Pitch…


Nothing to see.

Nothing to grab onto.

Just the errant, all consuming void of light consuming darkness.

Filled with the scream of someone far away. Or was it far away?

The narrow walkway could just as eaily have echoed the sound from twenty feet in front of him or one hundred feet.

Harrison finally works up the nerve and begins taking steps forward. He places his hands on the walls beside him and slowly navigates down the very skinny tunnel. Harrison begins taking shallow breaths of air as he became suddenly to a space so narrow that his shoulders barely fit. He turned his frame so that he lead with his left shoulder.


Then he heard it. That same chilling scream. Except… it’s behind him.

Harrison, in the absolute darkness, turns around but still can’t see anything two inches in front of his face. The scream is enough of an encouragement to get him running. He’s sliding between the ever-narrowing walls. Harrison continues dragging and sliding through the walls until…


A dropoff!


Harrison being in such a rush had no time to notice it and began free-falling! He can do nothing but emit a scream that reverberated off of the now expanded walls. Floating for what seems like minutes when it was probably only seconds, it finally comes to ahead when his body smashes off the cement floor. Blood gushes from his head and chest as his eyes close leaving a broken and battered mess upon the ground.



Seconds pass.



Harrison’s body suddenly has movement as he pushes off of the ground with both hands. As he does, a wave of bloody vomit exits his mouth in a most unsettling manner. He pushes up onto his knees as his disorientation waves over his sunken eyes. It was then when we saw the flashing light.



The orange glow burns through the blackness as if it were a ball of fire in the night air. Harrison tries to get to his feet, but his legs are not moving. Not in the slightest. Harrison begins using his scraped and bleeding arms to pull himself towards the sign. He claws and inches towards it.

After what seems like an eternity, Harrison gets to the doorway under the orange glow. He reaches up shakily and grabs the knob on the door. He slowly turns it as a white blinding light floods into the space. Harrison closes his eyes as he places his hands up to block out the insufferable shining light. He falls down in strain and passes into the nothingness.




The newly-named Prophet’s eyes jolt open to reveal the sound of shouting and the sight of a covered light. The shouting intensifies as several pushes begin moving his body down the aisle. Harrison lifts his head slightly to see that the corridors he’s being transported through are that of a hospital and he’s lying on a gurney moving quickly towards another sign that reads Emergency Room. They burst through the double doors and begin moving towards a waiting room. They slide Harrison’s gurney in there and leave for a few seconds.

As he lays there for a few seconds, he looks down at his body and it looks like he’s been in a car crash. Blood is everywhere and his legs look unrecoverable. He hastens to look elsewhere to avoid becoming sick. He looks at his hands and they are clean? Seemingly perfect yet no way they could be… he had drug himself all the way to the doorway. It’s then that he feels it.

He looks down and that’s when he sees the movement under the soaked sheets. He whips the covers off and that’s where he sees his snapped shin. It’s broken off in half. He begins to get a little lightheaded, but then… his shin snaps back together! LH can feel the grinding and realigning all the way up his spine. His eyes are bulging at the excruciating pain in which he’s enduring. His mouth opens a little to let out a primitive scream.

A surge of nurses come bursting into the room to check on him. And by ‘surge’ I mean one. The lovely young lady rushes up and looks at his legs with shock. She glances back at LH and back at the leg. Once the shin finishes, the feet of LH begin repairing themselves… one bone at a time. LH’s back is arched in the supreme pain, but the nurse looks stunned.

A few moments pass as LH finally stops moving. He flexes his toes, fingers, arms, and legs. He looks stunned. The nurse looks ghastly. Harrison sits up and begins getting out of the current clothes which are now soaked in blood. He asks the nurse if she had anything for him to wear. She nods staring at his exposed bum. Harrison has to wave his arm to get the nurse to start moving. A moment later and she returns bringing him underwear, pants, and a shirt. He quickly slides them on while still in disbelief about his feet and legs.


Are you…you’re leaving?

Well yeah. I’m perfectly fine. Somehow.

But you can’t go. Where will you go?

Out the front door of course. Do you really think I want to pay a hospital bill for lying in a bed for ten minutes?


The lady then scratches her head with her right hand while looking at him questioningly. Harrison meets her gaze before something on her wrist catches his attention.

Red markings. It looked like an intricate design although it was too small to make out. Still, the designs reminded him of the ones on Stacy and the weird red shade of Hank’s eyes.


What is that?

What is what?


The girl looked legitimately confused by his question. Harrison walked over and slowly took her hands. He flipped them over to reveal the red design on her wrist. He looks at it and is instantly intrigued by its intricate markings.



Where did you get this?


The girl looks at him with horror on her face. She rips her hands away and begins to cry. Harrison looks stunned. He pulls the girl close to his chest as she begins to sob. Her ponytail hanging in the air trying to jab Harrison’s eyes out as her shoulders heave.


He gave it to you didn’t he.


She looks at him with tears in her eyes and nods. Harrison nods acknowledging it. She backs away for a second.


I-I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to do that. It’s just… you’re the first to ever see it. I’ve shown it to my friends and they just see a normal wrist. They took pictures to prove it, but even in the pictures I would see the imprint. I thought no one could see it and then… you showed up.

What did he offer you?

My life.


The girl looks at him with shock in her eyes.


Your life?

Yes. My life was cut short by a house imploding on me. The Doctor offered me a new chance if I follow him. So here I am… seeing the stars.


Something about what Harrison just said had struck something in her eyes. She begins frantically searching through her person for something which seemed far more valuable than anything else. She finally looks through the small pocket on her scrubs and pulls out an old looking key. The short, brown-haired woman hands it to Harrison who looks at it confused.


He umm… spoke to me. He told me to give that to the star-gazer. I suppose that would be you, right?


In truth, Harrison had no idea if that meant him, but he was willing to give it a try. The doc had known he’d make it here?


I suppose so… but what does this go to?

There’s a shed outside of the hospital that that goes to. Once you exit through the doors out front, just hang a right and continue to move around the building. As soon as you pass the edge of the building, you’ll see a brown building in the back.


Harrison places the key in his hand and begins to leave when that undying question revitalizes itself in the pit of his stomach. He turns around to the young lady.


Thank you for your help, but may I ask your name?


The young lady smiles a faint smile before nodding. A tuft of hair falls as she does this.


Sure. My name is Emily Rappaport.

Thank you ma’am.


With that, Harrison begins striding towards the front door and they chime before sliding open. The outside air is chilly with low temperature. Harrison rubs his arms to get a little warmth going before stepping right and moving rather briskly. He passes the edge of the building and see the shack she had referred him to. The wind blows against him as Harrison wishes the shirt had been long-sleeved. As he approaches the lock, he pulls the key from his grip and places it in the lock. Both the key and lock are ancient by today’s standards, but it swings open regardless of this fact. Inside it appears is a living room. Harrison looks suspiciously at what appears to be a completely normal house. He steps through and the door slams behind him. Harrison turns back around and reopens the door to reveal a relatively normal neighborhood.

Harrison shuts the door and begins walking through the house. He steps through the living room and it’s a small room with a small couch, two side tables, and one recliner. Trying to keep quiet, Harrison walks into the next room which is a kitchen. He notices on the left side is a hallway leading to some stairs. He begins looking around the kitchen when he notices the little girl sitting in the corner. She’s smiling at Harrison which instantly makes his heart melt. The girl couldn’t have been older than five and reminded him so much of his daughters Eva and Grace. He walks over to the little girl and gets down on one knee.


How are you doing little lady?


The girl speaks but it is hard to distinguish due to her heavy German accent.


I’m fine. Who are you?

I’m LH Harrison. You can call me Henry though. Where are your parents little one?


The little girl just points up as if to indicate the second floor.


Okay little missy. I’ll be right back.


The Prophet gets back to his feet and begins walking up the stairs which, of course, creak horribly. Harrison finally just leaps up the stairs. He gets to the next floor and it’s just three doors. He opens the first on the left to reveal a tiny bathroom that looked like it hadn’t been kept up in months. Mildew on the bathtub, a ring in the toilet, and stains all over the room. Harrison’s brow furrows as the smell is horrendous. He closes the door and goes across the hall. He opens that door to reveal a door that is barricaded by tons and tons of boxes of what appears to just be random shit. Old books, movies, etc.

Harrison finally walks up to the second door on the left side of the hall and squeezes the handle. He opens the door and that’s when he finally vomits. Inside the room are two people, a man and a woman. Both of them are laying on the bed next to each other with belts tied around their arms. In their arms are several puncture wounds and needles are strewn across the room. To add to that, the two extremely skinny people’s eyes are bulging from their heads as vomit and drool coat the chins, shirts, and mouth of the two junkies.

LH shakes his head in disgust before he closes the door shut. He slowly walks down the steps and re-enters the kitchen. He sighs as he gets on one knee in front of the girl. She smiles at him with her chubby cheeks and long, dirty brown hair.


Little missy… your parents are um… gone.

I know! The nice man took them!


LH’s eyes suddenly become large. ‘The Nice Man.’


He told me they would never hurt me again.


It’s then that LH notices the bruises on the arms of the young child. The little girl begins licking something off of her bottom lip and that’s when Harrison sees it. The same red mark Emily had on her wrist except this one is on the young girl’s tongue.

Harrison picks up the young girl and sets her in the chair. He smiles at her before asking her the question that, as usual, was burning in his gut.


What’s your name little girl?

Inga Artz.

Well Inga how would you like some dinner?

Yes!


Harrison begins pulling out some ravioli when he hears a banging on the door. He walks up to the front door and opens it which shows a dark cavern. Harrison steps through as he doesn’t see anyone. It’s then that the door slams behind him. The Prophet rushes towards the door and begins yanking on the handle. It opens to reveal the rock face behind the useless doorframe. The German House was gone. Inga was gone.

LH Harrison turns around and finally notices a man walking towards him. The man walks up to LH with a small stagger and a bottle of whiskey in his grasp. He takes a drag off of his cigarette as a stack of ashes fall onto the floor.


So you’re his new pet. I’m Trey. We have some things to talk about.