Now he was moving along the fourth wall. He hoped that it was the last. Now, besides the involuntary flexing of his stomach, and the smells and tastes that were gouging out his sanity, he was certain that he could feel a wind that was pulling at his already weary body.
He continued to move across the grooves in the walls till he found the grooves suddenly stop at the corner of the room. Not having anywhere else to go, he reached his hand out and searched his surroundings. He reached over head, and found two solid joining walls. He had reached the last corner of the room. He reached up and didn’t feel anything. He moved his hands as low as he dared to reach, and his fingers felt only solid rock. There were no grooves, no place left to go. His hands frantically searched the walls. There had to be something here, anything. The frantic search of his hands found only smooth rock wall and empty air all around him.
He reached as high up as his hands would reach. He extended his body to its full height and stretched with every inch of his body. He raised himself on his toes and his hands reached up. Just when he was about to give up, his fingertips brushed up against the intersection of wall and ceiling.
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At least he had reached the top of the room. The portal leading out of this room had to be somewhere within reach. He slowly, very slowly felt over his head. He could only feel smooth rock ceiling.
He slid his left foot along the groove and his toes slipped over the edge. He gasped and the inhalation of air only brought a painful gulp of scents that sent his stomach roiling. He was smelling deer, fresh after the kill. He could taste her blood, warm and rich run down his throat. He tried to shake away the sensation, but it persisted. His stomach was growling, and he felt the muscle spasms increase in his abdomen. Come on, William. Keep it together for just a few more seconds.
He pulled his toes back to the groove and carefully stretched himself to his full height. His fingers brushed up against the ceiling and he gently moved them along its surface. Suddenly there was no ceiling. He pulled himself back onto the grooves violently as his body threatened to overbalance. He was breathing heavily and every breath only dulled his concentration more as the smell of turkey and sweet potato loaf overwhelmed his senses.
He took a few deep breaths and when he was able to get his heart back into his chest he moved out to the very edge of where the grooves stopped. He stretched up and found the lip of the portal overhead. He moved his fingertips and brushed the edge of the opening. It was overhead from where he stood.
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He would have to jump.
His mind was reeling from the constant barrage of food that kept being replaced by better and richer foods by the second, which wasn’t helping anything. He could smell cranberry sauce and Waldorf salad.
Standing there in the dark, worn, torn, and tired past anything he had ever experienced, he closed his eyes and lifted his left arm out in front of him. He moved his legs shoulder width apart. He bent his knees, and he lifted his right arm so his hand rested in the air. He closed his eyes and in this pose he meditated. He tried to calm his breathing. He tried to ignore the smell of Sheppard's pie and Teriyaki chicken. He breathed deep even breaths and eventually was able to draw his consciousness into himself.
He controlled his breathing, and he was standing in a void. But this void had no smells, no substance. He was a small microscopic thing as his arm stretched out for a mile or more away from him. He remained calm and pulled himself deeper. He could feel his blood pump through his body as his lungs took in deep slow breaths. His consciousness was traveling through his body sinking deeper and becoming smaller till there was nothing left of him.
He felt himself leave his body and he was able to look down and see himself, posed in meditation on the platform. He raised himself up and could see the room around him; he could see the portal above him. He could see everything.
He opened his eyes.
He drew his legs together, and with a strength that he didn’t dare to guess he still possessed, he propelled his body upward through the blackness. His hands stretched overhead and as he reached the impossible apex of that leap; he slapped his hands down and gripped the edge of the portal. The sudden stop of motion and the suspension of his body in midair surprised him a little. He knew he could do it, but having actually done it, he found himself to be happy and not just a little relieved.
Exhausted and straining every muscle in his arms and shoulders, he pulled himself up through the portal and onto the floor of the next room. It was much like the many portals he had climbed through on his journey so far. He rolled away from the open portal and lay there gasping for air, air that was mercifully clean of the smell of food.
How long had he been in this place? Did time exist for him at all? Had he crossed over into some other dimension like that place with the shadows, the place where he almost died? He realized that his eyes were closed and he kept them shut. The perfect void of which he was climbing through was probably as impenetrable here as it was when he took his first steps into this place. For now… only now, he would rest for a moment… just a moment, is all he would need.