right so he tip-toed down those carpeted floors too. He passed various doors, some shut, some open, but he didn't want to go into any. The sooner he was back through into the Archives the better. 

He almost reached the end of that corridor too when he heard something moving. The steps were odd... heavier on one side. He heard a growl and there was a bang as he slammed the door of a nearby room shut behind him, his eyes darting around the room. There was a chair and a desk, a bookshelf and a few potted plants. He grabbed the chair and shoved it against the door, standing back to look at his handy work. He heard another growl, closer, and his heart lept. He tried to move the desk over but it was too heavy, so he had to settle with some books and a plant. He crouched in the furthest, darkest corner of the room in the fetal position, cradling his head in his hands. After a while everything was silent and he worked up the courage to unblock the door, which he did with great ease.

"Well then, next time I may need to do better." He mumbled, barely a whisper he was so out of breath. Something was definitely lurking in these abandoned corridors, who knows where else in the castle. He poked his head into the corridor, looking left and right. Nothing.

"I'm sick of this." He mumbled, straightening up and stepping out of the room. He refused to let this... elusive creature scare him. The stories he'd read in the History room came to the front of his mind and he remembered the tale of the gatherers. He shivered, but refused to be scared. He started to walk forward, forcing himself to move in a slow, steady pace. Keeping his head tall and not looking back. He was shaking by the time he reached the crossroad-like hallway. He could go straight, left or right. He looked each way, and ahead of him he saw a faded read colour...

"The door!" He felt all his fear leave him at the thought of getting out of the Archives. He started forwards, walking quickly. He only got halfway when he realised how dark it was. The light from behind him had cast shadows all over, so much so he could barely see a few metres ahead. He lit the lantern again, holding it up. 

"That's better." He said aloud, walking up to the familiar large, heavy red door. He started to push it open, relieved he was getting out. It was stiffer than he'd remembered, he took a step back to see if anything was blocking it. Nothing, again.

"I'm sick of this nothing, honestly-" Just as he said it there was a growl from behind him, then a loud, terrifying roar. He forgot everything and threw himself at the door, shoving it repeatedly with his shoulder. He heard the thing getting closer, it was moving so fast! Finally, the door gave way and he hurtled through it. It swung shut behind him, closing with a bang which echoed through the castle. He shivered violently as he heard muffled growling and scratching coming from the other side of the door. Eventually it must have given up and gone away for everything fell silent. 

"What... What wa-...was that?" He stuttered, the sound of his own voice calming him down. He moaned quietly. That wasn't a person... that couldn't be a person. That was a monster, or an experiment, some terrifying creature. "This isn't going to be easy, is it..." He sighed, he was acting as if this was a simple game.