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Consciousness came to them slowly. First, it came as a faint and dull ringing in their ear, making the sounds around them muffled as if hearing them through water. There wasn’t much to hear, just the echoes of blood thrumming around their ears as their head lulled to the side.
Next came their sight, which started as faint blurry blobs floating in a sea of black. In their vision, the blurs moved and danced without ever changing positions, as if stationary lights between disturbed waves. They tried to get their vision and hearing under control, yet their senses evaded them for longer, skipping out of reach as if tripped by sluggish bogs.
Then their smell met their nose which gave a delayed reaction of a weak crinkle. It didn’t come across as the worst smell in the world but being welcomed back to the world of the living with something like that entering their nose certainly wasn’t the best way to wake up. The smell of smoke filled their nostrils, causing their already disoriented mind to nearly fall over themselves again in confusion.
How did they end up here? Where was here, anyway? With their mind so scattered, it was so hard to think back to what happened before unconsciousness overtook them.
Whatever happened, it certainly didn’t bode them anything well. The moment situational awareness began to settle in, did the feeling of uneasiness overtake them. Something had to be terribly off about this room because even if they couldn’t see anything yet, the hairs on the back of their neck rose uncomfortably.
They needed to get themselves under control. With more willpower put into moving, they tried to blink the sleep away from their eyes to survey the room around them and lift their head up. Both of those exceedingly simple actions felt as if they had lead attached to them to keep them down forever. No, they couldn’t let themselves go in an environment such as this.
Mustering up more of their energy to finally raise their head up, they finally managed to do so. Now that had been done, they tried to hurriedly blink their eyes open and with each blink, they found the room around them growing with more and more clarity.
The swimming in their ears began to become more defined, now instead of far distant noises, a loud tick-tock flooded the air around them, reverberating them to their very core. Each second that passed sounded like a canon shot in their aching head, making them wince.
A large grandfather clock stood tall across the table and against the wall, the glimmering face capturing the flickering orange light from around. On either side of it, bookshelves sprouted from the ground, all packed to the brim with novels and any books of the like. There were still some gaps, but those were too filled in by smaller clocks that displayed an identical time. All of their ticks were drowned out by that of the main in the center.
Though something sat in front of them that their gaze immediately snapped to. It demanded much more attention than the other odds and ends of the room, even the spacious yet cluttered desk in front of them.
Somebody sat there, facing them head-on with a face mostly obscured by smoke. It curled around the person, snaking around hair and a set of antlers sprouting from a head of golden and black hair. The smoke acted like ink in water, slowly meandering its way from the end of a long stick to gently float in front of piercing yellow eyes.
They stared back, realizing that this entire time, they have been watched by a stranger. No, it was coming back to them now. An aggressor and captor. They had been minding their own business before the person in front of them ambushed them and took them out of a fight faster than they ever thought possible.
The situation was worse than they ever thought and they needed to get out of there. Without too much effort, their arms moved up and hands grabbed at the table to help them get to still unsteady feet, though before they could push themselves upwards, the eyes behind the smoke blinked once and the glowing pupils constricted.
“Ah, you’re awake! Hello! Please, stay seated, won’t you? It would be rude as a guest to leave so soon.”
The rack of antlers swung to the side as the thing across the table regarded them with a straighter back. Still acting as if it floated in a pool of water, the smoke stretched and thinned, moving slowly through the air and following the blackened hair like a ghostly shadow. The disruption gave detail to obscured scars, marring a grinning face that looked as if it forgot how to smile properly.
Hands tightened on the table as every instinct of theirs told them to ignore the voice from the creature that put on the face of a man and instead run away. Every single instinct of theirs told them this was wrong, that if they stayed another moment then it’ll be too late. The way those eyes pierced them, they knew that now they’d never be able to make it to the door in time.
“Come on, why don’t you entertain me just a little? I took the time to invite you all the way out here, so why not indulge me in a game or a drink?”
The thing leaned forward slightly in the seat across, balancing the long cigarette holder between thin fingers. Smoke hissed through teeth, clinging onto every syllable and floating lazily through the air.
Not knowing whether or not it was fear or something else that froze them into place and concede, they nodded and sunk back into the chair that felt too uncomfortable. They felt a cushion, though it was too hard to barely make a dent into. It added to the discomfort.
“Heh, you’re pretty quiet. I didn’t think I knocked you over the head that hard. And it’s quite a shame for you to hear that I do need you to talk to me. So what will it be? A game or some tea? Perhaps both?”
Any option presented didn’t sit well with them at all. The reputation of this creature was common knowledge, and all either feared or hated his very existence and knew it to be bad news to step in the path of this individual. Most of those who went toe to toe with him ended up in a body bag not long after, though most times those were left to rot where they died. Sometimes, there were no discerning features left.
And anyone who was unfortunate enough to be sentenced to this unfindable place never reemerged. Even the rumor of a place such as this getting leaked was a miracle, as who survived to tell the tale?
Fingernails tapped impatiently against the wooden desk between the two and they slid back to focusing on a now impatient expression of the thing in front of them. Animalistic ears pinned back against unruly hair, framing one of the only human features remaining of the hybrid. Yellow eyes narrowed as more charcoal smoke blew past scarred lips.
“Time’s wasting you know,” the creature said, “Or can’t you hear the clocks from overhead? I may be a patient man, but my hospitality only extends so far. You wouldn’t like to do this the hard way, right? Let me make it easier for you and we’ll start a game.”
With a free hand, white and gold-trimmed silk swept across the table, dissipating smoke in its wake. Now looking down, they saw a grid of light and dark squares painted into the table itself, permanently fixed to the surface. Scuffs and marks littered the chessboard, showing that it had been well-loved and well-used.
Through their growing worry, they failed to realize the lack of pieces on the table. Immediately, they started back up at the taller of the two, who towered above in an ornately carved seat.
“My last visitor wasn’t a big fan of chess. Instead of trying to play an actual civilized game, they decided that kicking all the pieces off was their idea of fun.”
The hand that didn’t hold the dark cigarette holder raised its palm into the air and the fingers began to swirl in a circular pattern. From behind the right shoulder of the chair, an elegantly carved hourglass floated into position, lazily spinning and turning as if suspended in space. However, as odd as it seemed to be, the grains of sand within it did not attempt to fall into the vacant cavity below, even when they should’ve.
Upon the sight of the hourglass, their stomach dropped out of their body and past the floor. That weapon they were all too familiar with, that being the catalyst for their eventual capture by the masked hunter. In their mind’s eye, the broken memory of their final moments of consciousness was marred by their desperate attempt to flee, but for some reason, the assailant caught up to them in the blink of an eye. None of those infamous portals were ever used.
“But I hope things will be different. I expect a pleasant game from you, and I’d know you’d like one too. For your sake, of course!”
As words continued to pour out of those smiling teeth like the smoke between fangs, the hourglass began to spin faster and faster. All around, noises began to be heard that were attention-grabbing, but not as droning as the ever-sounding ticks and tocks of the grandfather clock looming above the other’s head, the face appearing as if the cracked antlers held it aloft. A moment later, the hourglass’ sand turned a glowing blue and it stood on its top. Gently, bright sand began to fall into the empty basin below.
The sounds started off as echoes through the room, though grew louder and closer with furious snaps that gave no ring after. As if in a reverse explosion with yellow eyes turning back to focus on them, the air became full of black and white chess pieces that soared back towards the painted board in the center.
“Well?” A nicked eyebrow rose as the pieces found their way back onto the board. Hands were clasped over hidden lips. “What say you?”
Their eyes broke the contact and fell onto the chessboard, knowing that their silence only stalled the inevitable word they had to utter. In front of them, they found the black pieces nearest to them, chipped surfaces catching the candlelight on either side of the table. Polished like bone, the white pieces sat the farthest away, guaranteeing the first play by the person who kept them here.
“What’s the catch?” they finally asked.
Pupils the shape of hourglasses widened and the corners of a mouth twisted upwards in a smile that sent shivers down their spine. It felt as if a predator regarded their every move with the watchfulness of a cat, waiting to dive in for that first taste of flesh.
“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” A rough chuckle escaped from behind sharpened teeth as a hand rested on the table, the other brandishing the cigarette holder to eye level. “Every game carries a catch and since you’re so inclined to know, I would be a horrible host not to say!”
In the back of their mind, a voice that stood up brave enough to not cower underneath the terror of the room spoke up to the forefront of their consciousness: none of this at all was remotely close to ‘good host behavior’. However, such words they would never utter to this kind of host.
“You must know why I captured you, yes? You have things that I want! And I will get those, only if you don’t play your cards right.” The smile grew crueler. “As my guest, I’ll let you make one of the parameters.”
They didn’t trust those words at all and they bit the inside of their cheek. Every letter had to be chosen carefully, lest that villain twist their words and spin them a fate even more horrific than they wanted to avoid. No, things had to be chosen carefully.
“If I win, then you will let me walk out unscathed,” they said, trying to keep their voice as steady as possible. In a room like this, it came about as nearly impossible. “I will leave this place, not touched by you or those you work with, and once I’m gone, myself and those I care about will be left alone.”
Those words caught the other off guard, though it seemed to be more amusing than the clever moment they thought they had just achieved. Amusement rang clear in those piercing eyes as scars stretched around the misshapen mouth.
“You think of everything, don’t you? Well, heh, this is certainly going to make things interesting! I accept your terms. My terms are simple: If I win, then you will give me everything that I ask for. Information, errands, yourself, anything.
A heavy weight began to develop in the pit of their stomach at those terms. While explained shorter than their own, they carried so much more weight than their simple request to be left completely alone. All of those terms were stacked up against them but they did have to admit, none of their own benefit the other in any way.
It only took a few moments of hesitation before they swallowed and said: “I accept those.”
“Good.” The smile stretched more to the point where the ends seemed to split across scars. “Now, before we begin, it is time to greet our opponent properly. Both of us seem to have the bad habit of not doing so upfront, so why not now? You may call me Caeli, though any title that you deem fit is fine. How about you?”
“My name will be something you may ask of if you win this game,” they replied carefully. The old sung rule of not saying a name to a wolf with bared fangs rang truer than none other here.
“Then forgive me if I try extra hard to win this, I’m curious. Let us begin.”
And with that, the first white pawn moved forward.
The rest of the chess game moved forward faster than they ever expected it to. While the everpresent hourglass turned slowly over Caeli’s shoulder, they found their hands and time itself to move faster than their brain could keep up with. How cruel to challenge someone with a concussion to play in a logic game.
Ticks grew louder and the cogs in their mind raced as white pieces crawled faster and faster toward the king in black. All the while in contrast to their racing mind, the creature at the other end of the table calmly sat there, taking drags from the cigarette holder and eyes never becoming surprised by any move that they tried to shove his way. Dark smoke curled around painted nails as the white pieces marched onward, creating a black shadow of downed black pieces in their way.
How long had they been playing? They only felt as if they had performed only a few moves but now time felt as if it slowed down, which was quite a glaring contrast compared to when it started. Why did the clocks' ticks begin to slow? And why did that ominous floating hourglass glow pale?
Not a word was shared between the two as the game progressed, which they much appreciated. Everything uttered between themselves and the thing in front of them felt like telling easy riddles to a sharp-tongued snake. With sinister glares and smug grins, smoke billowing out of a nose that was never meant to be on a person’s face, their opponent advanced slowly but surely.
Just any moment, they might be able to scrape by a win and be able to walk free from that prison of an office. The white king danced in the open, goading for an attack to hand freedom as a reward.
They played another move, and another, and another. And just when they finally got the white king perfectly lined up…
“Checkmate,” came the cold voice of the scarred face.
Spoken quietly, that single word held the tone of satisfaction and triumph, all layered under something far darker; the reminder that the bid for freedom that they had been so close to securing was suddenly lost. Sand pouring between outstretched hands, hope dwindling fast.
Hand resting under his chin, Caeli leaned forward while brandishing the cigarette holder to the side. “Tell me, what is your name?”
The chair beneath them knocked backward as they suddenly stood up, the first real rush of fear shooting through them and letting their blood turn to ice. No, no! How stupid of them! One more look at the chessboard showed that their attention to the white king completely disregarded their own. How stupid!
No, they couldn’t accept this fate. They needed to get out of there.
Blazing yellow eyes met theirs as Caeli stared up at them with a smug yet vacant smile. He did nothing as they backed away from the table, and closer to the door. But once they reached out their hand for the handle they believed to be behind them, he gave a sigh and stood up.
It felt as if a hulking shadow filled the room, each crevice and surface falling into shadow. In their holders, the candles quivered and shook, flames threatening to extinguish out and make the harbinger of death the only light to be seen. His head raised high, the crown of antlers still holding the face of the grandfather clock aloft.
“You lost the game, and you gave me your word. It’s only fair, is it not? I’m giving you one chance, but if you don’t take it, then what I did to bring you here last time will feel like a pleasant dream.”
The cigarette at the end of its holder extinguished as he held it up over the table, a deliberate and slow movement. The second it passed over the center, the embers died and the smoke thinned to nothing.
That same second was when they realized what kind of death trap they had fallen into.
“Here is your chance.” A new sound of clicking filled the air as the creature’s shoes hit the cold floor, letting him slowly make his way to the corner of the table. “Tell me…”
His long, claw-like nails found a golden mask that made home on his face, making it even more inhuman than ever before.
“... would you like to accept my terms and come quietly, or regret every waking moment of your life, leading up to you meeting me? The choice is yours.”
Neither of those were choices they wanted to choose, even if they agreed to them before the game. The room around them felt like it was getting smaller and smaller, the figure to the side growing larger and larger. Painted nails tightened around the mask as that unwavering ice-cold glare befell them.
“Speak.”
They opened their mouth to tell the creature to burn in a blaze, but as they inhaled to shout through fear, they found a burning and itching sensation down their own throat. More clicks filled the air and through wide eyes, they watched as the horrible creature stepped over that invisible barrier that was no more, mask loosely hanging at his sides.
“Five…” Caeli began, now sporting an impassive expression that looked much more at home on the scarred face, “... four…”
In a panic, they nearly stumbled over their own feet as they backed up toward the smooth metal door behind them. The rest of the room was now taken up by glowing yellow eyes as the thing stalked closer.
“... three…!”
This was their last resort to buy them some time. Heart hammering faster and faster in their chest and making its way up into their throat, they called upon their strength and shot a hand forward at him. In their hopes, perhaps they could make the walls close in around him, allowing them to escape.
But the pull on the walls that they expected never happened. Their hand passed through air as if they were merely trying to push him away.
Caeli stopped his progress for only a second, eyes glittering with horrific amusement as he tilted his head to the side. His black and yellow bangs flopped over his face as that sickening smile etched itself across his face like a knife wound.
“Don't waste your energy reaching for your powers! They're of no use to you here and besides, what makes you think they'll be enough to save you?!”
They wheeled around on their heel and made way for the door, their lungs burning more and more as they inhaled the toxic air that only monsters like him could breathe. Their lungs cried out and amidst the ringing in their ears, they could hear the shrill laugh in his words that bellowed from his chest.
“... TWO, ONE! TIME’S UP!”
With a force that nearly knocked them off their feet, they pushed the heavy door open and dashed outside of it. Behind them, they could hear the running of footsteps through the trap of an office get closer and closer, but with an almighty yank on the door, they were gone.
Out. Out. They needed out. Harsh breath burned their throat as they found oxygen for their starving lungs. The former toxins within the room mingled in the air around but they didn’t take precious time away from catching their breath.
There were two doors on either side of the cluttered area. With time in dire need, they couldn’t even see what the room was for, though knew that the many bookshelves and the singular chair were only there as a false sense of security and safety for what awaited them in that office. With one glance, they knew that the door with the welcoming window was their best bet, while the one with the steel handle only promised trouble.
With no shadows beyond the light of the outside, they ran faster and faster, boots scuffing the carpet and their side hitting the sides of bookshelves painfully. So close to that brass handle…
In no time at all with the clocks’ behind them ticking faster than their own racing heartbeat, their hand found the door handle and they swung the door towards themselves. For a moment, hope rekindled in their mind, especially when the sun met their eyes.
But then a tall mass in front of them suddenly appeared out of thin air, walking as if they didn’t even stand in its way. They instantly backpedaled, nearly falling backward over the carpet and their own feet as Caeli made his appearance, the cold mask hiding his marred face once more.
“So eager to leave?!” His voice came out metallic and shrill behind the piece of emotionless metal. “I never even served refreshments yet! There will be no leaving for you. Now run, rabbit, run! How fast can your little legs carry you?!”
His laughter did not reappear, only his voice ringing through the hall as they stumbled to start sprinting in the other direction. The hallway stretched on for longer than they ever thought, now the uninviting door slowly growing closer and closer through their mad dash.
“You think that piece of solace will protect you?!” The voice came from right behind them as if he spoke over directly their shoulder and into their ear. “Go ahead, see how you like it! You’re just giving yourself up to me at this rate!”
Their body slammed into the cold steel door with the freezing handle, their body shooting spikes of pain throughout their limbs. Feeling as if they had run into a car, they clutched their throbbing shoulder as they chanced a look over their shoulder to the approaching monster.
Caeli was not right behind them. Instead, he slowly walked through the narrow room, golden sword held limply in his hand as his brush but steady walk continued to advance towards them. The black and bloodred cape billowed out behind him, gliding over bookshelves and desks, taking over the rest of the hallway into a blackness. Anything that stood in his way was kicked to the side, never impeding his progress. Bookshelves, small tables, that one lone seat.
No more time could be wasted. Hair standing high on the back of their neck, they fumbled the handle before opening the large door, which took more effort than they ever thought possible. With a rush of cold air, the gigantic thing swung inward and gave their lungs another horrible shock.
It wasn’t that the air wasn’t oxygen, but the reek of cleaning supplies and something rotting filled their nose and made their eyes water and their head swim. They couldn’t let that stop them, this place had to be safe, perhaps they could hide.
Squeaks filled the air as their shoes slid across the ground as a loud noise suddenly filled the room. A bang sounded from the hall outside and a shrill whistling noise passed over their head. The sound of shattering glass met their ears and they quickly ducked their head.
They didn’t need to think about what just happened, knowing already that a bullet just nearly missed them. Mustering the rest of their strength for this last bid for safety, they slammed the metal door behind them and slammed the metal bar down to hold it into place.
No thump met their ears, instead, silence did.
Heart continuing to hammer in their throat, they pressed up against the door as support for their aching legs. The formaldehyde stench in the air clung to their esophagus, threatening to constrict it in the darkened space they found themselves in. The smell they could get over, they were alive, and that was all that mattered.
In their head, they counted the seconds and after fifteen passed within their mind, they detached themselves from the door and stepped into the dimly lit room around them. It felt too clean yet too dirty as if they had stepped foot into the uncanny valley.
No, they couldn’t lower their guard just yet. They needed a place to hide.
Once more, the sound of squeaking shoes against a cold hard floor met their ears as they ran farther into the room. Although difficult, they tried not to trip over the random unseen things littering the ground, looking somewhere for cover. If he doesn’t find them then…
“BOO!”
A flash of yellow shot through the dark as their hunter found them. With wide yellow eyes alight and the flash of a spinning hourglass catching the brightness, Caeli swung in front of them and caught them off balance, shoving them to the side.
The ground quickly rushed up to meet them and they fell hard on their side. Around them, the stomping feet of the predator were all they could hear, along with the harsh breaths behind his mask.
Their vision swam with flashes of yellow, burning spots into their retinas that turned the rest of the room into a distorted kaleidoscope. Disoriented, they managed to get to their feet and make another bid for freedom through the door they had just entered through.
“Now, where do you think you’re going?! You’re just right where I want you!”
His words fell on listening ears, but not for a second would they heed the words of a monster such as that. No, the more he talked, the closer they could get to freedom.
They reached out for the door handle but another bang filled the room and their hand exploded into pain. A cry left their scorched throat as they instantly recoiled their bleeding hand. Burning pain shot through it and up their arm, but this couldn’t stop them, they needed to get out of there. Their other hand had to do it!
“If you open that door, what then? You have to get closer to me to get through it anyway!”
But something grabbed their only good hand and spun them around violently. Terror gripping at their chest, they nearly flew off their feet as their hand was yanked high above their head and slammed against the freezing door. Once more, pain took over the arm as the hand gave a crack on impact.
No! No! Don’t let it end like this!
In one more desperate bid for freedom, they wriggled in the grasp of the monster, who held them firmly in place without budging a single inch. Glittering eyes that were bright with triumph stared down at their mortified face, turning into crescent moons from a smile that didn’t exist on his expressionless face.
Slowly, he leaned closer to them, his steel-like grip on their wrist tightening and tightening. His head tilted to the side as if their terror were nothing more than a mild fascination to him.
“Get away!” they shouted.
“Last time I checked, you were to follow my instructions. Not the other way around,” he said quietly, his voice barely discernable behind the cold mask. “And you’re not giving me what I want.”
A bright light turned on behind Caeli, turning him into a shadow with glowing eyes. With his shoulders rising in a proud inhale, he silently stepped to the side, keeping his hand firmly pressed against their wrist and the door beyond.
If it could, then their stomach would’ve dropped farther at the sight of what sat behind him. The farfetched description of a gurney sat there in the center of a hanging light and was cemented to the ground by a contraption of gears and wires. On all sides, there hung restraints, and next to the russet-stained bed sat a tall table with a tray of small silver objects.
"If you won't talk, then I'll make you talk. Let's learn that pretty little name of yours first, shall we?"