Chapter Eighteen - Contract

Jason Krivet

Alarms blared throughout the room, waking me from another dreamless night. I groaned as I rolled out of bed, already in my uniform. My vision swam as my body moved on auto-pilot, racing down the hallway alongside the other soldiers. I rounded the corner away from the vast procession of troops, reaching a large room filled with vehicles commonly used by the general public.

"Jason, you are with me!" Hans shouted from the side of an unclean family car, he was getting changed out of his uniform and putting on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"On it, do I need to bring anything with me ?" I shouted back as I made my way over, eyeing the racks of weapons.

"No, we need to blend in with the general public, you will need to get changed out of your uniform," he threw a carrier bag over to me and I caught it, looking inside, "that's for you, get changed quickly and then we will head out."

"Is it just us two?" I asked as I stripped, changing into the clothes in the bag.

"No, Leon and Ben will be coming also, they've had to report to someone else first, hence why you got here before them."

"Do you know where we are going?"

"Heidelberg."

"Wait really?" I placed my uniform into the carrier bag, "how do I look?"

"Decent enough, sort out your hair first before the other two get here." As I crouched down by the wing mirror, I noticed that my hair was indeed a mess, I combed it through with my hands until it looked relatively ok.

"Why Heidelberg? It's a bit far."

"From what I've been told, the castle has been destroyed by something, unnatural, we need to see what it is."

"Damn. Always wanted to take Heidi there."

"Well, judging from what I have been told, I think you may have missed your chance."

"You two ready to go?" Leon said as he wandered over, closely followed by Ben.

"Yeah, ready when you two are." Hans jumped into the driver's seat and I jumped in the front passenger seat, Leon and Ben taking up the two other spaces behind.

"Smells awful in here," Ben muttered, rolling down a window.

"Don't let the boss hear that, this is the car he plans to give his son," I retorted with a smirk.

"I feel sorry for his son."

Roaring amber flames spewed from the castle, which cast a flickering shadow over the city below. Debris littered the floor and large chunks of wall had shot out into the streets below, knocking into houses and dainty shops. Shame, Heidi would've liked it here, I thought as I maneuvered through the destroyed body of the once beautiful castle. Below, cries of help could be heard over the cackling fire, the other soldiers had now arrived, lending their aid. Emergency Triage tents and food and water stations had been erected on the outskirts of the city, which seemed to have become overcrowded by the injured and those who were rushing about. As I ducked below a door frame that had become off-kilter, I heard Hans order Leon and Ben to take another path through the castle.

"Jason," I stopped, turning to see Hans ducking beneath the door frame that I had just passed. "Do you remember what I told you in the car?"

"Of course," I shrugged, "Why?"

"Because I will be coming in with you, whatever this building is, we will need to split up to search it, and if it has caused this much destruction, then I would rather look around and leave."

"You sure that you didn't want to stay in here yourself, afraid of the ghosts?" I teased, gesturing to the ruins around me.

"Ghosts aren't real."

"If you say so," I turned, advancing through the smog of dust and ash. We proceeded on in silence, making careful considerations where to place our feet on such uneven terrain. Minutes passed and the smoke became suffocating, but we proceeded onwards. I held up my fist, pausing and maneuvering to a better location. "Hans, I think that is it."

"Seems like it." Hans stopped beside me, crouching amidst the ash. The building was huge, creamy white walls stood in opposition to the darkness of the smoke that surrounded it, but unlike the wood around it, the smoke seemed to dissipate on contact with the smooth marble. It looked like a newly built pantheon, the large columns of the same white stone seemed to hold the roof in place. Large steps led to a set of large double doors.

"We going in?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the building in front of me.

"We should really wait for Leon and Ben."

"But if it is as dangerous as you say, then it would make sense to keep them outside the building, if anything happens to us two, then they can report it. Why don't we message them that we have located the entrance and we plan to head inside, that they should refrain from entering until one of us two tells them that it is safe."

"Hmmm," Hans went silent for a few moments.

"It's the most logical answer."

"Ok, ok, you make a good point, it would be good to have another set of hands, but, if it does turn out dangerous then we will need someone to relay that information. Let me contact him, you proceed forwards, see if you can get those doors open, but wait for me." I nodded and vaulted over the collapsed slab of stone. The steps looked to have been made from slabs of the same stone used to make kitchen counters, the white stone was coated in a faint coat of gloss which reflected my appearance back up at me. I turned to see if Hans was following, but my footprints weren't painting the floor with ash, dirt and dust. I saw Hans put down the phone and I turned back, reaching the ornate bronze oak doors. On each door panel was a mirrored design consisting of intricate patterns of shapes and geometry which interlinked with each other. A placed a hand against the door, expecting something to happen, but nothing did, I tried to push, but still nothing.

"Hans, the doors won't open, I will need a hand." As Hans reached me, he placed his hands on the door, "Push!" I heaved with all my might, Hans seemed to do the same, his face redder than that one time at the bar.

"Jason, I don't think it's going to budge, let's wait until Leon and Ben get here." The two of us headed back down the stairs, but as we moved further away from the doors, golden light shone from behind, casting our two thick shadows down the remaining steps.

"The fuck?" I stated as I turned back around, seeing the two doors wide open.

"That's not ominous at all."

"Yeah, gotta agree with you there." We both stopped in our descent, looking at each other with quizzical expressions.

"What do you reckon?" Hans gestured to the doors with his head, "try going in or, we wait for the others."

"If you think about it, nothing has actually changed, if they are inviting us in then we can at least have a look around." Hans looked at me, making that face that he usually made when thinking about this sort of thing.

"I will message the other two, let them know we are heading inside."

"I will head up first, ensure that we are safe." I headed back up the stairs, leaning back against the wooden doors and peeking inside. A long corridor of stone stretched in both directions, the walls of which hung posters which broke the grey look of the room. Along the floor was a river of violet that was devoid of any impurities. Gilded sconces provided the only light to the room, casting it in a flickering amber. "Hans, I don't see anywhere we could potentially hide once we enter," I relayed back, just catching Hans placing his phone in his pocket.

"Noted. Let's act naturally then, I will trust your judgement."

"Hah, that's a first."

"No, it's just that you are normally a twat, but you seem oddly with it today."

"Thank you for your kind words sir," I mocked, giving Hans a half assed salute.

"Just shut up and take point will you."

"Of course sir," I swung around into the corridor, the fire contained by the sconces seemingly flaring up with excitement at my presence. I gestured back to Hans who struggled to maintain a smile, he nodded and followed me inside.

Hans Baumann

As I entered the corridor, Jason's body seemed to flicker.

"Jason?" I asked, but he didn't answer. I moved closer to him, and as I went to place my hand on his shoulder, my hand passed through him and his form dissipated like smoke. What the, I thought to myself as I turned back towards the exit, finding it gone. The flickering fire that was contained by the hung sconces started to dance erratically in their steel cages, before the orange flames suddenly exploded upwards in a contained spiral before being snuffed out, leaving me in darkness. I pushed my back against the wall, waiting patiently for my senses to align themselves in the dark. As the world slowly took shape, the outlines of sconces, the wall that they hung on slowly became defined in the dark.

"Hans Baumann, do you agree to the contract ?" The voice caused me to turn to the left, I raised my arms, but my blinded eyes couldn't see the origin of the male voice.

"Who, who are you?" I asked, but my question was met with silence.

"Hans Baumann, do you agree to the contract ?" the voice repeated, behind me this time.

"Contract ? What contract ? Who are you ? Where's Jason ?"

"Simple yes or no answer, do you agree to the contract ?"

"What contract ?" as soon as my words left me, a screen flashed into my view. It was of a golden colour and I could see beyond it. I lifted my hand and it passed through it as if it was not there. The contract I assume. I looked about, still only seeing dark and then gave the screen a read.

~~~~~

Contract

I hereby state for the record that I, Hans Elias Baumann, agree to participate as an actor in upcoming plays. I acknowledge that my participation in these plays will guarantee a reward that can be chosen after a successful performance. In order for the actor to participate in the upcoming play - The Maze - we will need their approval on accepting a prop that will allow them to perform their role properly.

Do you agree with these terms ?

Yes No

~~~~~

I looked back up from the text, confusion taking root in my mind. What the hell is this ? I read over the text again and again, the confusion only mounting up more and more.

"What is this ?" I asked once again, but only my reverberated echo answered. My finger hovered over the no option when I paused. Wait a second, could this be related to that thing Jason went through. It was the only thing that made sense. I clicked Yes and information washed through my mind, sending me to the floor. It felt as if liquid fire had been poured onto my brain, the pain hundreds of times worse than a migraine. I tried to scream from the pain, but I couldn't hear myself. I found the darkness of the room encroaching ever closer as the cold of the ground became the only comfort to the pain.

"Hans!" the voice shouted, but it sounded faint. "Hans!" the voice repeated, a rough hand landed on my shoulder, but I didn't feel any pressure from it, only its presence. I struggled to keep my eyes open as my head felt close to exploding. As my eyes closed, Jason's worried face came into view.