Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

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CORRIDORS
There’s a cold, paste-like substance all over his finger.
“What is this?”
“Let’s keep going, darling,” Victoria says. “I know
all of this must seem frightfully grotesque. But take my
word, compared to certain other kinds of unpleasantness,
it’s just Halloween decoration.” She’s walking
faster now. Ed keeps his attention on the walls as she
draws away from him. The viscous coating is thicker
here. Ed can see shapes embedded within the slime.
“Hold it a second,” he whispers. He moves closer to
examine the shadowy forms in the wall. One of the
shapes resembles a human hand, but flattened like a
glove. Further down the wall is a vaguely leg-shaped
form, and elsewhere a suggestion of a foot.
“Holy cow,” he whispers. They’re nearing the end of
the passageway, where it appears to turn a corner. Ed
watches an arm-shape, and near it a torso. The two are
slowly moving toward each other. A thin thread
stretches from one to the other. Ed watches as the line
contracts, slowly pulling the arm and shoulder together.
A second line appears, like a black thread,
reaching from arm to shoulder. It’s as if something’s
stitching them together.
“Victoria—”
As Ed approaches the corner, Victoria screams.
“No! Oh God, they’re here! Help me—” He sees a dark
shape grab her by the neck, pulling her out of sight.
“Victoria!” Ed runs toward her, rounding the corner.
There’s another long hallway, with an open door
at the far end. Two of the blank-faced smilers have her;
they’re dragging her by the arms and are already halfway
down the hall.
“Help me! Oh, God, they’ve got me! Help me!”
Ed runs after them, but his feet seem to move in slow
motion while the smilers, without seeming to hurry,
outpace him and pass through the doorway. He registers
dimly that there are more shapes in the walls
around him: arms, legs, feet, heads—all flattened out
like sewing patterns, swimming slowly toward each
HAUNTING THE DEAD
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