Saturday, November 14th Dear Diary, I think it's important that I write all of this down, because I have no idea what's happening. I fell asleep in the abandoned library last night, the one with the overgrown hedges out front. I had stayed late at work, so it was already dark out when I started walking home. The rainstorm surprised me, and I made a run for the nearest building, even though I was already soaked in about two seconds. When I tried the door, I didn't think about what might be on the other side. I squeezed through and collapsed in a pile of newspapers from 1997. The full moon was out, but the rainclouds hid it pretty fast, and I didn't want to go wandering around in the dark. And when I started to hear thunder I figured I'd just wait it out. The last thing I remember was being face down in some old leather bound book that had fallen on the floor. Then I woke up in jail. Not a real jail with concrete and lights. No, I woke up in a castle's basement. Mossy stone walls, floors, and ceilings, rusty iron bars, and torches on the walls. I was fucking naked. I knew I wasn't dreaming, because it was about as cold as you'd expect a castle basement to be. I sat and thought about whether I wanted to scream for help or try to sneak away for a few minutes, then pushed the bars open and looked around. Actually, I spent the whole day exploring this place. It's huge. There's nobody here. But there's a cellar with a well and some preserved supplies, plus you, Diary. I've made a map of what I've seen so far on the opposite page, and I'm going to find somewhere hidden to sleep. Sunday, November 15th Dear Diary, There's someone besides you down here with me. It's more and less mysterious than it sounds. I've looked over the jail cells, the cellar, and the totally senseless maze nearby. There's a big, high ceilinged room that branches off in a bunch of directions at the end of it. I picked a branch at random. It was dusty, dark, and covered in webs. Remember, diary, I don't have any shoes, so that was the main thing I noticed. I was mostly looking straight down, trying to avoid stepping on anything weird, so I almost tripped over her. I think she was surprised to see me too, actually. She was about my height, with very light skin and black hair. And she was wearing a black strappless one piece swimsuit, a short sheer black skirt, a red headband, and black sandals. I took a deep breath and got ready to say something about how happy I was to see somebody. I might have smiled. I think I waved at her. She said "Skreeee!" and tackled me. She did a pretty good job, because I hit the ground hard, and she landed on top of me harder. I coughed out that deep breath I had just taken. I think I had decided to say "Ohmygod." She grabbed my hair on the side of my head and swung her free arm back and forth at my face -- she must have gotten me a few times. I'm not very strong. But when I started to swing my arms and kick my legs, I realized I was moving her. She wasn't very strong either. I grabbed her shoulder and started kicking, and eventually I threw her off balance. From there... I grabbed her and didn't let go. We rolled around, getting dusty and scraped and covered in webs on the stone floor. She glared at me and made a hissing noise while trying to bite my face. I made the toughest face I could and tried to headbutt her. I ended up hitting her eyebrow with my nose. Anyway, we were too close to hurt each other, but neither of us could let go without getting beat. But if I skip to the important part, I ended up kneeling with my ass on her face. My shins were on her upper arms, so she couldn't really swing at me. And when she started to escape... I rolled onto my side, trapped her neck between my thighs, and locked my ankles together. She pushed herself away from the floor and punched my legs hard, but not long after that she went limp. I dragged myself away and sat leaning against the wall. She was out like a light, eyes shut, mouth open. I was busy trying to form words, so I didn't react quite fast enough when she shook her head, gave me a terrified glance, and then scrambled to her feet and took off running down one of the dark cooridoors. I think I could barely hear her sniffling. "Ohmygod," I said, quietly. I got a better look at her while she was out, though. Her sheer skirt had eight solid vertical stripes, and her headband wasn't solid red, but eight red dots on a black background. Anyway I left the spider tunnels right away and didn't go back. I'm in the cellar again. I'm tired and sore and I need a break. Monday, November 16th Dear Diary, I thought I saw somebody, but it was me. The mirror maze is shit. My map is getting too big for page two. Tuesday, November 17th Dear Diary, Everything is great. I'm the best. So I finally went on an expedition in a place that's sort of ok. Some of the floors and ceilings had fallen apart, but that worked out ok. One of the collapsed parts revealed the back side of a little closet. The door was locked, but the big hole wasn't. This is all on the map, page seven. Inside? Wall to wall treasure chests. Wooden ones. Like a pirate was getting ready to bury them but hadn't found time yet. I flipped open the lid on the closest one. There were shoes inside, leather gladiator sandals. I've been scraping my feet on rocks for days. I collapsed on the floor, strapping on my new shoes while nudging another chest open. I found a belt. That turned out to be an underrated find, since I think I can use it to carry extra junk around. I opened the next chest and the chest stood up and punched me in the jaw. She had been there the whole time. In the chest. Well, not exactly in it. Someone had carefully assembled the chest around her in parts, and when she moved, it fell apart, a few key bits still stuck to her. Anyway I fell down. I had already lost both sandals, and I couldn't quite focus my eyes, but when she pounced on me to finish me off, I lifted a knee up and got her in the gut. She landed on it hard and curled up into a ball. I thought about spider girl, and I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. So I jumped on her and twisted her arm behind her back. "Ok, I've got you," I shouted while she tried to squirm away. I think I must have squeezed her wrist hard enough to bruise it. From this angle, she wasn't so tough. "Quit fighting. Who are you? What is this place?" She relaxed, tilted her head back and just barely managed to look me straight in the eye, and said "Blrgbrlgbrglrgmlrgbrglrgbrl." Then she backhanded me with her other hand. I loosened my grip and it was enough to let her scoot out from under me and run away unsteadily. I heard a faint "Mblblrglrblglgbglr," as she vanished. So I got to keep six or seven treasure chests worth of stuff. There was a backpack in one, and best of all, a scratchy blue woolen cloak, big enough to cover most of my body. I just noticed that I feel a lot better. I mean, physically. Maybe it's something in the food.