《Alternate 2020》Episode 5: Lost Labyrinth (1): Uncertainty (1)
Advertisement
I put my hand over my forehead and began to laugh slightly. "Ha. Ha. Ha..." Gradually, my voice began to raise, "Hahahaha!!!"
"Hey man, calm down."
"Calm down?"
"Yeah, calm down."
"Like hell I can calm down! I'm just a god damn idiot!" I slammed my fisted hand on my head. "Why did I not think of this sooner!?"
"Hey, stop. Regretting won't help."
"We could have..." I began to say sniffing a little. "We could have not wasted so much time and looked for Rose!!!"
"Hey, hey, did you hear what I said? Regretting now won't help." Sam placed the bandages into Rose's bag and slowly closed it.
Closing my eyes, teardrops fell down my face, like a waterfall, as I slammed the floor harshly; Sam flinched. He loosened his grip and the bag slipped out of his hands as it fell towards the ground. Bottles of pills rolled out from the unzipped bag. It rolled and followed the trajectory under the table.
"Argh!" Sam groaned. "What did you do!?"
"Ha...." I sighed calming down a little. "Sorry..." I lied down and looked under the table trying to find the medicine bottles.
It was a tight, dark gap and I couldn't see anything, not even the pills, but in the distance, I could see a line - a bright yellow line. I squinted my eyes a little and stared straight at it.
"Hey, can you hurry up? Let's get out of here quickly and find Rose," Sam said.
I didn't reply. I continued to look straight at the line of light. Slowly, I grabbed the pills and sat back up straight.
I glanced at the pills and said, "This is it."
"What?"
"Light."
"Light?"
"Where there's light, there's electricity..." I murmured.
"Hey, hey, what are you talking about now?"
I clenched my fist tightly on the pills and stood up looking into the ordinarily-looking walls. "There's something beyond this way. Perhaps... a security room? We can locate Rose."
Advertisement
"Wait, wait, wait. Wait a moment."
"What?"
"How did you come to this conclusion??? How do you know there's something behind this wall."
"The light. There's light underneath and behind this wall."
"Could it just be light coming from the outside?" Sam rolled his eyes. "Let's not waste more time."
"You're probably right... but this is the only way I can redeem myself, the only way to find Rose quickly if there is a security room here."
The cold, dark room began to dim as the flashlight ran out of power.
It was dark.
"Do I really want to risk this?" I thought to myself. "I can just run after her outside now. I think it's not too late still..."
I calmly recollected my thoughts and said, "Let's go."
* * *
Moments later, we managed to get past the wall and into the hidden room. The wall was able to rotate and revealed the elevator behind it. We had to push the cold, smooth table away first as it was in the way.
"Why is this even hidden?" I said.
"No idea. Well, it looks like we found our way in."
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
I walked forward and pressed the button. The display changed and the elevator was heading up towards our floor.
"This was similar to the time I went to Janda's accommodation..." I thought to myself.
"What?" Sam questioned.
"Ah," I replied. "Did I just say that out loud? Hahaha," I laughed scratching the back of my head. "What I mean is that there was also an elevator at my best friends accommodation. That's also where I met Rose..."
"So then, where is Janda?"
"I... I don't know."
"Haaaa?" Sam crossed his arms and glared at my doubtfully.
"I don't know. He just left us a message and-"
*Ding*
The elevator arrived on our floor and the silver door slowly opened up.
Advertisement
"Let's go," I said.
"Yeah."
We walked into it. As I pushed the first button, I noticed something odd; there were only four buttons. The open, close, 0 and -1 buttons. The door closed and we headed down.
* * *
Moments passed but we still had not arrived on the lower floor. It was like that time in the elevator back then; I was waiting and waiting as it ascended towards floor 20. But, this time, there were no ominous feelings.
"Hey, why's it taking so long?" Sam questioned.
"..."
We were drifting away from Rose. Away from the only clue we had about her whereabouts. My blood began to bubble.
"Did I make the wrong decision, again?" I blamed myself. I slammed my fist against the wall.
"Ugh!!!" Sam slammed his foot on the ground, at the same time, and the elevator shook a little producing a metallic, echoing sound.
We stood there. We didn't speak. It was silent and only the mechanical sound of the elevator could be heard.
"Damn it!" I yelled as I felt the elevator slowing down.
It halted and the door gradually opened.
The dark, endless corridor stood in front of us. We couldn't see anything beyond the void, but suddenly, the ceiling flickered and it was lit up. The navy-blue, matt walls and crystal-like, shining floor covered the area.
We walked slowly through the corridor. I looked around and up at the ceiling finding any security cameras, but there was none. It was as if they magically sensed us and turned on the lights for us.
Minutes passed but we were still walking. We didn't reach the end of the corridor.
"Man! How long is this corridor?" Sam said annoyingly.
"I thought there might have been a security room somewhere... sorry... it's not too late. We can-"
"It's too late! By the time we head back, it would have been like 20 mins already!"
I was speechless. Facts, truths, realities were pushed in my expressionless face; I couldn't say anything back. Everything was getting worse as time passed and I didn't dare to speak up with my fragile, minimal courage.
Sam looked back towards the front. "Hey, it looks like the corridor ends there."
I turned my head and pointed towards the end of the corridor. "Maybe around the next corner!"
I had slight hopes that it would be true but I knew I was fabricating lies to myself - to hide my guilt. My emotions, anger, they blinded me; I made the wrong decision. I couldn't hold it in any longer. My tears welled up and they began to fall down my cheeks unwillingly.
"I'm sorry..." I said quietly. "It's all my fault. I made the wrong call. I was too obsessed and ignored the facts, ignored the important things!"
"..."
"I should have listened to you... We should have gone back... I'm sorry Sam..." My hiccups deafened my hearing as I slowly muttered, "I'm sorry... Rose..." I put my arms across my eyes covering them. Gradually, I rubbed my eyes and I felt a painful sensation. My heart was being ripped apart. "It's painful..."
"Of course it is."
I glanced over at Sam. He was standing there looking at my arm.
"You're using your wounded arm to wipe your face... of course it would hurt."
"Is he right?" I thought to myself. I couldn't tell. My emotions were blurred. I couldn't tell if I was hurting physically or mentally anymore. I just felt devastated.
I leaned against the wall. "Damn it."
Advertisement
- In Serial7 Chapters
Of Gods and Dungeons
March 16, 2021 - Hiatus note: I will come back to this story! I'm really struggling with it, though. It's been a number of years and I kind of forgot what the original outline was. I still remember the main path, but not any of the details, because I stupidly didn't write an outline. Progress is being made. I'd like a very decent sized buffer before I start posting again. Don't want to get hopes up only to immediately disappoint! ----- Amy Barnes, an aspiring chemical researcher, finds herself dying from cancer. One of her most desperate prayers is answered in a way that she'd never dreamed possible, and she finds herself living a new life as a dungeon. Warning: Violence, morbidity Cover: Taken from here, courtesy of www.pexels.com by photographer @tookapic. Author's Note: I've read some dungeon core stories on here, and they've tickled my fancy. I've thought up a whole story, start to finish, and thought it'd be a blast to put it into words. Other than the violent and morbid aspects, this story is suitable for children. Aside from the vocabulary, that is. I will avoid the temptation to have any cursing, sexuality, or gore. Excessive gore, I suppose - it is a dungeon story, after all. I’ll do a little research from time to time, but this story will not have a great deal of rigor. I’ve made Amy’s knowledge comparable to my own for that reason. There’s a few things she knows more about than I do, and a few things that she knows less about. Unlike me, she doesn’t have access to Google - it’s a non issue for her to be more knowledgeable than me, on occasion :P This story does not use the same magic system that I’ve used in either Sorcery in Boston or A Summoner’s Confession. This one is mostly intention based, and designed to be easier access for people who are more used to the idea of, “It’s magic, therefore it works” kind of thinking. Do note that Amy is, in most senses of the term, overpowered. This goes along with the usual dungeon core stories. She’s not more powerful than other dungeons per se, but she does have knowledge and intelligence that puts them to shame. I thought about doing this in a LitRPG style, but systems take balance, and I wanted this to be pure fun to write.This story was inspired from a few sources. Despite the title, it wasn’t really inspired by Of Mice and Men, though some of the themes match. Rather, I’ve taken inspiration from a few dungeon core novels on Royal Road Legends for the main idea. Many conventions of dungeon core stories have been perverted from the genre, however. I’ve taken my usual science-loving self to town to play around with the powers, and I can only hope you have half as much fun reading this as I have had writing it.
8 92 - In Serial6 Chapters
Above Heavens I Stand
A youngster named Li Lan, living in the county xiejia under the xingxiu sects protection. On his path towards becoming a cultivator of qi. Fueling him is his fury and the unrefined thought of vengeance against the sect that killed his mother and father. However on his path he keeps failing to become a cultivator, and despite nothing helping him at the moment, he keeps trying. Suddenly a man of unknown origins wants to take him as a disciple, will he fail his new master as well?
8 178 - In Serial6 Chapters
Two Souls of Three Worlds
Hokuto Shimamoto is a 16 year old who has little left in his life. Jessica Gaines is a 26 year old with yet a whole lot of future ahead of her. A chance meeting by these two leads to an unfortunate happenstance- and where they find themselves at the end of it is anywhere but home. Now, they must come to understand the new world they find themselves in; a world where swords, superstition, and sorcery abound; where great evil is afoot, and a hero is needed...however, what this ailing land may get is something not quite as expected, and many decisions will have to be made for the good of both themselves and their new surroundings if they want to survive it all. However, some decisions are harder to make than others, and with two individuals that barely know each other, those problems can only abound... Hokuto and Jessica will have to learn each others' worlds before they can even begin to properly navigate this one. The question is...will they? Can they? And do they even really want to?
8 152 - In Serial32 Chapters
Claim Me Alpha(Editing)
When I walked into the school people look at me. I was walking to my locker and I smelled the sweetest smell ever. Mate!!! Go get mate's Reign was yelling and howling.Looking around, my eye a landed on the one person who I didn't want to see and he was staring right back at me.Cole Black.His eyes looked through mine and Reign was howling with joy.I stood there shocked not able to move.Except when he stood up and started walking towards me, I did the one thing that I would have never thought I'd do.I ran.Just as I got into the parking lot and to my car, warm arms wrapped around my arm and I knew exactly who it was.Cole turned me around to where I was facing him and growled" Mine""No, no, no, not yours!!!" I said in disbelief.His grip tightened around my waist and he growled. "You are mine. No one else's. You will not touch another male and you will not talk to another male. You are mine. Mate." He said before putting his head in the crook of my neck and inhaling.
8 239 - In Serial23 Chapters
The False Warlock
The universe consists of two known planes of existence. The Demon plane and the Mortal plane. The Demon plane is the home to seven races of demons, while the Mortal plane is home to the Human race and their bizarre mutations and magical skills.The Mortal plane is a plane where countless humans live in densely populated cities. The complete opposite to the sparse populations of the Demon plane. Just as much as the Demons have powers, there are some mortals who have powers too. Mutations that create powerful Humans called Vigors as well as magic users who can cast spells or traverse the two planes.The Demon plane is ruled over by seven Demon lords and a king, while the other, less powerful demons fall into line behind these Demon lords. These Demon lords grant powers to their subjects, creating the seven demon races. All Demons can move between the two planes, but most choose not to due to their hatred of the Human race, but some do for a single thing. To have children, for Demons can only be male. At least- they should.Elmira is the first female demon and due to her unique circumstance and the demon's hatred of Humans, they wish to make her their queen with which they can have 'pure' children with. Elmira and her brother, Lucifer have other ideas. As a plan hidden from her other brothers and Satan, her Father, Lucifer sends her off to the Mortal plane in an effort to hide her amongst the Humans. However, it takes time to get used to the Mortal plane and the people within who have their own ideas as to what she should do.Warning: Tagged 17+ for gore, strong language and violence.
8 197 - In Serial19 Chapters
The Black Phone Oneshots!
Oneshots of TBP, bc some of y'all like to ask me to do shit (Which I don't mind, btw!)
8 120

