Amnesia: The Dark Descent [Part One]

The Entrance Hall

"What...?" Daniel said, in partial shock after reading the letter. "I wrote this? What... Why? Why did I drink that potion?"  He stared at the note, re-reading it again and again. "Why would I possibly want to forget my entire life?"

Daniel shook his head, his long hair falling into his eyes. He raked it back with his hand, closing his eyes, trying to wrap his head around it. "Where's the Inner Sanctum anyway?" He mumbled to himself, then he gasped in shock realisation.

"Kill Alexander!" He yelled, "Kill another man!? What was wrong with me?" He said, remembering his instructions to himself. "Wait, maybe it's not me. Maybe someone faked it because they wanted him dead and drugged me so they didn't get their hands dirty." Somehow, he knew that wasn't the case.

"Just... Forget about it for a while..." He put the letter in his other pocket (since the first one was filled with his beloved tinderboxes) and turned around, looking for anything new. Noticing some sort of leaver sticking out of the wall, he wondered what it was for. Full of childish anticipation of what might happen, he pulled the lever down. Unfortunately, it got stuck halfway, and he grunted as he put his full weight on it. His feet dangled above the ground, then hit the carpet with a thump as the lever finally obliged. 

Looking around, Daniels eyes lit up as he saw one of the many bookshelves slide sideways, revealing a hidden passage. He made his way through into a hall, the Entrance Hall.  

"This is amazing!" Daniel whispered to himself as he entered the hall through the seret passage. Staring in awe at the massiveness of it, he confirmed both the fact that this was a castle and an old one. One of the giant stone pillars was lying on the ground, broken into pieces. Looking at the ground, it was made out of stone blocks neatly placed in a circular pattern. In the centre of the hall was a beautiful mosaic pattern. Daniel looked around, filled with an emotion he could only describe as happiness. It seemed he loved to discover hidden things, and he set is mind to finding that mysterious Alexander. 

Further inside the hall, Daniel started to see just how large the castle was. To the front was an indoor balcony floor, with two grand staircases leading to it from either side. On the left and right walls were two narrow passageways, and to the back was a hallway with high ceilings.  Daniel grinned as he moved towards the centre of the room. As he did so, however, the smile was quickly wiped off as a wave of nausea hit him and his vision blurred. 

He stumbled towards the main staircase leading down, the world around him blurred. Suddenly, he heard voices. It didn't take long for him to figure out he was remembering. 

"Alexander," Daniel heard himself say. "Is it inside the castle?"

"In a manner of speaking." A hoarse, deep male voice replied. "Come, bring the lamp. You've been to the refinery have you not?" There was a pause, Daniel stumbled down the stairs. He heard a door creak open nearby.

"I don't believe I have. Is it connected to the... What did you call it?" His past self continued.

"The Inner Sanctum, my most precious chamber, Daniel. And it lies well beyond the Refinery. In fact... it lies beneath the very stone of Brennenburg." Daniel gasped as his vision slowly returned. He was standing in front of a wooden door, the word 'Refinery' engraved onto a plaque above it. Even that was barely visible under a red, plant like matter which covered the door, blocking the path. 

"That was Alexander?" He thought, still shaken from the flashback. The event did seem strangely familiar, so something told him it must have been true. He tried to recall the exact location of the Inner Sanctum, as heard in his memory, but got no further than a hunch that he should go to the refinery. Dissapointed, he attempted to push his way through the plants, to no avail.

"Really? What am I supposed to do now?" He tried to think of a way to get rid of the useless stuff, when another flash of memory came to light. 

"I need something to dissolve this stuff... A chemical or something." His brow furrowed in thought, Daniel headed back up the stairs into the hall again. After singing 'eenie meenie' he chose the flight of stairs to the right, leading to the second level.

While walking up the stairs, he thought he heard a woman. Brushing it off as the wind, he continued up until the sound became to unnerving to be the wind. There was definitely the sound of a very distressed woman, but he couldn't pin point the source. 

"Must be my imagination..." He muttered darkly.

Turning right again, he came to a red door labeled: "The Archives"

"You're a place to start." He said to the door. 

"What could possibly go wrong?"