Left To My Own Devices
They had deserted me. Or I had lost them, somewhere in the citadel. All the switches clicked, as one, into the on position and, with a click, all the rooms had switched and all the halls were one. The citadel revolved, gyroscopically, and all its innards twisted and were sick,
I took a left into an anteroom, which now fed into a small closet, instead of a great hall. But for the first time, so far as I knew, the closet had a second door that opened into the kitchens, now populated by screaming servants who had seen a butler pass the double doors, then plummet by the window. They called to me and begged of me, in my knowledge of theosophies and mysticisms, to set things right; I instructed them to stay together in the one room, then pushed through the double doors, as they wailed in warning.
The corridor that followed usually joined the an elevator with the air-lock to the laboratory, but, at the moment, led from the kitchen to I did not know where. I could see the laboratory in tact, through the window pane that gaped on the left of the corridor, and, in it, the infernal devices humming innocently.
If I tried to reach the lab by the decompression chamber, I would end up g-d knows where, so I struck the window, hoping that such portals did not contort as the doors as gateways had. I beat it with my fists, as there was no room for run-up, and I smacked it with my skull, until it cracked, slowly and uncertainly. The glass broke away from me, falling onto the floor of the master bedroom.
I took a left into an anteroom, which now fed into a small closet, instead of a great hall. But for the first time, so far as I knew, the closet had a second door that opened into the kitchens, now populated by screaming servants who had seen a butler pass the double doors, then plummet by the window. They called to me and begged of me, in my knowledge of theosophies and mysticisms, to set things right; I instructed them to stay together in the one room, then pushed through the double doors, as they wailed in warning.
The corridor that followed usually joined the an elevator with the air-lock to the laboratory, but, at the moment, led from the kitchen to I did not know where. I could see the laboratory in tact, through the window pane that gaped on the left of the corridor, and, in it, the infernal devices humming innocently.
If I tried to reach the lab by the decompression chamber, I would end up g-d knows where, so I struck the window, hoping that such portals did not contort as the doors as gateways had. I beat it with my fists, as there was no room for run-up, and I smacked it with my skull, until it cracked, slowly and uncertainly. The glass broke away from me, falling onto the floor of the master bedroom.