The Pain It Took To Become So Gentle.

“You do not know the pain it took to become so gentle.” Words threatening like an encroaching darkness. Encased in glass, there was a door. A door that led endlessly downwards. The glass case, attached to a wall and sitting on stilts, boasted a lush green landing. Circular, and encasing just enough space for a person to stand in front of an old wooden door. The kind with the circular metal ring that hung and acted as the door knob. One pull away from opening up to the unending darkness below.

Occasionally bats would climb from the depths and populate the glass enclosure. But none like the swarm that crept out one night.

All throughout the day odd things had been happening in the town. Small misfortunes, leading into bigger unhappy occurrences. A man, losing his clothing, before falling asleep beside a wall. A troubled woman beseeched passerbys near the enclosure.

She spoke no words, but her eyes had terror in them. The bats in the glass enclosure began to grow in number. More and more erratic with each passing moment.

The villagers believed that by cleaning the class, the omen that crept up from the depths from time to time could be expelled. A brave woman crept up to the glass and began to rub the outside lightly with a white rag, hoping to clean it. She was assaulted by a phantom, her body thrashing violently for a moment, before retreating terrified. Another tried to no avail, being struck, her head hit the glass and spectators gasped as she fled with the aid of two townswomen.

You walk up to the entrance of the enclosure, aided by an unknown woman. She opens the portal to the enclosure and tugs on the circular handle, revealing the darkness below. The door opens, so dark that it is almost purple. You cannot see more than three feet into the stone walkway that is revealed. It goes down into darkness, but you know you must venture inside.