Footsteps Approaching

Chapter One: Danger

Footsteps Approaching

By evolution-500

Genre: Horror/Tragedy

Disclaimer: "3D Monster Maze" is a property belonging to Malcom Evans. I own neither the characters nor this respective title.

WARNING: This story contains violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter One: Danger

"He who learns but does not think, is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

- Confucius

When Jeremy awoke, he let out a groan, massaging his forehead.

"God...damn it, my head!" He groaned as he sat up.

Looking around, the university student momentarily hesitated as he took in his surroundings. Greeting him was an endlessly long hallway with an intensely bright white floor and ceiling, while lining the corridor were strange walls of unusual smoothness, some of them black, some of them grey, and others checkered. At times, some of the latter almost appeared brick-like, but taken together with the strangely bright whiteness, the color scheme became a jarring assault on the senses.

"Where...the...hell...?" Jeremy trailed off as he slowly got to his knees, studying the floor texture.

From what he could tell, it wasn't marble. Nor was it either metal, glass, crystal, or wood of any kind.

Jeremy frowned, squinting at the floor. Definitely not stone, nor was it concrete.

In truth, it did not appear to be of any known material that he had ever seen before; the only way for Jeremy to describe it was as...light, for lack of a better descriptor, that was somehow manifested into some sort of tangible structure or surface.

Curious, he ran his right hand along the ground, the surface surprisingly warm to the touch, yet luminescent enough to shine straight through his skin, illuminating all of the metacarpal bones in his hand.

'What is this?' he wondered, mystified by both the unusual material and the even stranger setting.

Pushing himself up to one foot, Jeremy approached the nearest wall, staring at the black, grey and checkered sections, testing the material as he ran his hand against its surface.

'Strange,' came the thought.

Words failed to describe the sensations in his hand. He had expected something harsh or jagged, perhaps something firm or cold, but instead, the wall felt...weird.

Like the floor, it too was also warm, but unlike the former, though, he felt it pulsating against his hand with a dull, throbbing hum, despite the fact that no apparent ripple distorted its surface.

Artificial, yet somehow organic at the same time. Like as if it were somehow...alive, for lack of a better word.

Like a massive heartbeat, like something breathing.

Pulling his hand away, Jeremy watched as an imprint of his hand formed, then slowly faded, leaving no trace of it ever having been there.

"Huh." Pulling his cellphone out from his pocket, Jeremy lifted it up, then started to take some pictures. "Goddamn, I gotta give it to these guys, this place is awesome! I wonder how they managed to create these effects."

Once he finished taking photos, he then started to check his messages, the university student frowning as he suddenly noticed that he wasn't getting any signal.