Keep On Walking

Doors

Her head hurt. Scarlet slowly opened her eyes, being welcomed by the dim light. Groggily, she sat up and looked around the room. Crimson had still not returned, and nothing was out of place either - how long had she been asleep for?

Almost forgetting her encounter with the footsteps prior to her sleeping, she creaked open the door and checked her sorroundings. Alone in the hallway, too. It was like the place was abandoned. Scarlet crept out the room, being careful not to make any obvious noise. Now, being here alone, she felt slightly excited. The panic had worn off, and she wanted to focus on something else - and exploration was chosen.

The hallway was long, winding and very dim. Many doors were placed on either side, with names of what Scarlet guessed the children here were called. Some doors had multiple signs, some old, torn and scratched out - like the prior inhabitants had been erased from the world, replaced by something new.

Continuing down, Scarlet noticed that some doors did not have any signs on them. Some doors, even, had many padlocks and chains - for what purpose, only god knew. A shiver sent down warning signals to Scarlet, however, she continued. The corridor seemed to get darker as she stepped along - the lights growing older and less reliable. At some point, it was nearly impossible to see anything. Scarlet peeked into the darkness, trying to distinguish how long this hallway went on for. She could see no end in sight, however.

Suddenly, a loud bang occured, followed by a short screech. Scarlet jumped back into the light of the hallway, shocked out of her adventurus exploration. What was that?

Once again, the noise repeated. Clearer, this time. More to her left. She realised with a panic that it was coming from the padlocked door next to her. However, Scarlet wanted to see if it would happen again. She stepped up towards the old door, and lent against it, listening intently.

Breathing. Soft, clear, abrubt. Child-like. Something that could only be heard if you were right at the door. Scarlet's heart skipped a beat. There was someone in there.

She ran down the hall, almost tripping over the old peeling carpet on her way. Just as she was about to run into her assigned room, she bumped into something.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Crimson questioned, helping Scarlet up after her fall. "Why were you running?" Crimson looked her up and down, a look of concern on her face. "You shouldn't wander around too much. You might discover something you don't want to know. Also hey, let's get outside some. You look white as a ghost."

"I-i-i s-saw i-i mean I h-heard-" Scarlet whimpered, failing to make a coherent sentance out of her panic. Crimson seemed to understand enough - she took Scarlet by the hand and briskly down the hall, and out into the common area once again. She didn't stop however, and continued on through another corridor - this one having only one door at the end of it, leading to the garden.

Once Crimson pushed the door open, Scarlet had to squint her eyes for a while to be able to see. The light was much brighter out here than inside. Once she was adjusted, she saw all the kkids from before - however now, they were not scared. They were running around, lauhging ,playing. Like none of what happened before was real.

"You should join in with them. And don't ask question on your first day. That's your first rule." Crimson let go of Scarlet's hand, and pushed her lightly into the crowd.