Chapter Text
The Archivist and his Detective had not trusted Helen to bring them home. Helen was alright with that, though. In all likelihood, the pair very well could have gotten lost in her twists and turns against her best intentions. Of course, her intentions were certainly not to be described as the best in any respect. It was no skin off of her nose if they were to lose themselves, just two more toys to play with.
So, she took her leave and shut her door behind her, leaving the two in the cold and Helen on her own. Though, she smiled to herself, she was not alone, was she? She’d taken a new pet with her to join the others. This one, though, had interested her. Manuela, she’d been called. It was rare for an avatar to fall into her traps, let alone one of such an elusive power. The dark was something of a mystery to Helen. Her face contorted into a grin of sorts, teeth curling around each other and landing like needles. How fascinating this will be.
She takes a left turn. It leads nowhere, but takes her where she desires. These hallways spin as she demands. If there is nothing there, anything could be behind it, could it not? There’s no way to know. So, she makes it so. Stepping through this door brings her to another hallway. Just as it swings open she catches a blur of black dashing by. A moment too late; or, no. Not too late at all. In fact, this is a treat to Helen. She’s always been a fan of the chase.
Helen does not need to chase. If she chose so, she could simply take the girl. The hallway could come to a dead-end and the doors could lead right back where they began. The Distortion does not just live in the hallways. The hallways live in it. And now, they live in the creature that’s stolen the name Helen. Helen does not take her. Instead, she begins her hunt. Where is the fun in getting everything you want without having to work for it?
She moves swiftly. Her walking is not what gets her from place to place, the doors do. They are all that really exists in here. She begins to pass through doors, each landing her a bit closer to her prey. Once, she catches the woman turning back to see her pursuer and sees a very obvious terror on her face. Good, she thinks. That only makes things more exciting.
Eventually, Helen is tired. Not out of breath, air does not exist her, but bored. Time to get what she desires. She steps through one final door, swinging it open to feel a heavy and blunt impact immediately from the opposite end. Helen looks down to find her prey, now captured, rubbing her head and howling. She stares. The woman screams, going on and on for what could honestly be forever inside the Spiral. But, eventually, it does come to a stop and she is left panting on the floor.
“Well hello there,” Helen extends her hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally catch up with you.”
She does not accept the offer, instead staring up at her captor with a look of seething rage unseen before. “You… you are twisted. What have you done to me?”
Helen laughs a hearty and full chuckle that somehow makes chills run down Manuela’s spine even more so than while being chased. “Yes love, I’m afraid that’s the whole point. Being twisted is a bit of a staple of mine. And, I haven’t done a thing. You ran through my door all on your own.”
She stands up, a wild look in her eyes. “Stop playing games. I’m not joking, and I’m not afraid to make you tell me the truth. Where am I? What are you going to do with me?”
Helen smirks, “Goodness. You are quite the feisty one. Unfortunately, it is simply not in my nature to explain myself, but I can tell you this; you have no power here. You’re mine now, and I can do whatever I please with you.”
“But,” Manuella stammers, taking a step back, “I haven’t… I haven’t done anything! Not to you! I didn’t ask for this!”
Somewhere from within the Spiral, The Distortion feels an echo of a memory. A woman in a pantsuit screaming to be released from the prison of hallways and doors, begging for her innocent life. The Spiral can not feel. The Distortion, on occasion, can. At this moment, it feels pity, among a tidal wave of indiscernible emotions it chooses to disregard.
Helen speaks slowly. “No one who finds themself here asked for it. The Spiral does not ask for permission, it simply takes. I can do nothing to stop that, and even if I had not opened the door, you likely would have found your way into these halls after a time anyway.”
“But, I, you,” she raises a shaking hand to her mouth. “You can’t just keep me here, I want to leave. You can’t do this.”
Again, a pang of deep regret and sadness shines through in Helen’s mind, reminding her of a distant past never lived. “It’s not…” She hated explaining herself. “It’s not up to me when you get out. You’ll have to find the exit yourself. Anyone who gets lost in the Spiral needs to get themself un-lost as well, I can’t undo that.”
Manuela, against all odds, doesn’t cry. Instead, her eyes lose their focus and she stares at the floor with eyes that seem dry and emotionless.
“Are you alright?” Helen inquires.
“Fine,” She responds haltingly. “I’m dizzy.” Helen doesn’t remember how it feels to be dizzy. Manuela sits, sliding down against the wall.
Helen stares for a moment longer before turning her back and beginning to walk away. As she strides along, she calls behind her, “I’d begin looking now. It’s much easier to forget where you came from than to go back.” And with that, Helen enters a door to nowhere.
The next time Helen sees Manuela, she doesn’t know how much time has passed. Time doesn’t exist within the Spiral and even if it did, it wouldn’t make sense to Helen anyway. However, the vaguely human part of her tells her it’s been a while; not very, but enough time for things to change in small ways. She didn’t mean to find her this time. Maybe the Spiral lead her here, deciding it was time for the two to cross paths once more. Manuela had regained her confidence now and she’d her vulnerability. The woman took long strides down the hallway, not even bothering to glance at doors. Her vision was locked forward. That is, until Helen makes herself known.
“Are you feeling any better?” Manuela jolts, almost stumbling over her own feet, and spins around to see the voice. In a way, she seems almost relieved to see that she recognizes the figure and that some new creature hadn’t spawned. Her face quickly hardens, though.
“Well, I’m able to walk, so I suppose that could be considered an improvement,” she says, beginning to walk once again. Helen follows.
“That’s lovely to hear! You seemed quite unwell when we last spoke.”
Manuela gives the creature a sideways glance bordering on a glare. “Yes, I suppose I was. After all, I’d just been tricked into entering an endless maze and chased down by a… whatever you are.”
“Yes, that is a common reaction among those entering the Spiral unfortunately. Pity, it really is quite a lovely home once you get to know it.”
Manuela gives an exasperated huff and quickens her pace. “Are you planning on helping me at all or just harassing me?”
“Quite frankly, I don’t intend to do either. Although, you may want to stop going down the same hallway. You won’t get anywhere.”
Manuela stops, turning to look up at Helen. “It’s a hallway. It has to lead somewhere.”
“No,” Helen shakes her head. “Remember, things aren’t right here. The only way to actually move anywhere is through the doors. Hallways lead nowhere.”
“But that doesn’t,” she breathes through her teeth, “make, sense. That’s not how the world works. That’s not how physics work!”
“We’re not in the world! Physics and science don’t apply here. You won’t get anywhere if you rely too much on them.”
Manuela presses her hands to her face before running through her chin length dark hair. Under her breath, Helen hears her groan, “Fuck,” and sigh sharply.
“You really seem to be struggling here,” Helen observes, “Is there something that could be more accommodating?”
The shorter woman stares at the taller for a moment, incredulous to her ignorance. “Well for one,” She begins, “I’m stuck here. Generally that’s not exactly pleasant.” She pauses to flinch as one of the bright fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling flashes behind the ineffective lampshade. “And that damn light is so bright- ”
Helen snaps her fingers without a moment’s hesitation and all at once, the light bulbs surrounding Manuela shatter. She winches at the sound before opening her eyes and gaining an expression of surprise and relief.
“Oh, um… thank you.”
Helen’s already begun to walk away, waving a hand behind her. “Don’t sweat it. I’ll see you around.” Rearing left, she steps through a yellow door and closes it behind her.
After a tick, Manuela dashes after Helen and into the door, observing the light bulbs shattering one by one as she passes. But when she steps through the yellow door and closes it after her, she sees no trace of her captor. A quick scaling of the hall shows she’s nowhere to be found. Damn it. Following Helen could have led her somewhere, as the woman seemed to have some amount of control over the Spiral. A lead lost. She turns back to the yellow door and steps through… only to find a completely different hallway in its place.
Her groan is impressively extended.
The next time they meet, Manuela finds Helen. It was likely a decision on Helen’s part to even allow her to be in the same hallway, but nonetheless, the scientist gives a small yelp of surprise. Helen looks back at her and turns around, smiling. “Manuela! Hello dear, how nice to see you.” Her toothy grin somehow seems less threatening this time. Does it have kinder intentions this time or is she just... used to it? She thinks about this briefly as she catches her breath.
“Hi, um… actually, I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name. That is if you have one?”
Helen gives a quint chuckle. “Now, that is an interesting question. You may call me Helen if you wish.”
“...Helen.” Manuela raises an eyebrow. “Your name is Helen? Where on earth did you get the name Helen ?”
“Now now,” she tuts, “You’re not the Archivist, don’t get ahead of yourself. If you want answers, you’ll have to work for them.” Manuela’s frustration at being refused an answer is short-lived, having become a bit adjusted to the nature of things here.
“Whatever. I’m actually a little relieved to see you, I need something.”
“You need something from me?” Helen cocks her head in amusement. “Bold, are we?”
“I’ve no reason not to be. Not as if I’ve got anything to lose,” Manuela shrugs. A moment passes in silence.
“What exactly do you need?”
Manuela’s eyes widen, surprised at how… compliant she’s being. Shouldn’t an avatar of an entity like this be a bit more difficult? “I, um,” She stammers, “I need something heavy. And blunt. Something I can easily break things with. An ax, maybe?”
Helen hardens like that, her gaze switching immediately from jovial to hostile and stoic. She steps towards Manuela. “And what exactly will you be using that for?” Did she get taller? Another step forward has the woman backing up in response, gulping. The creature raises a hand- a sharp, long, bony hand. It’s painted nails seem to come to points like razor blades, and looking at them, Manuela knows she does not want those hands anywhere near her. Not while the person wielding them is looking at her like that, anyway.
“You know that any blunt object would do nothing to kill me. This is my home, you have no power to hurt me here. If you so much as consider trying to attack me,” The hand comes closer and Manuela feels her face heat up with fear. She closes her eyes, calling on the darkness for comfort. O' night divine, save me from this- The prayer is interrupted as she feels a piece of her hair be carefully tucked behind her ear, the nail moving it never so much as brushing the skin. She opens her eyes to find Helen staring over her, towering. “You will certainly come to regret it.”
She swallows once more before speaking in her steadiest tone. “I don’t intend to hurt you. I need to use something to get out of here. You seem to have no incentive to keep me here, so I figured you might have the graces to help me escape. I have an idea.” A moment of intense eye contact lingers between to two before Helen steps away, lowering her claws.
“I see. I apologize for my outburst, that was…” From somewhere deep within her, guilt comes flowing again, flooding her with remorse over her actions. “That was inappropriate. I suppose it’s only fair of me to help you now, as compensation. When Manuela blinks, she starts to find a door's presence where there’d before been an empty space. It’s painfully bright and she has to look away from it. Helen begins making her way towards it but stops to speak with Manuela.
“I will be back. Feel free to roam about while you wait, I can easily find you. I shouldn’t be too long.”
She nods in response, which Helen smiles at. Then, she opens the door and steps through, leaving it ajar. Through the frame, Manuela can see an alleyway leading through to a busy street corner and the light of day. There are people . She gawks at it in awe before realizing this is her chance. She rushes forward, reaching out an arm- and being hit with glass. She falls backward. Her forearm had directly rammed into it and would surely be left with a nasty bruise. But Helen had just crossed through, how is that possible?
She approaches the door to examine it once again. Looking closer, she realizes that nothing beyond it is quite right. The shapes are warped and distorted like a funhouse mirror, rippling wherever she runs her fingers along the glass. No, not glass. It might feel like it, but she gets the feeling this glass isn’t breakable.
“Helen was telling the truth,” she quietly muses.
She stands at the door for a bit longer, waving and yelling to people in the street passing by. Of course, they don’t see her. One person does, however, notice the presence in the alley. When she notices their puzzled look she’s at first ecstatic, believing that she’s been spotted. But when the man gets nearer, she notices he’s not quite looking at her , only the door around her. She even notices him examining what looks to be the space behind her, as if looking through her. Of course, when he steps forward, she realizes that is most likely the case. His stepping forward through the frame does not place him alongside her. Instead, he seems to just disappear. One moment he was there, but the doorway appeared to take him not through to her, but a completely separate location. This shakes her. Where did he go? Is he stuck here too? Deciding there’s no point in waiting around, she leaves. The door will not be an exit for her, so she might as well keep working at finding a new one.
Helen finds her sometime later. Having no way of knowing how fast time is passing if at all, Manuela can’t tell quite how long. Nevertheless, seeing her again is strangely relieving. The door manifests itself in a blink as Helen passes through, holding an ax in her left hand. She closes it behind her and turns to the woman, a kindly smile on her face. It’s not threatening this time- no, not quite. Her grin is hesitant and wary, especially as she passes the weapon to Manuela.
Feeling the weight in her hand, she does consider swinging the blade at the creature. Because that’s all she is, right? A creature. She could have been lying, maybe she can be killed. But, she remembers the door. Helen had told the truth and even gone so far as to help her escape this maze. Despite herself, she feels some compassion for her.
No, she won’t try to hurt Helen. It just seems like a cruel thing to do with no real payoff. Make no mistake, Manuela is not a compassionate woman, not usually. But she tries her best to only inflict her cruelty upon those who give her no benefit. To harm Helen felt superfluous and unnecessary. Besides, she’d be destroying her last bit of company. She looks up, smiling genuinely for the first time in who knows how long.
“Thank you, Helen.”
Helen smiles back, her tentative grimace widening into a grin. Her too sharp teeth are strangely endearing.
“I’ll consider this a sufficient apology, then. Now, what exactly is your plan?”