//------------------------------// // ..-. .- -- .. .-.. .. .- .-. // Story: Knock. Knock. // by Arreis Of Avalon //------------------------------// I stand, tired. I am… oh so dreadfully tired. I have not had proper rest in years. Eons, it seems. My head aches. My body longs for sleep. I grab my candle and start my long night. I walk to the next room, sighing. “It was just another dream. And now I’m back.” What a farce to tell oneself. It is never ‘just a dream’. This is my psyche, and something is broken with it. Should I run? Flee into the forest and lose my mind? Or embrace death as it comes for me? Twist, turn, click. I ignore the light and go downstairs. Twist, turn, click. Come out! It’s time! “These aren’t my words! These aren’t my thoughts! And this has nothing to do with sleepwalking. Whatever it is, it is flesh and blood. Someone else is inside my home.” I growl, crumpling up the page. They use up my life, my pages, for this foolish scheme to get me outside. There are monsters in the woods. I must stay in my home. My safe place. Where I cannot be harmed again. Where I can harm no one else. This place is safe. I go upstairs. “There are lots of books. All containing the same endlessly repetitive notes. I doubt they’re useful. Everything that makes this my home is also in my head. I’ve been living here for so long that we’re the same thing now.” That is right. This house - the Old God said this house was my mind. That is why I protect it from the monsters. They seek to tear my house down. To let the forest claim it. I cannot let that happen. Right? Next room. Knock-knock-knock-knock. Nopony home. Not right now, at least. Twist, flash. Next room. Twist, flash. There! What you’re seeing isn’t really nothing! Down the stairs. Turn on the lights. I heard knocking distantly. He did not want me to do this. But someone did. The one with the notes did. I trusted the one with the notes more. I made my way up two floors and began to turn on the lights. Better open it yourself. Knock-knock-knockknock! Not yet, I still insist. To the left. I turn on the lights. The darkness during this process no longer stirs fear in me. Just anticipation. Nothing. Next room. Twist, click, flash! It is very important that sunrise finds you in a fully restored home. Your house is always much larger than it seems. That much was certainly true. My castle was much larger than it seemed. Castle?... That’s right. I lived in a castle. Not a library. Not a tower. A full blown crystal castle. This was… this was not my home. I sat in silence a moment before shaking my head. An important revelation, but more pressing matters were on me at the moment. I was close to breaking out of whatever prison this was. I would be back home soon, and everything would be okay again. No monsters would hunt me. No notes would mark the end of my days. I would be myself again. Next room. I trusted these notes. I would restore my home before leaving. Twist, turn, flash. Next room. Flash. My clock. Wind. Knock. Knock-Knock. Knock. I heard the door open, even from all the way upstairs. I made my way down to it, nodding. It was time to see her once again. I am in the woods. Walking. It is so hard to see her out here in this forest. This odd place. The crickets are in my ears and the creaking of my house is in the distance. I just wander aimlessly, ears straining to hear some sort of sign of her. In the trees, I hear an owl. That is… familiar. “Owlicious?” That is familiar as well. I follow his hooting. I find her soon enough. Ethereal mane, eyes a shining white. She scares me. But she smiles calmly at me. She speaks again, and I hear words through the static now. It -- --m0st time, Tw---ht. --- -ou re-dy? Ready? Ready for what? I edge closer to hear better and brush my hoof against her side. I see the most beautiful sky, filled with shining stars that got closer, ever closer to the moon. Just before they touch, the sky is obscured by a map. A map of numbers and symbols and words I can’t read. Brambles tug at the edges of the map. The sky turns the deepest black before flashing, a bright purple. Then it all goes white. And I awaken. … And I stay awake. I stand quickly. “I am sick. I’m so sick…” That much is evidenced by my insanity. “Why do I keep seeing all those things when I look outside? Nothing like that could be out there. It’s against the laws of nature. It can only be the forest out there. The dark, grim, dying forest. I know.” How did I know? This was not my home. This was not my forest. This was my prison. Anything could happen in these halls. I took a deep breath. Now, it all really began. The mare out in the forest had asked if I was ready. The note had said it’s time. It’s now or never. I lick my lips and nod. I’m going home. I dart quickly to the room on the left, twisting the light on. I will wait no longer in bed. I turn on the light and ignore the thought that this is all just the case of sleepwalking. It is clearly more than that. Someone is in this house with me, and they have taken my notebook. They are determined to end this quickly. So am I. We are on the same team. “We’ll work together.” I grin and keep going left, unlocking the door as fast as I can. Next light, twist! I’m moving faster than ever. Training. Who knows how many houses I must repair yet before I can leave. I twist, twist- GRR… I do not freeze as I hear the growl. I just keep going. I know he knows there’s been a change. A big one. The Old God is displeased. I work to unlock the next room. KNOCKAKNOCKAKNOCKKNOCKNOCK The world shakes but I keep unlocking. I blink as the door opens. I’m in a long corridor. This is not the main house. The Old God is trying to teach me a lesson. He is still in control. I start to walk, whispering as I know he can hear me - but so can the invisible child and the mare in the moon. “I always knew that the way out was an illusion. There’s nothing good waiting for me outside. Only the horror of chaos and darkness.” That is a phrase that will please them both. The Old God will be flattered to think I do not want to go outside. The mare will be more pleased that I remember his tricks, who he truly is. He will not beat me. I walk in the dim corridor almost blindly. I find an open door and step through with uncertainty. I stand up out of bed, more eager than ever to be on my way, out of this miserable place. This neverending loop. I wish to be home. I would be there soon. I walk to the door and unlock it. It creaks open and I start changing the light as soon as I can. As the light flashes on, a fallen chair appears. I did not blink. It’s going faster now. Next door. The knob creaks as I unlock it. It swings open and I hear giggling. Laughter. Joy. Timid happiness. Boisterous laughter behind it all. So many emotions. “A child? Could there have been a child here?” I shake my head. “I can’t recall. No, I can’t remember anymore. I’m always forgetting things.” Next room. Get the light. I think as I twist. I was a child here. This place is like my old home. Did I draw these pictures? Why? So I didn’t forget what they looked like, I suppose. The light flashes on and I dart upstairs. I get this light as well. Then I move on, quickly, effortlessly - why is this so much easier now? Am I simply used to it? Next room, light, flash. Next room, creak, twist, flash. Rinse, repeat. I blink and my clock is there. I do not wind it yet. The monsters will come sooner if I do. I want a more fully restored home first. They deserve me at my finest. I will be a good host. Downstairs. Light. On. No more doors. Another clock appears. It’s time, then. That’s as much as I can do on short notice. I wind. RAAR! I ignore his protests. I go up and wind the other clock as well. Then I go up to the attic as it self-winds, fixing a light I forgot. It flashes on and I see hoofprints. The child? The mare? I blink and constellations appear. The mare. She is the one who stole the notebook. She works with the child - a memory, a ghost of my past, myself. She leaves these childish pictures behind as clues. The Old God never noticed until now. Down. Right. Blink - notes appear on the walls. Up a different ladder. Another blown bulb. Twist. She thinks that she’s tearing up the diary in her sleep. She feels that while she sleeps she’s eating up her own life. The mere fact that such a note exists means I’m not. It gives me peace of mind. Twist. Twist. Twis- BOOM Lightning strikes. The God watches. I race to the breach, curing that it is on the other side of the house. A door slams in my face as I approach it. I work to unlock it. I race through it the instant it opens, charging down the ladder. I start to fix the light, feeling his eyes on me. I blink and the lights are on. The eye is gone. Time resumes. Lightning strikes once more, less shocking this time. Other side of the house. No rest for the insane. I charge back through the house. Another door slams and I ignore it. I turn on the light and the eye disappears. He screams, roars in disapproval. I go to a locked door and open it. Rude, how he closes them. I watch. Wait. Boom - lightning, breach. So predictable now. I fix the light and he leaves once more. I do this repeatedly - he is persistent. I blink in one room and receive another note. Guests like those only come in the dark. Because the shadows eat through the walls of your home. My home. My mind. I wander. Somewhere, a bulb blows. I pay it no mind - the guests do enjoy roughhousing a tad bit too much. Let them have their fun. There’s another breach. I grin. It is too late. Dawn approaches. I watch the sunrise with joy, for once. And then I wake once more.