Submitting novel Chapter 20

The world around dimmed down and then completely ceased to exist as I took a step deeper into the dark and unknown abyss of something very unfamiliar and dangerous. Somehow this territory felt more threatening than that of the one upstairs. A certain heavy air, a tension that set all the red flags off in my head. Probably because Dimitri was here.

I was met with a wall after the last step on the descending stairs, two hallways yet again. One to the left and the other to the right. An indecisive choice, one undetectably more safe that the other. The light from upstairs appeared to come at an end as well, the hallways looming in the darkness like I was stepping into hell itself. There was no way I could have made a safe decision without being a psychic which unfortunately and most definitely I wasn't. 

Time wasn't a friend either. 

With the cards all turned against me, I took the right one like I did the first time. If something bad was going to happen then it would happen irrespective of what I did and the past was proof enough. Either I would have found Dimitri or he would have found me. The first obviously more in  my favour than the latter. 

Blind again, I grazed my hands on the walls of the narrow hallway and stepped very carefully on the uneven, jagged, and rubbled floor. With two dusted feet and one sprained one I trudged forwards until the texture underneath my hand changed into something smoother and cooler like that of wood. A door. 

I turned to face it in the darkness, nothing visible, not even the slightest streak of light escaping the slit in-between the door and the floor like I expected and hoped for. It was a good sign though which meant that the room was empty and free of any occupants but my cautious self still not callous enough to take it as an invitation to enter the room. 

There was no noise in the hallways, just my breathing and my storming head causing all the havoc inside my head which made demons that didn't exist, exist a little too lively in this reality. Thoughts raced, mind boggled and imagination raced wild. This was not the time to have a panic attack which was surely progressing and growing by the second. 

I closed my eyes and placed my head against the door, hand on the door knob, still not letting myself breathe because I knew if the dam is once let open then the fierce currents would surely cast me away from control. 

The need for a distraction was immense which I found a little too suddenly. My heart threatened to leap out of chest as it thudded against my rib cage a little too ferociously. The sound of glass shattering into pieces echoed through the dark narrow hallway accompanied by a distressed scream of agony. 

"Why? Why? Why?!" The voice all too familiar but the reason unknown.

 I breathed heavily and kept my eyes trained on the direction of the sound even though nothing was visible through this impenetrable darkness. Fear gripped me in its strong clutches as I found the urge to run in the opposite direction, undeniable. I wanted to run but at the same time I knew I had to walk towards the source as well.