by Nelly Asher
***
“What the?..” Kevin muttered, pushing the buttons, to no result. Selena was stricken with a terrible foreboding. She recalled the recent sudden transportation episode. Noone can tell where they are now. But most probably, they're going through the same sh...
“Do you have a flashlight?” his voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Well yes, and also I'm carrying a tent and a sleeping bag every day – just in case, you know,” she replied harshly. “Though... Wait a minute,” she dug into her purse and stroke a match. Kevin saw that she holds a tiny pack of matches with green brown logo that was barely distinguishable in the dark. Evanford noticed the word “good”.
“You smoke?” Kevin raised his eyebrow.
“No,” Selena stretched her hand outside. Dying flame was of little help against the darkness. The only thing that became clear is that the floor wasn't marble, but covered with old parquet.
“Good for you. Smoking spoils your breath, teeth and nails, not to mention leads to various diseases,” Kevin stated prudently.
“This should be the last thing for you to worry about right now,” Selena said through her teeth, lighting a second match. She stepped outside the elevator. Parquet creacked under her high heels.
“And what exactly should I worry about? Beside the fact that, in some unconceivable way, we ended up who knows where? Explain if you will,” Kevin followed her. The second he left the elevator the doors slammed shut.
“For one, we're in pitch darkness, and I only have a few matches,” the girl replied, slowly moving away from the elevator. Match's dim light has shown the shapes of piles of some small parts on the floor. Flame died out again, but before Selena had time to light a new one, a voice resounded. It seemed like it was coming from all directions.
“Why did you pass through the sliding doors? It's not supposed to happen... Did you use a cheat code? Or is Gelia playing her tricks again...” the speech turned into an unintelligible mumbling.
“What the hell?” Selena whispered. She lit another match and walked forward at a fast pace, trying to illuminate as much as possible while the fire still glimmers. But the same piles of small parts were everywhere as far as eye can reach.
“What cheat-code?” asked Evanford.
“Who are you? What on Earth are you talking about?” Silver yelled.
“The god and the slave of this room... And in this game, I think I'm a loser,” the voice replied.
“Enough already,” Selena muttered disgruntledly, pulling the paper out again and carefully lighting another match. There were only a few lines on this side of the page:
Selena, it's not fear that you're feeling, it's the excitement of the unknown. Risk is in your blood.
She decided to read the following phrase aloud:
And you, Kevin, aren't scared, because it's not darkness that you're afraid of...
Flame went out, and Selena felt something running over her foot. Legs of some unknown creature were thin and sharp... Like a centipede with metal legs. Silver jumped with a shriek, dropping the remaining matches. She was afraid of making a slightest move, not to mention searching for a pack on the floor.
“This is it,” Selena exhaled. After a few seconds of silence they've heard a movement. Piles of small metal parts began to crumble, like something was crawling out of the sand.
Suddenly, Kevin had an idea. He pulled Flashphoto out of the bag and pressed the shutter. Flash illuminated the surroundings for a split second, but that was enough. When the match was still burning, it appeared to Evanford like there's a wall on the right. Now his guess proved true. He slowly walked towards the wall, flashing a few more times. Fortunately, this camera model allowed to take pictures with almost no delay. Pictures were flying out and falling on the floor one by one. Selena managed to catch a couple.
“We should examine them later... If we get out... Damn! If we still had matches, we could've looked at those photos and understand which way to go! Where have you been before?”
“Yes, it is my mistake,” Kevin acknowledged. He never denied his mistakes. Pointing the camera in various directions, professor's nephew took a few more pictures of the room and put them into the bag for later examination. Evanford noticed a familiar outline on the wall... After a few flashes he was certain – it's a door.
“Let's go!” Kevin rushed to the door, pushing the button as fast as he could. Flashes were dazzling. Selena made a few unsure steps and stumbled, almost falling into the moving pile. She jumped up to Evanford, clinging onto his belt, and ran after him.
“You won't help me look for it?” the voice spoke again. “Oh well, it's up to you...” he briefly paused, but went on: “I can give you an advice. Sometimes, you'll need any key to proceed...”
The door turned out to be farther than Kevin anticipated. It even seemed like it was moving back as they ran. But the distance was decreasing, and eventually Evanford grabbed the handle – to his incredible relief, the door jerked open, and the couple tumbled into the corridor. Dim light of electrical light bulb struck their eyes after the darkness.
“Where are we?” the girl asked, blinking.
Kevin looked around and saw that the numbers on the office doors around them start from 1. But the plain door that was behind them didn't have number, and it seemed that it leads to the utility room.
“We're in the same building, but at the first floor. We've descended after all.”
“Yeah, really funny,” she leaned against the wall, rubbing her temples. Her head was still spinning. “I wonder how much time has passed?”
“No more than ten minutes,” Evanford replied, checking his watch.
“We're lucky if it's less than a week,” her lips twisted in a grin. “Last time, a few seconds turned into hours...”
“What do you mean?”
“You must've noticed that I'm wearing the same clothes that I did yesterday? Yes, I've met with a man. And yes, I didn't spend this night at home. I didn't spend it at all! I entered the bar toilet, and went out straight into the Blue Stones park, out of the door of some booth! That's all!”
“You do understand – twenty minutes ago I would've thought you're bonkers,” Kevin said slowly. “But now...”
“You're crazy yourself?” Selena winked.
“No. Everything has happened for real, we even have proof. All of this must have some rational explanation. But where do we get it...”
“Maybe here?” Silver took the paper out of her purse... But it turned out to be blank from both sides. “What the hell?”
“I guess there is something about this book after all,” Kevin reluctantly admitted.
“I want to read it as soon as possible... Well, let's go to your place?” the girl suggested. Evanford had no reason to refuse. When they left the building, the sun was still in the zenith.
“My car still wasn't towed to the pound. At least it's the same day,” young man remarked.
“I'm sorry, can you say what time it is?” Selena turned to a passer-by.
“Ten minutes to twelve,” he smiled at a cute girl.
“Thank you,” she turned to her companion. “So, not much time has passed... At least some relief.”
“Wait a second,” Kevin frowned. “When we approached the building, it was twenty minutes to twelte on my watch, now it's two minutes past twelve. Ten minutes to twelve is earlier than the moment we've entered that elevator...”
“So?” Selena shrugged. “Do you want to run there and search for our past selves? Did it ever occurred to you that his watch was wrong?”
“Maybe,” professor's nephew grumbled. They got into a car. Kevin was concentrated on a road while the girl was glancing around.
“This is... Can it be?!” Silver suddenly shrieked. “Look!” she pointed at an electornic clock dial on one of the buildings. Dial plates like this were automatically synchronized with the main clock in the city hall. It was 11.54.
“Great. We've shifed back in time,” Evanford stated. This
was the most ridiculous phrase he ever said with a straight face. “I hope the book will give us a couple of answers... Or else I'll wake my uncle up and ask him personally,” he murmured sullenly, stepping on the gas harder.
