Ivan and Erie

Ivan and Erie

-----Ivan sat bored on a neatly made bed in a florescent lit room. The walls were painted white which maximized the annoying brightness. Shelves full of unopened and untouched books, movies, and DVDs lined the walls, as sterile as the air around them. Not a moment of silence passed as a loud speaker continued to boom; "Please try to relax while you are here. Getting rest is highly recommended. Leaving your corridor at night is strictly prohibited..."

-----A small movement caught Ivan's eye and directed his attention to a whitewashed door, even more so to an old metal doorknob. A few moments of watching confirmed his curiosity, that this was exciting enough to pay attention to. Ivan took a deep breath and put his feet down on the floor. He walked to the door and knelt down so he was eye to eye with the keyhole.

-----There was an unexpected stench, horrible, like decaying flesh. Ivan withdrew to take a breath and then returned to the keyhole. Even the mere presence of it was overwhelming. Then the blackness that Ivan was staring into turned into a pinkish white. In terror, Ivan realized that he was looking straight into the eye whatever was outside that door. Quickly, and with a gross liquid sound, the eye returned it's gaze. Ivan stood up as fast as he could and wrenched open the door, revealing nothing. In a frenzied confusion, he ran out into the cemented hallway, turned left instinctively (seeing as how right led to only more dorms and bathrooms), and found himself staring at the back of a large shadowed figure that was making its way hurriedly down the dull lit corridor.

-----"Hey!" yelled Ivan angrily as he began his pursuit. The thing in return quickened pace, and only when it passed by a properly lit area of the tunnel could Ivan see its deformities. It's arms were far too long, its head sunk down into its mass of shoulders, and it's legs looked almost confused as they carried him on. But it was definitely once human. The walls were merely light and color now, flashing past his eyes as he ran. Stopping at the end of the hallway, Ivan turned to the metal stairway that he knew so well, it led to the dining hall, after all. The thing clumsily stampeded up them, a look of horror on its disgusting face. Ivan knew these stairs led to the dining hall but also a larger corridor, surely someone would notice, a guard perhaps?

-----Multiple shrieks and screams confirmed his suspicion. Reaching the top of the stairway, Ivan gazed at the scene. Surprisingly, the guards were still at their posts on opposite corners of the massive hallway, gaping at the beast that headed swiftly to the dining hall. Dashing after the beast in a hopeless effort to catch up, the thought of what in the hell he was doing crossed his mind. He had absolutely no idea. This... 'thing' was about two heads taller than he, had a massive upper body, and had crazy agility. Ivan was a scrawny five foot four inches weighing 12O pounds who never made the football team in middle school... Apparently this realization wasn't enough to make him come to his senses as he reached the large swinging doors of the dining hall.

-----'God damn this things fast.' thought Ivan to himself as he entered the dining hall. It was a room that was about 2OO feet long and yet the thing was already at the other side, about to exit to the streets. "HEY!" Yelled Ivan in desperation, extremely winded. To his surprise, the creature stopped abruptly. It stayed where it was for a while and Ivan took this time to walk towards it without startling it. "Hey," said Ivan, softer now that he was closer. "Uhhh, what, wh- ...hi." The thing blinked with large, scared looking eyes. Like a deer in headlights. Without warning, the creature dashed outside, leaving the door to slowly swing closed, letting in cold winter air.

-----"Augh!" mumbled Ivan as he once again ran after the creature. Closer behind now than he was before, he reached the doors before they swung closed. The creature seemed to have ran to a clearing and stopped to wait for him. Ivan gave up on running after stepping out onto the sidewalk that was covered in about 3 inches of neat snow, only disrupted in some places where the thing's clearly visible tracks lay.

-----"Hey, h-hey." said Ivan while trying to steady his breath. "I know, I know you're scared, b-but I'm not going to h-hurt you." The thing scuttled about uncomfortably in it's spot, looking around as if deciding where to dash off to next. Ivan held up his hands to try and comfort the creature. "Ple- ...Please don't run, anymore." The thing looked slightly more intent upon just watching Ivan now, it turned to directly face Ivan and knelt on it's arms.

-----Ivan slowly approached the thing, careful not to spook it, one slow step after another until he was about 5 feet away. The two of them stood under a streetlight that illuminated the two of them and made it hard to see anything in the background. "Hello." Said Ivan, at a loss of what to say to such a creature. He had no idea what to say to the thing now that he had it's attention, not to mention he still had no idea whether or not it understood him at all. He figured he'd start by introducing himself. "I'm Ivan." and he placed his right hand on his chest. "Do you have a name?"

-----The thing tilted it's head. Ivan giggled slightly, "I'll take that as a no. Uhhh, mind if I give you a nickname, you know, something to call you by?" The thing didn't protest, atleast to Ivan's knowledge. "Well, let's see, what do I know about you? You're fast, we know that. You're tall. You're sure shy." The thing seemed to be inching closer to Ivan as he spoke. "Uhhh, how about Erie, for Eerie, because, you kinda frightened me back there at my room, but, you're not exactly scary." Erie nodded his head in response, now about 2 feet from Ivan. Ivan smiled at Erie in attempt to diminish the awkward silence. A soft male sounding voice spoke, and it wasn't until it repeated itself did Ivan realize that it was coming from Erie. "Ivhan." said Erie.

-----Erie's voice was gentle and calm sounding, almost friendly. "Yes, Yes that's right!" Ivan was so excited by this that he jumped around a little. Erie cracked a large smile that was disgusting to look at, but the gesture of it was so cute that Ivan giggled and found himself smiling as well.