The Novella Life of Illuscia Nester Himawari

  The stairs felt like they would never end. I pressed onward though, passing by one of the mounted candles ever so often. In between them, I was left in utter darkness, at the whim of my own footing. I took my time walking down them, adding to the anxiety to reach the bottom. Voices began to echo from the abyss below, bouncing off the walls. Once again, I could hear their monotone words being spoken in unison, still incomprehensible to me. In the darkness, the words were even more nerve-wrecking. It almost didn’t sound human. The last of the stairs brought me to a large chasm. A few candles were mounted on these walls as well, but they weren’t of much help. I could see their light reveal a set of different tunnels pointing in diverse directions. From here, it looked like I had to choose a path, but which one was right? If I chose wrong, I knew it would be nearly impossible to retrace my steps, especially in this darkness. The voices from earlier began to echo once again. Am

  “Who the hell are you?” I asked, backing up from the woman. “Please,” she begged, grabbing at my arm. The smell from her was more unbearable up close. “Get off me, you old hag!” I yelled, pulling myself free. She shushed me loudly. Her eyes appeared wide, scanning the area with paranoia. “You want them to hear?” “Who will hear? What are you talking about?” I asked harshly. It had only been a few minutes with her and I was already beginning to become irritated. “ Them! ” she hissed. I could see the whites of her eyes gleam in the moonlight at her weak attempt to scare me. I shook my head unmoved. “I don't have time for this. I’m really tired and I’ve got to get up early. Honestly, I don’t care what you do out here, but just stay away from my car. I don’t want to catch you near it again or else I’ll report you.” “No, please don’t,” she begged, ready to grab at me again. However, I was able to avoid her clawing hands this time. “Fine,” I shot back. “Just don’t touch me again. I

  “What’s wrong, Marcus?" Victoria asked. You look absolutely pale, are you frightened?” The light from the cellphone I had dropped reflected back into my face. Even with its light in my eyes, I could still make out the horrid figure looming before me. “D-did you say… your god ?” I stammered. “You worship that thing?” I asked, still unable to peel my eyes from it. I took a few steps back, losing my balance in the process. Instantly, I fell back, slamming into the seating hues behind me. A sharp pain erupted from my back as I could feel the rush of air painfully forced its way out of my mouth. I guess it was true that the wind could literally be knocked out of you. I remained still, feeling the pain surge from my back. “Marcus, are you alright?!” Victoria asked, rushing to my side. “Are you hurt?” Instantly, there was a loud slam from a door behind us flooding the room with bright light. “What in the hell is goin' on in here?!” an angry voice yelled out. Victoria popped