Tom and Kaplen walked down the wide corridor and away from the meeting. The large bodyguard led the way as they passed through a series of halls and rooms that were covered in fine art and furniture. The whole Fantas Estate seemed liked one giant, elegant maze; full of twists and turns. A man who didn’t know what he was doing could get easily lost in such a specious mansion. Tom could now see why Mr. Tash had wanted Kaplen to go with him to his room. If the bodyguard wasn’t here to lead the way he might never even reach his destination. He probably would have wandered down a dark hallway and starved to death.
Tom also noticed, as they passed by the many wings of the large mansion, that certain parts of the house were different than others. Some places were bright and inviting whilst in other places it was gothic and gray. It was as if the man who built the Fantas Estate had some kind of schizophrenia. Every room was different, making each feel out of place. Some pictures on the walls matched perfectly with a chamber and some didn’t. Some woven tapestries were amazing and beautiful, and some were nightmarish and cold. Some furniture would be inviting and compliment the room and some would be horribly insulting to it. If the devil had opened a museum, this would be it.
Tom breathed in the musky smells of the building around him. It smelled as if he had walked into an expensive hotel or coastal resort. He followed Kaplen through a cherry red door and down another hallway. He stared at the back of the bodyguard’s head and marveled at the man’s composure and strength. Kaplen seemed like someone who took his job very seriously. He looked like he had all the answers to life’s strange questions. It was as if he were making his journey with a phantom or an incubus. Tom wanted to get to know this guy a little better. He wanted to know why Marten and Lee feared him so much. He had only been able to speak with his friends for a few moments before the meeting had started and they couldn’t stop talking about how strange this place was. Tom wanted to know the ‘whys’ and ‘whats’ of their situation. He didn’t like being in the dark when it came to working in groups.
“So,” said Tom nervously; He was trying to sound casual and nonchalant. He was failing at it horribly, he was more nervous than a cow in a slaughter house. “What did you, Marten and Lee do before I got here? I didn’t get a chance to speak to them properly before we headed out the door.”
Kaplen slowed his pace down a bit and looked back at Tom. His dark aviator sunglasses ran over the school teacher’s sleek frame suspiciously. To Tom, He looked like a predator examining his prey. It looked as if he could attack at any moment, but Tom had a purpose that was holding him back. Tom could feel a chill run down his back as he tried to keep composure. Kaplen’s cold, hard eyes could be seen slightly through the tint of the glasses.
“Well, Mr. Hoffman,” said Kaplen as he cleared his throat. “Marten and Lee got here sometime in the morning, and Mr. Tash, my employer, accepted them with open arms. He was understanding of your current situation… and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.” Kaplen smiled at his own wording. “Mr. Tash gave them some vintage MC suits.” He pointed at Tom. “The very suit that you are wearing right now is MC; they were imported from an island called ‘Signet’ which is off the coast of the Northern Continent. They’re price value ranges from five to ten thousand dollars apiece. Mr. Tash has looked after your friends very well. He has given them food and a roof over their head, just like you. To put it shortly, he looks after his investments; especially the ones that will make him a lot of money.” Kaplen chuckled at this. “When he makes a deal with someone he expects to get his money’s worth.”
“And what he expects from this trip is the ‘Brass’?” asked Tom incredulously. It sounded like there was more to the story than what he was being told. “He’s paying for all our expenses and at the end all he wants is the relic called the ‘Brass’?”
“That’s all he wants,” said Kaplen, simply.
They pressed onward down the hall. Tom couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mr. Tash sounded like a slick business man. There had to be more to the story than what Kaplen was telling him, Tom knew that much. He wondered exactly what Marten and Lee promised to give to Tash. He wondered what the contractual statement was exactly. Tom was going to ask Kaplen about this when he got a sickening feeling in his stomach. It felt like he was approaching dangerous ground. The discussion of the deal and the “Brass” had been such a controversial subject back in the medical room.
Maybe Lee and Marten knew what they were doing when they made the deal with Mr. Tash. Maybe there was something that Tom was missing about the whole thing. Maybe Marten saw an opportunity of a lifetime and took it… but why would he give away the “Brass” to someone so unstable? I thought he wanted to keep the thing in a museum after the trip! Tom thought.
Tom pushed the questions away from his mind. He looked over to Kaplen and studied him for a moment. He thought of something else to speak to him about. He suddenly thought of Runt and how he had died at the hands of Bob Morgan.
“Can I call someone about my friend? I mean I thank you for your hospitality and all, but I need to talk to someone about Runt. I can’t let this go uninvestigated.”
“I can’t let you contact anyone outside of this house, Mr. Hoffman. You heard what Mr. Tash said in the medical room, he doesn’t want the cops involved in his affairs,” Kaplen stated firmly.
“Why not? It’s not like it matters!”
“But it does matter.”
“Why!” demanded Tom, feeling childish yet justified.
Kaplen stopped abruptly. His voice was sharp and stern, as if he were scolding a child for getting too assertive.
“To tell you the truth, Mr. Hoffman, your friends are in a lot of trouble. They made a deal with one of the most powerful crime lords in Aggerton City. Mr. Tash has way a of doing his business that the authorities, and society in general, do not approve of.” He looked back at the weary school teacher. “The reason I tell you this is because I don’t want to play games with you anymore. I don’t want to pretend to be something that I am not.”
“What does Tash want with the ‘Brass’?”
“I don’t know, like I said, that’s his business.” Kaplen pointed at Tom. “But I don’t want to hear any more questions come from you about your situation. You know why we can’t call the authorities. You know that they will get into Tash’s business.”
Tom looked utterly surprised.
“Now, keep close and shut up!”
Tom nodded his head. He was completely taken aback by the bodyguard’s straightforward statement. It seemed that everything was changing right before his eyes; suddenly, their situation seemed more severe. I can see way Marten and Lee looked so forlorn and distant, thought Tom. They were probably threatened by Tash into making a deal with him. They probably feared for their lives. What did he do to them?
“Do we understand one another now?” asked Kaplen with a smile.
“Yes.”
“Good!” Kaplen said harshly, turning around and starting down the hall again. Their footfalls were the only things heard resounding off the walls. Tom didn’t say anything until they reached the end of the hall. Kaplen was standing in front of a queer door now. On the smooth paneling of the door rested the image of a blooming rose. Tom’s eyes shifted to a gold plaque that was bolted to the wall by the door. It had bold, black lettering on its shiny surface.
The bodyguard turned to Tom; his expression was deeply serious.
“Where we are about to go, you do not go alone.” Kaplen looked into Tom’s eyes. “We are about to enter the nightmare halls, which cove over one fifth of the halls in this house. This is one of the most stressful parts of my job, only because most people that enter the nightmare halls are never seen again. Everything in the this part of the house is cursed. I have seen things in there that would turn your hair white. So while we are going through them there are certain rules you must follow. Failure to comply with these rules will jeopardize your and my safety. Do you understand?”
Tom nodded his head.
“Good. Rule number one: do not look at the paintings or tapestries on the walls; they will deceive you and tell you to do things. Rule number two: do not touch anything on the tables or the ground around you; the spirits like placing things in certain ways and if you disrupt them, they will not forgive you for it. Rule number three: do not open any doors with a seven pointed star on them; this could lead to both our deaths. Rule number four: beware of the wind that picks up in the halls. And, most of all, beware of a little boy who runs around looking for a pen. He has been looking for a pen to use for over a hundred years; he will not stop bothering you until you give him one of yours.” Kaplen shook his head. “That little bastard took a few good ones from me.”
To Tom, all the rules sounded strange. He had never heard such an odd title as the nightmare halls before… as a mater-of-fact the name sounded a little ridiculous; childish, even. There were no such things as ghosts and spirits. Science and psychology had proven those things false. Kaplen was sounding like a complete nutcase. If he actually hoped to convince Tom that this hall was haunted by some evil force, he was misguided in that hope.
Kaplen reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out a handful of blue pens. He handed them carefully to Tom. Tom looked at the pens in his hands with speculation, raising one eyebrow; he looked at Kaplen.
“Are you actually serious about all this stuff?”
“Does it look like I’m joking?”
Tom looked at the man and slowly shook his head. It didn’t look like Kaplen was joking with him. As a matter-of-fact it didn’t look like the bodyguard was capable of joking. He took the blue pens from the larger man and slipped them into his coat pocket, clattering against one another as they settled in the pocket. Kaplen grabbed the doorknob and was going to open it when Tom reached out and stopped him.
“Is there another way to get to my room besides this way?” asked Tom. His heartbeat had suddenly increased. “Because if there is another way, maybe we should take the extra time it will take... Better to be safe than sorry.”
“The only other way to your room is back through the way we came. We would have to go back that way and then cross over through the master den, then go all the way around the mansion to your room.” Kaplen shook his head at the thought. “That would take way too long. Mr. Tash isn’t a very patient person. He’s not the type of person you should keep waiting very long at all.” He looked back over to the door with the rose on it and smiled. “Everything should be all right, if we follow the rules exactly. Rules are there to keep us safe.”
Tom nodded his head in agreement.
Kaplen turned the knob and opened the door slowly; both men walked onto the green carpet in the nightmare halls and Kaplen shut the door tightly behind them.
* * *
The hall that Tom and Kaplen had passed into was still and dead. Tom could hear the lights on the ceiling humming softly with energy overhead. He was going to look up at the roof when Kaplen grabbed him violently by the chin. His grip felt like a cold hard vice against his jaw.
“There will be none of that, Mr. Hoffman. Wandering eyes can do a lot to enable a spirit. Even the ceilings have painting on them in this room. They would be happy if you looked up. You’ll have to master your self control while we cross through here. Do you understand me?”
Tom nodded his head.
Kaplen let go of Tom’s chin and stepped back. He reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out a pair of dark aviator sunglasses. He handed them to Tom.
“Put these on and don’t take them off until I tell you to. They are one of my backups. I always carry a backup pair just in case I need them. They will help you to stay focused while we travel through the halls.” He held up a hand and pointed at a door at the far end of the hallway. “Always keep your eyes straight forward.”
Tom took the aviators reluctantly and fitted them around his eyes. The room around him took on a pale, moonlit shade. It was amazing how dark the tinting of the lenses were on the glasses. It was almost like walking in the darkness. How did Kaplen even see with these things on? It felt like Tom was in a cave. He squinted at the door resting at the far end of the hall. Tom absolutely hated wearing sunglasses. He had never owned a pair of them before in his life. They reminded him of a horror show he had once seen as a child. The show was about a killer that wore dark, black rimmed sunglasses. Nothing ended well in the movie; even the cops died. It gave him nightmares for weeks.
“Follow me.” Kaplen reached into his suit coat and pulled out a chrome revolver. He held it in the air, posed and ready to fire. He started for the door at the end of the hall. He walked cautiously as if expecting someone to pop out from somewhere in the hall. Tom followed his strange movement with his eyes. The bodyguard looked like he was searching for anyone to pop out from the walls or paintings themselves. To Tom, it felt like he knew what he was doing and so he followed him closely.
“It doesn’t seem like there is anything in here,” whispered Tom.
“That’s because you can’t see what I can see.”
“What can you see?” asked Tom with puzzlement. He took another look around the room to see what he had missed. “The whole place looks empty. There are no people anywhere.” He stood behind Kaplen and frowned. He was careful not to get too close to the bodyguard.
“They’re studying us; they’re trying to find a way in.”
“A way in to what?”
“The mind.”
“The mind?” repeated Tom with a whisper. A cold chill ran down his back. “How did the halls become haunted? How did they get this way?” He looked down at the green carpet and studied all the fibers in it. They twirled in all directions. Tom didn’t want to look up at the paintings around him by mistake.
Kaplen changed his foot patterns and started to walk slower and more smoothly. He thought about Tom’s questions. His breathing had become shallow and stale. He was switching over to stealth mode. He was trying to control the excitement welling up inside of him. He opened the door at the end of the hall and checked it for danger. When he was sure it was safe he walked in and Tom kept up with his pace. They made sure to shut every door they had opened.
“I don’t know too much about the nightmare halls,” said Kaplen finally. “But I do know that a good majority of the south wing, which contains the nightmare halls, was made by a rich war general who had inherited the Fantas house after a dispute with the Foldings side of the family.” He threw out his hands. “All that you see here was put onto the house by the war general in a fit of passion and rage. Several parts of this house were added on by different descendants. It started out as something simple; something like a one bedroom apartment… and it grew into something much larger and magnificent. It turned into an estate. The Fantas family bought all the land around the coast. It was all supposed to be for the benefit of the family.” He looked over to Tom. “General ‘Pact’ was the man who built the nightmare halls. During construction, workers started to go missing. Thick mahogany doors would shift and move into new locations on the walls. No one could quite find the room he or she was looking for. Many of the architects would open a door only to find a brick wall or an empty chasm in its place. Some would find another door… it was strange, and no one really wanted to be in the house anymore. It was like living in a disturbing carnival house.”
“Sounds creepy,” stated Tom.
“Oh, it was creepy for everyone. I can remember it all,” said Kaplen. “When it was finished, some of the workers came up to General Pact and asked him why the halls were haunted. The General told them that while he was serving in the continental wars he came upon a…” Kaplen stopped his story and turned around quickly. Something was not right; a small breeze was blowing from a door not twenty feet away from them. He stared at the open door for a while and whispered to himself. Tom couldn’t hear what he was saying. He backed up and stood behind Kaplen.
“What’s going–”
Kaplen held up a hand and silenced Tom. He continued to stare at the door.
“We have company. Strange company. I haven’t seen anything like this before.”
“What do you mean?” Tom looked around the hall. “You already said that we have company. I don’t see them.”
“I didn’t already say we have company,” said Kaplen. “I said we were not alone. You’re never alone when you’re in the nightmare halls; someone or something is always watching you; hoping that you make a mistake.” He turned and started walking to the end of the hall. His head was swarming with hundreds of thoughts and feelings. It was as if a cloud had taken up residence inside his mind. He tried to pull the thing out of his head. It was doing something to his subconscious. He could hear voices whispering in his ear. They were trying to take control. He could almost make out what they were saying… kill him… kill him… kill him… maybe?
Tom continued to stare at the door that was pouring out the cool breeze into the room; it reminded him of a smooth ocean wind that usually came off the sea. It smelt like rain and sunshine against his face. Memories of the time when his father had taken him to the beach as a child flooded into Tom’s mind. He remembered how they used to watch the Goshen crabs playing on the rocks, and in the tide pools. They looked like such amazing creatures as their little pincers would reach out for food and shelter, their beady little eyes searching the sky constantly for predators. He remembered how they used to fight over the scraps of food that his dad would throw to them…
Kaplen grabbed Tom by the shoulders and pulled him away from the door with the breeze coming out of it. He turned the delusional school teacher around and slammed him against the wall by the door. Tom started screaming frantically and flaying his arms as he did this. He didn’t want to let go of the memory. He wanted to keep it to himself and live in that moment forever. He started mumbling and his eyes went glossy. His breathing was becoming heavy. It was like he was suffering from a panic attack. Kaplen smacked Tom across the face.
“Wake up, you fool!” He smacked him again. “This is not the time to daydream!” He shook him violently. A light came back on behind Tom’s eyes. He slowly came to his senses and rubbed his cheeks. His face was throbbing with pain where Kaplen had hit him. He didn’t quite know where he was at the moment. He looked at the bodyguard in front of him with puzzlement.
“You idiot! Didn’t you hear me calling for you? You could have gotten us both killed!” Kaplen said with frustration. He pulled Tom violently to the door at the end of the hall and shoved him through its frame. Kaplen shut the door behind them and shook his head to quiet the voices that were now talking to him. He wished that they would shut up so that he could think for a minute. He wished he could break free from their whisperings. They were now standing in a different hallway of the nightmare halls. They had escaped the strange breeze.
“Do you think that this is a game, Mr. Hoffman?”
Tom shook his head.
“You’ve really got to get a hold on your thoughts, Mr. Hoffman. Just a few more seconds of staring at that queer door, and you would have jumped right into it. Who knows where you would have wound up then? You could have been thrown into any wing of this house.”
From the other hall the door that was blowing the breeze could be heard as it slammed shut. It sounded muffled and distant and Tom scratched his head. He couldn’t see why he wanted to live in that particularly moment in his passed. Why would he pick the beach of all places, why not something else? I mean he had heaps of memories in his head that were far better than the beach.
“Sorry, Kaplen…I don’t know what got into me. It just felt right to me at the moment. It felt like I didn’t have a care in the world, it was strange.”
“Stay focused! The halls can deceive you very easily if you don’t stay focused.” Kaplen started to walk to the other end of the hall. He could still hear the voice inside his head, ringing out like a foghorn on a lake. They were repeating the same thing over and over again. Kill him… kill him… kill him… Kaplen ignored them. He was even more cautious than before. One wrong move could mean life or death.
Tom followed Kaplen. He looked around the new hallway with wonder. It looked just like the other ones they had passed through. It didn’t seem like much had changed in design and appearance; the nightmare halls were pretty straight forward in architecture. Tom was going to look at the painting on the walls when he remembered what Kaplen had told him. He looked down at the carpet and let his mind wonder. Heaps of questions were now coming to his attention. How did the nightmare halls know about my childhood? How did they know about my father taking me to the beach? Tom began to wonder if his mind was so open to deceptions.
Kaplen looked back at Tom and almost laughed at what he saw. The school teacher was hunched over looking down at the carpet whispering to himself. It looked as if the man had lost a contact lense or something and was now trying to find it amongst the fibers
“Hey, stupid! You don’t need to look at the ground that way to not look at the painting on the walls. Just keep your eyes straight forward. The sunglasses should shield you from most of the deceptive lights coming off of the paintings. Just as long as you don’t look directly at them, you should be all right.”
Tom’s face went red as he looked up. A big goofy smile ran across his lips. He must have looked pretty foolish hunching over like he was. Kaplen laughed again when he saw the embarrassment on Tom’s face.
“Shall we continue?” asked Tom sheepishly.
“It’s amazing that you could do anything in that position,” said Kaplen. “I’m surprised you didn’t run into a wall or a table.” He started back down the hall again. Tom was relieved to see that the bodyguard had some kind of sense of humor under his stone hard façade. He wanted to ask him what he had thought about when he was looking into the door with the breeze. He wanted to know what a big guy like Kaplen would fall back on as his fondest memory. Did he even have memories he liked, or was his passed as dark as the glasses he constantly wore?
“Kaplen, can I ask you a question?”
Kaplen turned his head and Tom could see that his face was serious.
“You just did.”
“That’s not what I meant.”Tom said. Kaplen laughed.
“I know.” He placed his chrome revolver back into his pocket, and straightened up. “Ask away, Mr. Hoffman. I am all ears.” He stopped at yet another red door and he folded his arms across his chest.
Tom fidgeted with his words. He tried to formulate exactly what he wanted to say to the bodyguard.
“I was wondering… did the door that was blowing a breeze in the last hallway make you think about a time in your life that you wanted to go back to? Did you see something?”
“Yes, Mr. Hoffman it did, but I could contain it, unlike you.” He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open. Tom thought for a minute.
“If you don’t mind me asking, I’ll tell you what the breeze reminded me of, if you tell me what it reminded you of.”
“No, thank you,” said Kaplen as he slammed the door shut to the previous hall. “I like to keep my personal thoughts to myself.” He was about to walk down the hall to the other door when he stopped and looked back at Tom. “I want to get one thing straight with you, Tom. I am not here to be your buddy… I am only here to get you from point A to point B. So stop with the questions, all right?”
Tom stood there and watched as the bodyguard strutted down the hall. He couldn’t believe how savage this man was but, he thought, he should have known that Kaplen was not one for sharing his thoughts and feelings. There was something inside the man that regretted something in his passed. It was something that Tom could see but not understand. The man was an enigma and would probably remain that way until the day he died.
“Mr. Hoffman, come quickly,” said Kaplen. He was on his knees now examining something on the carpet. Tom walked over to the bodyguard and spotted what he was looking at almost instantly. A big, dark stain was lying in front of a door. Tom examined the door closely. It had a seven pointed star on its dark paneling. The whole scene looked liked someone had spilled red wine over the carpet. Smear marks that extended from the base of the door to a table in the middle of the room were everywhere.
“What is that?” asked Tom.
Kaplen looked up from his kneeling position.
“It’s blood.”
“It’s blood?”
“It’s blood. Someone died here a few minutes ago.” He pointed to a big brass candlestick lying on the ground. “I think they used that.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s covered in blood.”
Tom looked surprised. His eyes shifted to all the doors around them to see if anyone was with them but the hall was empty.
“Where did the body get off to? Is it behind one of the doors in here?” He pointed at the blood stain. “It looks like some of the blood is seeping under the door right there. Maybe it’s behind that door?”
“I don’t think it’s behind the door.” Kaplen ran his index finger across the pool of blood and examined it closely. “It’s still warm… this guy was killed less than thirty minutes ago… maybe less… but by who?”
“Maybe the blood smears have the answers. It looks like the trail leads to this table over here,” said Tom as he followed the bloody trail. He bent down by the table and looked under it for any clues. His eyes ran slowly across the back wall. He nearly lost his footing at what he saw next. There were words written on the wall; words that were written in blood. Tom bent in close to read them. Maybe the person wasn’t dead? Maybe he was still alive, looking for help?
“We should probably go,” said Kaplen as he stood up. His voice sounded a little uneasy and strained. The phantom voices were picking up again inside his head. Their strange words scratched at the back of his mind like nails on a piece of flint. They were telling him all sorts of things that he didn’t want to know.
“Can the halls make you see blood?” asked Tom as he ran his fingers over the bloody message on the wall.
“What?” said Kaplen. “What did you say?” He was breathing quickly and his hands were beginning to itch and burn with frustration. He had to get out of the hall before he did something he was going to regret.
Tom poked his head out from under the table and looked over to the bodyguard. The man was looking at his hands.
“I said can this hall make you see things? You know, like a mirage or something. Maybe all this blood is just a mirage?”
Kaplen walked passed Tom and headed for the door.
“It’s time to go.” He gripped the door knob and looked back at the school teacher.
“What’s going on?” Tom looked around the room frantically. “Have you seen something? Is something coming?”
Kaplen opened the door and pulled out his revolver.
“Yes, we need to go, Mr. Hoffman! I really don’t want to see the thing that killed this person.” The voices in his head were still screaming at him. His hands felt like he had dipped them in lava and the voices were making him crazy. He didn’t know how much longer he could take it. He needed liberation… he needed to kill.
Tom stood up quickly and caught the rim of his aviators on the edge of the table by the wall. The glasses fell off his face and landed on the floor by his feet. Bright light poured into his pupils from all angles. Tom staggered backwards and hit the far wall. He started rubbing his eyes profusely. Uncontrollable tears were now streaming down his face and wetting his cheeks. In the distance he could see two ruby red eyes of a painting staring at him. The image was of an old war general. Voices started to gather in Tom’s head. They were loud, dark voices. It felt as if he were standing in a crowded room. His mouth went dry and his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. He gripped at the wallpaper behind him.
Kaplen turn in time to see Tom gazing at a painting on the wall without his glasses on.
“Mr. Hoffman,” he yelled above the noise in his head. “Mr. Hoffman, cover your eyes, you idiot!” A door to Tom’s left started to crack open. A white, bloody hand was emerging from its abyss. Kaplen bolted for the door and threw himself against its paneling. The gory hand started to flail and writhe wildly in an attempt to grab Tom. Kaplen could feel the creature pushing back on the door.
“Tom!” yelled Kaplen. “Wake up, you moron!”
Tom was still staring at the painting. His thin lips were moving up and down as if he were talking to an imaginary person.
Kaplen kicked him hard.
“Wake up!”
Tom stumbled sideways and nearly fell over. He shook his head and looked around the room frantically. His mind was floating in a thick haze of confusion and distress and he began to spin in circles. Tears were still running down his cheeks. He clutched at his chest and looked over to Kaplen. The bodyguard was holding a door shut with his shoulder. Tom watched as the white, bloody hand flailed up and down. From the blackness could be seen red, bloodshot eyes. They were staring at him…
“Glad you could come back to reality!” yelled Kaplen.
Tom rushed over to the door to help keep the bloody mess at bay.
“Sorry, Kaplen, I made a mistake.”
“I’d say you did!” belted Kaplen into Tom’s ear. “Now listen up, this is how it’s going to go. On the count of three we are going to let go of this door and run for the exit at the other end of the hall. The exit is just beyond the other hall. Are we clear?”
“Yes!”
“Good!” said Kaplen. “One… two… three!” Both men let go and ran full speed down the hall to the door at the other end. Tom’s heart was pounding loudly in his chest as he looked straight ahead at the exit in front of them. Carved on the door was an elaborate rose. When they got to the exit Kaplen gripped the doorknob and pulled on it so quickly that Tom thought that he would rip the thing off the hinges. Both men left the nightmare halls and jumped into the new corridor. They slammed into the walls and turned around quickly. The bloody creature had pushed through the door at the other end of the hall and was now looking at them. Kaplen pointed his gun at the inhuman looking thing and breathed slowly.
“Shoot it!” yelled Tom
“Wait,” whispered Kaplen.
The creature bolted forward. Its gnarled limbs were flaying wildly in the air. Its dirty yellow eyes were burned with hatred and saliva was coming from its lips and dripping off its chin. An inhuman scream escaped its throat as it drew closer and closer. It was the scariest thing that Tom had ever seen before in his life. It was like something out of a horror film. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He backed up against the wall as it jumped for the opening, its misshapen teeth and claws were posed to tear into human flesh and bone. Just as it was going to pass the threshold and kill its prey, the door to the nightmare halls closed. A loud boom was heard as it collided with the closed door. Tom jumped and screamed. The monstrous thing was now trapped inside the halls.
“I love that part,” said Kaplen.
Tom looked over to the big bodyguard and was shocked to see that he was smiling,
“What did you say?”
“I said, I love that part.”
“What part is that?” asked Tom with confusion. His heart was still beating rapidly in his chest.
“The part where nothing can leave the halls. All the supernatural garbage is trapped inside those halls forever. ” He put his gun away and looked at the school teacher. Tom’s face was pale and sweaty. He looked like he had just come out of a hospital. Kaplen wanted to laugh at his appearance.
“Shall we go and get the map? I know that Mr. Tash doesn’t want to be kept waiting.”
“Do we have to go back through there again, that is, when we come back?” Tom pointed to the closed door of the nightmare halls.
Kaplen started to leave. “Yes, sir… we certainly do”
Tom’s heart sank at this news. He didn’t want anything to do with those halls anymore. He didn’t want to go through them again.
“You owe me a new pair of glasses, Mr. Hoffman.”
