As Samoth neared the threshold of the room in which he had just dispatched the two beings, he heard a clatter of metal, accompanied by breaking glass.
He hurriedly stepped into the dusty hall, immediately looking to his left, towards the rest of the rooms in their section. He didn't see Cyan, nor any open doors. But what he did see was a ghostly being standing in the hall. Briefly, it seemed like it was looking for something, and started heading towards the middle of the hall.
"Cyan! Where did you go?" He called, in a hushed tone. The creatures on these grounds weren't very much of a threat, but if they got swarmed, it could be a problem.
The ghost turned its ugly gaze towards him, giving up its old target for a new one. It started moving towards Samoth, armed with the broken lamp. However, it didn't get far before its side buckled inward and it was forced to the side of the hall. It glanced back in surprise, only to get its head thrust back as it took a strike to the forehead. A deep, quiet growl came from somewhere within its throat. It was mad. Not knowing what was attacking it, but knowing where the attacks were coming from, it swung the pole in a sideways arc. However, the pole was stopped mid-swing, and the ghost took another punch to the gut. Deciding the best course of action was to flee, it dropped the lampost and floated backward through the wall, disappearing from sight.
"Here." Cyan said, breathing heavily. He appeared back into view as he turned to face Samoth.
"I can punch ghosts, but it they still hold together pretty well. I was hoping it would be like punching pillows, but it's more like punching taffy I think." Samoth watched as the ghost was seemingly pummeled by nothing.
"Next time, tell me when you're gonna do something like that. Thought one of em had got you for a second...but good job."It made him feel slightly more relaxed to know he could at least turn his back to Cyan for a second, without him getting hurt by one of these gheists. He nodded, seemingly to himself, and turned his attention towards the next door.
One of them almost did get me for a second,' Cyan thought, but was too busy trying to calm his breathing and adrenaline to say aloud. While the younger boy took a quick rest, Samoth stepped towards the room missing a doorknob, putting his hand on the aged wood and pushing it open. It looked empty. But so had the last one, when those two things rushed him from the dark.
This room, however, was more lit. He stuck his head past the door checking behind it. Nothing. He focused his mind, searching the room thoroughly for anything that might be hiding under the bed, or behind the curtains. Nothing in this room.
He retreated from the room, moving to the one across the hall. He threw the door open, and stepped into the old room. His heavy boot caught on the rug, and he fell to the floor, instinctively putting up his arms to protect his face.
"Oof!" he coughed. He heard the ruffling of movement in the room, and scrambled to his feet. Three sleeping imps did the same.
Samoth summoned an invisible hand axe to his aide, while simultaneously sending a psychic bolt at the closest Imp. Being as they were quite small, and pretty fragile, it knocked down the imp, and it lay still. The other two approaching him quicky, one with a nicked dagger and the other with a switchblade, Samoth stepped furher into the room, throwing the axe with force at the closest one. It crumpled from the pain as its ally reached within Samoth's reach.
Flailing to stab him with the knife, the Imp was met by a palm to the forehead, as the human's limbs were much longer. It then felt a swift chop strike the wrist of the knife-hand, and then was thrown and forcefully punched against the wall.
Samoth collected the bodies, silencing the one that was still conscious, and threw them in a nearby closet. He turned to the hall, and stepped out of the room.
In the mean time, Cyan had skipped a few doors ahead, and so, luckily for Samoth, had not seen his blunder. Staying close to the wall, he checked the knob. Locked of course.
'It's a good thing the wood is so old, otherwise getting into these rooms could be a real pain,' he thought, and used his elbow to crunch a small hole above the latch. After peaking in to check if the coast was clear, he reach his arm through the hole and unlocked the door from the inside, and opened it. A quick look around the small, grungy apartment proved it to be empty of any ghosts or imps, but he did find a picture frame on the dresser. It was quite faded, but Cyan could make out a middleaged woman and an older man standing in a forest of very large trees. They were wearing backpacks, and the man was holding his walking stick high in the air with one hand like he was cheering.
'If this photo is still here, then whoever lived here probably didn't move out. I wonder what happened.' The student thought, holding the picture and looking at it. He hoped they weren't one of the ghosts that stayed here now, but it did bring up the question. What
did happen to this apartment building, and more importantly, what happened to the people inside?
1x Laugh
