Part 3: Nightmares
Disclaimer: I do not own Redrum. Redrum is a game that was developed by Anarchy Enterprises. I only own the OC characters.
-------
She stumbled around in the dark, blind. It seemed to take hours for her sight to identify the hard, stone walls surrounding her. This place was unfamiliar. It was hard to tell which way she had come from. This maze of endless tunnels only served to confuse her and lead her astray. Always guiding her, but never to the exit. Never allowing her to escape.
Her boots continuously slapped in shallow pools of water. She could hear dripping all around her. There was no other sound, aside from her own heavy breathing. The tunnels lead nowhere, every corner nothing but fleeting hope until it was dashed when it opened up to more endless passageways. It was obvious that she was underground, but the layout of these tunnels was implausible. They couldn't go on forever, could they?
As soon as she was about to succumb to the fate of wandering endlessly in the suffocating darkness, her groping hands hit a door, the sound echoing off of the solid walls. She felt around the surface of the metal door until she found the handle. Gripping it tightly, she only hesitated for a moment before turning it and pushing open the door on rusty hinges. She steeled herself for whatever was on the other side.
The room was clearly man-made, every surface covered in white tile. Despite it's material construction, it was still cavernous, the light dangling from a thin cord failing to illuminate the entirety of it. She looked up and found that even the ceiling was shrouded in darkness.
Looking back down in front of her, something was there that wasn't a second ago. A little girl in a black and white dress stood motionlessly under the swinging light as it screeched with every small sway it made. Her head was bent forward, her face hidden behind a curtain of jet-black hair. Her hands were loose at her sides.
Relief surged through her. She knew who this was. She stepped forward, hand outstretched towards the still figure. "Rose? Is that you? Rose, it's me." The figure did not answer as she continued to make her way forward.
All of a sudden, she stopped, freezing in her tracks. The figure in front of her didn't so much as twitch a finger. She was perfectly still, like a statue. The air had shifted. It felt ominous, and the familiar feeling of dread rose up inside her once again.
"Rose?" she called out, fear in her voice. "What's wrong?"
Seconds passed by, long and agonizing. The room was silent, as if waiting with bated breath. She dimly noticed that she was doing the same.
Then, without a sound, the figure raised her head so that only the mouth was visible. As she did so, she opened wide as a swarm of yellow, angry hornets poured out. The cloud of buzzing insects grew as they sped towards her. Before she knew it, they had swallowed her up in a seething mass. She lost sight of the girl as the hornets descended upon her, stinging her mercilessly. She cried out and held her hands over ears, trying to block out the deafening sounds of the swarm swirling around her. She bent over and squeezed her eyes shut, making herself as small as possible. However, as quickly as the onslaught started, it stopped. She could still hear the buzzing, which meant they were still around, but they had stopped attacking her. Why?
Trembling, she lowered her hands and straightened up, slowly opening her eyes. The swarm had parted, leaving her undisturbed in the center. She looked around, bewildered. What made them stop? The hornets hovered around her, as if eagerly waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly, the curtain of insects in front of her parted to reveal the supposed ringleader. This hornet was large, the largest out of all of them. It was the size of a fully-grown man, its stinger as long as a sword. Its buzzing was the loudest out of all of them, its massive head twitching from side to side as it looked her over. She could see herself reflected in its bulbous eyes. Its frantically waving legs were as thick as her arm.
She stood frozen in terror. She could feel the killer instinct emanating from this creature. It eyed her hungrily, a predator having caught its prey. There was nowhere to run. The swarm wouldn't allow her to escape.
Before she could react, the massive hornet lunged for her, its stinger aiming straight for her face.
-------
Maddie woke up screaming, violently sitting up in her bed. Sweat rolled in drops down her face, dripping off her chin. The bedsheets were tangled and soaked. Breathing heavily, she struggled to reign in her pounding heart.
After she composed herself, she rested her head on her hand. That nightmare was like nothing she had ever experienced before. It felt so real, like a vision. She could still feel the pain from all the hornets' stingers. And the fact that she saw Rose in her dream suggested that she was trying to tell her something. But what? Heaving out a sigh, she dragged herself out of the bed in her dingy hotel room to grab a fresh change of clothes out of her duffel bag. She wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight.
Once she was finished getting ready in the room that Detective Ravenwood had bought for her, she decided to go over the notes she had taken from the "interview" the day before. There wasn't much to go off of. Besides, she was more interested in this special serum that Dr. Fraud had manufactured. She was still planning on grilling the detective about it when she went to go report to him. She had a feeling that it was the catalyst in all this.
Sighing, she glanced out the window at the slowly brightening sky. In the far distance, she could make out the massive searchlight of the Asylum, constantly rotating as it searched for any intruders or escapees. She couldn't help but feel as though it were an eye watching her. After sitting and observing several rotations, she got up and headed down to the lobby, hoping to snag a cup of coffee at this early hour of the morning.
-------
"That's it?" Ravenwood asked, exasperated. He tossed the meager pile of notes she had brought him onto his desk, letting out a huff of air in frustration. He clasped his hands in front of him. "This isn't enough to make a case, let alone to allow a search warrant."
Maddie had perched herself on the edge of his desk, legs and arms crossed as she faced him. "Sorry, that's all I could get," she replied. She knew he would be disappointed, but she couldn't care less about it. There were other things on her mind that were more important.
The detective put a hand to his forehead. "So, all of this was for nothing," he said, grinding his teeth. At that, Maddie shook her head. "That isn't entirely true."
He looked up at her incredulously. "And how is that?"
The young pseudo-human looked off in the distance, a thoughtful look on her face. "I met your niece. Lovely girl, by the way"
Ravenwood perked up in his chair. "Really? How was she?"
Maddie shrugged. "She seemed okay to me. But she said something that proves that you're right. About her condition."
The detective's eyes widened. "What did she say?"
Maddie turned her neck to meet his gaze. "She said she knew I was working for you." She took the detective's shocked expression as a means to continue. "She said that a nice old lady told her she had seen where I've been going. Of course, I didn't see who she was talking about, but there's no other explanation."
Ravenwood pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "So, you believe that she can talk to ghosts?"
Maddie fixed him with a hard stare. "Yes, I do," she stated firmly. "Do you?"
He rubbed at his temples. "Yes. If someone like you believes it, then so do I." He put a hand to his mouth. "God damn it," he muttered. "This just keeps getting more and more complicated."
Maddie decided to refrain from sharing her nightmare with the detective. It would only serve to complicate the situation further. Besides, there was one more thing she was itching to ask. "Why didn't you tell me about the N1T3M4R3 serum?"
Ravenwood looked up at her, confused. "I didn't think it mattered in this investigation. It's just another psychedelic drug."
Maddie breathed out slowly through her nose and turned away again. "Maybe you should look into it. Do you know what it does?"
The detective leaned back in his chair. "I would have to take it to know."
Maddie sighed heavily. "I see," she said. She hopped off the desk, never making eye contact with Ravenwood as she spoke. "You should do some digging, try to find any records of the first medical trials for the serum. Look for any inconsistencies or missing details." She began to make her way to the door.
"Hold on!" Ravenwood exclaimed, standing up from his chair. "Where are you going?"
Maddie gripped the doorknob and turned towards him again, flashing a grin. "Going out to see the sights. It's my first time here, after all. Gotta make the most of it." With that, she slipped out of the office and shut the door.
Ravenwood dropped himself back in his chair. That girl makes absolutely no sense, he thought. Without a moment to waste, he picked up the receiver of his desk phone and began dialing. It was time to call in a few favors.
-------
Author's Note: Honestly, I only wanted to post another chapter until I've written more of this, but school's been stressing me out. I will get to it, though, I promise.
I hope people are enjoying this. I have a whole vision planned out for this.
Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.
See you next time!
-The_Mayflower
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top