Nightmare of Layla (4): Well of Darkness

The dead corpse of the Night Panther laid infront of Layla, a pool of blood forming around it.

Layla could've of course gotten the Soul Shard out of it, but since she wasn't a sleeper yet, there was no use for it.

'Fought so hard, just to obtain nothing. My appraisal will be better tho, so I guess that's a pro.'

She sighed and turned around. The sounds of the battle had probably brought attention, attention she didn't want.

There were still parts she could explore in the Cathedral. She could either go upstairs or to the back. Going outside of the Cathedral was also an option.

'I think I should finish the main floor first. So the backside of the Cathedral it is.'

The Backside of the Cathedral was easily the largest, consisting of just a huge hall, with a podium stage in the back.

There was a huge chance that this place held even more secrets to the truth.

There was occasional flicks of light, which came from broken oil lamps but the room was mostly dark.

There were more pages, just randomly splattered on the ground.

Layla picked them up but decided to read them later. First, she needed to organize everything.

The room was pretty disheveled. Broken chairs, piles of papers, weird liquids and broken oil lamps. Overall, the hall was pretty much just a shithole.

'Who was supposed to clean this ? Didn't they pay their Janitor !?'

***

By now, Layla had spent a month in the Cathedral. No Creature had attacked her in that time, thankfully.

She spent most days searching torn of pages of the unholy book, since she was sure that the objective of her Nightmare was to gather for all of the pages and complete the book.

She didn't know how many chapters there were, but her guess was 777 since the number 7 always occurred several times in all of the chapters.

She had already found about 600 in the huge piles of pages. Most of them didn't seem really important but there were some that had gotten her attention.

Chapter 724: Unknown Cathedral

'Followers of the Unknown had built a Cathedral to pray to the unholy. They sought no salvation, but revelation in the face of despair.

The Cathedral was a place built for worship, made for those who knew that some truths should always stay hidden.

The followers did not feat the Void Creatures, but adored them.'

Layla had found chapter interesting since it told her more about the place she was in and it proved her theory, that people here had prayed for the unknown.

Chapter 37: the Guardian and the Shadow

'The Guardian, who longed for a life of its own, had befriended the first shadow of all, The Watcher.

The First Shadow wasn't like other shadows, nor was it connected in any way to the god of Shadows, which was born after the   first Shadow.

The Shadow was someone who did not exist in a physical nor spiritual form. It also wasn't an absence of light.

It consisted out of something that not even True Darkness could reach.

The Guardian and the Shadow had met randomly when the Shadow found the Guardian on its journey.

The Shadow hid while following and watching the Guardian.

It was known to only watch, but for some reason, it had the desire to intervene the Guardians journey, and so, it started  playing little, funny pranks on it.

For example, manifesting a physical form of a shadow and making the Guardian trip secretly.

This was the first time the Shadow had felt something, fun.

The Guardian didn't know the Shadow existed, but in the mind of the Shadow, it thought that they were friends.'

'Is this why the Shadow is watching me ? Because I have a fragment of the first Unknown, like the guardian had ? I hope it doesn't play prank on me, like it did on the Guardian.'

Layla sighed because of exhaustion and moved all of the torn of pages to the book on the Altar.

'I have already been here so long. I wonder how long I'll need to obtain all Pages.'

***

Layla had spent a few more days in the Cathedral and had found exactly 776 chapters by now, meaning that only one was left.

She couldn't find it, even though she had searched everywhere, even on higher floors.

'Please don't tell me ...'

Layla sighed, knowing that the last page wouldn't be inside the Cathedral but probably somewhere outside of it.

And because of that, Layla started preparing to go outside. She had somehow crafted a makeshift backpack with some torn of cloth and string, and then put the unholy book inside of it.

'Soo, what do I need for a journey ? Something to make fire, food and water.

Food and water ...

Wait, I haven't eaten or drank anything in over a month. And i was never hungry nor thirsty. How ?'

Layla thought how that could be. She had considered every option, even reading through the chapters again but she found no answer.

'Well, Nightmares are always illogical, so let's just forget this.'

Layla then picked up some broken wood pieces before putting them too inside the backpack. Then she went back to the Main Hall and walked outside the huge main door.

Outside, everything was dark and black. He grass was black, just like the trees and the sky. The only different thing was the moon, which shone in a dim, silver light.

Layla turned back, looking at the overly large Cathedral for the last time.

'Why am I getting sentimental ? That place is creepy as fuck.'

Layla shook her head before turning back again.

Layla stepped into the dark landscape and felt the ground under her move to the side, making way for her.

'Huh ? Is this a liquid ?'

Layla moved her finger to the ground, covering it in something black before moving her finger to her mouth.

She licked it before spitting the substance out.

'Why is this Ink ? Fuck, it tasted bad.'

As she continued forward, the eerie silence and the absence wind getting to her mind, she illuminated her path with a somehow working Oil Lantern.

It felt like she walked for hours, though time wasn't possible to track for her, till she had found A Village in the distance. It looked long broken and abandoned , houses run down, doors slightly ajar and pathways cracked.

Though her instincts told her to not move closer, a feeling she couldn't explain, made her move forward, like she was drawn by something.

She first went through all of the abandoned houses, but found nothing inside of them.

She walked outside the huge of the last house, and then, suddenly, saw a normal, black cat infront of her.

She got onto her knee and just caressed the cat's head, as it purred against her.

"Poor kitty, what are you doing inside of a Nightmare ?"

The cat kinda reminded her of her past self. Broken, alone and in a bad environment. She was just like that after her brother died and her Mother took her own life.

For 5 years had she spent her life in despair, before her adoptive father had found her and given her a place to stay.

Layla's fingers moved around the cats throat, as she applied pressure.

Her expression darkened, and so did her grip.

'Such a weak Creature ..'

Layla sighed and let the cat go, before it hurried away.

'What am I doing ?'

Layla stood back up again and walked toward the only place that was left in the village, a stone well.

Its walls were already cracked and chipped, being close to breaking down.

She looked down at the well, and the only thing that looked back at her, was pure darkness.

Before she could turn back around again, she saw tentacles out of physical shadow appear under her, as she was pushed down the well.

'That bastard ! The watcher didn't play a prank in this exact moment, did he ?!'

Layla panicked. She knew that landing after such a long fall would defenitely kill her on the spot.

'Fuck, what do I do, what do I do ?!'

But there was no need to panic for Layla, atleast about the landing, since that landing had never appeared.

Layla fell for seconds, then for minutes and then she reached the hour mark.

Everything around her was dark, no light at all except for the dim sparks that came from the Oil Lantern.

'How long is this stupid Well ? And how do I get out of here ?'

Layla somehow made her way to the stone wall and held her fingers against it, trying to slow down her fall.

The skin of her finger tore off as she held on, but it just didn't work. Her grip strength was strong enough and she was just falling down too fast.

She then took her Sword and plunged it inside the Wall.

She felt an immensely large amount of pressure weight down on her, as she suddenly stopped falling down.

A few bones cracked inside of her body, but she atleast wasn't falling anymore.

With her other hand, she held herself on a stone brick and recalled her sword, before summoning it again and plunging it back into the stones, this time higher than before.

She climbed up the sword and then did the right exact thing.

'Oh god, this will take a long while.'

——-Author's Notes——-

Words: 1578

We getting closer to the end of her Nightmare. Will probably only be 2 or 3 more chapters, her appraisal included.

I hope y'all have enjoyed her Nightmare till now.

Peace ✌️