Inheritance Chapter 5

[eiahmon]

Title: Inheritance
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its settings and characters belong to Frictional Games. I’m only borrowing them for a while.
Summary: AU When Alexander Kesler gets a letter, which claims that she is the only descendant of Alexander of Brennenburg, she is compelled to go investigate. She soon wishes that she hadn’t.
A/N: To all those that have played Amnesia, yes I am fully aware that the Back Hall is not laid out like this, but I had to add another entrance and exit for plot's sake. Besides, no real castle would have forced guests and permanent residents to go through the basement to get to their room.

5.
An Answer

I groaned as I came around. The first thing that I was aware of was the rumble of the thunder outside, which was followed by the sound of my breathing. Immediately following that, I felt the deep throbbing of my back, and I vaguely remembered that that thing had raked me with its claws. I groaned again and looked around to find myself still lying on the bottom of the stairs where I had collapsed. I slowly and shakily sat up, wincing as the movement pulled on what felt to be shallow cuts across my middle back. I could also feel my hair sticking to what had to be dried blood and feel a breeze through large tears in my shirts. I looked back at the door and saw only the feet of the thing sitting on the floor where it had been standing. The rest of it was scattered all over the walls of the staircase and the low ceiling over the doorway. I didn't know what had killed it, but I was grateful to whatever it was.

I hauled myself to my feet and managed to pull myself up the stairs, and I emerged into the Back Hall that Walther had taken me through earlier. I felt the peace of the place wash over me, and I figured that if any place in the castle was safe, then this was it. I had always found the sound of falling water soothing, so I carefully sat down by the fountain and rested for a bit. I took my cell phone out to see that I had been out for approximately an hour, and that it was now 2:15 in the morning. The storm was still going outside, but not as violently as it had been before. I looked over my lamp and made sure that it had not been damaged when I fell earlier, and I was relieved to see that it appeared to be fine, so I lit it and set it on the floor beside me. The light danced off the water in the fountain, and I allowed myself a small smile of contentment. I was in a relatively safe area, and the thing that had been chasing me was gone.

There are more.

And then that contentment vanished in as instant. More? There were more of those abominations? That's just great....

With that knowledge, I figured that finding a better place to hang out than the wide open space of the back hall was a great idea, so I got back on my feet and looked around. There were six doors out of the hall; the one I had come from, one on my left that Walther said led down into the storage area, and four on an upper landing accessed by twin curving staircases. The doors at each end led to the rest of the castle, while the two in the middle led to a guest room and a study respectively, if I remembered Walther's words right. The guest room seemed like a good place to start, so up the stairs I went. I pushed open the door and stepped into a three room suite very similar to the rooms that I had been occupying. The room was neat, but covered by a layer of dust, which hinted that it hadn't occupied in quite a long time. The main room was smaller than mine, and had a desk under a window, and dresser, a couple of bookshelves, and a small fireplace To the right was a small dressing room with two wardrobes and two dressers, and to the right was the bedroom. I wandered in there and used my lamp to light a second lamp that was on the nightstand by the bed before I took a look around.

The bedroom also sported a wardrobe, so I figured that was a decent place to hide if necessary, and since hiding under the bed had worked once before, I could do it again - if I could keep myself from having a sneezing fit from all the dust. I checked the wardrobe to find it empty of clothes and spiders and having more than enough room or me to climb in if necessary. Happy with that, I walked back out into the main room and noticed that one of the desk drawers, all of which had been shut just a moment before, was now open. The sight nearly sent me scurrying back to the wardrobe in a panic before logic reasserted itself and calmly pointed out that I had not heard the door open or shut, and I had heard no footsteps other than my own. The drawer must have been open before, and I had not noticed.

At least that is what I told myself as I walked up to the desk and peered down into the open drawer to find a piece of paper inside. The paper was old and yellow, and when I carefully picked it up, it felt brittle, and little flakes of it came off around the edges. The ink was faded, and the handwriting was atrocious, but the words were in English, so I set the lamp down on the desk and settled down in the chair to try and read it.
 

My friend,

It is done! Agrippa and I have arrived safely, and I have been welcomed with open arms. The two of us have joined Weyer in trying to get your banishment overturned, and I hope we will have results soon. You love was very happy to hear that you are well, and she looks forward eagerly to our next attempt, when she will be able to cross over and join you.

I thank you, my friend, for what you have done. You gave up your chance to be reunited with you love so that I may cross over and be free of the Shadow. Mere words cannot describe how grateful I am.

The least I can do is give you a warning. The man that was the driving force behind your banishment has also been banished to the world where you now reside. Apparently, it was some years ago, though no one has been able to tell me exactly why he was sent away. Weyer fears that he may take his rage at the punishment out on you if he finds you. Do be careful.

And I know I have said it before, but please keep an eye on that assistant that you brought in as well. He never seemed right to me. The servants always felt more trustworthy to me than him.

Forever in you debt,
Daniel

I looked at the letter in confusion for a second before I put it down. Who is this Daniel, and who was he writing to? Who was the assistant? The letter implied that the servants, while somewhat untrustworthy, were still more so than the assistant. What did it all mean?

The voice was silent on the subject.

I put the letter back in the drawer where I found it, full of questions, and spent a couple more minutes before I began to wonder what to do next. The guest room seemed like a decent place to hide, but the sight of the bed, even though it was too nasty to contemplate sleeping on, made me long to do just that as I realized again how tired I was. If I stayed in the room, I would end up going to sleep, so I needed to find another place. I also needed to find a place to wash up and take a look at the damage to my back. I picked up my lantern and walked back into the back hall. I now had four options to take. I could go into the study, or past it through the door on the far left, or I could go right through the door at the other end of the landing. I discarded taking the door on the lower level to the storage area; I knew it wouldn’t have anything that I needed. The study likely wouldn’t either, and going left past it would take me back in the direction of my rooms, where I did not want to go.

So I turned right, and went through the door, which led me into another long hallway. I came to an intersection, and the voice returned -

Go right.

- so I opted to follow it, since it had not led me wrong yet. I followed its directions and soon found myself at an ornate door. I carefully eased it open and peeked around it to find a large suite of rooms that just seemed to scream from what little I could see that they were the master suite. They were Alexander’s rooms then, and I stepped in and closed the door behind me like usual. The light of my lamp revealed a richly appointed sitting room with many tables, comfortable chairs, bookshelves that were loaded down with books and beautifully woven rugs and tapestries. Unlike the guest room I had seen earlier though, the room was clean and dust free, as though someone were still using them. Maybe Walther had taken up residence or something. I got the strangest impression that the voice was scoffing at that as I looked around, and as luck would have it the very next room that I walked into was a bathroom. It was nowhere near modern; it looked like it hadn’t been updated in well over a century, but it would suit my needs nicely. There was a mirror as well as a pitcher and basin, and I was thrilled to see that the pitcher was full of clean, cool water. I looked around the room for a moment.

“No peeking!” I said sternly to whatever may have been watching, and then I took my shirt off as carefully as I could so not to pull the forming scabs off the cuts on my back. I poured the water from the pitcher into the basin and soaked a clean cloth that I found in it and then wrung it out. It was a bit awkward, but I was able to wipe off most of the dried blood to see how badly that thing had gotten me. With the area clear, I could plainly see the cuts in the mirror when I looked over my shoulder. They slashed diagonally from my right shoulder down to just above my left hip, but they didn’t appear to be that deep. My shirt, the t-shirt, as well as the flannel, were slashed open, with four large tears running across the back of them. They were also coated with blood in that area, and I wondered if there was something else I could use in their place, since I didn’t want to walk around wearing the scent of blood while there were predators in the castle.

Speaking of blood, I tossed my ruined shirts aside and used the rest of the water to try and get the blood out of my hair. I was able to get most of it, but I could wait to find a safe place with a nice hot shower, some place preferably far, far away from here.

I went through a door in the bathroom into a large dressing room, so hoping that Walther wouldn’t mind me borrowing a shirt or something. I poked through the nearest dresser and found a simple white men's shirt with long sleeves. The collar was a little weird, and the cut seemed to suggest that it was a fashion from an earlier era, so maybe Walther was into period clothing. Ay any rate, it would suit me just fine. I slipped it on and button it up, and then I had to roll the sleeves up a couple times. Strange, I didn't recall Walther being that much taller than me. In a nearby wardrobe I also found a red coat with yellow embroidery. The embroidery was faded and missing in some places, and I could see the faint outlines of something that had once been stitched onto the right breast. Figuring I might as well take it since I was shivering a bit, I took it off its peg and slipped it on. The sleeves were again too, but the heavier material resisted being rolled, so I would just have to deal with it.

The dressing room also had two doors, so I stepped through the second one into a large bedroom. I yawned and felt my body sag as soon as I laid eyes on the bed. I desperately needed to sleep and urgently. Adrenaline could only keep me going for so long.

Get your rest child, I will keep watch.

Despite the assurance of the voice, I went back to the main room and barricaded the door as best as I could. I then returned to the bedroom, and after placing my lamp on a nightstand, I did the same with the two doors leading in and out of it. I then set the alarm to go off in an hour. A quick cat nap would suit me well enough; a full night’s sleep could wait until I was safely out of the castle. I set the ringer to vibrate and stuck it under the pillow. I laid down on the bed and crashed instantly.

******

When the buzzing vibration of the alarm woke me later, the damned storm was still going. I groaned and flopped back down to the pillows at the thought on not being able to escape yet. That turned out to be a bad idea as I nearly fell asleep again. Grumbling to myself, I dragged myself off the comfortable bed and stuffed my phone in my pocket. I took stock of things and noted that the oil in the lamp was running low, so after using it to light a candle that was on the nightstand, I blew it out and refilled its reservoir using the jar of oil I had found earlier and then relit it.

It was by the light of the newly refilled lamp that I spotted another piece of paper lying on the nightstand where none had been before. I couldn't help the small shudder that ran through me at that. The existence of the voice had already announced loud and clear that the place was haunted (Either that or I was losing my mind.) but I was certain no one living had been able to get into the room with me, yet there was the proof that something had.

With my hands shaking just a bit, I reached out and picked it up.
 

6th of August, 1839

Today, Alexander explained about the wards in the castle. There are many of them, and most, he told me, are too complicated to explain. The most important ones are what he calls the "Intent Wards". There are on all the bedrooms, as well as the Back Hall. He told me that their function is to "read" the intentions of anyone who crosses them. If their intentions are harmless, the ward lets them pass. If they intentions are not harmless, the wards will stop them from going any further. If whomever intends to kill or do grievous harm to someone, the wards will destroy them.

Of course, he explained, the wards do have their limits. They will not harm the cat that chases the mouse across them, and if someone is already safely over them when their intentions become harmful, then the wards can do nothing. Only if one crosses them, can they act.

I was fascinated, and I must admit a bit skeptical, but Alexander told me that if we have another escape from the Prison cells, there is a chance that I will see them at work. There are two ways out of the prison below us, and the second is known only to Alexander and myself The main one, the one that the prisoners themselves know, requires that they take the lift up and pass through the Back Hall.

The rest of the note was illegible, but it explained much. It explained why the thing that had been chasing me earlier had been destroyed on entering the back hall. That knowledge chilled me. Granted, I had known that it hadn’t been about to ask me out for coffee or anything, but the note was confirmation that it had been out to kill me.

I shivered again.

I spent a couple minutes after that clearing the rest of the gunk from my eyes and trying to wake up, and then I listened for any signs of anything moving around on the other side of the door. Hearing nothing, I carefully dragged the dresser that I had moved earlier and stuck my head out the door. Seeing nothing, I then went to the door out in the hallway and listened at that one as well. Hearing nothing, I pulled the table and chairs I had piled up in front of it away and carefully opened it. The corridor was empty, and as I was taking note of this my stomach growled, reminding me that all the energy I had expended required food. I knew the kitchen was in the area, so I opted to sneak that way and maybe find me a little something to tide me over. Leaving a room that I knew to be safe was a fool’s errand, I knew, but I had to eat something, or I was going to pass out. And this time, there might not be any helpful wards to protect me.

I hadn't gone far when I heard yet another dreaded growl directly somewhere in front of me. I couldn't see anything past a few feet; the rest of the hallway was swallowed in the gloom, but I could feel the hostile gaze on me, and then I heard it running right at me. I did an abrupt about face and ran for my life. I tried to get back to Alexander’s rooms, but I became hopelessly lost, and I couldn’t even tell where I was, much less where I needed to go. Whenever I thought I was heading the right direction, I would hear another growl from that hallway, which of course was great incentive not to go down that way. It seemed odd to me (And it seemed even odder that I had time to think of such things while running down a castle corridor from some unspeakable monstrosity.) but the one that was behind me never seemed to close in on me, and the ones in the side halls never seemed to give chase.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I saw the door to the back hall, and I grinned like the Cheshire Cat and put on a burst of speed. I ran through the open door and ran about halfway down the upper level before I turned back, eager to see the wards in action. To my surprise, and disappointment to be honest, the thing chasing me just stopped, just before the door, as if it knew about the wards. I stood there, between the doors to the study and the guest bedroom and watched to see what it would do, but the watching was rudely interrupted by another growl from the lower level. I slowly turned my head to look down and saw another creature ascending the steps by the door I had just come through.

"Oh god damn it." I groaned and then I turned and ran once again. This time I didn't go far. I ran into the study and hoped those wards would stop it from following me. I also hoped that there wouldn't be anymore of the damn things in there. I bolted down the hallway, and followed it as it turned left for a short distance and then right. The hallway, which was lined by windows on the left side, was blocked off at the end where the ceiling had collapsed, so I bolted right into a large room and slammed the door. I then piled up everything that I could find that wasn't bolted down in front of it. Of course only then did it occur to me that I should have made sure that I was alone in the room first, especially after a nicely paneled door swung open with a quiet squeak of its hinges on the opposite side of the room.

I dove under the large table that took up the center of the square room and waited with bated breath for something to walk through it, but after several minutes when nothing did, I cautiously climbed out from under the table and approached the door. I didn't hear anything so I peeked around the door and saw only a private study with a desk, a bookshelf, a small table with a record player, a couple of weird statues, a nice love seat and most importantly, a wood stove with a merrily burning fire.

I stepped in and closed the door behind me, and it was then that I noticed the painting over the couch. I walked closer and looked at. It was a painting of an old man, with white hair just past his shoulders and a red coat with yellow embroidery and a stylized A on the right breast pocket. I knew, then, who he was; I had seen him in my bedroom during my first night in the castle, and I was currently wearing his coat.

"Alexander?" I said quietly, and I heard the voice respond.

Yes.

Chapter 4 -- Chapter 6
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