Cammie opened her eyes, but, instead of finding herself in a train car with Mikayla and Yarren, she found herself in a dimly lit room. A lone light source hung from the ceiling, though it flickered at odd intervals. A lone door was wedged in the wall across from her. The walls were grey and the floor was covered in inky black fluid. Cammie took a step down and prodded the odd floor with her foot. The fluid reacted and violently shook, slowly growing up the walls stopping once it reached the ceiling. From the inky darkness, a humanoid figure emerged from the floor.
It was tall, about the same height as Cammie. It had no eyes or nose, but a mouth and pale skin. Its hair flowing down and connected to the inky darkness. The arms of the figure stretched haphazardly and the chest was an empty hole. The legs were shaped much like a cricket or a grasshopper. It turned its empty face towards Cammie and, if it had eyes, would have been starting right through Cammie. Cammie opened her mouth, but was unable to speak, no sounds came out. Her eyes stared, wide in terror at the ghoulish figure before her. It spoke in a twisted and wicked voice, garbled with only a few legible words. ".........You..........Darkness.....Learn.......Darkness.......Dispel..........Truth........Avoid........Evil....Darkness......."
For what felt like hours, nothing happened. There was no sound from anything, no movement from either of them, and no feeling on the skin. Finally, Cammie broke the frozen picture by rushing into the figure and shoving it aside. She bolted for the door will all her strength, but as she neared the door, the figure grabbed Cammie's leg and caused her to fall to the ground. The inky fluid quickly wrapped itself around Cammie's arms and legs and slowly started to drag her down into the darkness. She struggled with all her might, but to no avail. At that very moment, she found her voice and managed to make out one word before she was taken under the darkness.
"HELP!"
And the, there was silence again. She saw darkness and emptiness, unable to move. She felt tears start to fill her eyes and she panicked, hoping to wake from this nightmare. Then, a light from above came down and pulled her from the darkness. The shining light blinded Cammie temporarily, though her eyes adjusted. Standing before her, the one who pulled her out, was none other than Snipe. Beside him was Mikayla, smiling.
"Cammie, listen, you need to learn the secrets of everyone. Some one kidnapped me and is holding me hostage, but, if their secret comes out, they'll release me. Trust me Cammie, why would I lie to you darling?"
As those last words were uttered, the world shook and the figure rose from behind Cammie. Cammie turned around and stared at the figure. Its mouth had enlarged two-fold and quickly engulfed Cammie whole.
"Last stop! Swan Valley!" roared the conductor throughout the train cars via a speaker system. This jolted Cammie awake from her nightmarish dream. She took a deep breath and looked around. Mikayla and Yarren had already left and she was alone in the train car. She held her head as she grabbed her luggage and walked out onto the platform. What could it mean? Was that really Snipe talking to her in her dream?
She shook her head again and decided not to think about it. As she walked through the train station, she glanced around, hoping to find either Yarren or Mikayla, but no luck. She walked over to an info center, hoping to get some sense of direction.
"Hello, do you know where I could get a map or some directions? I need to find the Backfoot Motel and the Sheriff's office." Cammie asked politely.
"Sure. The Backfoot Motel is just a straight path out there. About a half hour walk." The woman behind the counter pointed to Gate 8. "The Sheriff's office is the other way. Just take a left at the Water Tower." She pointed to Gate 7. Cammie nodded and thanked the woman and went to get have a seat on a nearby bench. Either she could go to Mikayla and get some more information about everything, or go to the Backfoot Motel and meet up with Yarren and get her room awhile. She mulled over the two options, finally deciding to go to the Backfoot Motel to drop her stuff off. She headed out Gate 8 and looked for anything that said "Backfoot". She passed quite a few buildings; some grocery stores, some shops, some houses. After about half an hour, she reached the Backfoot Motel.
It wasn't too large, and it wasn't too big. It had wooded siding and was painted blue. The motel seemed to be kept in Springsteen condition from the outside. "Yarren must really do a good job." Cammie thought to herself. The roof was slanted outwards with a distinct red hue to it. Cammie estimated there must have at least been 50 rooms from what she could see. For a Motel, it seemed more like a hotel, though it probably was just rooms, lacking the features of a hotel, such as a pool or a gym.
The main office building was separate from the motel itself. It was also blue, but the roof was snow white, unlike the red hue of the motel roof. It was much smaller than the motel, about the size of an apartment building. Cammie dragged her luggage over to the office and knocked on the door.
A woman, about 28, approached the door. She had long cherry blonde hair that came down to her shoulder blades. She had two different earrings in her ears. The left one was in the shape of a crescent moon while the right was in the shape of a sun. She had a distinct group of hair that pointed outwards above her forehead. She was wearing a long white overcoat with a black tank top underneath. She was wearing long black pants and black high heels. She had a rather annoyed expression on her face as she opened the door.
"What do you want lady?" She asked in with a twinge of annoyance in her voice. She had dark rings under her eyes, so Cammie interpreted she hadn't been sleeping well as of late. "Well? Are you gonna just stand there or talk?"
"My name is Cammie. I believe Mikayla arranged for me to have a room here." Cammie stated, hoping that Mikayla had done so. The woman looked her over and stared at her. She then yawned and stretched.
"Sorry about that. She did call over just a few minutes ago. Woke me up from a nice nap too. I'll make sure to get her for that." She smirked and looked at the ground, then back at Cammie. "Name's Yolanda. I'm the owner of the Backfoot Motel. I believe you met my brother, Yarren." Cammie nodded in shock a bit. Yarren seemed to be able to sleep on a bed of nail, but Yolanda seems like she would kill for some sleep. "Here, let me get you your room key." She walked back into her office and rummaged through some drawers and pulled out a key. On it was a tag that read R24. She walked back and handed it to Cammie. "There's a $50 fine if you lose that, so don't." With that, she shut the door and rested in a chair behind a desk.
Cammie picked up her luggage and walked around the outside, looking for her room. After a few minutes, she found her room, but as she went to grab the key, the door opened by itself. She stumbled back in shock, but breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Yarren exiting the room with his cart.
"Oh, hey Cammie." He chuckled, "Sorry for startling you. I just finished cleaning your room. Hope it's satisfactory to you." With that, he walked away, dragging his cart behind him.
Cammie stepped into her room and shut the door behind her. She stretched and observed the room. It was pretty basic, nothing too incredible. There was a large bed, most likely meant for two people. There was a couch beside the window and a small TV on a dresser across from the bed. There was a bathroom as well on the other side of the bed. She placed her luggage on the bed and flopped down. She sighed and thought to herself.
She knew, she deeply knew, that her journey was far from over. It was just beginning. There was more to this city than meets the eye, and Cammie was determined to figure it out.
It was tall, about the same height as Cammie. It had no eyes or nose, but a mouth and pale skin. Its hair flowing down and connected to the inky darkness. The arms of the figure stretched haphazardly and the chest was an empty hole. The legs were shaped much like a cricket or a grasshopper. It turned its empty face towards Cammie and, if it had eyes, would have been starting right through Cammie. Cammie opened her mouth, but was unable to speak, no sounds came out. Her eyes stared, wide in terror at the ghoulish figure before her. It spoke in a twisted and wicked voice, garbled with only a few legible words. ".........You..........Darkness.....Learn.......Darkness.......Dispel..........Truth........Avoid........Evil....Darkness......."
For what felt like hours, nothing happened. There was no sound from anything, no movement from either of them, and no feeling on the skin. Finally, Cammie broke the frozen picture by rushing into the figure and shoving it aside. She bolted for the door will all her strength, but as she neared the door, the figure grabbed Cammie's leg and caused her to fall to the ground. The inky fluid quickly wrapped itself around Cammie's arms and legs and slowly started to drag her down into the darkness. She struggled with all her might, but to no avail. At that very moment, she found her voice and managed to make out one word before she was taken under the darkness.
"HELP!"
And the, there was silence again. She saw darkness and emptiness, unable to move. She felt tears start to fill her eyes and she panicked, hoping to wake from this nightmare. Then, a light from above came down and pulled her from the darkness. The shining light blinded Cammie temporarily, though her eyes adjusted. Standing before her, the one who pulled her out, was none other than Snipe. Beside him was Mikayla, smiling.
"Cammie, listen, you need to learn the secrets of everyone. Some one kidnapped me and is holding me hostage, but, if their secret comes out, they'll release me. Trust me Cammie, why would I lie to you darling?"
As those last words were uttered, the world shook and the figure rose from behind Cammie. Cammie turned around and stared at the figure. Its mouth had enlarged two-fold and quickly engulfed Cammie whole.
"Last stop! Swan Valley!" roared the conductor throughout the train cars via a speaker system. This jolted Cammie awake from her nightmarish dream. She took a deep breath and looked around. Mikayla and Yarren had already left and she was alone in the train car. She held her head as she grabbed her luggage and walked out onto the platform. What could it mean? Was that really Snipe talking to her in her dream?
She shook her head again and decided not to think about it. As she walked through the train station, she glanced around, hoping to find either Yarren or Mikayla, but no luck. She walked over to an info center, hoping to get some sense of direction.
"Hello, do you know where I could get a map or some directions? I need to find the Backfoot Motel and the Sheriff's office." Cammie asked politely.
"Sure. The Backfoot Motel is just a straight path out there. About a half hour walk." The woman behind the counter pointed to Gate 8. "The Sheriff's office is the other way. Just take a left at the Water Tower." She pointed to Gate 7. Cammie nodded and thanked the woman and went to get have a seat on a nearby bench. Either she could go to Mikayla and get some more information about everything, or go to the Backfoot Motel and meet up with Yarren and get her room awhile. She mulled over the two options, finally deciding to go to the Backfoot Motel to drop her stuff off. She headed out Gate 8 and looked for anything that said "Backfoot". She passed quite a few buildings; some grocery stores, some shops, some houses. After about half an hour, she reached the Backfoot Motel.
It wasn't too large, and it wasn't too big. It had wooded siding and was painted blue. The motel seemed to be kept in Springsteen condition from the outside. "Yarren must really do a good job." Cammie thought to herself. The roof was slanted outwards with a distinct red hue to it. Cammie estimated there must have at least been 50 rooms from what she could see. For a Motel, it seemed more like a hotel, though it probably was just rooms, lacking the features of a hotel, such as a pool or a gym.
The main office building was separate from the motel itself. It was also blue, but the roof was snow white, unlike the red hue of the motel roof. It was much smaller than the motel, about the size of an apartment building. Cammie dragged her luggage over to the office and knocked on the door.
A woman, about 28, approached the door. She had long cherry blonde hair that came down to her shoulder blades. She had two different earrings in her ears. The left one was in the shape of a crescent moon while the right was in the shape of a sun. She had a distinct group of hair that pointed outwards above her forehead. She was wearing a long white overcoat with a black tank top underneath. She was wearing long black pants and black high heels. She had a rather annoyed expression on her face as she opened the door.
"What do you want lady?" She asked in with a twinge of annoyance in her voice. She had dark rings under her eyes, so Cammie interpreted she hadn't been sleeping well as of late. "Well? Are you gonna just stand there or talk?"
"My name is Cammie. I believe Mikayla arranged for me to have a room here." Cammie stated, hoping that Mikayla had done so. The woman looked her over and stared at her. She then yawned and stretched.
"Sorry about that. She did call over just a few minutes ago. Woke me up from a nice nap too. I'll make sure to get her for that." She smirked and looked at the ground, then back at Cammie. "Name's Yolanda. I'm the owner of the Backfoot Motel. I believe you met my brother, Yarren." Cammie nodded in shock a bit. Yarren seemed to be able to sleep on a bed of nail, but Yolanda seems like she would kill for some sleep. "Here, let me get you your room key." She walked back into her office and rummaged through some drawers and pulled out a key. On it was a tag that read R24. She walked back and handed it to Cammie. "There's a $50 fine if you lose that, so don't." With that, she shut the door and rested in a chair behind a desk.
Cammie picked up her luggage and walked around the outside, looking for her room. After a few minutes, she found her room, but as she went to grab the key, the door opened by itself. She stumbled back in shock, but breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Yarren exiting the room with his cart.
"Oh, hey Cammie." He chuckled, "Sorry for startling you. I just finished cleaning your room. Hope it's satisfactory to you." With that, he walked away, dragging his cart behind him.
Cammie stepped into her room and shut the door behind her. She stretched and observed the room. It was pretty basic, nothing too incredible. There was a large bed, most likely meant for two people. There was a couch beside the window and a small TV on a dresser across from the bed. There was a bathroom as well on the other side of the bed. She placed her luggage on the bed and flopped down. She sighed and thought to herself.
She knew, she deeply knew, that her journey was far from over. It was just beginning. There was more to this city than meets the eye, and Cammie was determined to figure it out.