BtV2.txt
BEYOND THE VEIL-PART 2
Written by Dashboard
I lost track of just how long I had sat on that spot, how long I yelled and wept from this horror that had overtaken my life. And no matter how hard I did cry, no tears came from the empty and horrid sockets that had once held my eyes.
All the while the skinless woman who had been my guide, of sorts, had begun to amuse herself. She hummed a silly, nonsensical melody to herself, as if seeing me in such agony had become boring to her.
Slowly I began to regain some control of myself. I felt my fingers still shaking as I pulled myself up against the cold stone wall. It took great concentration to make myself breathe as slowly and as deeply as I could until I was sure I could remain standing.
I looked back to her now, and nearly found myself falling back to the floor in shock. The unknown woman was standing a small ways from me, one of her arms lifted up to her face level. The hand of her other arm reached up, and I stared in utter disbelief as her finger nails dug into the bloody chunks of muscle of her raised arm.
As soon as she began this she began to scream from the pain. Yet she did not stop. I felt the nails of my right hand almost trying to claw at the stone wall to my back now as she began to tear away strips of her own bodily tissue. Perhaps worse than her screams were the sounds of that bloody, wet muscle being torn off her. She tore away slowly, as if trying to create as much agony from the act as possible.
That is when I again noticed the massive doorway on the far side of the grand hall. Where at first the sight of them had filled me with a strange dread, I now dared to feel the faintest twinge of hope that perhaps it might lead to some sort, any sort of escape.
I forced myself to not look back at the woman as I began to move away from the wall. At first my steps were slow and shaky, wondering if she might try to stop me. But apparently I was no longer a point of interest to her as she now began to tear away smaller strips of her skinless body from other areas of her frame. Her continued screams urged me on, my foot steps quickening into a near run.
Yet before I was even half way across the hall I found my path blocked. He had appeared as if from nowhere just as she had by the pool. He wore no clothing just as she now did, yet like her whoever this new stranger was he too had become something frighteningly different than human.
He stood perhaps a head shorter than I, his body almost deathly pale and hairless. He stood somewhat hunched over, his frame thin and stretched. Where there should have been hands there existed only grotesque toothed mouths, snapping constantly at the air as his arms held at his chest level.
His eyes had been sewn shut. I could see the dried trails of blood that had surely poured from the sockets when this twisted act had occurred. The mouth on his face, I then saw, had been forced open by strange hooked chains. They dug themselves into his lips and cheeks, stretching around to the back of his head. A horrid, black tongue that resembled some hideous worm constantly darted in and out of that opened orifice.
He tilted his head, and I knew he was somehow 'looking' at me. I wanted to scream from fright and disgust, but no sound came.
And as if he felt my already potent fear, he began to circle around me. He then began to laugh. It was like a hyena's laugh, though higher in pitch and dripping with the same level of insanity my earlier guide had shown.
I believe now he was amused by me. I was new to this place, suffering in a way that he must have when he had first come here.
Then without warning he turned away from me. He was now moving over towards the woman, who I only now noticed had stopped her self torture and mutilation. She was looking back at him now, and I began to wonder if they knew each other somehow. I would have been amazed to know if they still had the mental capacity to form any kind of friendship in such a place.
But then I saw the horrid smile that came over her. The other then gave that same laugh again and pounced on her like some form of beast.
This time I felt and heard my own scream. And before I would let myself think I found myself running. As fast and as strong as my legs would possibly carry me down one of the several corridor openings. Even as I left that chamber the horrid screams, moans and bestial growls did not seem to grow quieter.
Eventually my body could not take anymore. I collapsed onto my hands and knees. My body ached in pain from both the running and from the sensations of my stomach now heaving it's contents onto the floor. Surely that sight will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my days.
I wiped my mouth off with my wrist, feeling on the verge of tears again, though I knew no physical tears would wash down my face. I looked around at my surroundings, trying to find some way to calm my mind however much would be possible.
I was out of the hallway now, having come into another chamber. It was not as great in size as the previous, though large enough to compare to a fine dining room or garage.
I wondered if I was perhaps at last alone, when I heard a sound next to me. My head snapped in the direction of the sound, afraid they had followed me or some new horror waited to greet me.
My eyes fell upon the sight of a human skeleton. It lied against the wall, the ancient bones long since dried of any blood.
Who had this poor soul been I wondered? Had he been like me? Alone, mutilated and frightened beyond all imagination. Was this to be the fate I too would share? Driven to such a madness as the other two, all semblance of my former humanity stripped and torn away from me like dead skin.
I held my head in my hands, muttering pitiably to myself. I have to get out of here. God All Mighty, help me...
And I was answered.
It felt as if some horrible white noise was now broadcasting into my very mind. The pain was almost as horrid as when my eyes had burst to flame. And yet through the noise and the pain I heard the voice.
One way out. Only way out. None have chosen it.
I looked around frantically, trying to see the origin of that voice. Where are you!? I yelled out to the shadows, putting on some feeble attempt at courage.
And this time the sound that answered the clunking and rattling of bones. I did not want to look. I feared at the new horror this hellish place would show me now. Yet I did look.
The skeleton moved. It raised itself up. First to it's knees, then onto it's feet. And it looked down upon me with eye sockets as empty as my own now were.
I did not scream this time. What point was there at the sight of this most unholy of sights. Again the voice spoke into my mind. And somehow I knew it was truly ancient.
The doors. Only way out. But none go through. None dare leave.
On quivering legs I rose. Once again that smallest spark of hope had dared to ignite within me. I knew even then that surely the odds were against me. But if I had any hope of leaving this nightmare, then apparently this being was the one that could tell me how.
What do you mean 'none dare'? What is there to stop you?
Old Ones. Dead and watching. Waiting. Dreaming.
As I listened I feared more and more the growing knowledge that if I did not escape....then surely I would become as mad and as horrid as the one that now stood before me.
I don't care! Tell me what I have to do!
It's hand raised up, one single digit pointing back down the hall I had come from. Open Doors.
And with those words the bones that made up this skeleton crumbled down once again into a lifeless pile before me. I stared at the motionless skull, feeling a sense of pity for whoever the creature had once been. And then I ran again.
When I returned to the vast chamber from before I found the two from before had thankfully gone on. Though carefully I moved along the outer edges of the room, constantly looking around for any sign of further residents until I felt my fingers begin to slide over the frame of the doorway.
I looked up for a moment. Again marveling at the sheer size of them. At first I worried as to how I could possibly open them. At my chest level there rested several thick iron rings within the door.
I did not want to waste another second. I did not care how heavy they would be. I wanted out. I reached up and grabbing the ring directly in front of me and pulled.
It was indeed heavy, yet strangely not as much as I had first guessed. Slowly but surely the door began to open. I heard the great frame let out a groan as it was opened for perhaps the first time in centuries, perhaps longer. When it was open just enough for me to move through I let go. Not daring to look away from the opening I rushed myself through as fast as I could.
That is when I saw, for the first and only time, the ancient and horrid cyclopean city. It stretched on and on far beyond the extent of my vision. Made of the same black stone I had seen in the other chambers so far.
But even the city was nothing compared to what had drawn my full attention.
It was easily the size of a mountain. Perhaps even greater. The shape of it's body resembled that of a mans, though it's skin was of a putrid green color. And it's head was that of a giant, horrifying octopus. A mass of tentacles hanging down to it's chest. It lay there amongst the ruins of the city like a great corpse.
I began to shake my head. My hands came up, fingernails beginning to claw at my scalp. And then I yelled and cried as I rushed back through the open doorway. I slammed my body against it, forcing it shut as fast as I possibly could.
Once it was closed I sunk down to my knees. I stared at the floor, the palms of my hands pressed flat against the doorway. I felt my body jerk just slightly. Once..twice...more and more, until I heard myself. I was laughing. I laughed as I looked back up at the doorway, slamming my fists against it until my bloodied knuckles would stain them. I laughed harder than I ever had before in my entire life.
I have lost track of how long it has been since that moment. Month..years..maybe even decades since I last saw the light of day. But it was shortly after that moment that I performed what was perhaps the final act of my former self.
I scavenged through the corridors and halls of this place until I found what I needed. The parchment you now hold I believe was once the skin of some other unlucky soul. The strange bottle I made by hollowing out the thickest human bone I could find. And for the ink I found the skinless woman. I cornered her and tore off several of her fingers.
I then wrapped this message tightly in the torn up shreds of the last clothes I ever wore. I went back to the pool that first brought me here and threw it in. As I did I had no idea if any soul would ever find and read these words.
But if you have...If you have found my words and read through even to here, then I am so sorry. For now you can no longer be like the other blind souls that walk this world. The veil has now been lifted from your eyes, just as it was from mine.
They will find you now. And they will claim you mind, body and soul. Rejoice and despair.