Growth

Fear, the ever watchful demon
Upon the shoulder of
My peeling, crumbling skin
Under your fingertips

Feel the scars, the cracks
As you trace them with
Your careful, thorough hands
Not to force any pieces free.

And when you finally see how
Damaged, broken I can truly be,
Don't be surprised when my
Flesh cage is brutally torn open -

My anger, focus, and will brought forth
To peel away this prison
I wanted to believe was
All I could ever be -

Revealing to the believers,
The true friends, the worshipers,
What I can truly be,
And what I can truly become.

Narcissist

Read me like a book
Your eyes pierced my soul
As a spider faintly crawls
Under a wooden door frame

But the more words spoken
The more you grew,
Your soft skin crawling
Into human upstanding

Shifting, reading, waiting
Your never ending thoughts
But no guilt, no conscience
To brush your hunt aside

Your viscous, umber venom
Dripping on the carpet
I had laid out to marry on
With no mind to stop.

Remind me that I let you in
Remind me this was my doing
Innocence you feigned upon
Your shifting, smug smile

Tell me that I'm wrong
The way you dance,
You flirt, you charm
Is not for your amusement

Roll the dice, poke the bear
Forget that I am something more
So I may come to conscious
Once you are faced away

Player (One)

The lies you fed me on a silver spoon
Oh, how they led me astray
Like a dream, a summer
Nighttime facade...

We were friends, yet somehow more,
Blind to demons circled about
But somehow awake, in
Your filthy grasp.

Tell me, how much easier was it,
To compete with the few
Instead of the many?
Was it simple?

The thought of your arms around me;
I did not realize how close
You were to snapping
My soul in two.

The thought of you so close to me,
My sleeping body vulnerable,
I did not realize just how
Much I trusted.

And now the thought of your touch,
Magnetic, static on my skin,
Churns my stomach, and
Leaves me cold.

The Door House Employee Rules and Directions

Greetings employee #87, the Management would like to welcome you to the Door House, home to many peculiarities safely entrenched behind, yes, doors. This letter is a formal introduction along with the rules and guidelines you need to follow. No matter how strange or absurd these rules may seem to you they are there for a reason, and your continued employment depends on following these rules to the letter.

It is advised you keep hold of this letter and the guidelines written, and take 20 minutes a day before your shift to read it over, make a checklist if needed, and remember to take a map of the house with out, and remember were each red marked safe room is.

The Rules:

1. Take the key ring hanging on the wall.
2. Take the map of the house along with the supply pack.
3. Turn on the required body cam and make sure it is running.
4. Follow the designated route, as minimal interaction is asked between employees.
5. Check each door, turn the knob BUT DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR.
6. If the knob moves, slowly rotate the doorknob back and find the numbered key matching the door and lock it.
7. Repeat step five and six until the door is properly locked.
8. Make a note of which doors are unlocked.
9. Pick up any trash in the hall with the gloves and evidence bags within your supply bag.
10. Inspect any structural damage and mark the location, severity, and door number.
11. If the damage looked highly severe please call an administrator and continue your route.
12. Any small Living Being you find should not be interacted with and reported to the administrator as soon as the way is clear.
13. Any large Living Being should be cautiously stared at before slowly backing away until you can sprint to the nearest safe room and Security can be called in.
14. Any books you find along your route can be read during or after break, be sure to file the appropriate form before taking them.
15. Unless this book has a clasp, bound in strange feeling leather or whispers to you. Those must be handed in and examined before you can file the appropriate form.
16. If you hear someone behind a door, perform rules 5-7 and make a note of the door number.
17. If a door has a peep hole, mail slot, or slide take the electrical tape out of your bag and seal these over without looking or touching them. Mark the door.
18. If your route seems to split, check your map to find the correct route and continue.
19. If your map is missing, rendered useless, or changing before your eyes, find the nearest safe room and call an administrator.
20. Do not take drinks from the tables near the doors.
21. Do not take food from the tables near the doors.
22. Ignore any board game tokens, playing cards, or gold near the doors.
23. Do take the iron, silver, and copper masks. They will help you.
24. Do not take the gold, porcelain, or gem masks, They will show you things you do not want to see.
25. Leave a coin from within your supply bag should you come across a tollbooth.
26. If you see any security camera, be sure it is running correctly.
27. If the wires are not connected to the wall, you are free to break it. Its not ours.
28. Laughter far too real and far too fantastical should be avoided. If it follows head to the nearest safe room.
29. If you find another you do not know is human, follow rules 21 and 22. Mark which door they were near, they will not follow.
30. Do not agree to any games, from anything or one.
31. If a door is open, check the immediate surroundings for abnormal or aberrant marks on the floor, ceiling, or walls. Mark the direction, damage and door number and proceed to the nearest safe room to contact an administrator
32. Safe room doors are always the color red with white Times New Roman font marking them as such. If it is not mark the door with an X and continue seeking a real safe room.
33. If a safe room is locked, knock three times and ask “Why is a Raven like a Writing desk?” The correct answer is marked in the employee entrance room and if the answer is not this, mark the door with an X and continue.
34. If the safe room door opens by itself at any point, its not the safe room and you must run in the opposite direction.
35. Run to the nearest safe room and be sure to contact the administrator about any problems.
36. Safe rooms are equipped with an automatic lock, but always be sure that it has locked behind you.
37. If there is another employee in the safe room, check that they have their ID badge before comparing notes and warnings.
38. If they do not have their ID badge, ask for their copy of the rules.
39. If their copy of the rules isn’t printed on eggshell white, it is an out of date list. Remain pleasant as you contact the administrator, and leave as soon as possible.
40. If a door along your route is marked for Exploration, be sure to mark it down and leave a copy of your notes by the door.
41. Remove and attach your harness from your supply bag, ensure everything is properly locked into place.
42. Loop your rope though the metal ring by the right side of the door, then your harness.
43. Once properly secured you may unlock the door.
44. If the door is already unlocked, do not enter, take off your gear, and head to the nearest safe room to contact an administrator and security.
45. If the door is locked, unlock it and enter.
46. Observe the room for the designated time period, mark your findings.
47. If it is an object, do not touch it unless specified in the exploration form.
48. If it is a creature, ensure you are as far from it as the exploration form designates. It does not matter if they are in a cage or behind glass.
49. If these objects are closer then specified, back away to the appropriate distance
50. If it follows, slowly exit the room and lock the door behind you.
51. If the door opens even if you locked and double checked, run.
52. Run faster.
53. Run fast and far and hope you can enter a safe room to contact security.
54. Room 777 is allowed to be unlocked, and employees are welcome to visit its occupant.
55. Room 666 should always be locked, if this room is along your route, check each of its 7 locks are locked and secured.
56. Unnumbered rooms are vacant and to be left alone.
57. Except for Room 0, which only looks vacant, be sure the lock is working.
58. Do not eat from the feast within Room 420, it is not for you.
59. Breaks are to be taken in Safe rooms at 12am or 12pm till 12:45am or 12:44pm
60. Any door with a green tag has a temporary resident.
61. If a temporary resident opens the door, greet them with respect and inquire about what they need.
62. Report any requests, suggestions, and demands to an administrator and continue along your route.
63. If invited into a temporary residence room, do not balk or stare.
64. Stay only for a period between 15- 30 minutes, no longer.
65. Any food or drink offered is to be politely but firmly declined.
66. Answer any question asked to the best of your ability.
67. Do not answer any question vaguely regarding or broaching the subject of wishes, desires, or wants.
68. Exchanges of knowledge is permitted, but you must make a report afterward.
69. Sex of any kind or form is not allowed and termination of employment will follow after.
70. Administrators are only to be contacted for the above stated rules, employment questions can be answered by the HR department after your shift.
71. Security has authority to shoot on sight, so always wear your ID badge to avoid serious injury if found by a patrol.
72. Security without ID badges should be avoided and an administrator contacted.
73. No matter what they say, Security does not have the authority to take your keys and gear away.
74. Found firearms can be carried till the end of your shift.
75. Return or file the appropriate forms at the Security office.
76. Ammunition requests can be made, and be taken from your paycheck.
77. Grenades, incendiaries, or other explosives MUST be turned in or face employment termination.
78. Any use of firearms must be marked along with the location of where.
79. If you hear the sound of gunfire, it is your option to move toward or away to a safe room to contact Security (if its not them already)
80. Stick to the walls if there are any burn marks running the center of the hallway and ceiling.
81. Mark the location of any cat along your route.
82. Do not follow them, you’ll only get lost
83. You are allowed to pet them, treats can also be found in your supply pack.
84. If you lose this list, it is suggested you head to the nearest safe room and contact an administrator for another copy.
85. Should you find yourself suddenly outside the Door house, this rule allows this list to act as a temporary pass port and plane ticket.
86. Rule 87 is a lie and should not be heeded.
87. This rule shall remain blank until the employee baring the same number is terminated during employment.

October

The wind as chilly as it blows
Cuts deep to the bone
Sharp and steely against my cheeks
Hair in every direction

Shadows follow right behind
Without the sun's light to cast
Grass and leaves crunching round
In time with my footsteps

No costume to show
Soft, fleece sweatshirt and blues
Boots as high as my friends
Tied hastily to be alone

The aura calls the soul
As if it belongs there
The dead whisper my name
Calling to the wandering heart

Tombstones hidden behind trees
Knocked over by disregard
Barely visible to the human eye
Gray and shining before me

Hard and cold, yet welcoming
My body rests on nature's dead
Eyes closed, ready to go
But somehow wanting to stay

Mist awakens the others
Eyes fly open, waiting for rain
Faces, transparent, white
Watching me watching them, smiling

Earthy, dying smells in the air
Beauty overtakes tears in my eyes
Forms of night alone before me
I am afraid, but only of the end

Damp and cold, never more warm
Darkness looming, warming me
Rain dripping through the trees
Reminding me of walking

I remember the sun, the sky
But the stars are so much prettier
And the moon so much wiser
Why would I ever leave?

Radiant Cosmos [Love]

I take your hand into mine
Cosmos skin with vibrant lines
Mixture swirls beneath the bones
Phosphor clouds melodic notes

Sunshine stars gracing your wake
Dotting night within your stake
Deals were made up yesterday
Among your dark, here to stay

Ember arms with methane sight
Sparks and flint, tinder alight
Nighttime clouds smear the skies
Eyes of ember swarm like flies

Dancing softly, warm to warm
Gold filling your blackened eyes
Static plays my finger tips
Brushing your skin, beating skips

Waves bubble up my hair
Refreshing, cleans to repair
Shuffled memories, made to fear
Lonely thoughts I'd always hear

Golden liquid scorches veins
Tickles, sears anguish away
Planets line among the stars
Within your eyes, no more scars

Itching, molten gold fills in
Cracks and damage from their sin
Power pulses, aura brings
"Pull me deeper with these rings"

Tied among the stars on fire
Can you ever love a vampire
Ebony hair, skin of snow
Monster hidden under glow

Body Snatcher

Ever lying
Under shadow
Watching myself
Playing, stringing

Lies and lies
Blanket tears,
Eyes and eyes
Dampen fears

Steeling spirits
Holding closer
Soaking inside
Pulling, thieving

Face to face
Scaring you,
Skin to skin
Stealing you

Ever crying
Under shadow
Watching myself
Morphing, sculpting

Lies and lies
Stealing souls
Eyes and eyes
Burning gold