Chapter 90

Hours later the door slammed open and Koots zoomed in to the room and slammed the door shut just in time. Moments later a light thump and some scrabbling could be heard at the door. Norri turned towards him and the odd noises coming from the door. They weren't as violent as they had been earlier and there was more scratching than thumping.

Koots eyed Norri with a grin, “Don't let 'em fool ya, the quieter ones are just as dangerous as the loud ones.”

He walked over to their table and collapsed on to a chair sideways, his hump wobbling precariously behind him. “How's it going with you guys? Finish your maps?” he asked as he tried to look at their work.

They had finished a few minutes ago and it was clear who had drawing skills. Glenda's map was an almost exact copy of the original and was neatly done. Aiden's was a mess but he really had tried. M'redith's was neat but nowhere near as accurate as Glenda's. Jay's was surprisingly accurate if a bit messy. Norri's was done up in bright colors with various colors each having a specific meaning only she knew.

Taken individually any one of their maps could possibly get them killed, with the exception of Glenda's. As long as they stayed together they would be just fine. However, if any of them were to become separated from the group they might be fine, they might not, all depending on how accurate their maps were.

“Looks decent. You'll probably survive.” Koots said seriously as he finally nodded. “So here's how you use them. Don't go out in the halls until you know where you are going. Plan on what to do if when you get there the door doesn't open. It happens. Have a secondary door picked out, that way you don't have to go looking. Also have a plan for if the hallway you're headed to is full of monsters. That happens too.”

Jay's group looked less and less thrilled the longer Koots spoke. The living library sounded like a real nightmare and they couldn't leave until they returned their book. They might not be allowed to leave even after that, Jay thought to himself.

“Questions?” Koots asked.

In the corner Fred didn't even raise her head from the book she was reading. “Yes, who died and made you boss?” she asked dryly.

Koots looked over at her and wiggled his eyebrows, a gesture that went entirely unappreciated as she refused to look up from her book. Koots sighed theatrically. “She's so mean to me! Anyhow, if you are all ready I can run you to your rooms.”

“Our rooms? We each get a room?” M'redith asked carefully.

“Sure!” Koots said happily while misunderstanding her question. “We have plenty of rooms – everyone can have their own room if you'd like.”

M'redith shared a look with Norri and she shook her head.

“Can we.. can we share rooms?” Norri asked.

Koots smiled, “Afraid of sleeping alone?”

A sudden bang was heard as something large slammed in to the door hard enough to make the room shudder startling Norri and her group.

Koots laughed, “Can't blame ya. Sure you can share rooms. We have plenty of rooms with double beds. You should figure that out before we leave though. Who is sleeping where and with whom?” he asked with a wide grin.

It was a much more difficult question than it might first appear to be. It all came down to two things. Not wanting to be alone, and wanting to be clean. Everyone wanted to room with Jay. Whoever did would go to sleep clean and fresh as if they had walked out of the ocean itself and dried off in the sun. Their clothing would be clean and spotless.

Aiden, Norri, and M'redith all began to talk at once. Glenda chuckled as she watched. Jay wasn't sure what to do or say. Didn't he have a choice in the matter? It appeared not.

Koots patted his shirt pockets as he watched them argue and finally found what he was looking for. The others quieted down as he took out a single six sided die from his pocket and showed it to them. It was just a regular white six sided die with black pips. “Tell ya what. I'll roll this and let it decide who rooms with Jay, that sound like a good solution? Or you can sit here and argue for another five minutes.”

Aiden, Norri, and M'redith all nodded their heads slowly in agreement and went quiet.

“1 or 2 for Aiden,” he said nodding to Aiden who grinned, “3 or 4 for Norri,” Koots continued with a nod towards Norri who smiled and fidgeted with her hands, “and a 5 or 6 for M'redith.” he finished as M'redith looked over at Jay with a lopsided smile.

“Here goes,” he said as he rolled the die. The system must have been paying attention because it triggered just as he threw the die.

Room with Jay x 1:

1-2 Aiden

3-4 Norri

5-6 M'redith

Random(6) = 5

Room with Jay x 1 awarded to M'redith

The die came up with a 5 and M'redith let out a whoop. “I win!”

Aiden and Norri looked torn between being happy for her and wishing it were them instead.

Glenda nodded. “Good. Now we go?” she said shortly. It appeared that Glenda was ready to head to bed and could care less who roomed with Jay for the night.

“Not until you all choose who you are rooming with. I told you once already, the hallways are no place to be having a discussion – that's where the monsters are.” Koots said as he leaned slightly to the left to offset the weight of his hump.

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“Me and M'redith. Aiden and Norri. Glenda. So three rooms. Everyone ok with those arrangements?” Jay asked. No one argued. Everyone just wanted to go to bed.

Koots shrugged, “Ok. Once you're in your rooms stay there. I'll come and get you in the morning. You'll know it's me because you'll hear my terrified voice begging you to open the door.”

Fred chuckled quietly in the corner.

“Enough out of you!” he called out to Fred's huddled studying form. “Now I'm ready - if you are,” he said with a nod as he stood up and walked over to the door. He gave it a kick and waited a moment before kicking it again. He was greeted with only silence. “Now might be a good time to go.”

Everyone jumped out of their seats – no one wanted to be left behind. Koots whipped open the door and ran in to the hallway holding his lantern aloft as it swung wildly. Jay and his group followed behind him.

“Close the Goddess-loving door will you!” they heard Fred yell from behind them. Glenda had taken up the rear and grabbed the door as she passed and shut it with a thunk behind her, racing to catch up to the group.

They ran for some time before Jay realized that it did not appear that they were being chased. No scrabbling followed them, no sounds of screams could be heard close by. It appeared that they had gotten out without being spotted.

Koots ran just as fast though as if they were being chased and it was all the group could do just to keep up with him. Finally he led them down a narrow corridor with doors evenly spaced on either side. The doors were marked, hastily scribbled identifiers marked in red, each with a number and a letter.

K1 through K20 lined the corridor. The odds were on the left hand side of the hallway, the evens on the right. Koots stopped and put a finger to his lips to make sure they stayed quiet. He pointed to Jay and M'redith and then at room K5. K6, the room across from Jay went to Aiden and Norri. Glenda was given room K7, next to Jay's room.

They each opened their doors and as soon as Koots saw the doors open he waved and ran off to wherever he next needed to be.

The group all looked at each other and waved good night quietly. They shut themselves in their rooms and the doors locked with a click. Thick crossbeams were placed across the doors inside their rooms for added protection.

“What now?” M'redith asked after the door had been barred. Their room had two small beds and a single dresser with an overhead light. It was quite spartan.

Jay gave her a big hug and activated his aura.

One second.

Five seconds.

M'redith made a hmmmmm sound in the back of her throat as the filth and grime that had accumulated over the past few days began to rise in to motes of light before disappearing all together as the two of them were slowly cleaned.

Ten seconds.

Fifteen seconds.

Screams and high pitched screeches could be heard suddenly as the floor shook beneath them as something large began moving towards their location.

Twenty seconds.

A wet gurgling could be heard just outside of their door.

Twenty five seconds.

A sea of scrabbling legs could be heard in the corridor outside as the mass of monsters washed up against the exterior of their door, scratching at the door trying to gouge deep furrows in to it but failing. Still, the sounds that came from them as the attempt was made caused everyone who heard it to shudder.

Thirty seconds.

Jay turned off his aura and M'redith let out a relaxed sigh. Motes floated off of them and in to the air before they disappeared.

A heavy knock sounded at the door and then another before it sped up to a furious tattoo on their door, banging and banging as something hammered at the door in an attempt to knock it out of its frame.

M'redith clutched at Jay without meaning to and schooled her hands in to calmness before moving away to sit on one of the beds.

The hallway outside was now alive with screams and braying calls of monsters as they tried various methods of removing the door. The noise was a cacophony of horror and it was difficult to even hear themselves speak.

They sat on their beds looking at each other for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of being clean and fresh once again after three days of filth. It felt amazing. If it weren't for the horrors just outside of their door their current arrangements could prove to be quite enjoyable.

As it was however it was all they could do to hang on to their sanity and they finally agreed to sleep in the same bed for comforts sake.

“Should we wear our armor to bed?” Jay asked. “Just in case?”

M'redith chuckled. “Turn around,” she said as he faced the wall. M'redith began changing in to a linen shirt and a soft pair of pants.

“No point,” she said as she changed. “If that door opens we're dead. Armor won't help us. So we might as well get a good night's rest.”

She finished and set her armor aside and climbed in to bed. “Your turn,” she said, making no move to turn away and sporting a happy grin.

Jay shrugged and got undressed. As he did so M'redith's shyness finally got to her and she averted her eyes, not that there was anything to see. Jay dressed in a shirt and a pair of pants before he set his armor aside next to hers. Both were sparkling clean, just as Jay and M'redith were.

Climbing in to bed Jay put out the lights and the two cuddled under the covers and tried to sleep as the noises in the hallway grew louder. Something large had arrived.

The noise increased as Jay realized that the monsters didn't all get along. It sounded like the new arrival was much larger than the smaller monsters that had been scrabbling against their door for minutes now. The new monster could be heard making quick work of some of the smaller monsters and the sound of violent fighting and thrashing bodies could be heard as they occasionally bumped in to the door to Jay's and M'redith's room.

The scrabbling sounds were replaced with wet chewing sounds and Jay had a good guess as to who won. It seemed that after a few minutes the larger monster had run out of things to eat and it had let out one loud hair raising scream before they could hear it run off, its heavy foot steps fading in to the distance.

They lay like that, in the dark, curled up together under the warm covers, their bodies feeling freshly scrubbed clean from Jay's aura, the sounds of monsters occasionally passing their rooms, some banging on the doors as they passed.

Jay quickly fell asleep exhausted from their travels. M'redith took slightly longer and she lay still as she listened to Jay's steady breathing as he slept. Slowly she relaxed, occasionally having to start over after a particularly startling sound from the corridor shocked her awake. Finally though she managed to drift off, one arm around Jay, his hand on her stomach.

They slept soundly and neither were bothered by dreams as their hearts desire already lay next to them.