Do Not Enter, Part 5

The end of the story.  If you’re interested in seeing it from the beginning, you can do so from this page.

Thanks for following along, everyone!

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A hot wash of air rushed up from behind Rose.

It raised the hair on her arms and neck and a shudder wracked her body.  She heard her breath, thready and whimpering, rasp in the tight confines.  She felt the air heat, a layer of gleaming, slick sweat caked her skin.  She turned her head, slow, her eyes searching in the dark for the eerie dances of light.

The door stood black against the bright, hot edge of orange and yellow which danced on the wall, and from the crack between the door and jamb.

Another gust of hot, arid wind rustled her hair and stung her eyes.  She dripped in sweat now.  The temperature climbed further with the second wash of heat.  She turned back to the stairs.

The opening of the shaft was still gone.  She moaned as fear swelled toward panic.

She shut her eyes, tried to control herself.

The phone.  She held it in her whitened, fear-clenched fingers.

She snapped it open.  The display lit up a cool blue in the dark, amber-lit stairwell.

The blood in her veins iced when she saw the NO SERVICE warning.

Her hands shook so hard she almost dropped the useless phone as she tucked it back into her pocket.  She turned toward the door.

It had opened further.  The light in the cave-like shaft blazed brighter, hotter.

Rose wiped her brow with the back of her wrist, swallowed hard and tried to calm her throbbing heart.  She blinked tears from her eyes and wondered what to do.

The heat cascaded over her like a smothering wave, and she couldn’t stand it anymore.  She backed away from the door up one step, then two.

Then her back hit a wall.

She turned, another startled cry raked her throat.

The stairs were gone.  A solid, concrete wall blocked the passage.  The grit, dirt, and dust choked her nostrils and caked her mouth.  The rough texture, warmed by the blasts of hot air, scraped her palms as she dragged them over it, felt for an opening.

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