4

The corridor looked more oppressive than ever after the cat had left, and Grace shuddered slightly. She felt empty and betrayed, and, as she now noticed, quite lost. She walked through the long passage desperately, determined to at least get out of there for the time being.

She looked crossly at the shadows on the walls every time she noticed them, remembering the cat and his words.

'Stupid cat!' she said, shaking her head. 'What does he know, anyway? And to think he probably thought that demoralising speech of his was comforting!'

She quickly brushed off a small spider that had suddenly landed on her shoulder and startled her, and this occurrence propelled her to walk on even faster.

'Then there's that stupid demon!' she continued. 'Arrogant, remorseless idiot! Who brought me here and didn't even bother to apologise for ruining my whole life! What does he think of himself, anyway?'

She walked on. 'And this stupid corridor! It doesn't even end!' she said, almost at the verge of tears, but more out of frustration than sadness this time.

'You're running out of things to call stupid, Miss,' said a small voice below her.

'Now who is it?!' said Grace, looking down in surprise.

There was nothing there.

'Look, I can't see you, whoever you are,' said Grace uncomfortably.

'I'm right under your nose, if you'll only look,' said the voice again.

Grace looked again, and then she noticed a small form under the treacherous light of the candles above. It was a very skinny rat.

'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there,' said Grace.

'Don't worry, no one does,' said the rat with a sniff. 'It's the story of my life...'

'Oh, please, don't be sad—'

'Sad? Sadness is my whole life,' said the rat. 'It all began fifteen years ago when I... ah, but you probably don't want to hear about it, why would you...'

'Erm, no, it's all right,' said Grace kindly. 'But it's just that I'd rather hear about it once I'm out of this weird place!'

'Don't you like it? I find it awfully cosy,' said the rat with a sudden grin, showing two large yellow teeth that were slightly chipped.

'Well, maybe to you it's all right, but I personally can't wait to get out of here,' said Grace, looking behind her and realising how far she had come – to no avail.

'Oh, well, you only have to go a little further, then you'll be out of here all right,' said the rat. 'They'll be two gates from thereon, just remember to take the left one, okay? Not the right one!'

'Thank you so much!' said Grace.

'I'm happy to help,' said the rat with another obnoxious grin, before it suddenly scampered away in the opposite direction and disappeared.

'Everyone is so strange here,' thought Grace aloud. 'Oh well, at least I'm about to get out of this never-ending corridor! More like a passage, really!'

She walked on for another few minutes before she finally saw some light ahead and rushed towards it gladly.

She soon found herself in an open ground not unlike the one she had left behind when she had run after the demon. In the sky above was a moon three times the size of the moon on earth, and its craters were not grey, but flaming red and orange, as though the moon, too, was recovering from a fierce fire. Grace gazed at it, awestruck. Despite her initial shock, it looked strangely beautiful.

She looked down at last and searched for the gates the rat had mentioned. Sure enough, in front of her were two gates rather like the ones used to divide fields or keep horses in. She went towards them. Take the left one, the rat had said. Grace looked doubtfully at the right gate and wondered. What lay beyond it?

After a moment's thinking, she opened the left gate decisively and went through it. What exactly she had to be cautious of beyond the right gate, she knew not, but this was Hell, and she wasn't going to take any risks.

The moment she closed the gate behind her, it disappeared. Vanished completely from sight. She was in a large barren ground with nothing whatsoever to be seen for miles. The sudden change was jarring, and Grace felt more uncomfortable than ever. She took a few steps forward, and noticed a withered old tree far away. She made towards it.

When she reached the tree, she looked around her, but there was nothing else to be seen ahead; not a tree, not a house, nothing. As she stood there wondering where to go next, she heard a sudden sound in the distance that made her prick up her ears. It grew louder as it approached, but Grace still couldn't make out what it was. Her heartbeat grew faster as she braced herself for the unknown.

Gallop! Gallop! A black figure appeared on the horizon and came nearer at a lightening-fast pace – it was a horse! Grace stepped forward and looked nervously at the oncoming horse, but started and retreated as it came within a few feet of her.

The horse's eyes glowed red and hollow, and Grace could see through its shadowy black skin and see the skeleton beyond it. It looked more like the terrifying ghost of what was once a horse. It whinnied loudly and piercingly at a high frequency that made Grace wince and want to close her ears. Then, another gallop sounded in the distance! And another! And another!

Grace looked on in horror and saw an entire herd of similar ghostly horses following the trail of the first one. As they approached and their thunderous hooves galloped near, the ground trembled and shook, as though there was an earthquake. The other horses did not have red eyes, but... nothing. Their eyes, if they could be called eyes at all, were dark and hollow and dead. Grace shuddered as one stopped near her and sniffed her for a few seconds before returning to its companions, who were now making towards a faroff tree that Grace hadn't noticed before.

She frowned. As the last horse disappeared behind the tree, she stared at it, puzzled. It hadn't been there before, she was sure of it. She walked towards it uncomfortably. The gate she had come through had disappeared before her very eyes, and this tree had appeared out of nowhere the same way. Did things work  that way around here? She had so much to learn.

As she approached the tree, she stopped suddenly in surprise. All she had done was blink, and there were now three trees in front of her! She looked behind her nervously, and her heart skipped a beat. The tree she had making towards was an inch behind her!

Grace ran a few steps to get away from the strange tree, but to her surprise, it appeared again in front of her! She stopped and stood perfectly still, her heart beating furiously, and she looked away at her shadow on the ground to soothe herself. Then she started once more – for her shadow had moved, even though she hadn't moved at all!

She stared at it, and realised that it was on the wrong side of the light – how uncanny – how unnatural! She took a step back, but the shadow didn't move! Then, with a sudden movement, it jumped to the right side and behaved like a normal shadow should again; or almost so, for Grace was sure she wasn't trembling as much the shadow made her out to be.

She looked cautiously up again, and found that the tree had disappeared once more. She looked around, relieved, and there was not a single tree in sight. What was this odd and terrifying place she had ended up in, she thought. Then a movement caught her eye, and she looked ahead at the horizon, and then at the sky.

A pair of bright red eyes floated from behind the moon and grew larger as their owner came closer to the ground. Grace could hear a silent flapping sound and barely make out a black silhouette that accompanied the eyes. Then, two more  pairs of eerie eyes appeared, and then a few more, and Grace watched with a sinking heart. What was this new horror now?

As ten pairs of eyes and their strange flapping forms drew near, Grace realised what they were. They were very large bats! The realisation didn't make her feel any better, though, for these bats were more unsettling than any bat she had ever seen before. Worst of all, their eyes really seemed to see; and Grace was sure they were looking at her intently mid-flight before they abruptly changed their direction and flew there until they disappeared.

Grace turned around, at a loss for where to go next, when she heard a blood-curdling shriek that made her jump in her skin. She looked around frantically, but there was nothing. It sounded again, closer. But there was nothing in sight. When it came again, Grace could sense that something was barely a few feet away, and she strained her eyes desperately to get a look at it.

When whatever it was screamed again, Grace saw something standing in front of her for a split second, and it almost made her scream herself. It looked like some sort of ghostly woman with long, unkempt hair and a horrid, cruel face. Then it disappeared again.

Grace took a step backwards, her heart hammering in her ribcage as she stood there in terrified anticipation. Then, the scream came again, near her very ear. And at the same time, she felt someone grip her hand hard and pull her away.