Going down each step, the light got dimmer and dimmer until their surroundings were darker than pure coal. Even if it was visible, there probably wouldn’t have been much to observe. What the Passenger felt was a linear, claustrophobic hallway. From beginning to end, there was nothing to really note. The hallway wasn’t too long, nor too short, the darkness probably helped make it somewhat less forgettable. At the end, the Passenger felt a door, opened it, bracing themselves for a much more intense sensory overload, but their expectations were not met.
They found themselves in yet another compartment. There was no furniture, no carpeting, just jagged edges wrapped around the whole room, forming a body which seemed to be more fit for cargo than people.
With that said, there were still two folks lying about in this uncomfortable space. One of them was a dear old woman wearing muddy rags, and a beautiful smile despite her irrefutably terrible state.
“It’s going to be okay, Francis.” She mumbled while holding a charred hand of someone obscured in the dark. She then turned towards the passenger.
“Oh, a visitor? A guest? In our humble home?” She proclaimed, “we’re always happy for a visitor, right Francis?”
Francis didn’t put his face out in the light. He merely gestured with his shaky hands.
“So, my dear, what’s your name-”
She was interrupted by those hands, gesturing at her.
“Oh,” she said understandingly. “Well, Francis says we don’t need your name. You’re welcome on your own!”
“Oh, okay...”
The passenger felt an air of suspicion, not helped by the fact that more than half of the room was completely dark. As they sat down, the lady repeated the same words she first said when they arrived.
“It’s going to be okay, Francis,” she repeated while rubbing Francis’s hand, as the passenger sat down.
“So, what do you two usually do around here?”
“Hm? Oh, not much!” She chuckled slightly. “We just prefer to sit around here, basking in the dark!”
“The dark?”
“Yes!” She ecstatically responded, and then turned back to attend to Francis’s gestures.
“Well, what’s so special about the dark?”
She suddenly turned back, shocked. With the way Francis’s hands were positioned, it was safe to assume he was upset by the question.
“What’s so special? Why, it’s simply the most peaceful environment to be in!”
“Eh, I don’t know, it seems unsettling to me.”
“Oh dear, you’re at your most peaceful state when you’re in the dark. Think about it, when you’re asleep, what do you see?”
“The dark?”
“Yes! And when something’s too bright, what do you prefer to look at instead?”
“Something less bright?”
“No, the dark!”
“What’s your point? I mean yeah, the dark is good sometimes, but you need light to see most of the time.” 167Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnYMe72ghL
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“Please understand this, dear. Sometimes, the light can be harmful. It could hurt us by letting us see things; horrible, horrible things; that we do not want to see. Too much light can hurt our eyes. Too much light can burn our skin. But there’s no such thing as too much darkness! It protects you from the horrid imagery of our worlds, burns, injuries and sadness.”
“It gives us inner peace. Please, join us and find out for yourself!”
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to rest for a bit,” they said, shrugging their shoulders and sitting down.
Hours upon hours had passed. Time felt like it was getting slower and slower, while the passenger seemed to have been aging faster and faster by the second. They noticed their arm hairs growing, then turning white, then falling off, then growing again at a rapid rate. This compartment was unnaturally dangerous, and they had to leave as soon as possible.
“Uhhh, look I have to go-” they blurted, trying to stand up and leave, only to be stopped by the old lady.
“NO,” she screamed out loud, “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE,” and then pinned them back down.
“Agh, get off of me!”
The passenger kicked her in the belly, and then dashed towards the darkness. They scrambled around to find a valve handle. Twisting and pulling the door led to a bright hallway spilling all of its light out. The woman shrieked and cringed in pain, while Francis chased them through the hallway.
When the passenger looked back, all they could see was a dark fog diffusing faster and faster as those ashy hands flew in a clawed gesture. At the end of the hallway, there was nothing but a window leading out into a void of light. Immediately upon opening it, a vacuum formed pulling the fog in while the passenger held on to the window. 167Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU5P5AN27H
Francis screamed in a nightmarish, bloody manner, getting completely absorbed. At some point, the hinges from the window broke off, and the passenger was sucked in too. They stumbled around in nothingness, finding their way into an opening that led them to a large pipe which, after numerous coils and loops, led to another room.
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