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The shadows are invasive. Every step taken is harsh, terrifyingly sharp as it echoes through the halls swiftly. It should not be so, the lights should not flicker as they do, should not sing that harsh sounding tune but they do and he enjoys it. These different biomes, these different floors, the way they change for him and not because of him. Clark traces his hand against the wall, it’s damp, with the scent of mildew. The carpets are hard to move through sometimes considering how…wet they are. It smells like almonds, he has yet to try and see though. He walks into a new room, this place, god, it’s like heaven.
It feels like home, like a gentle embrace. The lights flicker and buzz their harsh tune while the scent of wet carpet envelopes you so much to the point of nausea. He loves it here, it’s an architect’s dream. The everchanging rooms, the way they flicker and blink, the way they change when not looking but make it so you can map them out still. It’s beautiful, he loves it here. He can’t help but love this place with its entities, oh those entities.
“They really do complete this place, don’t they Mary~?”
She doesn’t respond, he sighs but shrugs it off. Whatever, she doesn’t have to. The two have been wandering for days, she’s probably terrified. The two haven’t found the exit, though, he has no intentions of trying to find it if he does. He keeps walking, his head is filled with nothing but the gentle buzzing of the lights. He moves and then pauses, a deadzone. He tugs on Mary’s hand and the two walk into it, occasionally while walking you would find something like this, where the lights stopped working and that buzzing stopped its constant barrage. It feels almost intimate, despite that, it’s incredibly difficult to walk through these areas.
He got lost at one point but he was alright, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, besides he had Clark to help him. He walks into the darkness and moves languidly, it’s silent. Disgustingly so. He doesn’t know if he prefers how prevalent the silence is or how extravagant the buzzing is, he never puts much thought into it. He tilts his head and chuckles.
“Are you scared, Mary? Don’t be, this is our home!”
He smiles and pulls her closer, squeezes her hand and then keeps walking. She follows him silently. The two walk through the area, the carpet underneath them is wet, more than just damp and every step the two take squelches underneath them. It’s an annoying sound as it is a disgusting one. He turns down a hall and then steps into a room that has lights. An end, however brief, to the deadzone. He sighs, he had hoped it would continue for a bit longer. He doesn’t mind. He walks through the halls through the large open expanse and then stops, his eyes trace the new room with signs all around.
The thing that stops him is the glitching area past a door. He stares at it, stares and stares before the sound of footsteps makes it to his ears. His eyes turn and he stares up at Clark who stares back at him from down the hall. He nods and he just stands there before reaching out, he lets go of Mary’s hand and pushes her. Captain Clark grabs her and lifts her up before opening his mouth and biting into her. Her foamy body rips easily and he listens to the sound of flesh being ripped apart, being chewed on. Captain Clark stares down as he chews on her, drops her and walks towards him. He watches this, stands there as he leans down. His eyes are large, see better than his own as they gaze into his.
“There’s a new area, it is…it’s different.”
Captain Clark groans and then turns its head as he points, stares at the weird area that seems to be going in on itself while also leaving itself. It’s far more different from the other areas, the door leading to it is metal instead of wood. The area past it seems to bend and shift but it looks like an indoor parking lot. Clark stares, watches and then turns away. The two look at one another before Captain Clark starts moving, he’s right, why go through there, that would just cause problems. His eyes turn to Mary who lays limp on the ground.
“Oh you’ll be alright.”
He leans down and helps her up, pulls her along, pulls her away from that place. Days pass, maybe weeks or minutes. He took Mary home, she was sad away from it, she doesn’t know any better. His feet guide him through those dark and bright halls until he’s back to that area. He watches it move, sits down and watches as the area contorts and fractures, builds and mends itself. It is intriguing as it is problematic, what would happen if something comes through? It would disrupt his new home, this place that is nothing short of heaven. He stays sitting there, chews on the foamy flesh he brought with him as he watches.
This could be a problem, god, just one problem after another huh? He hates it, hates that this world is being corrupted by something when it was perfect, when it was beautiful and pristine. Sure, the-he listens to the familiar sound of a distorted cry. Slowly, he pushes his back against the wall and continues listening, the sound is closer now. Screams that beg for help, that beg for someone to find them sound through the halls. He resists the urge to laugh at that, how many had the creature killed with that impression? He watches as something lumbers in, watches as the black substance moves across the roof. It pauses, seems to tilt and take in his presence before moving towards him. He just sits there, takes another bite as he watches, though, he keeps in mind to keep fully pressed up to the wall.
It stares, falls and hits the ground with a splat before contorting that mess of cameras and chair legs to give its body form and stand back up. It stares down at him, at least he assumes it does. Slowly, it reaches out and then turns, as usual, Clark comes in. He has a feeling Captain Clark sticks nearby him as he does to him. The two watch one another as he watches the two, only a few seconds pass, perhaps an hour, he can’t tell, until finally it moves. It contorts and climbs back onto the ceiling, enters said ceiling and he listens to the familiar sound of buzzing come back to life. His eyes turn to Captain Clark who stares at him before sitting down and turning its head to the everpresent problem. No, it wouldn’t be a problem because he wouldn’t let it be.
The two don’t have to do anything with it, they just have to ignore it because not ignoring things is what gets you into problems. Because there isn’t a reason to worry, this is heaven, this is the most extraordinary world that exists specifically for him to finally be free. Free of worry, free of anything that could cause him to fear. No, this means nothing, because he won’t let it mean anything. He is happy and if he worries about this, who will take care of Mary? Oh poor Mary, always so stressed out, always so scared and for no reason. He wonders if she finds it comfortable in the fridge or not, ah, he will just have to ask when he gets back.