The Traveling Door of the Khamtacon Crypt

Ashten has been going to the academy for a year now. His roommate was annoying as ever, but he managed. That didn’t prevent him from his studies, but he didn’t need that guy to struggle with his academics. He has always been better with his hands rather than his brain. Tai had disagreed when Ashten told him that it didn’t suit him to go to school compared to Tai, when Ashten tried convincing him to take his schooling more seriously and make use of his smarts. Before Ashten got a scholarship from his job, that is. He knew most of his college life would be spent at the library.

Ashten decided not to go to the library tonight as for the past few weeks had been especially difficult, so he needed a break. He beelined to his dorm, planning to fall into his bed. In the back of his mind, he knew that he can’t waste any time without studying if he didn’t want to get behind in his work, but he couldn’t listen to his rational self. He glanced at the desk when he walked into his room, but fell into his bed with a loud, drawn out groan.

Ashten heard a chuckle to his right.

“You okay, Darling?” Joevy, his roommate, drawled.

“I can’t stand economics,” Ashten replied, too annoyed to react to his nickname.

“Ah,” Joevy said. “Yes. Math is a true villain. I have a friend who could help, if you’d like.”

“I don’t know,” Ashten said. He lifted himself into a sitting position, his back leaning against the bed frame. “My little brother tried before, and he complained how hard it was the entire time.”

Joevy leaned his chin in his palm. “Oh? Your brother goes to this university?”

“No,” Asthten said, shaking his head. He shifted his weight and crossed his arms. He became reluctant to admit it, but he did anyway: “My brother is in high school. He’s a genius, and wanted to help since I took care of him all this time.” Ashten rubbed his forehead. “I’m a slow learner, who can’t understand complex concepts for shit. It’s why it’s great that the library is so empty most of the time. It’s unnaturally quiet.”

“I’m sorry,” Joevy swung his legs over the edge of the bed and leaned his elbows on his knees. “The library? The one on south campus? You know what students say about that place, right? Missing students, winds coming in that shouldn’t be—that library?”

Ashten rolled his eyes. “Just stories. It’s an old building. I doubt it’s spirits, or monsters. Who knows what’s crumbling away, or that an animal ate through some weak spot, or–whatever. It’s quieter than most places, so the extra quiet helps. Annoyingly, it’s like I have super hearing, so regular quiet places aren’t as quiet as I’d like it to be.”

Joevy frowned, straightened his posture with his hands resting on the bed on either side of him, looking at the ceiling in deep thought.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea, though.” Joevy glanced out the window. “Could I go with you on your trips? The missing people thing is something to be worried about, right? Two people are better than a lone person.”

“I told you, I can’t focus without absolute quiet—”

“I don’t have to be near you. I could be far enough away where you can’t hear me, but enough so that we keep an eye on each other—just in case.”

Ashten considered Joevy’s offer. Ashten never saw him act this way before. He doesn’t know his roommate that well, but he’s been shamelessly flirting with him and being playful with him since the beginning. Joevy, taking something seriously like this, and the offer with his friend, is throwing Ashten off. 

“I—” Ashten wouldn’t want to bring Joevy along even if he could go to a regular library, but he can’t turn down his offer. Joevy worried for him. Even if his worry is founded in fiction. He relented. “Fine. We can try it, but if I can’t study, you leave.”

“Yeah…Yeah,” Joevy nodded. “Of course, but still, my offer with my friend still stands. He’s patient enough.”

“Sure,” Ashten said.

They planned to meet up the next day in the afternoon when their schedules synched up. It turned out that their buildings were close to each other, and it’s a wonder they haven’t crossed paths before. Meeting up to walk together to the library became seamless. Joevy did his usual flirting, but it seemed half-hearted somehow; with that, Ashten’s discussion with him had been pleasant.

He didn’t know what changed, but he liked it. The topic of his friends popped up in their conversation at one point, his friend apparently identified as something called aroace, and how frustrating it is for her to explain to guys that she’s not interested in any relationships. Joevy’s expression left Ashten with an impression he didn’t mean to bring it up. Ashten said he’s sorry about his friend’s problems, and he was struck by the warmest smile from Joevy that made him wonder: where had this side of Joevy been when they first met?

Ashten hadn’t realized they reached the library until Joevy pointed it out. He couldn’t understand how he got put off guard. Joevy hadn’t changed much in their conversation, but somehow Ashten saw a lot more in the other boy, but he couldn’t place what.  Could his perception change about someone else so quickly?

True to his word, Joevy retreated to a spot visible to Ashten—a sliver behind a bookshelf, near the reception desk. Ashten opened up his books and pretended the boy didn’t exist. He became “a presence” in his mind.

About fifteen minutes went by, and he realized he couldn’t get into it. He stopped and listened if it’s because of the “presence” that sat nearby, but the library still had the unnatural quiet devoid of rustling, creaking, or common noise that you hear when a place is devoid of people. He closed his books and pushed them aside roughly. He rubbed his face, and pulled what little hair he had back, pushing air past his lips. A good way to get some of that useless energy out of his system was to get moving, so Ashten got up from his table and went to look around.

Ashten and Joevy glanced at each other while he browsed the bookshelves. Joevy’s expression scrunched up and moved to get up, but sat back down when Ashten waved his hand to not worry about it.

As Ashten approached the collection part of the library, he faced massive gothic double doors with interlocking designs over crimson wood and rusted metal that suited a horror movie rather than the modern style of the library. It was strange, really strange. The double doors covered the windows as an afterthought. It gave off an eerie presence that unsettled Ashten in a way he wasn't familiar with. A skeptic, even as a child, he scoffed at ghost stories and other monsters that went bump in the night, but right now he couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to run away. And there were these whispers. It clawed at his mind like a hypnotic melody that moved his feet closer to the entrance despite the warning bells ringing in the back of his mind.

“Ashten.”

A familiar voice jolted him out of his trance. Ashten turned towards it, finding Joevy looking at him.

“What are you doing?” Joevy said, his gaze shifting between Ashten and the door, turning paler with each shift of his eyes.

“I…” Ashten took a step back, glaring at the door. “I don’t know.”

“We should leave,” Joevy rested his hand on Asthen’s arm.

If Ashten hadn’t been looking at him he wouldn’t have felt Joevy touch him, “Yeah,” he said. He nodded to himself, and followed Joevy towards the exit of the library. “I think that would be a good idea.”

Ashten stuffed his books in his book bag fast, not zipping it up all the way. They raced to the front of the library. Joevy tugged at the handle of the door, jerking when it didn’t open like it should. They looked at each other. Joevy used both of his hands to tug at the door. Ashten nudged him aside when it didn’t work. He threw his body weight against the door with a grunt. Nothing. The door didn’t give.

“Um,” Joevy’s eyes went wide, “it’s fine, let’s just try the windows.”

Outside the windows showed nothing but black. No clouds, no buildings, not even the pillars of the library.

Joevy licked his lips, “we…throw something at it?” He looked over at Ashten, his eyes filled with despair.

Ashten clasped Joevy’s shoulders looking him in the eye.

“It’s alright,” Ashten said, taking a deep breath. As he exhaled, he added, “Breathe, Joevy.” Ashten continued, “Freaking out wouldn’t be good for anyone. We got this. You got me. I got you. We are not alone.” Ashten demonstrated the breathing exercise, getting him to follow his lead. “Breathe.”

Ashten didn’t stop until Joevy’s breathing became steady again. He grabbed the nearest chair, brought it to the window and smashed the chair against it. The window didn’t shatter. He squinted his eyes at it and approached the window, and touched it. Not real. The window felt painted on the wall. His heart dipped into his throat. This is insane. What is going on? He can’t freak out now, he just got done getting Joevy to calm down. Someone needed to be the one to keep a level head. It must be him.

“What do we do now?” Joevy asked.

Ashten reached out his hand to rest it on Joevy’s shoulder. Reminding Joevy through physical touch that he wasn’t alone, so it could bring him a sense of comfort to not get into hysterics again. It worked somewhat, his breathing was even, but he still looked pale.

“I’m not sure,” he turned his head in the direction of the strange door. The thing must want them to go into it when he thought about the odd trance he was in before, “Do you remember what time it was when we came in here?”

“Around four, I think,” Joevy said. “We couldn’t have been here long. It doesn’t make any sense, doesn’t this creepy stuff happen later on?”

A thump interrupted Ashten’s chance to reply. They both froze. He gripped Joevy’s shoulders, and pulled him close. Shit. What’s happening now? Ashten thought.

Ashten leaned into Joevy’s ear, “we need to hide before whatever that was comes. Be quiet.”

He and Joevy huddled away from the noise. When Ashten spotted hiding spots, he leaned into Joevy again.

“We need to split up,” Ashten said. “Hide underneath the desk over there, and I’ll hide in that door nearby. I can make sure it won’t go near you.” Ashten was the one who got Joevy in this mess after all, he should at least protect him.

Joevy studied him for a moment, and nodded, so they took their places.  Joevy seemed ready to run at the sound of another loud thump in the library but reconsidered. Ashten sighed in relief. If Joevy ran, he would be the target of the beast headed towards them.

Ashten trained his eyes around Joevy’s hiding spot. He guessed the areas he should watch out for, so he can spot the beast and have enough time to act. Not taking his eyes off of the perimeter around Joevy, he took off his backpack to reach for something heavy enough for a distraction when it came down to it. He racked his brain for other potential hiding spots for the times he roamed the library before. The steps they need to take to keep away from what was after them formed in his mind. 

Another thump, and a glimpse of a horrid, deformed creature arrived at the edge of Ashten’s scope. It struggled to walk. One of its feet bent at an unnatural angle and its hips misaligned, so it had to take more effort to pick up that bad leg for it not to fall. He threw one of his textbooks in the opposite direction. A textbook wasn’t the best object to throw as it didn’t go far enough. He had to act fast. As soon as he threw it, he bolted to Joevy’s hiding spot, whispering to him to get out and follow him, and they were away to the spot he had in mind. 

The leg wasn’t as much of a liability as Ashten had thought, as it spotted them going in the direction it came from and ran after them. Ashten and Joevy pushed to go faster when a screech that mixed between a pterodactyl and a human scream unleashed a primal fear inside of them. They reached the double doors that were now open and ran inside. The creature was right on their heels, and Ashten had to grab something close by to get the creature's hands out from the door. They closed it shut, and it screeched in their ears loud enough for them to ring.

Ashten looked around as Joevy caught his breath. The building didn’t resemble the library as brick walls and tiled floors were replaced with stone. They stood in a square room, with four huge pillars near each corner. Ashten strained his eyes to inspect the end of the wall from where they were and could make out a structure a few feet away.

“Are we in a cellar or something?” Ashten asked to no one in particular.

Joevy stared at Ashten and turned to face the room behind him.

“What…the…hell?” Joevy said between breaths.

“Come on,” Ashten said, “let’s see if there’s another way out of here.”

They searched the space and realized paths laid behind the pillars with tombs at the end of each of them. Ashten didn’t like this, and by the expression on Joevy’s face, he didn’t like it either. They continued through the room to the wall Ashten stared at earlier. Another tomb laid on a platform with stairs leading to it, the lid pushed aside. Their expressions mirrored each other, the thing in the library must’ve come from that tomb.

“A zombie?” Joevy asked. His lips thinned into a white line. “That can’t be good, could it?”

“I don’t think so,” Ashten replied, glancing back at the tomb. We can’t worry about that right now, we have to focus on getting out.”

More searching the area with no clear exit in sight made Ashten think the worst, but even when his hope began to leave him, he continued. He couldn’t think of a way to convince Joevy to not fall in despair, so he was adamant on searching until he did. His head whipped up to hear the sound of stone crumbling and raced over to Joevy. He breathed a sigh of relief to see Joevy sitting away from the fallen debris.

The wall fell away to a small door above the floor, showing signs of stairs that had crumbled away. More debris scattered nearby the floor that looked aged compared to the recent wall that came down. Ashten brought Joevy to his shoulders so he could reach the smaller door and open it. It took a couple of tries until it broke open to reveal a night sky. 

Joevy laughed, “Ashten, we’re safe!”

Joevy scrambled out the door, and bent back down to reach for Ashten, a huge grin on his face. Ashten grinned back as he clasped at his hand and used the broken down wall for leverage to reach the door frame. He struggled more than Joevy to get out as the door nestled between the stone and the ground above them where his size could barely fold in on himself to come out. They stargazed to process everything that happened and to catch their breath again.

“I’m never going to that library ever again,” Ashten said.

Joevy laughed, but stopped when he started to cough up a lung. Ashten lifted himself in a sitting position to hover near Joevy, hitting his back to help. The guy smiled up at him when his fit stopped. Ashten should take Joevy’s offer for his friend to tutor him after all.