“We can’t go in there.” Ingrid’s voice shook, betraying her fear.
“What if someone is hurt? We may be able to help them. I say we go in and find out where the blood is coming from,” Stein suggested.
“No, based on that,” Harlee pointed to the thick, red liquid, “we’re already too late to help whoever or whatever got hurt. I’m with Ingrid on this. I want to keep my shoes and clothes clean. I haven’t felt this clean since that crazy bath at fake Freya’s house. I know that may sound insensitive, but since Ingrid is still in a virtual reality body, maybe that blood is fake.”
“I’m with Stein on this. We need to see if we can help anyone in there. Babe, we can’t turn our back on an injured person.” Brian looked determined.
Ingrid had a sinking feeling about it and wondered how this part of her story played out. If she could only recall what she had typed on the story transporter, then she could tell her friends what they were going to face in this strange tree tower.
Ingrid stalled time. “It’s two against two. When the vote is tied, what do we do?”
“Why don’t Bjør – I mean Brian and I go in and you girls stay out here. If we need you, we’ll shout for help.”
Harlee shook her head. “I don’t like it, not at all. You can’t shout if you’re dead. How can you combat whatever created such an injury without your axes? You know if we go in there, we’re like those dumb people in the horror movies who always go towards danger instead of run away from it.”
Stein ignored Harlee and Ingrid’s warnings. He started to pick the lock as Brian stood right behind him, blocking the view from the girls. As he opened the door, the black threads hung all around, just like the previous floor, but there were some unfamiliar noises. Ingrid thought she heard a howl, like that of the wolf they had escaped from in the forest. The source of the blood wasn’t obvious, but Ingrid didn’t want to find it.
Harlee began to follow the boys, and Ingrid didn’t want to be left behind, so she walked closely with her friend. Their boots were glopping in the mess on the floor as they followed the path where the blood was coming from.
“Is there anyone here? Do you need help?” Brian called out.
They waited for an answer, but none came.
“Is anyone hurt? Where is all this blood coming from?” Stein yelled out to the black abyss.
Again, silence met them. There was more of a path for them to navigate through without touching the Web that dangled from the walls and ceiling, but that still didn’t convince Ingrid it was a good idea. She may have not remembered what she wrote in the story transporter, but she did remember her childhood nightmares – this was eerily close to what she had imagined.
“Let’s go back. It’s obvious no one is here or no one is alive.” Ingrid was fighting the bile brewing in the back of her throat at the sight of so much blood.
“If the person was injured enough to be unconscious, they won’t be able to respond,” Stein contradicted her.
Ingrid didn’t want to see this supposed hurt person that had lost so much blood. She suspected it was several people because of the volume, but human biology wasn’t her specialty. She didn’t know how much of the red fluid flowed through a person.
If a person was drained completely of their blood, how many pints would that be? Ingrid chided herself for asking such a question that only managed to make her sicker.
The electricity seemed to be turned off on this floor but there were some kind of backup lights, though they barely illuminated the corridor since the Web had almost covered them. Still the four friends managed to find their way across the tile floor. When they reached the main hallway, the source of the gore was revealed.
Chapter 18
The wolf from the forest had been beheaded, and all its blood was causing the mess they had stumbled upon. Whoever or whatever decapitated the creature could be nearby, and Ingrid felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. After seeing the carnage, Ingrid had to look away before her stomach’s content added to the crimson flooding the floor.
“I thought that beast was part of the virtual world. Was Harlee right about us still being partially in in the story transporter?” Ingrid asked.
“I have been known to be right sometimes,” Harlee added.
“Guys, I think we need to get out of here. Whatever killed that beast could be lurking around here, waiting to behead us,” Brian cautioned.
“At least now you know it isn’t another person who needs saving. How did that wolf get in here?” Ingrid mused.
The group turned around and headed back to the staircase to go up to another level of the building. Stein made sure the door was tightly closed, though it appeared to lock from the inside so no one could get in there; if the creature that beheaded the wolf had hands, it could exit that level of the tower.
“I think Harlee’s theory has just been proven to be correct. Since Ingrid is still in her virtual body, we are somehow seeing the story she wrote. I doubt anything in Tuntre could have escaped and – wait a minute. We escaped Tuntre before we woke up our bodies. Maybe virtual people and creatures can make it into the real world from the story transporter.”
“If this is the real world, then where exactly are we? We went from a village with a very large tree in the center to the inside of that tree that looked like some kind of science lab where we were the experiments. Now we’re climbing up that very large tree, and we have yet to find anything normal from that real world where we actually lived before this crazy journey began.” Brian sighed heavily.
“Yeah, obviously something funky is happening. Not only was Zoey’s body not with the rest of ours, but all of us managed to go back to our true selves, but Ingrid hasn’t gone back to being Zoey. I mean she is Zoey, but well she has that spider-web scar and the strange clothes.”
Ingrid suddenly felt self-conscious at Harlee’s mention of her scar. She had forgotten about it after all the other terrors they had to face. She was always the ugly one of the group, but the scar made her even uglier. She was surrounded by beautiful people and they all could die because of her. She decided to focus on moving forward and not on what had caused them to all be there in the first place.
“Let’s keep hiking upward. We know the answers aren’t where we came from. Maybe they will be where we are going.” Ingrid suggested.
The group nodded and began the steady climb upwards. Since their shoes had been stepping in the beast’s blood, they left footprints as they climbed to the next door. Ingrid wanted to be rid of the smell and stickiness, so she tried to wipe her feet on the edge of the stairs to scrape some of it off. The others followed her lead and did the same thing.
After several more flights, they reached another door. Stein picked the lock and slowly opened it. Ingrid was relieved nothing gross was seeping out from under the doorway, and she had a small glimmer of hope that they would soon be out from the underground world. She assumed Tuntre and the Yggdrasil were located in some deeply buried bunker because they had yet to see any kind of natural light. Then she chided herself on that assumption because it was all just a make-believe place and it wasn’t really located anywhere but in a magical story come to life.
The current floor they were on was well lit and no web-like tentacles invaded the space. It seemed to be more like a hospital wing than part of the tower they had been climbing. The walls were painted light yellow and the floor was the same white tiles as the previous blood-soaked one they had left.
“Let’s go see if there are any people or windows. I’m curious about something.” Ingrid suggested.
“We’re probably thinking the same thing. I was just about ready to suggest looking for a way to see outside. Do you suppose we’ve been under ground this whole time? I mean did you create Tuntre to be underneath the real world?” Stein asked.
“I wish I could remember, but I can’t. The more I think about it I believe this place is probably real since it had all those sleeping people at the bottom of the tower.
Loki probably had to find a hidden location to trap all of us in for his virtual reality experiment,” Ingrid suggested.
“Yes, but how are the virtual and real worlds colliding?” Stein asked quietly, like he was talking to himself more than the group. Then he continued louder, “It doesn’t matter, we need to keep moving up until an answer reveals itself.”
As they explored the next tier of floors in the tower, they found rooms that were similar to a hospital with multiple rooms simply decorated, but the beds weren’t the kind that reclined and there wasn’t any equipment used for patients. It was a sterile environment and a huge mystery.
“What is this place?” Brian asked.
Before anyone could even make a suggestion, a strange sound came from the hallway opposite of them. Ingrid feared what it could be, since the noise was familiar. She turned to see a giant spider move towards them. It looked like the one they had run away from in the forest, but how or why was it there?
“Run for the door!” Stein screamed.
No one hesitated as they went back the way they had come. The spider sliced through walls and had blood on its hairy legs. Ingrid wondered if it was the creature that had killed the wolf. It could have slashed its way up to reach this level.
As they shut the door to the stairway, one of the spider’s legs got caught in it, and a crunching sound – along with a strange screech of pain – was heard from the monster. Knowing that the spider’s pinchers were sharp enough to cut through walls, the group ran as fast as they could up the stairs to put distance between them and the arachnid.
They didn’t stop at the next door they found, but continued to go higher into the fake tree tower. Breathing heavily and slowing down with each step, it was clear the group had exerted most of the energy. Their steps were laborious and noisier than before.
“Eventually this has to lead to outside. We need to stop wasting time on floors where potential beasts are waiting to kill us,” Brian managed to say between breaths.
“I agree. I wonder if that thing could go down and kill those people we left from Tuntre? Maybe we should have tried to kill it. I don’t know if I can live with myself if I let a bunch of people die,” Stein said with worry in his voice.
“It’s selfless of you to worry about those people, but currently, I’m just thinking about how we can get the heck out of here. Maybe if we survive this ordeal and destroy the computer that created all this stuff, those people will automatically go back to their normal lives. Either way, if we’re dead, there’s no way we can help anyone,” Harlee puffed out in-between gasps.
“I agree with Harlee. We’re no good to those people if we die.” Ingrid said, now more out-of-breath than anyone else.
They continued to climb, but slowed their pace, since they didn’t hear the injured spider ascending their direction. Perhaps it was injured enough to retreat. At least that was what Ingrid was hoping for as she felt the burn in her lungs and legs.
“We really should have looked for an elevator. A place with this many stairs must have an elevator. I swear if someone were to make a movie out of this experience, the people watching would be cussing us out at some of our stupidity,” Harlee complained.
“Who would play me in the movie – someone ruggedly handsome?” Brian chuckled a little and then suggested, “Maybe at the next door we come to, we should look to see if that floor has a lift to take us the rest of the way up.”
“I don’t want to say it, but I have to. What if the snake is there? Don’t you find it odd that every beast we encountered on our journey through the Beyond is showing up here? I don’t think I wrote about this part of our journey unless – ”
“Unless what?” Stein looked Ingrid in the eyes.
“Unless we’re already trapped in the story transporter. Remember when you wanted to hurry up and get out of Tuntre because you said something about needing to leave before it is too late. You never explained what it would be too late for, but were you worried about us being stuck in this virtual reality world forever?”
“Yes, that was what I was going to explain. The story transporter was never meant to be used for long periods of time. The inventor was worried people would forget reality and become stuck in fiction. I don’t think anyone ever tested his theory.”
“Frey – I don’t know why I keep using that expression. Anyway, are you saying we can’t leave and all those beasties we encountered in the Beyond will just keep recycling in Zoey’s warped story?” Hilde gasped.
“I don’t know, but the only way to find out is to keep trying to escape. I say we either go to the next available room to search for an elevator or continue climbing up these stairs.” Stein swallowed hard and looked for confirmation from everyone.
“I agree with you, but I suggest we keep going upwards until we can’t go any farther. Each floor may have a new monster waiting to kill us and I doubt it will be easy to find an elevator.” Ingrid felt her negative nature winning.
“The problem is that we may need to rest and get more water. One of these floors probably has water, or maybe even beds. Perhaps we should risk it. After all, I don’t see an end to this staircase; it could go on for hours, and we all are losing our stamina already. Now would have been a good time for you to imagine a waterfall or unicorn if that would work.” Stein winked at Ingrid.
After Ingrid recovered from the way Stein’s wink made her feel she realized he was correct; she felt exhausted beyond anything she had ever experienced before, and the only thing helping her continue was adrenaline. But she didn’t want to be caught in that narrow spiral staircase when the next monster decided to pop out of its hiding place. And beyond that, she instinctively felt there were more waiting for them. She just didn’t know where.
“I don’t think we will be safe until we get out of this place. I’m probably the weakest of the group, and if I can push forward, you all should be able to,” Ingrid said.
Stein gave Ingrid a weak smile and then spontaneously kissed her on the lips. “I just had to do that. I didn’t want Brian and Harlee to have all the fun, and besides, we have done that before.”
Ingrid enjoyed the feeling his lips gave her. It was ten times better than his flirtatious wink. In the midst of the worst time of her life, he managed to make her feel euphoric. She knew she could trudge on being energized by his support.
“If Ingrid can keep moving then we all can, right guys?” Stein said as he looked at Brian and Harlee.
Harlee gave Ingrid a huge grin, still reacting to the kiss, as they both nodded their heads. The group continued to slog upward at a slower pace than before. To save on their energy, no one spoke. Ingrid had no idea how much time had passed. Even though her friends had gotten back their modern day attire and bodies, none of them had watches. She guessed most of them relied on smartphones to tell the time, but they didn’t have anything from their previous life except for the clothes on their backs.
They passed at least four more closed doors, but each time, they all voted to not enter the floors. They had all opted to avoid any more potentially dangerous places even if it meant more stairs. They decided to learn from the previous experiences of monsters awaiting them behind the smooth gray doors. Harlee had even complimented their unanimous decision to avoid being like the stupid people in horror movies who always went towards danger even after being fooled several times.
They finally reached the end; all that was left was a single door and the ceiling above them. The four friends sat down to catch their breath on the landing, which was barely big enough for Stein and Brian to sit with their legs in front of them. Stein had his back against the wall and Brian was resting against the door. The boy’s feet touched while the girls sat in between the boy’s legs. Everyone was weak and afraid to admit how scared they all were to enter the last door. They sat there for a long time before anyone dared speak about what they had to do next.
“We’re only putting off the inevitable. Are you all ready to see what is waiting for us through that doo
r?” Stein asked.
“No, but then we didn’t think we were ready to fight dangerous creatures either,” Brian replied.
Stein stood up and began to pick the lock. Brian stood behind him with his fist clenched, as if he was going to use brute strength against potential monsters awaiting them on the other side. Harlee cowered behind Brian, and Ingrid did the same behind Harlee. They looked like a group of teens in one of those horror movies Harlee kept talking about – ready to enter the tool shed of an axe murderer, instead of fleeing for their lives.
As Stein opened the door, they were faced with something unexpected. Zoey sat unconscious in a chair that was similar to the ones that were at the bottom of the tree tower. The room was empty, except for Zoey – and Loki. The wires that were connected to Zoey looked more like the black threads of the Web than the colorful ones that Harlee and the others took off themselves when they woke up from the virtual world. Loki was sitting at a nearby desk with what looked like a computer, but Ingrid assumed it was the story transporter that Stein had talked about.
“Ah, brother, I see you found me despite all the obstacles I put in your way.” Loki’s voice had a malicious sound to it.
“What have you done with Zoey?” Panic rose in Stein’s voice.
“It was more of a team effort. All the black stuff coming out of her and into Tuntre was all her creation. The beasties were mine, but her fears made them so easy to produce,” Loki chuckled.
“How is this even possible?” Stein asked.
Stein stood near Zoey with a freaked-out expression on his face. Ingrid hovered near Stein; she didn’t know how she felt facing her true self in such a horrid state.
“Stein, you never were one for taking advantage of all the brilliant stuff Valhalla had to offer. You were so busy studying for your next exam and trying to make me behave that you never had any fun. I will admit, I didn’t expect the story transporter to leak into reality or that any of you would wake up while in the virtual reality state of mind, but I’ve adapted.”
The Web of Loki Page 14
