The Dark Temple - Part 1

The Dark Temple

It took a while before I realised where I was, my eyes still needed much time to get used to the utter darkness around me. Slowly but surely the room and it's content became visible to me, large sand stone like blocks and hieroglyphs from floor till ceiling. Comparing the room to my own height, I'd say it would be at least 3 meters tall, including the large pillars supporting the roof. Some feint candlelight lit two huge golden statues of Pharaohs or even gods, I was not entirely sure of that as the looks were too impressive for my mind at the moment. As I moved through the room I could see the candlelight casting shadows, making it appear as if the hieroglyphs were dancing and attending their rituals like they did 5,000 years ago.


When I was done exploring the large room I returned to thinking, it is impossible for me to be in Egypt now. The last thing I remember, was an extreme feeling of nauseousness and losing my consciousness. To have travelled this far so quickly, could be a possibility but I can not see any reason for anyone to do this. When considering the possibilities a shiver ran over my spine as a loud ghastly awkward sound seemed to arise from the darkness, almost a moan or growl. Desperately I started looking for the source of this, perhaps the wind blowing trough a possible escape route? Yet the more I was looking for the source, the louder and more obnoxious it became, almost slimy gurgling mixed with growls and other distasteful sounds.


I felt like I was losing my sanity as the sounds became louder and louder, appearing to be creeping closer. Silence, everything became completely silent. No more obnoxious screams, no more slimy gurgling or the sound of things being dragged across the floor. I wanted to let out a sigh of relief when a searing pain arose in my head, almost burning, like my skull was being split in two. A loud echoing voice spoke to me, in a language I could not understand, this voice in the dark it hurts.... Make it stop! The words, the sentences... they don't make any sense! All I recognised were Arabian like sounds, which I heard so many times in my travels to the middle-east and surroundings. The voice became louder, like it was not only in the room but also inside my own mind. Unbearable, obnoxious and an almost alien language to me.. Within the gibberish I did recognise one thing, it was calling my name in a very ghastly slow manner. “Harrison!” followed by more gibberish and whining like howls. It felt like my spine completely freezing over, the single voice seems to have become multiple voices, or even multiple creatures. Hopelessly and vulnerable I glanced around, in total panic I ran towards where I have seen the candlelight earlier. I was greeted by one of the huge walls of the building, the Hieroglyphs appearing to be staring at me, talking to me, moving! I wanted to curl into a little ball and perhaps even cry or die with my eyes closed.


I gathered all my courage and started to shout; “Reveal yourself! Coward!” It was all I could think of, to at least buy myself some time. Smoke seemed to gather in front of me, black thick smoke, smelling of decaying flesh and dried up blood. A person like silhouette stepped forward from the smoke, his skin I could not see, his eyes were hidden in what appeared to be a shroud; on his head though, I could see the crown of a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. The voice became so loud I wanted to rip off my ears, it was a shrieking, yet deep and echoing voice. The arms of this, person clouded in shadow and smoke reached out for me, for my throat I think. The shrieks, louder and louder which made me almost lose consciousness. The vision in front of my eyes began to shift shapes, colours fading and changing, blurring and twisting. The voices were now chanting inside my head, like some kind of ritual of old; “Was I a sacrifice?” was the thing going trough my mind, with the little sanity which remained spared within my own mind. The black shadowy figure now stood tall right above me, I tried to scream or even yell, when suddenly everything disappeared.


Darkness, darker than the darkest night without a moon, darker than even black coffee without any addition. Shuffling and dragging of feet I could hear, yet see I could not, not even a single recognizable shape. I could not stop thinking about this, thing, this shadow figure that reached out for me. It can't just vanish into thin air like this, can it? Where did the candlelight go, the hieroglyphs, the pillars and statues of gold? Were the glyphs still staring at me, perhaps moving around; or was it just my mind making it all up in angst? My mind started to slip away again as the temperature seemed to be dropping, soon enough my breath were as clouds, blown from my lips. Shivering and freezing I sat there, waiting. What I was waiting for I do not know, what I was hoping for I do not know any more either. The only thing that was on my mind, The thought of being in a cold and stationary black hole within this room; which is impossible according to science I think, but I could not explain this complete and utter darkness. I do not even dare to think of what horrors crawl beyond this black hole, which to me started to sound quite safe.


I grabbed my head as it felt like it was splitting, as a shriek of chilling horror went trough my entire body. The thing, it must have returned. The only thing I could think of was praying, even though I am not a religious man. “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed.....” I interrupted the prayer as I could see the floor again, slowly and surely the room became visible again. Something must have scared the creature, the shadow thing. My victory was short-lived though, If there's something here that can scare such a monstrosity and vile almost life sucking, or even soul sucking force; I do not think I want to know what it is. It was like my heart started to skip beats, as my mind was creating images of fear and disorder because of my thoughts. The smoke returned, moving towards the centre of the room and there he arose again. “The Pharaoh” speaking in it's gibberish again and seemingly looking towards me. It's hands or arms.. reached out for me again, imagining the words I fell to my knees and tried begging for mercy. “Please great Pharaoh what have I done to you, why do I deserve this?” With those words, I found myself on the bed of my hotel.