From Darkness It Comes

Mr. Stark Reveals the Seal Door

The two of them quietly follow the swiftly walking Mr. Stark as he winds through the campus, taking shortcuts between buildings and not following any particular paths or walkways. The darkness seems to dance around the fringes of their vision, but moves ever closer as they approach their destination. If it wasn't for the unmistakable form of the building they were heading towards the back side of, they would have been completely lost at this point.

Towering before them was the vine covered worn brick walls of one of the oldest buildings on campus, Hampton Hall. It used to house the majority of the math and science services, but since the sixties, when the first new science building was constructed, it was reorganized to handle some of the new Social and Language classes, as well as some of the lesser administrative offices. Mr. Stark, however, seemed to be going through the maintenance door into the basement on the back corner of the building.

"Hurry." He says, sifting through his large janitor's style key ring for just the right one. "We need to get in here before we are seen. Or worse."

"Worse?" Lisa quietly whispers in Darrin's ear, gripping his arm tight with both hands and pressing against him. Darrin slides his arm around her and holds her close, wordlessly telling her she is safe with him.

The door swings open and Mr. Stark's cold eyes shine out of the darkness at them. "Come on, get in. We have no time to waste."

The three of them slip inside and the door closes, locking out the tendrils of darkness reaching toward it. Wordlessly they follow as the tall man before them wind his way down one hall after another, even down a few ancient stone staircases, twisting and turning themselves deeper and deeper into the bowels of the building. The lower they get the less the construction looks like the common stonework of the building and more it looks like some ancient tomb or mausoleum.

Finally, they are traveling down a long hall that is slightly angled, moving deeper into the ground below the old hall above. At the end of the hall they see a large ornate metal trimmed wooden door with sort of strange symbols and writing carved into it. Most of the metal banding seems to be striped with strings of words in the same style as the knife deep within Darrin's pack, but the rest of them are unfamiliar.

"We're here." Mr. Stark says, turning to face the two of them, still holding close to each other. "I found this place earlier this year, that was when I knew what I needed to do and that the key to it all would be coming soon."

"They key?" Darrin says looking up at him. "You mean me, don't you?"

"Yes. You are the one who this place was calling to. Just as it did those who came before you. Like it did..." His voice trailed off and there was a long pause as he turned to look at the door again. When he spoke again his voice was colder and more serious. "But the past doesn't matter. You are the only one who can stop things now. Come on."

Darrin and Lisa share a glance at each other, worried looks hidden behind calm faces.

Mr. Stark pushes the ancient door open with a moaning creak of metal on stone. The room beyond seems to disappear into darkness, but he doesn't cross the line into the room. Instead he drops his duffle bag and bends down to open it. He pulls out what looks like a whiskey bottle, but it has no label, and places it on the ground next to him. Next he pulls out a small wooden box and a book of matches, placing them on the ground next to the bottle. Darrin and Lisa just stand there dumbfounded and watch.

Closing the bag he shoves it back into the hall, to the feet of the young couple huddled there, and grabs the bottle. Uncorking it he slowly pours the thin amber liquid into a groove in the floor that crosses the doorway, just inside the room. It seems to flow both directions evenly, but nearly none seems to stay within sight. Once empty he places the bottle back down, re-corking it, and reaches for the wooden box.

Darrin can't see what he does next, but it sounds like the box is unlocked and opened before him. He then raises his hand into sight, with his thumb and forefinger pinched tight together, and holds them before his mouth. With a swift blow he opens his fingers and some sparking powder or dust flies into the room and sprinkles the floor before the door. It slowly flies into the room and settles on the floor, glittering as it goes in the dim lamp's light. He repeats the process two more times, until there is a small visible scattering of the sparkling reflective dust all over the floor just inside the room.

He stands up and turns to face the couple, clinging tight to each other. In his usual knowing voice, Mr. Stark says, "I believe you should do the honors. It is for you, after all."

On that he hold out the book of matches, as if to hand them to Darrin.