Role

Chapter 6

The oblivion of sleep. Then the oblivion of wakefulness. With no light
and the embrace of stale air, there was little to differentiate between
the two. then Eck turned his head slightly and saw the door.

What he actually saw was light around the edge of the door, a ruby glow
framing a rectangle. More red light spilled out through what was,
unmistakably, a keyhole. He crawled toward it.

And it retreated into the darkness.

It was like a mirage in the desert, always seeming to be some lengths
ahead of him, yet he could not reach it. He cursed this place, shutting
his eyes and feeling the blood rush to his face. This was no place for an
arial. He belonged in the open air. This was shit.

When he opened his eyes it was right in front of him. He stood and
reached for where the knob would be, just above the keyhole's light. In
an instant the frame of the door shrunk, the light changing shape, until
it formed a key which hung in the air in front of him. A glowing, ruby
key.

As Eck reached for it, its aspect changed. It became, in an instant, a
ruby spider. He drew his hand back and gasped, his own exhalation
startling him in the quiet. The spider danced, spinning an invisible web.
He stepped back.

The spider collapsed and became an apple, glowing with the same ruby
light. Eck stepped forward and reached for it.