INTO THE DARKNESS

“About your request for a special dinner. I thought that it might be better to set up the dining table in This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

Hayden’s living room. The dining table is bigger there and so is the room. What do you say?” Auntie

suggested hopefully.

“Oh sure…I’ll leave it up to you,” I replied.

“That’s great. Also, I’ve arranged for some special decorations, if you’re free, it would be great if you

can come and have a look. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve overdone it or not…” Auntie said, and I could

hear the uncertainty in her voice.

She went and arranged for decorations. What kind of decorations? Why do we need decorations for a

dinner?

It was then that I started to realize that the image of a special dinner that I had in mind was very

different and probably humbler and more normal than the one that Auntie had in mind.

“Umm…sure. I’ll head over there now,” I said.

“Thank you. I’ll wait for you but you better hurry, Hayden will be back soon…” Auntie said excitedly

before the line disconnected.

I shook my head softly to myself before turning to look at the wide-eyed Little Hayden. He looked up at

me with a confused look on his face and I wondered if he was confused or if that was his normal and

natural face.

“Let’s go, Little Hayden…” I said as I bent down and scooped him up into my arms.

I walked along the familiar path from my room to Hayden’s wing of the mansion with the not-so-little

puppy in my arms. Little Hayden grew up again and I could feel it clearly each time I carried him. He

got bigger, heavier, and stronger. I was proud of the fact that he was growing up to be a very strong

and healthy boy but that also meant that it was physically harder to deal with him.

Carrying him, playing with him and any other physical struggles with him became increasingly difficult

for me as he got bigger. I read online that Corgis were not supposed to grow that big and I hoped that I

could manage to carry him even when he became full grown.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the fork path and just when I was about to turn towards the hallway

that led down to Hayden’s wing of the mansion, Little Hayden began barking. Simply because he

usually almost never barked while in the mansion, I was surprised at his reaction that I started looking

around to see what he was barking at.

“Why are you barking, Little Hayden?” I asked him softly as my hand stroked his head down to the

middle of his back in an attempt to comfort him.

Little Hayden only started barking louder and louder. I looked around in confusion before looking where

Little Hayden was looking; however, there was nothing there.

“You’re not…” I mumbled before trialing off.

I wasn’t certain of it at first but now I was sure that Little Hayden was barking while looking in the

direction of the dark and isolated hallway that led to Harvey’s wing of the mansion. A bad feeling came

over me and suddenly everything seemed so spooky.

Get a hold of yourself, Malissa. There are no ghosts…right?

“Stop barking and you’re not allowed to go that way, ok?” I said quite sternly.

Little Hayden didn’t stop barking and suddenly he seemed very excited or agitated, honestly, I couldn’t

quite tell. However, he began squirming in my arms before kicking his legs wildly.

“Stop! Stop…Little Hayden…” I said as I struggled to keep him in my arms.

Despite my efforts to calm him down, Little Hayden started struggling harder and rougher against my

chest and arms. It became a real struggle just to keep holding him in my arms. His nails began

scratching at my arms although they were not sharp, it still hurt.

“Calm down, little boy…” I whispered pleadingly.

I couldn’t understand what was wrong with him all of a sudden. There was nothing there that I could

see. Did he see something or sense something that I couldn’t?

It happened so suddenly that the next thing I knew, Little Hayden had freed himself from my arms and

had landed on the floor at my feet. I didn’t even have the time to bend over to catch him or stop him

before the troublesome puppy started sprinting towards the dark hallway.

It felt like I was watching an entire empire collapse right in front of my eyes as reality began to sink in

that Little Hayden had disappeared down the hallway that led to Harvey’s wing. No one is allowed to go

in there!

Little Hayden ran so fast into the dark hallway, and it wasn’t long before he completely disappeared

from my sight as the darkness swallowed him up. I gasped and then my mouth hung open before I

placed my hands over my mouth. I was shocked.

What do I do now? Hayden is going to come back soon. Hayden doesn’t allow anyone to go down this

hallway into Harvey’s wing. Plus, he also doesn’t really like Little Hayden that much…

If he finds out, what is going to happen to Little Hayden? Does the rule even apply to a dog?

What do I do? What do I do?

My hands started shaking before I started cupping my own cheeks in them. One thing was clear to me,

I can’t leave Little Hayden in there. I need to get him out and I need to get him out before Hayden

comes back.

I need to get him out before anyone finds out that we’ve entered into Harvey’s wing…

I took three steps forward in a rush and then my body stopped. Am I really doing this?

Am I really going into Harvey’s wing of the mansion? My legs shook like never before.

No one will find out, Malissa.

Hayden will not find out…and if he does…then…

I closed my eyes before I could finish that thought and ran forward into the darkness of the long hallway

leading to Harvey’s wing.

--To be continued…