"Little Hayden...?" I whispered.
I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be here, and my fear was quickly taking over me. I didn’t know what I feared more, not being able to find Little Hayden or getting caught that we were in here. It was so dark in the hallway and the sun had probably set. Unlike the first part of my journey in here, I had stopped running and was now proceeding down the dark hallway at a slow walk on my very shaky legs.
Where did Little Hayden go?
The hallway seemed much longer than I had initially imagined. Just how far does this hallway lead? At first there was nothing but empty walls with lamps fixed at even intervals along the wall. However, since none of them were switched on, they were useless and did not provide any light to light the way. I couldn’t see very far in front of me, and Little Hayden was no where in sight.
"Little Hayden! Where are you? Come back to me now..." I shouted in a whisper.
Shouting wasn’t an option because people might find out that I’m in here. I wondered if Little Hayden could hear me because I surely couldn’t hear him. The hallway was completely silent and apart from my rapidly pounding heart, I couldn’t hear anything. Although I strained my ears, I couldn’t hear the familiar sound of Little Hayden’s soft panting.
Just how far did he run off to?
The more I walked forward, the darker it got. I had no idea how far I walked but I presumed that it wasn’t as far as I had thought. It just felt like I’ve walked in so far because I was scared. The atmosphere was silent, desolate, and dark. If someone told me that this place is haunted, I would believe them without a second thought.
A shiver ran through my body, and I stroked my arms up and down with my hand to get rid of the cold.
I stood there in front of the door as my mind raced through many questions that didn’t have any answers. My head felt like it was going to burst and so did my heart. I felt like I was about to discover something that I wasn’t supposed to know, and I wasn’t quite ready to take on another shock.
My mind conjured up a memory of a recent day in the past where I had walked past this hallway and thought that I saw Hayden walking into the hallway that led to Harvey’s wing of the mansion.
Is...Hayden here? Why is he here?
After taking in a deep breath to steel my nerves, I slowly applied pressure to the door through my hand and began pushing the door open. I had no idea what to expect beyond the door, but I just prayed that Little Hayden was there and that he was safe. Maybe the room is empty, and I can just grab the dog and get my ass out of here before someone finds us.
The room was silent, and I couldn’t hear any sound coming from the inside. Thankfully, the door didn’t creak when I began pushing it open. Inch by inch, the door opened, and more light flooded into the hallway. When the door was open wide enough, I counted silently inside of my head.
3...2...1!
I stuck my head in through the opened door and peeked into the room. I wasn’t sure what to expect but the clean and luxuriously decorated room wasn’t quite what I had in mind. The room must be very large because from the angle that I had shoved my head in, I couldn’t see much apart from the wall on the opposite side. I had no idea how large the room was.
If there was someone inside, that person had not yet realized that I had started peeking into the room.
--To be continued...