Chapter 3

That was unfair, as she knew quite well that I would never deny her something if she started pleading. I lifted and fastened my pants and kissed her cool lips gently one more time. There was no more touching between us but I kept on looking at her sitting figure until I walked out the door.

The hallway was empty, and somehow I was relieved because of that. The flickering of lights that had started inside Lil's room were happening here, too. For a moment I wondered, as the lights seemed to fill the hallway with their shadowless, gray light; but the overall uneasy feeling, made me rush to the elevator that was waiting there for me. I opened the folding doors, entered the elevator and pressed the 'down' -button. For a moment I thought that nothing would happen, but finally the elevator car started moving. According to the noises it gave out, it sounded like it could fail at any moment. I could not remember anything of that kind from my trip up, but the elevator car itself looked older than I remembered - and why did it sound like there had been a growling dog just before the elevator started moving. I wondered why those little guys kept on making mental notes like that, while there might be other, even more important things to think about.

Suddenly the elevator car stopped and the doors opened to the gallery. I stepped out the elevator and turned towards the stream that I knew I was there. Only now, there was something different about the gallery. There was some noise, some roaring noise, coming from somewhere in front of me. But that was not all. While the gallery had been all silent before, almost tomb-like during my first visit, it didn't feel like that now. It was like there were several, different voices just below the level of hearing, so that only their common effect made them recognizable. Then there were those almost touches - the feeling when you are standing still in a total darkness and you can feel that someone else is there and almost touching you. Except that it was not dark, and I was not standing but walking briskly, almost running.

All too soon, I saw the reason for that roaring noise. Where there had been a narrow stream in a deep trench was now a roaring river. It was not that wide, probably even less than thirty feet, but the black water was moving rapidly, now. It disappeared with roaring sound into a hole of total darkness in the side of gallery. I rationalized that it must be raining cats and dogs up there on the surface. I would not be jumping over this without getting my shoes and clothes wet. For some reason, I didn't even consider turning back. The little guys inside my head were yelling that I should get back the way I came, and quickly. I considered my options for a second or two before coming to the conclusion that I agreed with them – this time.

I started undressing, and soon had my shoes and pants rolled inside a ball I made from my undershirt. As soon as I got naked, the feeling of being almost touched intensified by a magnitude or two, and the voices I almost heard became more demanding. It was like some of them would have been hoarse and the whole feeling started feeling almost sexy. It was like you were expecting to hear some nasty talk, while someone was blowing air on your balls and dick. Suddenly I shivered and remembered Lilith, my Lil. I estimated the distance and threw the ball containing my clothes over the stream, hard.

I looked in horror when my self-made ball made a sharp turn in the middle of its way over the stream. Luckily I had put enough power into my throw, as it hit the wall on the opposite side before stopping less than ten feet from the river bank. As soon as it stopped, the feelings of the touching and the whispering voices became clearer. I took a look at the stream and decided to play it safe by moving upstream as much as possible. I was quite a decent swimmer, yet I felt uneasy. I took two running steps and dove into the stream.

Since the air in the gallery had been quite warm nothing had prepared me to the ice-cold water. I almost took a breath while underwater because of that, but luckily I managed not to. Another thing that I was not fully prepared for, was that the water was dark - no, it was black - and the strong current made me almost lose all idea about the directions. Moreover, when I tried to reach for the surface it was like the water itself had tried to prevent me reaching it. Somehow that helped me to decide which direction was up. When I managed get my head above the surface, I noted that I was still a few feet from the other shore, and the roaring hole in the wall was approaching rapidly.

When my hands finally touched the shoreline I got the final feeling of horror since my legs could not feel the bottom. I forced my fingers into the hard ground, and with some powerful kicks with my legs, I finally managed to pull myself up onto the other side. I was gasping for breath much more than seemed necessary after such a short swim. Then the touching and voices returned. I knew that I had to hurry, but I couldn't stand being naked. It was like I was given all kinds of promises, even if I could not really hear or feel them. I opened my undershirt ball, and used my already ruined undershirt to dry myself. Then, as quickly as I could manage it, I was back in my clothes and going back from whence I had come.

When I started walking, the almost-voices and non-touching never stopped, but while the feeling on the other side of the stream had been teasing, even gentle mischief. On this side of the stream there was nothing gentle in what I was almost hearing and feeling. It was more like forcing, and waiting for me to succumb. When I looked back, the failing lights and shadows made it look like there had been several caves opening to this gallery. Even though I KNEW that it had to be those fading lights and shadows. I started jogging.

If the gallery had felt long on my way to see Lilith, now it felt at least three times as long. I had hoped that jogging would dispense with the almost-voices and almost-touching; but, in a way, it made them worse. While jogging I was struggling with my balance, since there was a constant feeling of being almost pushed. I almost cried for joy, when I saw the elevator door in front of me.

Then, all the lights went off.

As I had been near to the elevator door, I found it without difficulty. With some struggling, I was able to open the folding doors. When I got inside the elevator car, the truth came to me. There was no electricity. Without electricity the elevator would not move. I could almost sense all the desperate thoughts forming inside my head. While that was happening, I started sensing the demanding voices and light touches for real. With all the willpower I had left, I tried to calm my thoughts - after all, I had always been a rational person. Once again, the little guys inside my head were screaming out that there had been nothing rational in the latest events. I closed my eyes in the darkness and ignored those screaming little guys inside my head as well as the whispers I could almost hear.