by Nelly Asher
***
Alarm clock woke Selena up early in the morning. Dammit, she keeps forgetting to turn it off for a week already, even though studies are over... Shutting the clock up with a usual push of a button, the girl got up. Pieces of dreams were still stuck in her brain. Something based on the moive she watched with her friends yesterday, but with many books. That reminded a young student not even about “The Door”, but about the fact that her library books are overdue. She has to return them to the university right away – soon she'll go back to her parents' place and forget about the books till September. And in the beginning of the next semester she'll have to pay a fine, or will even be banned from using the library for some time... It's better to do it now. After having her breakfast, Silver took the books and headed to the university.
Exam session was already over, and the building was almost empty. Elevator seemed bigger than usual – it was the first time she was here alone, not squeezed in a crowd.What a weird feeling... Selena pushed the button of the seventh floor and pressed “GO”. Only upon doing that she recalled yesterday's events and grew cold with terror. But she wouldn't be climbing there on her high heels anyway, so let the fate decide.
Fortunately, elevator got there without an accident. Selena returned the books and decided to take the stairs after all. After passing a few flights of old, worn stairs she started regretting this decision. Their department was situated on the fourth floor. She might as well take a stroll, say goodbye before the holidays... And take a break from the staircase where you risk slipping and breaking your neck with every step. She walked the corridor that had doors on one side and windows facing the inner yard on the other. Selena stopped near the auditorium where professor Evanford was holding his classes. Succumbing to the wave of nostalgia, she entered, absent-mindedly closing the door behind.
Henry Evanford was a good lecturer... No, it's too early to think about him in past tense. She leaned against a desk, her eyes sweeping the sunlit lecture hall. Everything looks different from when you're sitting behind the student's desk. That's how professor saw them, his audience... What does he see now? Are there dreams in condition like that? Selena sighed and headed back to the exit.
In a meter before the door she suddenly stopped, as if hitting the invisible wall. Silver stepped forward, but immediately jumped back – it felt like she was about to step into an abyss. Selena realized what it was about – the door. Closed door was emitting strong waves of terror. If only it was open, maybe she could slip somehow... But the very thought about turning the handle made her sick. The girl tried to touch the handle a couple of times, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
“Hey! Can anyone hear me! Come here, I've locked myself in!” she shouted for about a minute; tried everything up to ad slogans, then went on to cursing. Nothing worked – those few people who were still in the building were too far. They wouldn't have heard even if she screamed in the resonant corridor.
Selena sat behind the desk, trying to collect her thoughts. Uncontrolled, unreasonable fear of something is phobia. But it can't just turn up all of a sudden... Or can it? And how to get rid of it? She was severely lacking the knowledge. Now Selena was regretting that she returned the textbooks that must've contained some information on this subject... Though they probably wouldn't tell what to do in this particular situation. She suddenly realized that there actually is a book in her bag that might give a clue, but the girl didn't want to resort to it. On the other hand, she didn't want to sit here for ages. Selena reluctantly pulled “The Door” out and started paging through. Eventually something caught her eye:
You think there's no way out? Look behind you.
Selena slowly turned her head and saw an open window.
She got up and stepped behind the lector's desk again. Now she definitely felt herself in professor's shoes. He didn't try to commit suicide... He just left through the window. Selena cautiously looked outside – not a single soul in sight. She looked at her right – there are about three meters separating her from the window of the neighboring auditorium. Three meters along the stone border that was one santimeter longer than her foot.
Selena knew that it often happens in the movies – in films of those genres she disliked. In those she liked, a guy could climb up to the second floor to reach the room of his girlfriend. But a girl walking the narrow border on the fourth floor, on high heels at that – no, nothing like this has ever happened. Though, come to think of it, as long as she took a risk with the book, she might as well go the whole way. The window isn't that far, and the border is no scarier than the door... She moved a chair to the window, took off her shoes and fastened them onto her bag by the lacing. Stepped on a chair, teeth tightly clenched, then on the windowstill, and placed one foot on a border. Solid, rough and with a slight inclination that she would've never noticed under different circumstances. Selena put her other foot on the border and did a small step aside, still holding the windowframe. Doesn't seem too hard...
She glanced down and regretted it immediately. The height was dazzling. Silver decided to look strictly at the window. Collecting her will, she let go of the frame and slightly shuffled right. The most important thing now is to keep moving, or else fear car paralyze in the middle of the way. Selena moved another twenty santimeteres, her back and arms tightly pressed to the wall. Maintaining balance in a position like that was hard, and the bag on her shoulder didn't make it any easier. It seemed that even the slightest bending forward will lead to an imminent fall – there was nothing to cling to. That thought made her knees turn to jelly. The girl strained her legs and moved further, trying to get this over with as fast as possible.
The distance to the window was slowly shortening. Silver already forgot about the height – in the whole world, there was only her and that window. And just as she concentrated completely, the pager in her bag suddenly beeped and vibrated.
Selena twitched, barely remaining on her feet. A glance into an abyss before her made the girl feel dizzy. She wanted to shut her eyes, but was quick to remember balancing with eyes closed is much harder. Even though the sun was burning like crazy, she broke out in a cold sweat. Silver instinctively pushed herself into the wall and froze, waiting for her head to stop spinning.
In half a minute Selena somewhat regained her senses. After a stress like that simply walking the border seemed almost fun. She brought herself to turn her head and saw that there is no more than some pathetic1,5 meters between her and the window she stepped out of. But it feels like an hour has passed, and the distance crossed was greater than between the Earth and the Moon... Though covering a great distance in little time isn't always a good thing – she barely avoided crossing the twenty meters separating her from the ground in mere seconds.
“I'll kill him,” she hissed through gritted teeth. Maybe murder was an overkill, but the girl was quite determined to end any kind of relationship with a person who sent that message, whoever he or she was.
Anger gave her strength. Selena got to the window with relative ease, grabbed the window frame and jumped inside. Before her feet touched the floor, Silver saw that the door of the auditorium was closed.
Selena was furious. She ran up to the door, determined to get out no matter what. Insanity, heart attack – whatever!.. She didn't have time to finish that though – the door yielded with ease, and the girl ran out into the corridor. Surprised, she closed the door and opened it again – there was no fear. Where did the phobia go? Should she have just waited? Oh gosh... Cursing her impatience, Selena put her shoes on and decided to check the damn message.
Well, who else – only Evanford could distract her at the worst moment possible. And, as much as she wanted to, it's impossible to get rid of him right now... Judging by his message, this snob has also tasted the door's magic. She has to find out what's going on – it's not like she could think of anything other than this anyway.
After an adventure like that falling down the stairs would've been a sheer delight, but Silver decide
d not to take any risk. She took an elevator to the first floor and called a cab from a nearest payphone.
