Bloodshed.

My eyes opened wide. Wherever I was, it was dark. Not even a speck of light. Pretty bland, if you want my personal opinion. I could hear a dull buzzing sound. It was quite annoying, and I reached a hand up to my ear, rubbing it a little. Perhaps it was just the constant silence. You know that high pitched squeal sound you seem to hear when there’s complete silence? It was kind of like that, only more bothersome.

I felt numb. I noticed that I was standing, and my eyes roamed down to my feet. I couldn’t see the floor, though. If there even was a floor. Maybe I was floating in limbo. Heh, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing that’s happened. Maybe this is how I was coming back from that awful world. I only had myself to blame, though. Obsessive over that story like my life depended on it. Which it sorta did..

I decided to take a walk. Perhaps it took awhile for my body to return to normal. As soon as I put my foot down, it echoed throughout the area, and it rang in my ears. ‘Boy, this place is bleak.’ I thought. I stared straight ahead into nothingness and continued my steady pace.

Until I started to hear another annoying sound. It was more high than the last sound, and it seemed to get louder and louder. I closed my eyes which only brought more blackness, and that’s when I could feel my body start to come out of the numbness.

Argh, enough with the crappy bodily feelings already..!

“Wh-.. Huh?” I mumbled. “Mrr I don’t wanna get uuuup..” I whined, instinctively pulling the covers over my head. After a few moments, I lurched upright. I gave a long, irritated groan when I was met by the same scene from last night. It was a damn dream! I mean - GAH! I didn’t even know what anything meant anymore. I was still stuck in this crazy shithole! So.. That meant when I fell asleep in this dream, I didn’t dream? It was just some blank, boring place? Ugh. This was seriously fucked.

“You’re awake.” came a voice followed by Willow’s face appearing in front of me. I yelped and jumped back a little. I ground my teeth together.

“Wonderful observation, pipsqueak.” I mocked. His little imp face crumbled, but right now, I didn’t care. I was still peeved that I was stuck here, as it seemed. Grumbling curses under my breath, I pushed the covers back and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I stood up wearily and stomped my way over to the dresser. I looked in the mirror, seeing my reflection for the first time in a long time. I looked the same, basically. Which probably fooled Claire and the munchkin, seeing as how I described the Hero in my story by my own personal appearance. My eyes looked a little sunken into my skull, but other than that I looked.. Peachy.

I turned around again, hanging my head low and was met ONCE AGAIN by Willow. “BAH! What is your problem?” I barked.

“You can’t trick old Willow. He knows you’re not the real Master.” he said coldly. His eyes burst open. “Gasp!” Yes, he actually said it. “You’re a spy sent here by the Banshee!!” he shrieked in his little imp voice.

My expression folded into a look of indifference. “You’re off your rocker, lil’ guy. I want to kill that bitch as much as you guys do. Now leave me alone while I go off on a very vulgar rant.” I stated, walking past him and arriving at the pile of clothes from yesterday.

While I began to strip myself of the silky pyjamas that were now mine, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I didn’t want to be here. The more I thought about it, the more scared, angry, confused and hopeless I felt. A few more curses left my lips, along with dismembered sentences, like “Why me… Shoulda been a doctor… These clothes are way too tight..”.

“Stressed, are we?” came Willow’s small voice. I growled. Literally growled.

“What gave you that idea?” I snapped, pulling my shirt over my head, getting frustrated by the itchy, tight fabric. I harshly put my hat on, leaving my cloak on the floor. I glanced at my staff, and decided that I didn’t need it. I mean, I was so not going outside today. I needed to get my head on straight before I went outside on anothersuicidal mission. But then I remembered the Chaos Container. Bending down, I pulled it gently out of the cloak pocket. I looked at it closely. It was quiet pretty. A light blue colour, with detailed designs carved into every side. I placed it firmly in the pocket of my shirt. Geez, I really did like to layer on the pockets.

Standing up straight, I made a beeline for the door. I heard Willow, of course, hurrying behind me. I mean, the little guy was cute and all, but damn, he was persistent. I opened the door, making sure he had exited the room before closing it again. The daylight met my eyes and I winced a little. The sun’s rays poured through the great sheets of glass. This placed looked a lot more lively now.

We made our way across the long hall and finally arrived at a sort of crossroad. I remembered that the room where Claire had been was to my left, but I decided to take the other hallway. If I remembered my way correctly, I should end up at the Great hall, where I had written about the Hero’s encounters with Braxton and Ivy. The imp followed close, not speaking a word.

I gave a small smile of satisfaction when I reached the Great hall. I was kind of happy that we stayed only on this floor of the castle. It’d be too confusing using the stairs and towers.

That’s when something inside my head jogged a memory. I took a right turn and followed the bright red carpet until I met yet another door. When I opened it, it creaked and squealed. I’d have to remember to oil that later. One of my many pet peeves was squeaky doors. I slipped inside and my smile grew wider as I entered the library. One of the early memories of the nightmares. I walked further into the room, trailing my fingers across the spines of the books I could reach. Now, I did love to read, but I figured I didn’t have any time for that right now.

“The Master always did like reading.” Willow indicated, which I already knew, of course. “Mostly science books. He was always making these crazy things. He called them ‘masterpieces’. They looked like oily piles of junk to Willow, but they always did do miracles.” I cast my eyes down to see him in front of me now, looking at the books on the lower shelves.

“Yeah..” was all I could say.

I heard a scream coming from somewhere in the castle. It startled me, and I spun around, like whoever it was that was screaming was going to be right there. Other screams followed, from different people. Er, creatures.

“Oh come on, I haven’t been up half an hour and shit’s already hit the fan. What could possibly have gone wrong? Maybe Eli finally ate one of the imps.” I said casually, sighing softly.

That’s when the glass in the front of the library shattered. I spun around on my heel yet again and was met by zombies, winged creatures and humongous wolves tearing up the carpet and heading straight for me.

Fuck.