Deep Shadows and Creaking Floors

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In that dusty, breezy front room, every step sent up poofs of dust, but no footprints or trails left any inkling of Everest's location. Only his laughter came from somewhere just out of sight as the whole world seemed to wait to find out what Adam would do next.

Creaks of old wood bending came from upstairs, and breathing seemed always just behind Adam, though there was no sound save the occasional creaking that followed him down the stairs, each step by the unknown entity slow enough that the pause between each could have been hesitation, or its stopping, or some other thing.
 
Too frightened to turn around, Adam continued forward. Something was behind him, he could feel it, like the monsters under your bed as a child. You knew they were there, but every time you took a look they were mysteriously gone. The only reason you didn't look was because one day they might decide to stay.

What should he do now? Open the door and leave? What about Everest? Should he just get out of there without the dude? His eyes was suddenly etched onto the old suitcases. Maybe, just maybe there were some clues to why they had been brought there. If it wasn't their friends who had done it, which he now was fairly certain it wasn't, someone else must have, someone twisted, someone with a sick sense of humor... If this was meant for humors sake that is. It was a long shot, but he wanted to figure out what was going on, and that door with claw marks all over it scared him a bit too much for him to just step out of it. Who knew what was on that other side.

Adam went to the old suitcases and started to open them, searching for something, anything, that would explain what was happening.
 
Most of the suitcases were large and made of wood covered in leather and bound with oxidized brass around the edges, and though the mechanisms and hinges were rusted, they opened. Loud squeaks accompanied each movement of the hinges, and inside, he saw neatly-folded clothing. The clothing looked like something from a history book: frills and lace, ribbon, puffing. The outfits were creased and free of dust, and still held vibrant colors, but the style was clearly something out of the Victorian period, if he knew much about that.

A paper envelope rested on top, sealed with wax, and on the front, it said "For use in emergencies only." Inside, if he lifted it, he could hear metal against metal, clinking softly.

Behind him, the creaking wood continued in its creak-pause pattern, until he felt the floor underneath one of his feet bend, and then... it stopped, though the shift in the floor board under his foot remained.
 
In the suitcase he opened, there weren't much of worth. Some old fashioned clothes that seemed rather new, or at least not worn out by time, and a sealed letter. The clothes were of no interest to Adam so he instead focused on the letter.

"For use in emergencies only?" Adam read it to himself. What emergencies could that letter ever tell him the solution to? There was something inside though. Maybe it was something he could use? A key perhaps?

He had forced himself to ignore the creaking behind him, too scared to look around. No, it was nothing... Or it was Everest playing with him. A floorboard beneath his foot sank slightly and the creaking stopped. Something or someone must be standing right behind him. Adam swallowed loudly. There's nothing there, there's nothing there, there's nothing there... He thought to himself over and over again. If it was something that wished to kill him, he should probably already be dead. If it wasn't, it would speak. If non of those two options happened, then there was obviously nothing behind him and he was imagining everything.

It's just your imagination Adam. There's no such things as monsters and ghosts. He tried to rationalize as he started to force the letter open. He needed any clue he could get.
 
As he began to paw at the seal, the metal inside shifted, and the paper came open at the fold. Rather than a key, out fell old coins with images of long-dead monarchs. The coins came in various colors of oxidation, save a few in gold or tarnished silver.

Within the confines of the envelope, he could find no paper separate from it. He'd found only emergency money and clothes so far in the first case.

The floorboard behind him remained bent, and a voice like a whisper came from nearby. "Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations." The voice was feminine, mature, and patient-sounding, and though he could understand it clearly, it was hard to remember if he actually heard it, or if he imagined the voice.
 
What the heck, it was just money. He couldn't even use it for anything. It was old coins no one used anymore. "Damn it." Adam threw the coins into the wall. What were these cloth filled suitcases doing down there anyways? It wasn't like anyone lived there anymore. It was as if someone had packed their things just about to leave but then forgotten their stuff.

"Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations."

Was that a voice behind him? He was too frightened to look. Had it been a voice? He wasn't completely sure. "Who's there?" He asked as he spun around, finally trying to meet whatever might or might not be behind him.
 
Behind him, he saw a faint glow somewhere behind him that illuminated the floating dust motes.

"Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations." The voice repeated, and through the glow, a shadow began to form from tendrils around the room.

"Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations." Another repetition, and now the shadows formed a shape that began to move forward, the distance short and the pace slow, but somehow the room seemed to grow longer, and the pace began to speed. Four running legs became faintly visible.

The voice came from the glowing area in front of Adam now. "Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations."
 
Adam couldn't believe his eyes, or rather, he didn't want to believe them. "Get away from me." He shouted as he forced himself up from the floor and ran towards the door that should lead him to freedom. No longer caring for his suspicions of what might or might not be on the other side, Adam tried desperately to force the door open. There was no way he would stay there for another minute. Not in this demons nest.
 
The door opened, and he could feel something wrap around his torso. It pulled him back, and darkness engulfed him.

Adam suddenly appeared in the bed again. Dust danced in the dim light from the night sky outside, and a voice seemed to whisper not far away. The door stood ajar, and a misty figure stood nearby, murmuring. "Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations." With those words said, the figure approached the doll and stopped before it. "Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations, dear. Take this doll. She'll protect you, Evangeline. Emergencies are unexpected and dangerous situations."

The quiet woman's voice continued, parroting the same phrases as it stood in front of the doll, and laughter came from somewhere outside of the room. It echoed through the halls. "She can't protect him now!" The declaration sounded like leaves rustling and shrieking whistles.
 
Adam screamed as he was engulfed by darkness. Somehow it felt familiar, as if it had happened before, but before he could even think about that, he was back onto the bed. "Wha... What happened?" He looked around frightened until his eyes finally rested on a shadow. "Wh..Wh..What are you?" He asked in disbelief, watching the shadowy figure as it spoke to him. It was official, someone must have drugged him and he's having crazy delusions because of it.

Something awful was happening here, and he had to get out. Screw the doll, screw the shadow, screw that girl behind the door. He might break a leg, but it would be worth it. He ran towards the window and tried to force it open. He had to jump, there didn't seem to be any other way. Or if he was lucky, he might even be able to climb.
 
Pale and eerie, the pale misty figure continued to recite her lines, as though speaking to the doll. Dust stirred around Adam's feet in huge clouds as he ran, and by the time he made it to the window, the dust had filled the air, choking and dense. The rusted handles and hinges refused to budge, and the thick glass held solid against his attempts. The laughter continued somewhere outside the room, beyond its door.

"An emergency is an unexpected and dangerous situation."
 
Adam coughed from the dust that whirled around him and soon his cough became sneezes. That didn't stop him from trying to break through the window though. When it wouldn't open he took the closest chair and smashed it against the glass over and over again. Nothing happened. "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK" Adam screamed repeatedly. Once all his strength was gone, he leaned towards the glass and glided down to the floor, sitting there just observing the shadow and the doll.

"Who are you?" He eventually asked, trying to get it to communicate with him again, above that line it was repeating to him.
 
The misty form didn't stop, however. It stared at the doll and only the doll and repeated its lines, like a broken stage prop.

Through the open doorway, a shadow appeared, and the breathing from before could be heard once more as eyes even blacker than its form stared at Adam, tendrils of wispy pitch rising from its fluid form as its shoulders swelled higher and its rear shifted lower. What seemed like its head moved around and again, and the shadow began to approach.

"Please, take the doll," the misty form requested.

At the same time, a voice like rustling leaves spoke. "Give in." It stepped closer, one step at a time, and darkness spread with every touch against the floor.
 
Adam wasn't sure what was most frightening in that room. The broken recording in front of him or the mist that just entered. It didn't take him long to decide though and he darted for the doll, picking it up and running over to the other side of the room, trying to get as far away from the two creatures as possible. What was he even going to do with the doll?

"There, I took it. Happy now?" He asked, hoping both of them would just disappear now when he had done as they wanted.
 
The misty 'broken record' seemed to smile. An exultant "Yes!" escaped her lips as she faded to nothing.

However, the shadowy beast who just entered snarled and took a step back, then snorted. "That object can't protect you forever." The voice like rustling leaves intoned before the black shape faded from sight, leaving Adam alone, holding a white doll with red eyes.
 
Adam breathed heavily as the mist finally left. "Protect me?" He asked the air, not understanding what was going on at all. "How would you be able to protect me?" He asked, turning the doll so it faced himself. "Carrying a creepy doll like you. Seems more like it's gonna give me a curse."
 
The doll stared, and his every breath seemed to shift the color of her eyes as the angle of ambient light from the window shifted subtly.

"Adam?" The voice came from the doorway. "What are you doing in here with that creepy doll? Gonna wank to it?" Everest grinned as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I found some cool stuff in the basement. Lots of wine and stuff. Wanna crack something open and see if any of it's good?"
 
Adam jerked as a familiar voice forced his eyes off the doll. Everest? "Shit man. I thought you had disappeared." Adam exclaimed before walking up to him.

"You won't believe what just happened to me. Something attacked me downstairs and I woke up here like we did before. A mist told me to take the doll for protection while another one tried to... I don't know, eat me? We need to get out, NOW." Adam said... Or at least he wanted to say it, but even he realized that no one would believe him. He couldn't even believe it.

"Hey, what about we get out of here, get a car and come back to get the whine later? I mean, no one will miss it right? And we can't really get anything out with only our hands. It could be worth some if it's old." Adam proposed, trying to tempt the other man into leaving for a somewhat good reason instead of an insane one.
 
Everest laughed. "Why not just drink it now? Man, you gotta have fun. You're acting all scared, like you've been seeing ghosts." He walked closer and shook his hand, then gripped Adam's shoulder, grip almost painful. "Come on, ditch the dolly, let's go drink until morning!" He shook Adam, then headed back to the door. "Come on!" His grin was warm, but his skin held more pallor than before.

"May as well have fun while the door's stuck, right?"
 
Adam had a nervous laugh at the mention of ghosts. Yeah, that'd be silly. Seeing ghosts.

"I guess you're ri..." Adam stopped himself. The door was stuck? What was he talking about? "What are you talking about? What door is stuck?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew the front door wasn't stuck, because he had opened it just minutes earlier before that thing brought him back to this room.
 
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