by Nelly Asher
***
In the corridor, something caught Evanford's eye. He blinked a couple of times in disbelief, but it looked like his eyes weren't lying – Selena did cast a slight shadow, something he has never seen here before. Kevin turned back and saw that he also has a shadow, even more blurry. He waved his hand, and the shadow repeated the gesture. Calculating the angle of light incidence, Evanford realized that Gelia is the only possible source. Gold herself didn't cast a shadow, and didn't glow either. He had already put up with the fact that anything is possible in the Pocket, but decided to verify his guess anyway. He was watching Silver's shadow change as she moved. Then Gelia stopped before some door, and Selena stepped closer to her. Shadow became way more distinct. The girl turned and raised her eyebrows:
“Hey, what's up with you?” Silver was surprised to see him looking somewhere at the lower half of her body.
“I don't remember seeing shadows here before,” he pointed at the floor. “It seems that Gelia is the one casting the light.”
“Well of course! And not some lame reflected light at that,” Gold tossed her head proudly, glancing at her double.
“Yes, you're a real sun in place where stars don't shine,” Silver said through her teeth and turned to Kevin: “Isn't this your license plate?”
Evanford finally raised his gaze and saw familiar numbers. Indeed, his license plate was hanging on the door. Looks authentic, not a phantom or a replica... He touched the plate, and it suddenly fell right into his arms.
“That's a good sign,” Gelia said.
“It's just a regular one,” Kevin said, examining the plate.
“No, I mean you didn't even enter and you've already picked an object! In the Pocket, you can make anything from anything, but you can only carry out the things that got here from the big world. That's a rule that can't be broken,” Gold crinkled her nose. “Anyway, we'd better come in – we'll probably get more stuff in there.”
“Or we'll get our asses kicked,” Selena muttered, but she didn't have a better alternative. She entered, instinctively trying to stay close to Evanford.
Behind the door, there was a narrow passage, dimly lit and compeletely metal, with large rusty spots. There were gratings in the walls with fans slowly spinning behind them, but air didn't seem to flow at all. Holding their breath, trio moved forward. The surroundings made even Gelia nervous – at least she cut her chatter and looked concentrated. Kevin noticed some brown spots on the floor – they were darker than rust and had a more distinct shape. In a few steps he saw more spots like that, and some weird streaks on the walls. Evanford decided not to draw the girls' attention to them.
Suddenly they heard a gritting sound followed by something heavy being dragged on the floor. Everybody froze, straining their ears. In a few meters before them the passage forked, and the sounds seemed to come from the left. Gold cautiously looked around the corner:
“It's clear. Which way do we go?” she grinned, seeing the expressions on their faces. “Ok, let's turn right.”
Squeezing the plate in his hands so hard that fingers started to hurt, Keving was thinking what he would've done had she turned left. Most probably would've followed anyway... It's sad to admit, but he was too nerve-wracked to think clearly. And that is wrong.
They passed a few more turns and walked a long the corridor for a couple of minutes already. It seemed to stretch with every step. Dozens of useless fans were spinning behind the gratings in the walls. Their movement was nauseating, it made them desperatly wish for a breath of fresh air. Kevin waved with the license plate near his face, creating a slight wind, then did the same to Selena. The girl looked at him gratefully. She seemed even more pale than usual. Eventually the passage ended with a turn. After a long and dull period of walking Silver and Evanford's attention somewhat deadened, so what they saw came as even more of a shock.
The very first grating behind the corner was wrenched apart, with some creature's tentacles sticking out of it – thick and so long that they could've reached the opposite wall. When trio appeared, tentacles jerked and started wriggling, some of them stretched out towards people. But the next moment, for no apparent reason, they were pulled back into the opening, leaving stains of green and purple mucus on the walls. Gelia waited a bit and calmly walked forward, passed the grating and turned to her compations. Kevin and Selena were numbly staring at the place where tentacles were.
“Uh, come on!” Gold waved her hand. “Don't be scared, it won't crawl out, and even if it will, it'll do it very slowly. Would you rather turn back or what?”
Passage behind them seemed almost endless. Walking it again would be like descending to the center of the Earth, into obscrure, dark caves one can never get out from... Selena dashed forward, stopping in five meters after the grating. Kevin didn't run, he even glanced into the opening while walking past it. It was pitch black inside, but Evanford just sensed something moving in there.
This segment of the passage was short, and Selena was standing not far from the next turn. Unhealthy curiosity overcame the fear, and she looked behind the corner. Silver froze, seeing a puddle of crimson liquid on the floor. Walls nearby were spattered from top to bottom, there were even spots on the ceiling. Meanwhile, Gelia quietly approached and slighly pushed her twin's shoulder with the gunhand. Selena shrieked and kicked her to the floor with a fast move, without even realizing what she does – it was the body memory.
“You're a psycho,” Gold muttered, rising to her feet.
“Don't you ever touch me,” Silver hissed.
“You know better than anyone: telling not to do something is of no use,” her lips quivered in a half-smile. It seemed that even despite ending up on the floor, Gelia enjoyed that she managed to freak her double out. The girl easily jumped over the puddle and moved on. Kevin walked around the puddle, doing his best not to touch the walls. In a few steps he felt something was off and turned around. His companion didn't make a single step.
“Selena?” he called.
“I'm not going anywhere,” her voice was trembling, but still sounded quite determined.
“Uhh, we've just mentioned this thing with 'not's,” Gelia grumbled. “You will not go? And what will you 'yes' do? Will you remain standing over that puddle forever? Will you turn back? Alone? Don't waste my ti...”
“I'm going back,” the girl said firmly. “I'll find a way out into the corridor and try some other door. I don't know it there will be something better... But at least there were no puddles like that before we met you.”
“Whatever rocks your boat,” Gold shrugged and turned to Evanford: “Are you coming?”
He stood still, shifting his gaze from one twin to another. Frowning, Gelia came close to him and said quietly:
“Do you still have doubts? We are the same – why do you care who you're hanging out with? How is she better than me? I'm way more bright and brave than she is! And I have an idea of what's going on in there! You like logical thinking, isn't the choice obvious here?”
“First of all, she has the book and the key. Besides, I know her, and I can't say the same about you,” Evanford moved away and stepped towards Selena.
“No, ok, wait!” Gelia shouted. “Didn't you still get how everything works here? You can only move forward! You'll never come back the same way! Believe me,” she sounded serious. For a few seconds twins were staring at each other without blinking. Finally, Selena spoke:
“Maybe so. But we're not your tail to be dragged around everywhere. You think that we won't be getting anywhere no matter what crap you say or do. I don't like it,” she looked at Gold from under her brows.
“I don't care,” Gelia shrugged. “If it bugs you so much, be a guide yourself. Next time, you say which way to turn. But first we have to move.”
Still sullen, without saying a word Selena walked around the puddle and further down the passage. Gold's invisible light now was behind her back, and a blurry shadow was sliding before her like a ghost. That was getting on her nerves,
so the girl quickened her pace to leave the double behind and get rid of the shadow. It was turning more and more transparent, but, as if out of spite, didn't vanish completely. Concentrated on the floor under her feet, Selena even forgot about the danger and didn't notice anything around. Passage made another turn, and Silver almost turned the corner, but suddenly some creature flew out towards her. Almost hitting her chest, it made a circle around and flew on. Frightened, she turned and saw the creature hovering in front of Kevin.
Evanford froze, seeing something shaggy right before his face. Almost ball-shaped, covered in tousled fur. Transparent, fly-like wings were flickering behind his back, but for some reason didn't make any sound. There were six legs under the belly, very thin and feeble. They dangled lifelessly, but the small chelas on their ends were making rapid gripping movements. But the scariest, though not the most exotic element of the creature were its eyes. Real, dark gray human eyes without eyelids, which made them look goggled, but with thick brows hanging over the eyeballs. That gave it an even more sinister look.
For a few seconds a furry ball and a human were looking at each other. Then the small beast frowned even more and swooped at Kevin. Evanford instinctively recoiled and hit the creature with a license plate. It felt like he was hitting a heavy soft ball. Creature flew back a couple of meters. At first glance it didn't seem to take damage, but it wasn't moving as smoothly as before.
Kevin held the plate at the ready, waiting for another attack, but the shaggy ball didn't even approach. It flew down the passage, back where they came from. Legs with neurotically clicking chelas were blowing about under its belly, like hair. It seemed to fly backwards, so that its eyes were fixed at Evanford and were piercing him with their gaze until the monster disappeared behind the corner.
“I see that you like this fluffy cutie,” Gelia remarked, turning to her twin. “Are you googling like that to look more like him? Copying others is a bad habit, you'd better find your own style.”
“Oh damn,” Selena exhaled. “What the... Though no, I don't even want to know what it was!” unable to stand still, she started pacing back and forth. “How many other monsters are there? And you're going to go there, Kevin? Well I'd rather...”
She cut her words short, accidentally glancing behind the corner. In a few meters, the passage divided into three, and right in the middle of the intersection there was a revolver lying on the floor. Selena cautiously approached, trying to figure out her feelings. This might be a trap... But for some reason it seemed that the gun won't hurt her. Still not daring to grab it, Selena leaned down and saw an engraving: “Smith & Wesson”. Series H-32.
“Yeah, sometimes you have to look your fear in the eye,” Gelia friendly slapped Kevin's shoulder and whispered: “It flew to you because you had something to protect yourself with. Don't worry. This place doesn't put you through bigger trials than you can theoretically endure. Of course, in practice anything could happen...”
“Why is it lying right on the floor?” Silver spoke.
“And what is it supposed to do? Hover in the air? Maybe also spin?” Gelia asked dryly. Only after turning the corner Evanford realized what they're talking about. But Gold replied even before she actually saw the gun...
After some hesitation Selena picked up the revolver. She never held a weapon before... Or rather didn't remember if she did – it's already obvious that memory shouldn't be trusted. But the feelings were familiar. Weight of the revolver in her hand was reassuring. The girl aimed at the nearest fan, sensing the fear of this place and its monsters slowly turning into curiosity. With a habitual movement, Selena pushed out the cylinder – there were five live cartridges and one with a punctured cap.
“One is spent,” she spinned the cylinder and pushed it back in.
“Is this all you can say?” Evanford frowned. He recalled her words about wishing to have a gun. If she'll get it, especially in circumstances like that, it's unclear who will suffer more damage. “Are you sure you should pick up the things that are so blatantly planted before you?”
“And what do I do? There are tentacles creeping around, some hideous bugs – do you think it's wise to stay unarmed?” the girl answered indignantly. It was hard to argue with that. Kevin himself didn't quite regain his mental balance after the creature's attack. And it wasn't even about the fact that the monster attacked him – its appearance itself was deeply disturbing. Googled eyes, shaggy body, chelas – it seemed like he saw something like that in nightmares. But when?
“So, which way are you going to lead us?” asked Gold without a hint of irony. Selena confidently pointed to the right with the revolver's barrel. For a brief moment, the blonde bent her lips in a smile of superiority. Now Evanford was certain: Gelia manipulates her double, and everything unfolds just the way she wants. But what's her agenda? He could only make guesses, but Kevin felt from the very beginning that the interests of their new acquaintance don't match their own.
Silver walked forward, glancing at the fans. Arm with the revolver was lowered, but hand was squeezing the handle nervously. Silver wasn't actually sure what she will do if a monster suddenly jumps out, will she manage to react and shoot quick enough. In either case, the gun made her feel way calmer. But, even thought there were many suspicious spots on the wall, nobody was attacking.
They passed a few more turns and forks. Selena was choosing the direction without thinking over it, just listened to her gut at the moment. Turning yet another corner and suddenly seeing a door before her, Silver immediately opened it and stepped outside.
