The Fifth: Darkness series

by K. D Rawlingson

  The thing turned left and led me down a gravel path and with each step I took, sharp little stones dug into my feet. I hoped I didn’t have to walk too far on this or my feet were going to be cut to pieces, not that anybody cared.

  I tried to focus on my surrounding for two reasons one; to help take the pain away from my head that was throbbing, my eye that was stinging like fuck and my poor feet being cut to pieces. I could only take small little shuffle steps due to the fact I was tied up and it soon felt like I was walking on glass. Two: because if I ever wanted to escape this place I had to know where I bloody was. The only problem was it was too fucking dark. I was having a hard time focusing on the thing in front of me as it was. I could make out that we were on a pathway with bushes and trees on either side of us, but what lay beyond was a mystery?

  I tried to use my other senses, but the silence of the night wasn't giving anything away. I could pick up the scent of flowers from the bushes I passed but it was mingled with a nasty rotting, decaying smell overlay. I summarised that could be anything, from the monsters both in front and behind me or maybe, the smell from the barn was so bad it had burnt all the hairs from the inside of my nose leaving the smell permanently embedded there.

  Thankfully after a while, the path ended and in front of me sat the biggest Oast House I'd ever seen. Living in Kent meant I would drive past several of these a day. But nothing like this. I didn't know too much about them only, years ago they were used for the drying of hops or something. They were usually made up of one or two circular buildings, with coned roofs. The one I stood looking at now was massive, it had four of the big round roofs with the cowl on top for wind direction. Big rectangle buildings connected each of them giving it a castle-like feel. A few of the windows were lit up and not by candlelight, it looked as if this place had bloody electricity. Whoever was in charge here obviously had a generator or something powering the house. The hellhound-monsters led me to a big wooden door but before any of us had reached it, it swung open.

  On the other side was an old lady. She appeared to be well into her seventies. The poor woman looked like hell. Her face was pale and drawn in, she had big black bags under her eyes. While her actual eyes themselves looked as if, all the life had been drained from her and she was merely operating on autopilot. Her silver short curly hair didn’t look like it had seen a brush in weeks. She was dressed in a grey dress with an apron over the top, the dress seemed to be far too big and the apron was merely on to help to keep it up.

  The poor lady looked to have lost the muscle in her arms so they looked to be thin and frail. The dress itself was not as dirty as the others in the barn but still looked to be creased and smelled bad but again that could still be the monsters or the smell from the barn.

  I couldn’t help wonder what the hell was going on? Why was this poor old lady here? Was she some kind of servant-prisoner too?

  I made my way to the front door as slowly as I could, knowing with every fibre I didn't want to enter that house but also knowing I had no choice. The conversation with Sol in the Glade about me being some all-powerful superhero seemed so very far away at this point.

  With my last few seconds before I walked through the door I wished and prayed that whatever powers I was supposed to have, would spout out my body somehow and save the day but knew full well that with my luck, whoever was upstairs would have taken that precise moment to go for a shit and couldn’t hear a word I’d said.

  Still, I stood in the doorway a second waiting for something, anything to happen. As predicted nothing occurred apart from standing still too long and getting shoved in the back from one of the hellhound-monster things, sending me sprawling to the floor.

  The old lady tsk at the hellhound who had push me, she then helped me backed to my feet and motioned me in with her hands and to follow her all without saying a word. Before she shut the door and left, the old lady turned to the three monsters, nodded her head and surprisingly they turned in the opposite direction and walked away. She shut the door, returned to me and placed her arm around my shoulders and gave them a big squeeze as if giving me a side cuddle, it was stronger than I thought her capable of and even though her bony fingers had dug in a little too hard and it felt a little awkward, she hadn't said a word to me yet, that one small gesture made me feel as if I weren't so alone.

  “My name is Cass” The old lady whispered as she guided me through the house.

  I turned and nodded to her due to the fact I was gagged and still couldn't say anything. I had walked in through one of the round parts of the house and it looked to be very old, it was a considerable size, there were electric lights on which wasn't a surprise as I'd seen that from outside but they were dim and only gave a little light off. No furniture decorated this big room giving no signs away as to who lived here, only four different doors. Still, it looked expensive with its wood floors and big oak doors. All of them were closed but probably led to other places in the house. Cass turned left, opened the second door and continued to lead me down a corridor. It was almost wide enough to drive a car down but looked nothing like the entrance. It was old, dark and dingy. The walls were covered with deep red flowery wallpaper, peeling away in parts. There were chandelier type lights lighting the way but they were covered with big thick webs. I didn't mind spiders but I hated spiderwebs and hated this place even more. My only relief was the floor had turned to tiles and was cool and refreshing on my feet. The tiles were old however and, in some places, had come away leaving jiggered edges I need to watch out for if, my feet slid along one of those sharp edges they would get even more cut up then they already were.

  I was focusing so much on the tiles that I didn’t realise we had reached the end of the corridor and was about to enter another room. The door was open, revealing it to be even more dark and uninviting than the corridor but Cass went through so, I had no choice but to follow.

  Inside was another round room, much smaller than the last but still a fair size. The biggest difference was it was much cooler in here and the moment I stepped through the door I had a déjà vu moment and instantly regretted following her. (Even though I had no choice.)

  Cass pulled a small round candle out of her apron pocket and a lighter, she lit the wick and set it on the floor. Cass turned me around and started undoing the gag around my mouth. The relief I felt around my mouth was indescribable, I wiggled my jaw from left and right allowing the feeling to return to normal.

  I was about to thank Cass but with the added light, I spotted a bare mattress sat to the side. It took me several moments to actually believe what I was staring at. That simple image and the déjà vu I was experiencing, I recognised something very alarming. This was the room from my dream.

  I suddenly knew it with certainty and before panic could envelop me I spun around to make for the door. It was too late somehow, probably while I’d been distracted wiggling my jaw and gawping at a dirty mattress, Cass the little old lady was through and locking it. Leaving me alone with nothing more than a candle, a dingy old mattress and a dream of me being here, listing to Sol screaming and not being able to do fuck all about it. I screamed for her to let me out, to let me go but if anyone heard me they paid no attention.

  So much for me thinking I wasn’t alone or she was nice. No, she might have left me in here but I had a bit of forewarning about upcoming events and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let Sol suffer any more than he had to.

  I picked the candle up and looked around to see if I could find a way out, but as I’d thought it looked pretty impenetrable. I stared at that dreaded door and wondered why I was so afraid to go through it? And didn’t know if I wanted to find out.

  One thing I did know, was in my dream I had heard Sol scream which meant he was still alive now, I could find him. With a wishy-washy plan forming in my mind I strategized that I’d only been in this room a few minutes, I hadn’t heard Sol Scream, I had no chain around my neck and so far, I wasn't afraid to go through that bastard door. Hopefully, that meant I
had enough time to save Sol and get the hell out of here.

  I knew it wasn’t a lot but it was all I had, my head was thumping. My feet throbbing and my eye was in pure agony. I wondered if this was going to heal or was I going to be left all ghastly looking and permanently messed up? Sadly, I had far bigger things to worry about then how pretty I was going to look in the morning. I slumped over to the dirty mattress and laid down, secretly thanking whoever had put it in here because as nasty as it was, at this precise moment it felt far better than sleeping on the cold, hard, floor.

  As I closed my good eye I prayed I would dream of Ryan and Thomas, of that day on the beach, of any day that included them.

  Chapter 17:

  Iwoke in the morning, with a little bit of daylight streaming in through a window high in the roof I hadn't noticed the night before. I felt slightly gutted that the only dream I'd had last night involved water and I could remember nothing but that, still with my face, head and feet feeling a thousand times better I sat up ready to face whatever today had in store for me. I could see out both my eyes which had to be a good sign and also meant there could be no denying that whatever was going on with me I definitely had some healing abilities. Ordinarily, the injuries I had sustain yesterday should have taken days if not weeks to heal. I could talk and even though I didn't have anybody to talk to just being able to move my mouth was fantastic.

  I hadn't really looked at my feet the night before, after being knocked out twice and my face pummelled in, my feet had become the last of my problems but examining them now they looked and felt completely fine. I reached up to touch my face and the swelling from yesterday had gone down. It was slightly sore to touch just under my eye next to my nose but nothing I couldn't handle. I was, however, starving hungry and thought I smelt porridge when, I looked to the door two bowls had been left one filled with a porridge-like substance, the other with brownish water. The water didn't look fresh or particularly clean but it felt like I hadn't had a drink in days so ignoring the colour I drank it greedily. Thankfully it didn't taste as bad as it looked and had to force myself to stop after a few gulps, not knowing when I would next receive any. The bowl next to the water might have smelt like porridge but it was the same colour as the water and when I dipped my finger in, it was cold and as lumpy as stew. I wasn't sure if I was hungry enough to eat the porridge-stew food but licked my fingers to see how bad it really was, thankfully I think my taste buds had gone into survival mode and even though the taste wasn't pleasant, it wasn't dreadful either and I could hold it down. With no utensils to use, I dipped my fingers in a few more times and ate about a quarter of it before my stomach started disagreeing with my taste buds and began rumbling like made. For a good while after I wondered if it was poisoned but when the feeling came that I needed the loo, I knew I was going to live but was in trouble.

  There was no toilet in here, no bucket, nothing. Swearing to myself that I wasn’t going to shit where I slept I tried to hold it in, hoping that Cass would come. After about half an hour with the most hideous stomach cramps I’d ever felt, the feeling wore off and I could concentrate on something other than needing to shit.

  Hours past with not a sound from anyone, no Cass, no Hellhounds. I tried everything I could to try and get the restraints off me but how did one release iron cuffs on your wrists and ankles. I had no tools, no leverage to try and yank them apart and they had been put on tight enough that I couldn’t slip my hands or feet through.

  When escaping the restraints failed, I began pacing the room, shuffling around and around not knowing what to do with myself but equally unable to sit or stand still. In the end, I resorted to just screaming to be let out. Still, no one came. I began to get thirsty, probably from all the shouting but worried about needing the toilet again so, avoided any more food or water. The only thing I had left to do was wait. Wait to die, wait to be tortured, wait to be rescued or wait to escape, either way, everything involved waiting. I had been stuck in this room less than twenty-four hours and it already felt as if time had stopped and I was slowly going insane. The only way to tell that the minutes were actually ticking by was watching the sun through the window high in the cone-shaped roof moving across the sky.

  The room I was in was nothing more than a cell. The floor was made of concrete, the walls were red brick and so was the coned shape roof, there was a window high above with a white wooden frame and four glass panels. It was big enough that I could fit through but far too high to reach. I tried climbing the brick walls but there wasn't enough hand and foot holds and so after repeatedly falling on my arse and getting no further than about half a meter off the floor due to the chains around my hands and feet I gave up and sat there with only my thoughts to keep me company. One that kept popping up was how alone I felt and how ironic it was as most of my life I had chosen to keep to myself, not having many friends and only really letting Sol, Ryan and Thomas see the real me. But stuck in this room, really on my own. I could see all my mistakes I'd made clearly in front of me. All the things I should have done differently and now it was too late. I vowed to myself if I ever got out of this place I wasn't going to be so closed off. That being on your own sucked. I couldn't believe I was thinking it but I missed people, I missed my job and the girls I worked with, I even missed sleazy Barry, my old boss. More than anything I missed Ryan and Thomas and wanted to know where Sol was and if he was ok?

  I thought about Cass and wondered what her deal was. Why was she here? Did she know anything about Sol and his whereabouts?

  All thoughts kept leading me back to Sol, he was all the family I had left and I couldn’t lose him too. I tried not to cry but couldn’t help it, how had my life transpired to this, so quickly? Surely, I could do something?

  The light in the room started to fade and before long I was in complete darkness. I had blown the candle out last night so I could use it again. The thought had occurred that I would have no way to re-light it again as Cass had been the one to do it, although deep down I knew if I had left it alight while I slept, the candle would burn down to nothing and then I would have no candle and no light. Killing the flame last night meant I still had a candle today, all I needed was a lighter and I'd hoped for Cass to come back which she hadn't and now I was feeling the full ramifications. It was pitch black and without the sun's warmth that had stifled me at times today, which was now evaporating fast I was getting cold, as well as that I was starting to get the feeling I needed the toilet again and this time I knew it wasn't going to go away. With that thought, I got up to go bang on the door again, however, my hand stilled when I heard what sounded like a key entering the lock. Edging back the doorknob turned, my next breath became lodged in my throat and I became frozen to the spot for a second unsure what I should do?

  I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as Cass entered the room, still dressed and that awful grey dress and dirty white apron. The light from the corridor spilled in from behind her feeling far brighter than it did the night before.

  "Come, dear," she said "The Master has requested to see you"

  Even though I heard her words I wasn’t really listening as all I could think of was the toilet.

  "Please, Cass" I begged "I really needed the toilet I can't remember the last time I went. Please, can you take me."

  I worried she might think it was some escape plan and even though I'd thought of it, right now all I could think of was going to the toilet and though I hated the thought of it, to help plead my case I quickly added

  “I promise I will be two seconds. I can even leave the door open if you’re worried I will try to escape, Please Cass.”

  “Come dear” She repeated and placed an arm around my shoulder guiding me out the door like she had done the night before only this time in reverse.

  As we walked down the corridor I tried again with a different approach.

  "Cass, I'm "Sadie," I said introducing myself. "I wanted to thank you for taking that gag out my mouth."

  She nodded at me
but didn’t say anything.

  “Do you know where we are?” I asked.

  Again, no reply. With nothing left to lose, I flat out begged

  “Please Cass, I will do whatever you ask, but please take me to the toilet.”

  When she neither answered, or acknowledged me I knew my pleas were falling on deaf ears. I was tempted to just go right there but some sense of dignity prevented me from doing so.

  Shuffling along we reached the door at the end of the corridor and went back to the entry room. I wondered which of the other three doors we were going to enter and who this Master person was she was taking me to. Cass took the one in the middle next to the one we had come out of and it was like entering another house, it was warm and inviting and confused the hell out of me. I had forgotten what a warm cosy house felt like being stuck in that cold, damp room. There was a wooden staircase to the right leading upstairs with beige walls and wooden floors, an open door opposite leading to a beautiful country style kitchen all in creams with a large white marble island at the centre. When she proceeded up the stairs I followed, even though the chain around my ankles made it difficult I made it up without falling or needing help. The stairs opened out into a big open space, it had a Bachelor's pad feel to it. Lots of light wooden beams with furniture in dark contrasting colours, it had the brick walls exposed and a black leather couch at the centre with a guy sat on it.

  The man was not what I expected. He looked like a Greek God, had a dark leather vest on with muscles bulging out the sides, his skin was a golden-brown colour like he had spent the perfect amount of time lazing in the sun, his hair was dark and long, tied in a braid that hung over his shoulder and down his chest. It looked like his trousers were made of the same material as his vest, but it was the moment I caught sight of his eyes that I knew he was no god and I was in deep, deep shit.