Sliding into Darkness

Sliding into Darkness

     Addist moved into that place only a few months ago. And it already looked like he had lived in it for years. He was a Collector. Addist hadn’t thrown anything, but trash, away in over two decades. That’s why he had to leave his last place.

      “I don’t understand why I had to move.” Addist was looking at the News Reports he had collected over the years.

     “Just look at this place.” Torina was standing next to Addist. And she was shaking her head in disapproval. “How can you live like this?”

     “It’s not as bad as it looks.” Addist looked at Torina. Then back to his collection.

     “It looks pretty bad to me.” Torina started walking through the Living Area. Which didn’t look like one anymore? It was very hard to do. She almost slipped on her walk several times. Most of the News Reports were in neat piles from the floor almost to the ceiling. But there were a few separate ones.

     Addist couldn’t see Torina anymore. “Torina, where are you?”

     “I’m not exactly sure. But I think I’m in one of the Sleepers.”
Torina also had to shout a little. She did it as she looked around the room. It looked similar to the Living Area. But this one had piles of Paper News Books all over the place. Each pile represented a difference Paper News Book collection.

     “Why did you say that?” Addist was on the move now too. He headed for the sound of the voice. “Keep talking – and I will find you. It’s not just my collection I can find in this house.”

     “There’s nothing in here that says it’s a Sleeper. Where is your Sleeper?” Torina was in the center of the room when Addist came in. Neither one could see each other, though.

     “My sleeper is in one of the rooms under the house. I'm living under the house. The three floors above used for my collection.” Addist was looking for Torina.

     “Is that why you are living here?” Like the Living Area, the piles didn’t engulf the whole room. There were several paths within it. So Addist had no trouble finding Torina.

     “That’s one of the reasons I moved here. The main one is that it’s away from the other Haddims. And I like it like that. I’d prefer to be alone.” Addist escorted Torina out of that room. Once out Torina headed for the next room.

     “You’re checking out this place too – aren’t you? Why are you here anyway? Am I going to have to move again? I thought moving out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by tree, would satisfy the Anti-Collectors Committee.”

     “I’m not here to evaluate you. But I am worried about you.” Torina disappears into another room. “What room am I supposed to be in this time?”

     “From the sound of your voice, you are in another Sleeper. What’s in there? Each room has a different part of my overall collection.” Addist was walking toward one while he was talking to Torina.

     “There are a bunch of clear figures, mostly animals, on sections surrounding the room. On one section there are mythical and legendary figures.” Torina was very careful as she was walking around.

     “Why are there so many Sleepers in this house? Especially since it’s in the middle of nowhere, the nearest town is fifty miles away.” Torina didn’t need to be led out of that room. But before she could go into the next one Addist steered her back toward the Living Area.

     Addist and Torina were now back in the Living Area. And Addist was practically pushing Torina toward the entrance. “You had better get going. It’s starting to get dark. And it’s a long way back to Town 312.”

<<*<<*>>*>>

     Torina looked like she was going to say something. But she didn’t. After Torina had left, Addist followed the maze of paths on the ground floor to the door on the other side of where the Eating Area used to be. That door led to his real living rooms. He was very careful as he descended those steps – especially around the sixth step down. Addist stepped on the far left side of it.

     Addist opened the sliding door at the bottom of the stairway. He didn’t need to go in there to see that it was a mess. It looked almost as bad as it did above. Addist was about to enter when he heard a sound from above. He looked up just as Torina appeared at the top of the stairway.

     “Don’t come down here?” Addist stepped back into his living rooms. Then stuck his head back out.

     “Why can’t I come down there? Are you trying to hide something?” Torina started down the steps. She got to the second one when

     “Stop! I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You can come down here if you want to. But you have to be careful doing it.” Addist had a scared, worried, look on his face.

     Torina started to come down the steps – one at a time. “Why do you want me to be careful?” She reached the sixth step. And she put her left foot down first. Torina was about to put her right foot down when….

     “Bypass the sixth step on your right.” But his warning was too late. When Torina stepped on that sixth step, suddenly all the steps flattened out – turning it into a slide. And at the bottom of that slide, the floor opened up into the darkness beneath. Torina slid down that slide.

     Addist reaches out to grab Torina. Which he did – by her hair. Torina screamed death as Addist prevented her from falling into the opening at the last second. He pulled her, by the hair, into his living rooms. “I told you to be careful – and to step over that sixth step.”


The End?