Index  

Posted by H.O.D.

1. Prologue
2. Chapter 1: A Day Out
3. Chapter 2: The Forest
4. Chapter 3: A Beam of Hope

Chapter 4  

Posted by H.O.D.



House of Dimension

To their left, the boys could see a fireplace at the very end of the vast hall. It was strange though, that the fireplace was undisturbed. There was no brightly lit fire that they had seen earlier through the window of the mansion. In fact, the only source of light was the slight twinkling of the chandelier hanging right in the middle of the hall. Even coated with a layer of dust, the crystals of the grand chandelier twinkled like millions of stars from somewhere far away in the galaxy. The slight breeze that came in when the boys opened the door was what had caused the chandelier to sway slightly, giving off a sound not unlike a wind chime.

As they ventured deeper into the mansion, the feelings of unease grew. However, desperate for help, the boys had no choice but to continue looking for help in the eerie manor. As the four of them climbed up the staircase, they can’t help but notice a melody coming from behind the polished mahogany door that stood at the top of the stairs. Hearts thundering furiously, they pushed open the door.

A gramophone stood in the middle of a hall the size of a football field, playing a piece which none of the boys recognizes. The hall, like the rest of the house, was richly furnished. Bookshelves that reach up to the high ceiling were laden with thick leather bound books, expensive looking leather couches were arranged to face a huge painting of a woman with her face half hidden behind a veil.

“Is that real gold?” Kit’s eyes widen as he stretched out one hand towards the massive photo frame.
“Don’t touch anything!” hissed Ken.
“Hello? Is anyone home?” Long called out nervously, ignoring the bickering of the other two boys.

A slight creak made the boys turned their heads towards the source of the noise immediately. A door stood at the very end of the hall, revealing a room that they had not noticed before. A tall thin man with peppery grey hair emerged. From his slightly frayed black suit and a towel that was hanging from his forearm, the boys assumed that this was the butler of the house.

“What business do you have with the master?” the butler asked. His voice sounded like sandpaper, as though it hasn’t been used in quite some time. The butler wrinkled his nose in distaste, making a face that seemed to suggest that the boys were something highly unpleasant.

“Erm… We got lost in the woods and couldn’t find our way back. Could you show us the way back? We didn’t see any house nearby except for yours,” asked Wayne.

Ignoring Wayne’s request, the butler spoke once more in his sandpapery voice, “This is not my house young one. I will ask the master if he would allow the likes of you to stay for the night.”

“But we just wanted some direction… Please?” pleaded Long.

The butler ignored Long and marched out of the hall. “Do not leave the room,” ordered the butler as he shuts the door.

“Man, what’s his problem?” complained Wayne once the door closed behind the butler.
“Maybe we should look for a phone or something,” suggested Ken.

The boys looked around the hall in search of a phone, taking care not to touch or break anything in the room. However, their searching effort was in vain. Not a single phone or computer was in sight. Just as they finished searching the hall, the butler appeared once more beside them. It was as if he materialized out of thin air as none of the boys even noticed his sudden reappearance. Shocked, Kit accidentally knocked over an antique vase, shattering it into a million pieces.

“Never mind that,” said the butler just as the boys were about to apologize. “There are no telephones or any other means of communications in this house so you boys can stop snooping around. The master has kindly allowed you to stay for the night. You will be brought back to where you come from tomorrow morning. I shall show you to your rooms after you have had something to eat and drink. Follow me to the dining hall,” continued the butler as he led them to another hall.
This hall was slightly smaller than the previous one they’d been. In the middle of a long rectangular room was a long dining table that looked like it could fit about 50 enormous men comfortably. The table was laden with food, which was surprising considering that the boys had just arrived moments earlier.

“Is there someone else who will be joining us for dinner?” asked Wayne, his eyes agog at the amount of food on the table. It looked like there was enough to feed an entire village!
“Only four of you shall be dining,” said the butler, “I will escort you to your respective rooms once you’ve eaten enough.” With that, the four of them were left on their own.

All feelings of apprehensiveness dissolved into thin air as the boys set their eyes on the sumptuous feast in front of them. Chickens, meatloaves, steaks, potatoes, puddings, cakes… one can just imagine the boys’ delight at the delicious meal prepared for them. After stuffing themselves until they were fit to burst, they muttered a contented sigh.

“Phew, I haven’t eaten anything like this ever in my entire life!” exclaimed Ken as he adjusted his jeans which are now digging uncomfortably into his bloated stomach.
“I totally agree man...” said Wayne who tugged at his belt pointlessly, trying to loosen his suddenly too tight pants.

It was as though the butler was just lurking in the shadows all the while when the boys were stuffing their faces silly with food, for he appeared noiselessly at their sides no sooner had the words come out of Wayne’s mouth.

Startled, Kit sputtered orange juice all down his front at the abrupt reappearance of the butler, leaving an orangey streak on his already brown and muddy shirt. As the other three tried to stifle their laughter, Kit glared at the butler angrily.

However, the butler seemed oblivious to Kit’s glare as he led them out of the dining hall and to their respective rooms. They passed through rows and rows of hallways, all lined with ancient portraits of people who seemed to watch their each and every move. More than once, one of the boys would sense some movement behind them. But when they whipped around, there were no signs of any living being around except for the four of them and the butler.

After walking through several hallways, they finally stopped at a wide corridor with at least ten heavily polished mahogany doors lined along the entire hallway, five on each side, not unlike what you’d expected to see at a posh hotel. The butler indicated the rooms in which they would spend the night, one for each of them and started to walk away when Ken requested for them to stay together in one room as they were unfamiliar with the place. Not to mention that they were all scared stiff by the creepy aura of the house.

The butler had an annoyed look on his face, replying curtly that it was the master’s wish that they were to stay in their assigned rooms. Not wanting to cause further trouble, or worse, risk getting kicked out of the house and into the dead forest again, the boys went into their respective rooms without further complains.

As Ken pushed open the heavy doors to his room, he can’t help but gasp in wonder. The room was immense and expensively furnished. It was almost like stepping into a royal suite! The bed was lined with gold trimmings, with big white fluffy pillows that seemed to be beckoning his tired body. A huge walk-in wardrobe stood at the corner of the room along with an ornate dressing table. The bathroom was easily the size of his own bedroom at home! Tired and filthy, he quickly stripped off his clothes and ran a steaming hot bath to soothe his aching muscles after a long day in the woods. When he finally emerged from his bath a good half hour later, he was surprised to see a pile of new albeit slightly musty smelling clothes laid on the bed and his dirty clothes neatly folded in a bag.

In another room, Long was just changing into the new clothes after a long bath. He took out his mobile phone from his backpack to see if he could find a signal to call for help. His parents were bound to be worried sick. At this time, he was supposed to be back at home, enjoying the company of his family after spending three days in the woods.

“Ugh!” to his dismay, the signal remained dead. His anxiety grew as the battery was slowly dying as well. With a sigh, he switched off the mobile phone and put it back into his backpack before going out of his room to find his friends.

As they huddled together at the hallway, the boys discussed how they were going to get home. The house just doesn’t seem right somehow, they just can’t shake off the feeling that their every move was being watched. However, they were not in a state to leave the house right now as the rain seemed to have started up again. After agreeing to leave the house at day break, the boys went back to their rooms and slept.

For several uneventful hours, the boys slept blissfully, exhausted after the day’s events. Suddenly, Wayne woke with a start. At first, he thought that he was having a terrible headache as the room seemed to be spinning around violently. Then as his bed slid from one corner of the room to the other, it hit him that the room itself was spinning. Terrified, he clutched the bed sheets until his knuckles turned white. The room seemed to shake rougher and rougher with each passing minute. When he finally regained some of his senses, Wayne scrambled clumsily over to the door and pulled at it with all his might. To his horror, the handle would not budge. He was locked in.

The room was spinning so fast now that everything is a blur. As Wayne continued his fruitless attempts at wrenching the door open, a flying chair hit his head from behind and everything else went black.

Chapter 3  

Posted by H.O.D.



A Beam of Hope

Disoriented, the boys wandered around the forest in the dark, having forgotten to bring along flashlights when they left their camp site earlier in the day. Sounds of rolling thunder in the mountains were followed by a flash of lightning that illuminated the skies for a split second. The boys' faces were identical masks of fear. Stranded in the middle of a dense forest, the last thing they need is an impending thunderstorm which threatens to drench them to their skins. The fog was rolling in even more thickly as the temperatures started to drop further. The boys hugged their thin sweaters tighter against themselves, trying to stop their teeth from chattering.

Hopes of being rescued were dwindling fast as their calls for help went unanswered. Just as they thought all hopes were lost, Wayne suddenly recalled a survival tip he once saw on the television.

"I just remembered something. Where there are rivers and streams, there will be civilisation nearby! We should find a river or something and follow it upstream; that way, we'll be able to find help!" Wayne told the other three.

So, with renewed optimism, they trudged along trying to find a stream. It was another 10 minutes before they'd heard the sounds of river gushing. Just then, the storm that had been looming on the horizon all day finally came pouring down. The rain that was coming down in sleets further worsened their visibility; they could hardly see anything at all, let alone finding the stream. When they finally did reach the river, it was not relief that they felt; it was horror. The river was at least 20 feet wide, with wild muddy water that was rushing so quickly, anyone would be swept off their foot and into the murky depths of the water should they attempt to cross it.

Nevertheless, they proceeded to follow the river upstream carefully, stopping every now and then to catch their breath. It was awhile before they'd finally stopped walking. It was a dead end. The river led them to a waterfall that was almost 60 feet high. Crushed, they decided to seek refuge from the rain by walking deeper into the woods, hoping the trees would help shelter them from the bitter cold the storm brought on.

After what seemed like ages, the rain finally started to die down, leaving only darkness and cold behind. Attempts to start a fire for warmth failed as the fire woods were all drenched by rain water. By then, the boys were feeling lethargic and hungry, having only eaten a hasty brunch earlier on. Just when they were about to give up, a few fireflies appeared out of nowhere, distracting them temporarily from their predicament.

They followed the fireflies as though in a daze, drifting deeper and deeper into the woods and even further away from civilisation. They snapped out of the daze as the fireflies disappeared abruptly. As they look around the place they now stood, they let out a gasp and stood with their mouths agape. Standing in front of them was a tree that seemed even larger than the one they saw yesterday. Fireflies were surrounding the huge tree, making it seem like the tree was twinkling. Overcame with fatigue, the boys decided to rest under the tree for a moment before continuing to seek help.

It was now past midnight, the boys had unknowingly fallen asleep at the base of the tree after the day's ordeal. Being a light sleeper, Kit was awoken by the sounds of rustling behind one of the trees. Alarmed, he quickly roused the other three from their sleep, worried that the beast earlier had managed to track them down. A pair of amber eyes glowed from within the woods, scaring the boys out of their skin. Without a second glance back, they ran as far as their legs would bring them.

Out of breath, the boys slowed to a stop as the beast did not seem to have pursued them. Kit decided to rustle through his backpack for something to arm themselves against the creature should it appear again. Buried under various junk was the flare gun handed out by the forest ranger days earlier.

"Look at what I've found! The flare gun the ranger gave us the other day," said Kit. "We should use it. Maybe they'll see it and come to rescue us!"
"No way, what if the sound attracts that thing and makes it come for us again?" argued Long.

Disappointed, Kit put the flare gun back into his backpack. They continued to walk for a bit more before Wayne had spotted a faint light in the distance. Thinking that they were near the edge of the forest, they ran towards the source of light, only to stop short at the edge of a dead forest. The faint light shone weakly through the bleak gloomy darkness emanating from the dead forest.

Left with no other choices, the boys had nowhere else to go but forward. They had to find out where the light was coming from as it was their only hope of being rescued. The fog that had dispersed after the rain was starting to thicken again, which made the boys look like they were floating on thin air. The dead forest was eerily quiet, with only occasional caws from ravens perched on the dead branches. As they walked on, they noticed tombstones that are half buried in the ground, and by the looks of it, some of the tombstones dated as far back as the 18th century. Surrounded by half fallen archangels and mausoleums that looked like they were about to collapse anytime, the boys stifled an involuntary shudder.

"This is waaaay too creepy to belong in a national park," said Ken. The other three agreed silently as they struggled to find a way out of the dead forest.

When they turned their heads to look back after some time, the lively forest that they were once in had completely vanished from their sight. The faint light that led them here in the first place looked even further away than before. The fog that had been creeping at their feet started to swell in size, engulfing the boys completely in its cloud. Unable to see more than a few feet, the boys held hands and formed a human chain so that they would not be separated in the thick fog. Every once in awhile, one of them would trip over the exposed roots of the dead trees or hit their heads on the low branches, making the progress forward even slower.

Finally, they arrived at the source of the light. A magnificent mansion towered over them, its ancient looking architecture give off an eerie feel that sent a chill down their spines. Despite its dilapidated outlook, there's a fire burning brightly in the grate, which gave off the faint light that attracted them from afar. Slowly, they walked up to the doorway and tentatively knocked lightly on the polished maple door. To their surprise, the door creaked open slightly, revealing a lavishly furnished hall.

Blood red carpet covered the entire hall, with twin marble staircases that lead to the second floor. Ornate carvings of what seemed like angels can be seen on the railings of the staircase, giving it a somewhat grandiose yet ominous look. As they looked around the hall, they noticed that a fine layer of dust was covering all the furniture, even the grand piano in the center of the hall looked like it has not been played in quite some time. The place looked like it was uninhabited, abandoned by its affluent owner that seemed to have left the place in a hurry, leaving everything untouched in his hasty flight.

Hearts pounding furiously, they took their first steps into the strange mansion.

Chapter 2  

Posted by H.O.D.

The Forest


As the ranger led the students through the trail, Wayne can't help but be awed at the ancient trees that surround them. Yews, maples, sycamores are just the few he can name, and then some which he could not recognised as they were covered in moss. The four of them went deeper into the woods in search of their camping site for the next three days. As they went deeper into the woods, the sounds of other students faded into silence; soon, there was only the panting and grunting of the four. Finally, the ranger stopped at a clearing and the four of them gave a big sigh of relief.

The sun overhead filled the clearing with a haze of warm sunshine which made them feel that the long walk was definitely worth it. The bubbling sounds of a nearby stream could also be heard.They were told to gather up fire woods and taught to set up the tent which would be their home for the next three days.

"If you ever get lost or need any help, use these compasses and head south-east, that should lead you to the direction of our headquarters. Use the flare gun wisely as it's only good for a single shot," said the ranger as he handed out the compasses and the flare gun to the boys.
Before the ranger left, they were also given a first aid kit in case of any emergency situations. After the ranger left, the four of them got to work setting up their tent and gathered pots and pans to cook their dinner. Kit and Ken were tasked to gather fire woods while Wayne and Long were supposed to cook. When Kit and Ken finally gathered up enough firewood, the sun had already set and their surroundings were dissolved into darkness.

After tinkering with the flint stones for almost half an hour, they finally got the fire going. It was another half an hour before they got the fire hot enough to cook themselves a simple meal of potatoes and porridge. Even though the food weren't tasty, the four of them were ravenous by then and wolfed all of it down. After cleaning up the cooking utensils at the nearby stream, they went back to the camp and soon fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep surrounded by the sounds of the insects in the forest.

The boys woke up next morning to the cheerful sounds of birds chirping and the morning sun shining through the thin nylon of the tent. Groggily, the four of them tumbled out of their tents and proceeded to walk to the nearby stream to wash up.

"Ow! You stepped on my foot!" yelled Ken when Long accidentally stepped on him in a sleepy daze.
"Sorry..." Long managed to say before he tripped over a branch which landed him face first into the river mud.

The other three broke into raucous laughter at the sight of Long's face buried in the mud. After a good long minute, they finally managed to stumble over the stream to clean up their dirty bodies. The cool refreshing stream came as a huge relief as they were all sticky and sweaty after yesterday's flurry of activities. The boys frolic for awhile more in the clear cool water of the stream before their stomachs staged protests.

Breakfast was a simple affair made up of canned meat, beans and some slightly squashed bread which were found in Ken's backpack. After satisfying their stomachs, the four of them decided to explore the surrounding woods as they were slightly bored with just staying at the camp site. They packed some sandwiches and followed a faint trail that led to the woods, bringing along their compasses in case they lose their way. There were little wild flowers along the trails, which gave a touch of colour to the vast green forest. But boys being boys, they had fun trampling on the flowers while cracking jokes with each other while they were hiking through the woods.

"Hey! Look at that!" Kit said as the boys came to the foot on an ancient oak tree that stood at at least 100 feet.

For a moment there, all boys stopped their incessant chattering and just stood there awestruck at the wonders of nature. The oak tree stood taller than any other tree in the forest, with branches reaching out to the sky above. Seeing the oak in its full splendor simply took their breath away. It was awhile before they'd regain their senses and started the walk back to their camp site as the sky overhead grew darker and the temperatures dropped.

By the time the four boys retraced their steps and got back to their campsite, night has already fallen. Hungry and tired, they hurriedly made dinner and went to rest their aching bodies.

When they awoke the next morning, it was already nearing noon. They were scheduled to arrive back at the headquarters before sunset. So after a quick brunch of instant noodles, they decided to take a look at the majestic oak tree for the last time before leaving. Bringing along their compasses once again, they tried to retrace their steps from the previous day. As they hike further into the woods, their easy banter soon changed into worried exchange as the tree from yesterday was no where in sight.

"I swear it was around here somewhere! We saw it just yesterday!" Long said as he tried to figure out where the tree went.

The puzzled looks on the other three boys' faces showed that they too, had no clue as to where the tree could have possibly disappeared to. Tired and disappointed, they got out their compasses to help them figure out which way would lead them back to the campsite. However, the needles of the compasses just spun wildly in every direction when the boys took them out. Their uneasiness grew when the cell phones would not work properly either; there seemed to be no signal no matter where they went.

They started to panic as the sun was quickly dipping below the horizon. Arguments started to break out as they tried to determine which way was south-east. Hungry and thirsty, they wandered aimlessly in the woods, hoping to run into some other groups of students. Sunlight was fading fast, soon there was only darkness left. The night air was cold and still, and the boys' breaths rose up in puffs of steam.

A sudden rustle in one of the bush startled them as everything else was still and quiet in the dark forest. Just as they were about to dismiss it as a figment of their imagination, a low growl rose from bush. The boys exchanged a glance and immediately broke into a sprint, trying to put as much distance between them and the beast as possible.

When they finally came to a stop, they were even further into the woods than before. The forest is now covered in mist, the surroundings were as silent as a grave, not even the sounds of insects could be heard. Shivering and scared, the boys were lost in the woods.