Tower of Torment

Panting! Grunting! Gasping! She stopped at the corner and leaned against the smooth stone wall, trying to catch her breath. Behind her, a growl echoed through the narrow stone hallways! A growl so terrifying and bone-chilling that Leona found herself almost freezing in place every time she heard it. “Fuck! He has already caught up?” she clenched her fist and hit the stone wall to bring herself back to senses – “Run! Run! Run!! Move legs! Move!” she tapped her foot on the stone floor. 

The sound of her heel hitting the stone floor echoed down the hallway, another growl, closer this time. She took a deep breath and broke into a full-on sprint. Another bone chilling sound echoed through the narrow halls as Leona dashed, grabbing onto corners to throw herself around them fast to not lose momentum as she attempted to make her escape from the beast that is after her. 

A rumble almost made her lose balance but she caught herself midfall on a rock sticking out of the wall. Before her, the walls moved and shifted. The maze was changing once again “Fuck this timing!” She snapped as the wall to her right opened up, revealing the beast that was after her, standing right before her now. 

His mouth was wide agape, drool dripping off his nasty lips. Snout that of a wolf, a very raggedy wolf, fangs, large and sharp. Eyes, yellow as the dandelions, almost hypnotizing. Before her stood a werewolf, no less than 2.5 meters tall. Muscular humanoid body, hunched over, sniffing the air, following her scent. The beast lowered itself to all 4, slowly approaching her, taking slow, calculated steps. A deep, terrifying growl escaped its throat. 

Her body froze from fear. Her ears twitched at every rumble. Her eyes fixated on the predator approaching her. The paddle, sheathed away, hanging at her belt suddenly yelled – “Don’t breathe!” and in that moment, Leona gasped, and as she did, she remembered, she was allergic to dogs. Her nose itched, her eyes widened – “n..not again…” she mumbled and sneezed loud enough to make the beast jump back half a step. 

And in that moment, she disappeared from existence. Her scent completely vanished, as did her body. And before the beast, only a pile of her clothes, and a paddle remained. The paddle, in a high pitched annoyed tone mumbled – “That darned bun!!! GRRRR go away pup! I’m busy!” the paddle began to speak a spell.

The words of it made no sense, the beast leaped and grabbed the paddle with its teeth, growling, strengthening its bite in an attempt to break it. The paddle just chuckled “Tough luck! I’m a magical item, a foul beast can not destroy me” The paddle finished up its spell and disappeared with a loud ‘poof’. Leona blinked and looked around, she was now standing in complete darkness. She couldn’t see anything. 

She gritted her teeth as she slid her hands around her body ‘naked, of course’ she thought to herself, annoyed, lost on who knows which floor. She began walking on a rocky, damp floor, towards the only sound she could hear, a sound of dripping water. She walked and walked, her feet being poked and pinched by the rough floor beneath her. She let out a pained moan as she tumbled and fell onto the rough floor after stepping on a sharp rock – “gah! Curse this place!” she said in a pained tone. she felt around her foot for injury. 

She got up and walked on, at last, the claustrophobic cave opened up into a large cavern, dimply illuminated by glowing mushrooms at the sides. Spider webs and moss covered the floors and corners. She was quick to gather some webs and moss to make a quick set of simple shoes. They weren’t perfect but they’d at least provide a thin cushioning when walking on the rough stone ground. She continued to examine the cavern and discovered nothing else. A quick sip of water and our heroine was on her way, deeper into the cave. 

And so she walked and walked and walked. The caves seemed to have narrowed more and more, she now had to crawl through tight spaces to continue. A claustrophobic, dark cave. Spider webs and random moans echoing through the cave but not from her sent chills down her spine and only made her desire to escape even fast. She hit her head on some rock, and then thought she heard a familiar voice in the distance. As time went on

Her body got covered in more bruises and scratches, and the voice she heard before could be heard more frequently, calling for her from the darkness. At last she could hear it clearly. It was close. She felt around “Over here stupid bun! No not there! Here! Yes, closer! Hotter! Hotter! Really hot! You are! No don’t walk away!! COME BACK!” Screamed the paddle as Leona sighed and walked past it in the darkness – “you’re the most annoying…” 

The paddle interrupted her rudely – “The most AMAZING weapon in history! Yes! I know! And i know a way out of here!” She stopped and turned to face where its annoying high-pitched voice came from – “This floor?” the paddle chuckled – “yes! You’ve been here before, and i remember the path out” She approached it and grabbed it, smacking it against the wall, as the impact sent a vibration through the wood and into her hand. 

The paddle panted – “Yes!! Anyway! 3rd left from here, then 50 paces, a drop-down on the right in the wall you’ll fall into a lake! And thus you’ll have escaped the 47th floor” Leona growled – “Grrr! That damned curse sent me back 41 floors?” she shook her head, clenching her teeth, almost crying – “i… i WILL escape this cursed place”

She walked hastily following the paddle’s instructions and soon found herself splashing in the waters of the 46th floor. The water cleansed her wounds and scratches and tasted quite good as well. She went onwards, through the floors. Floor 39, a town. She snuck into someone’s backyard and stole clothes hanging there. A simple summer dress and a set of sandals! Nothing fancy but better than being naked. 

She soon found herself in the dark forest of doom on floor 34. This was among the most difficult floors to get through. She knew not still the secret to escaping this floor, neither did the paddle, for this floor, played with the mind of the escapee. As she stepped into the forest, she found herself, suddenly, in the depths of it. All sense of time spent in the forest was distorted. What feels like 5 minutes could have been 5 hours, or 5 seconds. It was impossible to tell. 

Every direction looked the same! The sun had set, and the forest turned dark. “So, again, how does the sun set inside a tower?” the paddle cackled – “Ahh how tired I am of explaining the same thing to you every time! Simply put, each floor of tower is its own micro-system, a mini-verse you could say! It’s a world of its own, hence why the climates change and so do the weather and time of day! Each passage between the floors is essentially a portal!” 

Leona looked around the dimly illuminated forest by the half-moon, and glowing vines as well as light-bugs. A variety of insects decorated trees and floors, glowing in a range of colors and intensities. “Well, at least the forest is safe” proclaimed Leona as she looked around the almost beautiful forest, if it wasn’t so bone-chilling and this sense of calmness and safety did not feel so fake and forced. The paddle cackled once more – “I’d run right about now if i were you”. 

Leona’s gaze snapped to a bush to her right inside of which something moved. From inside the bush, a child stood up. She let out a soft childish sob – “Miss!?? Miss! Are you here to save me?” Leona’s heart skipped a beat as she took a step closer to the child. The paddle shouted at the same moment- “RUN YOU FOOL! IT’S A DRYAD!” Leona’s eyes darted to the barely visible path to her left, and then back at the child, whose face, was now distorted into a terrifying creature of the night. 

Before her stood a child-sized creature that looked like something straight out of a nightmare. Its skin is made of bark, its mouth wide open, roots forming teeth into the endless abyss that appears to be its mouth. Its eyes are round and wide like owl’s, glowing faint white. “Please miss! SAVE! ME!” its voice distorted into an almost static screech! The bushes all around her began to tremble, more voices came from them. A vine wrapped around her wrist, coming off of the dryad’s head. 

She jerked her hand away with force enough to rip the vine out of the dryad’s head and burst into a sprint down the dimly lit path. The chase was short, as Dryads seemed to have been bound to that area of the forest. Though, it’s not like Leona could tell whether she was in a different part or not since it all looked the same. But at some point, the chase ceased and she stopped to catch her breath. 

She found herself leaning against an old, mighty-looking oak, that towered above all other trees. The dim moonlight breaking through the not-so-dense canopy above her was rather beautiful. The insects illuminating the forest twinkled like a starry night sky. Shuffling in the bushes growls in the distance, screams, and screeches which were slowly becoming too familiar for her. Has it been a day or a week? She could no longer tell, as the forest seemed to stretch on endlessly. 

Suddenly, the all too familiar, annoying voice responded – “OH i remember this 1 now. The forest of confusion makes you lose track of time and drives the dwellers of the tower to insanity! But fear not! I know the way out!” Leona unclipped the paddle from her belt, threw it on the ground and stepped on it – “You stupid, useless piece of junk i’ll bury you in this very forest I swear! How could you have forgotten to mention that you know a way out?” 

the paddle gasped – “Ahh!!! Well… It’s been at least 30 years since we were last on this floor! You can’t expect me to remember everything! Anyhow!! Follow the light flies they will guide you to the exit, but at the cost of your blood!” Leona picked the paddle back up and sighed – “Blood? I ought to feed them my blood?” The paddle nodded – “Correct! Bleed to escape!” Leona scraped her elbow on the rough oak’s bark, and a few drops of blood fell from her elbow.

 A few flies were quick to swarm onto the offering. Leona watched them swarm onto the blood on the floor, then fly back up to her eye level, they glowed brighter, and as the brightness increased, she could see them better. Before her were tiny fey. They looked humanoid, with small wings, and insect-looking tails that glowed. Their eyes were blue as the purest summer sky, but their teeth were sharp like that of a shark. They smirked at her, their evil grimmaces made her feel less than safe. 

The 3 of them spun around, beckoned her to follow, and flew off. She trusted the paddle and followed. Shortly after, she regretted that decision when she walked into a cave entrance, inside of which, thousands of that fey swarmed. Cicada like cricket that followed soon as they saw their prey, was almost deafening, she burst out of that cave, sprinting into the dark, chased by a swarm of blood-hungry tiny fey. 

She ran and ran, but the pursuers did not let up. As more and more of them caught up and got into her hair! Biting at her, each bite, was no more painful than a mosquito, but when there were dozens, it was terrifying. Her fear rose, and her mind entered a panicked state. Her heart was beating fast, and at that moment, as another 1 bit her and broke her tender skin, she screamed, and with her scream, the panic and fear activated her curse. 

She found herself standing in the middle of a town, engulfed by dense fog. Her eyes widened – “Oh no! Not this place!” She quickly dashed for the nearest building, pulled the door open into the abandoned house, and snuck inside, quietly closing the door behind her. A metal screech could soon be heard, coming from where she had stood a few minutes earlier. She held her hands over her mouth, to remain silent, waiting for the metallic screech to pass. She peeked out the window

and watched it slowly walk away, down the empty, foggy street, dragging a rusty, massive axe behind it. At last, it disappeared into the dense fog and she let out a sigh of relief – ‘why did it have to be this place…’ She got back up and quickly checked the house for some clothes she could wear. Throwing on the simple worker’s jumpsuit she could find, she opted against wearing boots to remain quieter when walking around. 

Shortly after when the street fell silent once more, she snuck out of the house and went further down the street, where it had gone prior to her. Following the scratch line on the paved street, left behind by the massive axe it was dragging behind. She remembered this place, the escape from this level was rather simple, but required one to be quite brave. You had to follow your fears not run away from them. 

And thus she found herself venturing inside a cottage house, where an audible, consistent creak could be heard coming from upstairs. The scratch marks disappeared, and she clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. Hating what she was about to see. She walked up the stairs, and into a room, her house’s bedroom. In a rocking chair in the corner, in front of a door, sat a porcelain doll, dressed like her wife, wearing a wig that looked just like her wive’s hair. 

The doll’s emotionless expression remained fixated on the entryway. She walked up to the doll, which, without moving a single body part spoke “You won’t leave me alone again, will you? You would dare not go missing for hundreds of years again, would you?” Memories of her wife flushed over her mind like a hurricane, her wife, who must be at home, thinking about her, missing her, while she’s here, in this cursed tower, trying to make her escape.  

She walked to the doll of her wife and embraced her – “I wouldn’t ever abandon you” her soft words echoed through the empty house, the doll’s face cracked in an audible ‘snap’. The floor below disappeared and Leona found herself falling, beside her, a dog. She smiled at the puppy that let out an excited “arf” as it seemingly swam through the air closer to her and licked her. Her nose itched as she smirked at it – “Atta good puppy!” She sneezed before she impacted the ground. 

There she stood, at the first floor of the tower, the final floor of the tower, 99th floor, the entryway. Before her, a throne stood in the empty circular room, made of materials from all over the tower. Each piece of it represented a floor in the tower. A rusty axe, a fog engulfed 1 of its legs, carvings of fey, leg made of talking wood, a rebar arm-rest, gold, ice, wind, motorized parts. Like a perfectly fit-together jigsaw puzzle, the throne encapsulated the tower. 

The paddle appeared on the ground beside her – “Aha! Finally caught up to you! Hey! Let’s go on! Down to floor 98 we go” Leona squatted down and picked up the paddle, letting out a sigh, not being able to say a single word, she walked quietly towards the throne – “Yes! Yes! Sit in it! It’ll grant you a wish! And then our journey to escape the tower begins!” 

She slides her finger over the thone’s armrests – “sit in it, become the queen of the tower! And then, we shall escape” She sat down on the throne, a bright flash, before her stood a man in white robes, in a field of yellow flowers, and lush, red grass – “Aha! You’ve made it! Queen of tower! What shall you desire?” 

Leona shook her head – “I..wish to escape this cursed place!” The man grinned at her and snapped his fingers – “Granted!” she opened her eyes, she was running! Panting! Grunting! Gasping! She stopped at the corner and leaned against the smooth stone wall, trying to catch her breath. Behind her, a growl echoed through the narrow stone hallways! 

A long while later, she found herself standing in the same throne room again! The paddle appeared on the ground beside her – “Aha! Finally caught up to you! Hey! Let’s go on! Down to floor 98 we go” Leona squatted down and picked up the paddle, letting out a sigh, not being able to say a single word, she walked quietly towards the throne – “Yes! Yes! Sit in it! It’ll grant you a wish! And then our journey to escape the tower begins!” 

She approached the throne and slid her finger on its armrest, contemplating. Her memories were fuzzy, and fragmented. She vaguely remembers being here before. A wish… A wish is all she needs, to escape the tower is what she desires. Brightness! Snap!

“I told you to go left at the intersection, not right!” complained the paddle in the high-pitched voice. “Grrr! Shut up already!” Spoke the teenage boy, strolling through the pitch dark maze. “Ohhhhh!” spoke the paddle as the boy was walking. The boy stopped, the paddle seemingly interested in something hidden in the darkness, remarked curiously – “Good memories… Alright, go on! We have 47 floors still to go through!” The young man peered around into the darkness, unable to see anything he shrugged and went on, curious what it is that the paddle seen in the darkness, but not daring enough to ask.