The first step into that darkness put me into free fall once again, or so I thought. My foot quickly found solid ground after a couple of moments and I pulled my other foot along side it. The whole transition, while brief, was disorienting. My head had begun to spin and was ground to a complete halt. As if I had stepped off the final step of a staircase where the step was a bit taller than I had expected, and my foot took an extra half second to hit the ground. In those moments I felt like I was going to fall. If not like I was already falling. I stood there, hands on my knees, as I tried to catch my breath.
As I lifted myself back upright, I saw around me mostly darkness. A pathway leading ahead of me caught my attention. It was littered with small garden lights along its edges that helped to illuminate the path. There was no sign of Atramenti. I hope I followed them to the right place. I looked around me, the darkness seemed to creep in closer the longer I stood. Then I remembered what Kadi’s note had said. When in doubt, follow the lights. So I did just that. I slowly began to put one foot in front of the other, cautiously following the path ahead of me.
After following the path for a few minutes I came to a bend. Around it was the end of the lit pathway, and the beginning of a set of steps. Steps that, as I stood at their base, looked to be made of a beautiful white stone with veins of grey that ran through to break up the almost reflective white. Marble. I thought to myself. I had to crane my neck up to view the building that the steps lead to. It was a beautifully ornate building. Columns adorned the outer edges, and in between two in the center I could see a door. The only reason I could even make it out was a nearby light allowed me to. And within that same light, I could just make out what looked to be a silhouetted pair of cat ears as they waited for me.
I started my ascent. The steps were large. It felt like I lifted my knee to my chest with every step I took. Even so, the staircase looked like it should only take about five minutes to scale, three if I booked it. After a few minutes I stopped. If my observations had been correct, I should have been approaching the top, but I was only about half way up. I turned to look behind me. I could still make out the lights from the pathway, but from this perspective on the stairs I seemed to have made even less progress. Maybe a third of the way. It’s just a taller staircase than you thought, keep going. I didn’t know what else to think, and I didn’t have many other options. So, I kept ascending. Step by step.
Another few minutes passed as I climbed. Once again I stopped to catch my breath. I was a little bit closer to the top, but not by the amount I expected to be. I gauged my placement on the steps. Maybe a third of the way to go? I couldn’t be sure anymore. I considered calling out to Atramenti, but I was still nervous that I might have been followed into the void so I kept my mouth shut. Besides, I didn’t know what else might have been lurking within the shadows and the void itself. The last thing I wanted to do was attract unwanted attention. So I kept climbing.
My legs threatened to give out on me as I drew closer to the top. Only a few steps left. Three steps, two steps, two steps. Wait. I stopped and looked up. Atramenti was indeed sat near the doorway. Staring at me, but this time with a grin. I had never seen a cat grin like that before. Their cheeks contorted in a state unnatural to a cat’s facial anatomy. I took another step. One step left. I made it. I finally reached the summit. As I did, the creature turned and hopped up onto a pedestal to the right of the door. A lit torch rested on the wall above.
The pedestal was empty except for a sign on its front face. I looked to the left. The left side of the door also had a pedestal and torch, but that one had something else too. A black marble statue of a cat, or maybe it was just a classic gargoyle and my eyes were playing tricks on me. Because as I looked between both pedestals, it became difficult to distinguish between them. Atramenti’s form slotted right into place upon the right most pedestal. And while I already knew they weren’t really a cat, I now knew they were something much more alien.
I approached the left figure. I wanted to see if it too was alive. I closed in slowly, being sure to examine every feature as they shifted between blinks. As soon as I was inches away it turned and stared at me. Same golden eyes as Atrameni. I startled and took a few steps back as I looked to Atramenti on the right for any explanation. What I saw was nothing but a still statue, just as inexplicable as the one on the left had been. I looked back to the left creature. It sure looked like Atramenti as they hopped down and made their way back to the right pedestal’s sign. They propped themself up onto two legs and pawed the sign, prompting me to read it for the first time.
“Provide two keys to enter.”
Keys? I’ve not come across anything- Something wedged its way to the forefront of my mind. The page on Kadi I swiped from The ARC office mentioned she had taken their keys. Johnson had been mad about her taking the tapes. Are the tapes keys? To this building? I couldn’t be too sure, but the logic tracked in the moment. I further examined the door and pedestals looking for a place to slot in a cassette tape, or anything really. Each surface seemed smother than the last. No indents or slots, or key holes for that matter. I was stumped. Well it doesn’t matter yet anyway. I thought. I need to come back once I have the tapes on me to try.
I kicked myself for not having brought the bag I stuffed the tapes away in with me. I just hope they didn’t ransack my place once they saw I wasn’t there. I turned my attention back to Atramenti.
“Do you think they would have followed us in here” I asked my strange companion, who returned nothing but a stare. Great. “Well maybe we should head back then.” I turned to descend the steps when I heard something from down below. Voices. Fuck. I ducked behind one of the large columns, just outside of the reach of the torch’s light. Atramenti took their place back on the pedestal, gong still just in time for two figures to round the corner of the path down below. I strained to hear their conversation.
“Ya think she made it this far?” A voice rung out that I recognized. Janelle. I could only assume the person with her was Clyde.
“Nah probably not, she’d still be stuck on the stairs if she had, I figure.”
Of course they followed me in. With The ARC more familiar with these voids than me I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Should we go up anyway, check the perimeter?” I heard Janelle’s voice say.
No, no, no. Don’t come up here. I pleaded in my head, hoping if I pleaded enough it would affect their decision making.
“Always a stickler for thoroughness. You go up, I’ll wait here.”
With that they parted ways, Janelle headed up towards us, and Clyde stationed at the base of the steps. I knew I had a few minutes at least, and darkness on my side, so I made my way around the building. I paused behind each column to catch my breath and not alert anyone to a movement within the shadows. Eventually I had made my way to the side of the building, where from there I peeked around the corner to check the progress of Janelle’s ascent. To my surprise she was most of the way up the stairs. Faster progress than I made. I could hear her heavy steps echo off the marble.
I knew she’d probably check around the building as well so I darted down to the back, hoping to stay just enough ahead that she’d never quite catch me. I ran on the balls of my feet to produce less noise, and hoped I could be quiet enough to not tip her off to my presence.
As I made it to the back of the building I stoped and stared. I could see where the edge of the space I was in met the void. Or maybe where it met another space entirely, I couldn’t be sure. Something was flashing in and out of existence. Like a new space tried to connect with this one, but couldn’t quite grab hold. It was strangely beautiful. The flashes of different colors and luminosities clashed with the darkness surrounding me. It was like a brilliant light show of unidentifiable origin.
As I stared in awe I heard footsteps in the distance. They jolted me back to my current situation. I needed to move. I quickly made my way to the other side of the building and around the corner. Once I did I realized I’d have another issue on my hands. There was still Clyde at the base of the stairs. I wasn’t sure how I’d be getting past him. I was boxed in from both sides.
Once I made my way back to the front of the building, I signaled to Atramenti.
“Psst hey, what about him.” I signaled down below. Atramenti stood up from their pedestal and hopped down before making their way past me down the steps. I once again hid behind a column, out of sight of the person coming up behind me, as I watched the creature approach the ARC member below. As they did they shifted forms irregularly. Once second they were a cat, the next something that resembled a dog, then maybe a monkey. It was hard to discern from so far away. When they were close enough to the individual they let out a guttural hum, like the one they did at me before, but louder this time. As their mouth opened it just kept extending. Atramenti presented the ARC member with their unending maw and I heard them let out a shriek.
“Hey what the fuck are you? Janelle finish your perimeter search we gotta go!”
I heard the heavy steps once again, but faster now coming from around the far corner. Janelle ran around the corner and down the steps. I watched as she almost tripped multiple times, and the two ran off back down the path as they retreated from Atramenti’s strange form.
I emerged from behind the pillar once the two were out of sight. Nervously I descended the steps. It was a much quicker trip than the way up. As I did, Atramenti shifted back into the identifiable form of a cat whose golden eyes met mine once again in their never ending stare. Without me even posing the question, the creature turned and made their way back down the lit pathway. I followed suit.
Once back at the start of the pathway, Atramenti hopped up and through the wall of darkness in front of us. I took the biggest step I could to try to clear the distance. I was thankfully successful and we were once again back in the hub area alight with lanterns and the nearby rush of a waterfall that filled my senses.
I glanced around, no sign of anyone else in the vicinity. “How are we getting back now?” I addressed Atramenti, as they were clearly familiar with this area.
They trotted over past the arrows to the edge of the darkness surrounding us. Then they located the nearest lamp they could drag with their cat mouth, pulled a light over to the darkness, and illuminated a new section of the area. One with a collection of tree stumps arranged like a set of stairs. Stairs that were just high enough to reach the void suspended in the air above. Atramenti led while I followed step by step until we reached the top where a hole that looked more like a tear sat suspended in space. Somehow it was even darker than the darkness that surrounded us just past the lights. I hoped to find my living room just as I’d left it on the other side.