The Hallways

These hallways... they seemed to stretch on forever. They were just a little to white for my comfort. It wasn't that i didn't like the color, it was just that the white made them seem somehow...a little less real. Ridiculous though. This was simply an illusion brought on by being overly tired. I had had a rough nights sleep last night and that had caused me to be a little late from school. I fell asleep at around.... and i dreamt about.... well what did it matter anyway? I knew at the time and that's all that mattered. How late was i exactly? I half wondered this and it occured to me that i didn't know the time. Whatever. It didn't really matter since i was in school. Still these halls just went on and on. The doors lined the walls in a very strict pattern, and they all looked like the same oak doors with a window that covered roughly half of it and a metal handle that served as a doorknob. Finally i arrived at a door that i was almost sure was my classroom. I walked in without thinking twice about the fact that it seemed so unfamiliar. It was my classroom after all. All the children in my class were working on their math problems. I didn't quite look at them. It was almost like they weren't really there actually. There was something eerie about the way they worked. Not one of them made a move other than moving their wrists down their paper as they wrote. They sat hunched over their papers silently. I couldn't quite recognize any of them; but then, i didn't really try to. My teacher, Mr....Mr... My teacher informed me that i missed a test and that i had to make it up. Well...at least i knew i had... he told me... but he didn't really talk... or at least i don't think he did... but he must have, right? I couldn't remember. He "told" me that i was to make it up now. I had no objections. He turned to face my best friend, Jacob who had also been late. But when did he get there? He was always there...he came in with me...right? I couldn't remember. Our teacher gave us each a paper and told us to go take the test together. This didn't strike me as odd. Did it have a reason to? Not one that i could see. I wondered to myself where he wanted us to go. As if reading my thoughts, he told us simply that we knew where to go. I didn't object to this. I did know where to go. It was where everyone made up tests. I even knew exactly how to get there. The only problem was i had never been there or seen it or...heard of it? I must have cause i knew how to get there. I left the room with Jacob and back into those damn hallways. Why did this place seem so familiar? I couldn't get that question out of my mind. The answer was simple; cause it was my school. I went there everyday. If it wasn't familiar then that would be a problem. But still... this felt like more than a school. These hallways...they were too real...or maybe they weren't real enough. I knew for sure...i couldn't know, but i did. These hallways went on forever. There was a certain path you could take to get anywhere you could imagine, but i knew that if one got lost here then may god help them. I shivered violently. Reality seemed to flicker for a moment...no..just my imagination. I could picture what it would be like to get lost here too well. This place was a collection of outcomes; a museum of everything. If you took one wrong turn then you would walk forever down these halls, never to find your destination. I wondered if it ever got dark in here. It didn't seem like it, but i knew it must. The dark places... I could see them...feel them in my head. I wouldn't go down those dark places...i'd rather... i thought of all the lost souls who had probably crawled into a corner, never to go back, never to leave that spot. They sat there and rocked back and forth, laughing quietly to themselves, unable to die. Reality (as far as reality went here) snapped back into place. I was panting heavilly. My eyes were wide as i walked slowly, staring at the floor. Cold sweat drenched my skin, but i hardly noticed. Jacob hadn't said a word, he simply walked beside me at the same pace. Noise seemed like it didn't quite travel well here, but i was again just letting my imagination get the better of me. Where was this place anyway? I knew i was walking the right way, but i didn't know where i was going. Everything looked the same... i didn't dare try to think my actions through for fear that reason would take over and i would join the others who got lost... i imediately changed the course of my thoughts. I decided to chance a peek in front of me. I was shocked to see a wall a few yards in front of me with a single door in the middle of it. I knew i had reached an end of these hallways; one of the infinite ends that you could find. This was where i had to be...but why? This door was unlike the others. It had the same handle and the same window, but this door was made of cold steel, not oak. I looked at Jacob, confused. He only shrugged. I decided to check it out. Clutching my test, i made my way right up to the door. I cupped my hands around my face and looked through the window into the (dark place) room. The door didn't lead to a room, but a rickity looking wooden staircase dimly illuminated by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling near the bottom. I pulled away from the door and reached for the handle, pulling the door open with curiosity. At the bottom of the stairs, the floor looked to be made of concrete. It was a basement. I wondered for a moment why we were supposed to take our test here, but i couldn't quite hold onto the thought. I motioned for Jacob to come, and we both stepped through the door. We walked about halfway down the staircase before sitting down. The door had swung shut giving me the chills. Finally, we could take the test. I held the paper up, not even realizing that i had nothing to write with. Upon looking at the paper, my stomach wrenched and then got a sickening hollow feeling. Hot, bitter panic squirted into my mouth from the back of my throat. The paper was blank. I looked up at Jacob and saw a similar expression of horror on his face. Suddenly, all of the strangeness of this place came together and a terrifying feeling that we had been fooled into walking right to our untimely demise fell over me. Without warning, from the bottom of the stairs came the sound of slow, echoing footsteps. My breath grew shallow and i felt like i might pass out. The noise went on for a maddeningly long time...or was it too short to have actually happened? Either way, the constant "step....step....step...." pulsed in my head, driving me insane. Then, he was at the bottom of the stairs. He wore black boots and a dark blue jumpsuit, clearly showing that he was the janitor. His piercing, icy blue eyes were clear through his black rimmed glasses, and he appeared to be balding. His face was symbolic of pure, animalistic wrath illustrated by bared teeth and extremely laboured breathing. His chest and shoulders heaved up and down with each furious breath. One thought ran through my head so fast and so many times, i was convinced it had already happened; "He's going to kill us, he's going to kill us,  he's going to KILL us!!!" The man (if it was truly a man) climbed the first step. Jacob automatically bolted for the door, but i was so gripped with fear, i could not move. The man climbed the next step. He could almost reach out and touch me. Jacob turned and saw that i was not moving. The man climbed the next step. Jacob screamed my name at the top of his lungs. My paralysis broke, and i turned to run away, but my legs felt like jello. I began to crawl as the man reached for my legs. Jacob was coming down after me now. The man grabbed my leg at the same time Jacob grasped my extended hand. I thought i was going to choke on my fear. This all seemed to be happening painfully slowly. Jacob tugged at hard as he could as i thrashed my legs about. The man's hand slid down my leg and caught my shoe. I tried to kick free, but the man had a death grip on me. Jacob pulled one final time and my shoe slipped off in the man's hand. I did not waste time. Adrenaline kicked in, and i clambered to my feet. We were at the top of the stairs before we realized it. We threw open the door and slammed it in the man's face. I made the mistake of turning to look back. The man was pounding at the door with an insane rage. He was clearly screaming as loud as he could, but i thanked god i couldn't hear him through the door. The man looked so much like an animal consumed by absolute hatred. He couldn't come through the door. We were safe, but he wasn't going anywhere. The events caught up to me and i lowered my head and cried horrible sick tears of terror. When i looked back up at him, he had fallen quiet. My eyes got wide and my crying stopped abrubtly. In place of the janitor was a man with a black cloak, a gentlemans top hat, long silvery hair, and an evil, cynical smile. His eyes were as cold and piercing blue as ever. They seemed to shine with his smile. The worst part was  he began to laugh. I could not hear his previous lunatic yelling, but i could hear that laugh as if he were doing it right in my ears. The horrible peals of laughter echoing in my mind. It was as cold as his mind and high pitched like an insane man. He slowly backed down the stairs, never taking his eyes off of me. I had forgotten about Jacob, still next to me. I was existing in a seperate world now; filled with fear...and that laughter. I blacked out....