I had roughly 20 minutes from now on to test what I concluded from the reports about the grey zone.
Before that, I have to see if being termed and having the condition known as 'soulless' lets me do what no others could do in the grey zone before, communicate.
I waited for the ghost to show itself as I am pretty sure by now Ellis and Kristof would probably be running out.
The room was very dark, but after a few seconds, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and let me see what was inside the room clearly.
The room had a table and chair at a corner, followed by a bed which had some cuffs coming out of the headboard and footboard. Most likely what the bandit leader used as he tied up the girls and women, as he raped or tortured them.
I waited for a few seconds, expecting the ghost will make itself visible. Seeing no one I walked forward to the table and chair at the corner.
As I got closer I could strangely make out a few words written on the table in glowing red in the darkroom. It read 'Do Not Open'.
I followed exactly the opposite of what it meant and opened the draw in the table to find a key. I took the key out and observed the brand new and polished silver key.
*Clack* *Clack*
Unexpectedly I could hear a series of clacking noise. Looking to my left I noticed that the bed seemed to be transforming.
The headboard along with the footboard became smaller especially the footboard. The width of the bed got smaller to barely fit 1-person on it. A wood from underneath the bed came and covered the top half of the headboard and footboard as it was transforming.
I abruptly realised what it was transforming into and waited patiently for it to transform. I looked back to the door to see that it had disappeared along with the table and chair, leaving behind my board where the door used to be.
The room seemed to have gotten a lot smaller, as it had roughly enough space for me and the bed to be in.
After what seemed to be roughly 30 seconds the bed had finished its transformation.
A coffin. A sleek black wooden glistening coffin.
I waited for a few more seconds. Seeing there was no response from the coffin I walked towards it. As I stood in front of it thinking about what I should do, I suddenly heard two knocks.
*Knock* *Knock*
It seemed to be coming from inside the coffin. Again, I heard a series of knocks from the coffin. *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
I breathed in as I got ready to lift the heavy lid, but as I held the lid it seemed to be very light. I moved the lid to a side a looked at what was inside the coffin.
Inside the coffin laid a sleeping woman. I could see that the closed eyelids of the women through the white veil that covered her face. Her hands and legs seemed to be chained from the cuffs that were on the bed.
She was in what I assumed to be a very old and tattered wedding dress.
I looked at the cuff and noticed there seemed to be a keyhole in each of the cuffs. I looked at the key and proceeded to unchain her from the cuffs starting with her legs.
As I finished releasing her hands and legs from the cuffs the key started glowing red. Feeling the heat about to be radiated from the key I threw it to the ground, which started absorbing the key back to the floor.
I then looked down to the coffin to see that the women in it had disappeared.
"Strange." I mused as I wondered what the whole fiasco was all about.
As I looked up from the coffin to look around I suddenly saw a white veiled face staring at me, while standing from the roof of the room, being unaffected by gravity. "Ahhhhh" She screamed towards my face.
Suddenly I felt a force knocking me back to the direction of the coffin. I somehow was lying inside the coffin perfectly. I looked back up at the ghost to see that she had disappeared. The cuffs that I had unlocked before started moving on its own and snaked its ways to my hands and legs to cuff them. I tried to resist or get out, but a force seemed to be blocking my way out and stopped me from moving, and soon both my legs and arms were restrained inside the coffin.
"Can we talk before whatever you plan to do to me? I came in peace you know?" I said as I attempted to communicate to the ghost.
Then I heard a rattling sound as the lid for the coffin rattled. It was slowly lifted off the floor and came to the coffin, intending to shut it along with me inside.
Soon the only thing I saw was darkness, as the lid came and did its job of covering the coffin.
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The room with the coffin was silent for a long time.
A being in a white wedding dress hovered in front of the coffin, which seemed to be standing upright.
The ghost felt weird. It had never encountered anything this strange and odd. The odd being inside the box didn't scream or shout like it knew the living should be doing.
The odd being was strange. The odd being gave no food while in the forest and it gave no food while walking inside its house. It gave no food while inside the box like it should.
The ghost waited for something to appear from the odd being.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Suddenly it heard the sound, the same as it made a while ago coming from the box.
The ghost felt curious about why the odd being was making the same sound and started to walk closer, but something inside it didn't want to go near the box.
The ghost realised that maybe it shouldn't go near the box, so it stayed.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Again, a series of sound was heard, the same one it makes when it's inside the box.
The ghost felt that maybe it should go a bit closer to the box but not near it.
The ghost floated near the box. Suddenly it started hearing strange things from the box again, but this time it wasn't the same sound but a noise.
The ghost couldn't clearly hear what the noise was, so it moved closer. It listened and realised the noise was something the odd one was making with his mouth like when the ghost used its mouth to scream at the odd one.
The noise was quiet but not too loud, enough for someone very close to hear.
What was the odd one saying? It wanted to hear what the odd one was saying. So, the ghost moved forward to hear what the odd one was saying.
The ghost heard a deep and quiet noise from the box "Come..closer... Come..closer... Come..closer" but the noise kept breaking every now and then
What does it mean? The ghost wanted to understand what the odd one was saying. So, it went forward while something in it told it to stop.
The ghost listened to the voice inside it and stopped, but the voice from the box didn't stop.
The ghost wanted to see what the odd one meant and open the lid, but it knew if it did then the voice it always listened to wouldn't be happy.
The ghost felt tired and sleepy and wanted everything with the odd one to be done so it can rest.
Suddenly the odd one and the box went silent. The ghost was confused at what it was doing inside the box and wanted to know, but it didn't move.
*Click* *Click* *Click* *Click*
It heard 4 sounds again. That sound seemed familiar to it, like the one it heard when the key opened the chain on its arms and legs.
The voice in its head told something. But the ghost didn't understand what it meant.
What does 'run' mean, it asked back.
Before the ghost got its answers the lid of the box moved. It saw the odd one inside the box smiling at it like it did back in the forest.
Why is the odd one smiling again? The ghost thought. Suddenly the odd one lifted up his arms and grabbed hold of something in his head. It saw and realised that it's like the pins the ghost on its head to hold the veil and its hair together.
The odd one took quite a few pins out of its hair, while the strange voice kept telling it to run. But what does run mean?
The odd one took a step out of the box while letting its held back hair fall to the floor. The odd one had really long hair. Longer than it did, but why does odd one have so much hair.
Suddenly the voice in its head showed it how 2 people were moving away from something and then it said run. So that's what it meant by running. But why should it run? However, the ghost decided its better to listen to the voice and started running away from the odd one.
Yet strangely it couldn't move. It could always move. Why can't it move now? It looked towards the odd one to see that it's still standing and smiling, but strangely the odd one seems much closer.
It looked for the reason why it can't move and noticed something was holding its arms and legs like the chains in the coffin. It looked where the chain-like things came from to suddenly see the odd ones face in front of it smiling. The ghost felt weird and tired, while the voice in its head kept repeating the same thing and showing the same thing, run.
The ghost saw that the chain-like things came from the odd one's hair. No, actually the chain was the hair of the odd one. Why is the odd one holding it and stopping it from running like the voice telling it to do so?
It suddenly heard the odd one speak again "You are now so close little one. Are you hungry?"
Hungry? It was hungry and tired. It needed to eat. But the odd one didn't give anything to eat as other living beings did when they saw it.
"It seems you are hungry. I will give you something to eat." Said the odd one.
Suddenly it started feeling little less hungry. It realised the odd one is feeding it. It looked through the food it received while eating.
The voice in its head kept telling it another new word along with run. But what does 'stop' mean, it asked back.
The voice very quickly showed it images of it stopping and not eating. But why does the voice don't want it to eat? However, the ghost listened to the voice and stopped eating. But strangely as it tried it found it couldn't stop, no matter what.
It saw flashes of what it ate like it always does. It saw lots of fire and saw lots of people screaming.
Suddenly the ghost felt pain. It felt pain all over its body. Why is it feeling pain when it's eating? The voice kept telling it to stop and run more and more now.
It kept on seeing different things in the fire and above it, all sat a very beautiful man, with wings like a bird it has seen outside, but his wings were black and broken. Then the man seemed to be looking at it and then he smiled like the odd one.
Then it saw nothing and felt nothing.
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The ashes of ghosts slowly left my hair. I didn't let the negative emotions of what I felt inside hell from its countless residence stop as I kept on thinking about it and kept on feeding the grey zone.
As I kept on projecting these negative thought I heard a very strained female voice "Stop... Please...Peace..."
I smiled at the voice and didn't stop the projections. I could hear the undeads outside pounding on the door and wall, as they tried to come in and stop me, overfeeding the grey zone. However, Kristof's award stopped all their attempts to come in.
*Click*
Then suddenly I heard a very loud click and everything outside went silent. That was the sign that the grey zone has been vanquished.
*Thud* *Thud*
I heard a series of thud as what I presume the bodies of the undead must be falling down, without a grey zone to support their un-life.
I kind of guessed what might happen very soon and quickly took the hairpins from the ground and tied back my hair as per normal. Before taking the Whiz board in my hand and opening the door.
All the undeads that I had witnessed before simply laid on the floor. I put the board down and activated it.
I started counting down mentally '3..2..1... Go!'
I activated the board ran out as soon as the effect of the rule stopping me from going outside or anything coming inside faded out.
Seeing a very surprised and shocked Ellis and Kristof as they witnessed the unmoving undead I shouted: "Run!"