Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Page 11

I pushed open the door to what I assumed was a cell when a monstrous growl issued from inside. Instantly I turned and ran into the dark cell across the hall I had just explored. The monster seemed to sense where I was hiding and lingered outside the door. Impatiently I tried to move to get a better view to know when it had decided to move on, but the harsh scrape of my movement on the dirty floor gave me away. For a striking moment the fleshy sado-masochistic thing was backlit in the door frame as I cowered in the corner hoping it wouldn't pick me out of the darkness. It was the most distinct view I had yet gotten of one of the haunting creatures.

I didn't have long to wonder if it could smell me (it's stench was foul in the close quarters) or if some supernatural other sense could guide it, as however it managed, it started straight for me, and I tried to dodge around it with a surge of adrenaline. It took a mighty swing which connected and momentarily disoriented me. I continued scrambling desperately but it was on me again in an instant and landed another blow as I stumbled through the doorway. The world swirled around me, barely I clung to consciousness as the horror and pain assaulted my mind.

Out of the confusion one thought managed to take hold and while slithering and warding away the monster with my last strength. The Oil! (of something who's name I forgot) I had to just get it to my mouth...ease the pain. And I did manage to get two doses to my mouth! That last bit of clarity and resourcefulness proved my savior (or as I thought only minutes later, was it only a gateway to a deeper hell? What is the value of extending one's existence in such circumstances, faced only with growing horror? What do the philosophers say? What could they? Could they truly fathom the extent of the question without experiencing the visceral sensations I had) and I instantly felt restored. The monster landed one more blow as I stood, but it only barely slowed my refreshed body and I dashed around the corner.

I had up to this point noted in some detail the series of paths I had taken and explored around the prison, but all of that flew out of my head as I ran, instinctually turning corners only stopping at a dead end by the padlocked gate I had circumnavigated. There I crouched in the shadows behind barrels, waiting, every nerve jangling but with a concentrated focus I watched the sliver of the hallway approach path the beast might take.

I don't know how long it was before I saw it approach but it can't have been long. I ducked back into the darkness, and this time the monster did not head straight for my position, I noted with a brief glimmer of hope. Instead I only heard an overwhelmingly loud thudding. I gathered my courage and peeked out. The monster had stopped at the blocked wooden door just to the left of my position (I have no idea what was reinforcing it, I had tried it with all my might but it wouldn't budge). Then I watched as it threw itself against the doorway. Again, and again, and again...over...over.

Watching this, wide-eyed and transfixed, I thought this was surely the most purely horrifying sight I had ever witnessed, the deepest terror I had felt. The brutal, bestial yet mechanical way it threw itself again and again at the unforgiving door. I started pondering. Thoughts of my own existence flew by, and that of the monster. Did it experience life and death? What motivated it? Could it possibly go on pounding the door like clockwork for eternity, or at least until the castle crumbled? It must have only been 10 or 12 sickening thuds before utter panic and my only vaguely sane thoughts (and diminishingly so) spurred me to fix on the idea that I must, positively MUST escape this corner. Without further thought, I crept out, praying the monster's motivation wouldn't waver. As it backed up my heart jumped, and then it turned to face me. The last thought "you must carry on..." swam in the dark flicker of my consciousness.