Luigi's Mansion

Chapter 7 - The Hidden Enemy

   It was dark.

In every direction, every way, it was complete; and it was deafening. The void was silent, still. It may have held nothing at all; it may have held the universe. None could tell. For an undeterminable amount of time, that was all there was.

   Then, at last, he felt something.

Through the misty veil of darkness a consciousness emerged. At first it was as a daze; but slowly it grew brighter, more awake.

   He was not just a part of the endless void.

   As Luigi began to come to, he found what soon felt like a cold stone floor beneath him. So he could feel something; he was alive. Of that much, at least, he was now certain.

Slowly gaining something like sensation, Luigi tried sitting up, only concerned with the slight headache that now plagued him. There were his eyes - blinking, he looked around him; and instantly scrambled to his feet.

   Where am I? In a rising panic, he tried to remember something; anything. What had he been doing? Sleeping? What about before that?

   Did I get hit on the head? Wh-what -

   Then, almost as if to answer, it all flooded back in a rush: the mansion, the lab, the professor... and Mario.

   All of it was fresh before his eyes... and nowhere to be seen. Was it... a dream? Luigi wondered dumbly. What happened?

   But there was nothing, at the present, which served to reassure him or provide answers. In fact, looking around, he was starting to feel a bit panicked. How did I get here? Turning about in circles, he felt dread begin growing in the pit of his stomach. Where, exactly, is here?

   Trying not to completely freak out, he closed his eyes for a moment and tried hard to think of the last thing he'd done before... going to sleep or something. I was in... the professor's lab, right?

   Or did I get knocked out? Perhaps all of this was a dream - or maybe the mansion was a dream. Or all of it: why didn't he know?

   Luigi opened his eyes, telling himself that it was the best idea to remain calm, whatever happened. It was simple - but then it wasn't.

   He was still there when he looked again - wherever 'there' was. He honestly couldn't tell; the place in which he stood was so dark that in all directions the blackness spread into the distance and he couldn't make out anything – walls or surroundings of any sort. There was no indication even as to whether he was inside or out. It was just like a void of his imagination; and all he could see was the white, stony ground beneath him. He wasn't even sure how exactly, since there were no sources of light in this place as far as he could tell. 

   Am I in the mansion? he wondered suddenly. Did something happen...? At that thought, he reached instinctively for his flashlight; but he was soon disappointed to find it gone. He then found, to his slight horror, that he was also missing the Poltergust 3000 and the Game Boy Horror - everything. Then is none of it real? he wondered in bewilderment. Or... no, I took them off in the lab, right?

   "Mario!" he called abruptly into the darkness. At least his voice still worked; sometimes it didn't. He could hear it split the enormous silence, echoing now off walls far away; perhaps he was in some big room or chamber. "Mario, are you here?" he shouted again.

   He had no reason to think so - but then, he had every reason. What if Mario was nearby; what if it was he who helped Luigi?

   Still, Luigi didn't expect to be answered; at least not quickly. So he was startled nearly witless when, quite casually, someone did.