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This story and its characters are completely original and belong to Zelosh and him alone. Any resemblance it has to another story is accidental as well as coincidental. While this story is fairly clean there may be things you find inappropriate or offensive. Read at your own risk.

With that, enjoy your stay inside The Eternal Door

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Eternal Door

"** You're safe with me"**

The door flew open and Ryan was sent spiraling out of it before crashing hard into the floor. His mind was spinning, the hard ground below him was doing little to help him recover. There was an odd pain in his chest and the taste of his own blood was still fresh on his tongue. He felt like throwing up as the bile slowly crawled up his throat threatening to shoot out. His heavy pants had become rapid and if he didn't know any better he was going into shock as he sweat profusely. Where was this pain coming from? He saw no injuries, no blood covered the grand marble flooring.

_ Wait... marble?_ Ryan lifting his eyes to look around, trying to figure out what happened. He was in some fancy hallway that extended a good length in front of him. Chandeliers, paintings, and statues all lined the hall with the occasional door in between. Behind him was a simple closet, but the only thing that had occupied it had apparently been him from the way the door had been ripped off its hinges. He must've hit it with a huge amount of force to do that, almost like he had fallen through it. That didn't seem to be possible though, it didn't even look like he could fit in there to begin with.

Getting up Ryan surveyed his surroundings more closely, trying to figure out what had happened. My family isn't this rich... His only explanation for it was that maybe it was a family house and he had come to visit for some reason, but when he tried to think of whose house it could have belonged to nothing came to mind. In fact, he couldn't remember a thing about where he was or where he had been. Amnesia? Did I hit my head or something? His head did hurt a little but then again every inch of him felt like it was aching. He racked his brain trying to recall distant memories. If it is amnesia the memories won't come back from just thinking about them. Probably should kiss them goodbye then...

Unknowingly, Ryan had stepped on something that crinkled under his feet. There was a little note on the ground with something written on it. Apparently it had fallen off of him but he wasn't sure how it got there. That wasn't the weird part though, as he soon found out reading the little note.

'WELCOME TO JUDGMENT RYAN'

The words were followed by a smiley face giving the thumbs up which seemed quite out of place and uncalled for. I am... Ryan? Why didn't I know that before now? Now that his identity issues were out of the way, slightly confused as to why it was ever a problem, some vague memories were coming back to him. Sure, most of the details were blurred but it was better than nothing.

Without much else to do Ryan cautiously proceeded down the hallway while glancing around at the different novelties lining the walls. The hallway seemed to curve, rounding slightly, and seemed to continue on forever by the way his steps echoed ever so slightly down the hall. Also, he observed casually, all the doors he passed had nameplates on them, and they were very few in number it seemed. To distract himself Ryan began to repeat and memorize each name he saw. "Jack... Gil.... huh?" One door had a nameplate like the other two, but it was indiscernible because of the strange language it was written in. Then again, it didn't look like any language he'd ever seen at all, it was just a mess of lines and curves that made an arbitrary pattern.

Dismissing it as unimportant, Ryan continued on, but he once again stopped after coming to a spot where the hallway branched off. One direction continued on the same way it had, but there was now the option of a path that went straight off to the right. It wasn't long though, about twenty feet from where it started it came to a dead end with a single door at the end. If this hallway went all the way around to create a circle, then this door must have led to a room in the center of that circle. Also, the way the door was made showed it held some sort of importance in blocking him from what was beyond. Soundlessly creeping up to it, Ryan rested one hand on the flawlessly crafted silver handles, admiring its contours and shape.

It was strange. Right now he had no idea who he really was, he was baffled as to how he got there, and most of all, he was overwhelmed with curiosity at what lay ahead of him. He felt no fear despite the inklings of dreaded assumptions that flitted through his mind, and honestly it would be easier if he just went home and forgot this ever happened if he could. However, he felt he had some purpose in being there, like there was a reason for his presence. There was an ulterior motive yet to be revealed from beyond the veil of this place's magnificent curtains. Whatever it was, he was about to find out. All would be revealed here in Judgment, or so he hoped.

Pushing the door open actually took quite a bit of effort. The door slid open slowly and creaked noisily letting anyone who might be inside the room know that he was there. Sure, maybe being a little more inconspicuous would've been better, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice at the moment when it came to how he was going to enter.

Instantly he noticed the difference between the room and the large white halls he was leaving. It was somewhat darker in there, the only light seeming to be coming from a single large fire. It was the first thing he noticed because when the door opened a rush of heat went past him and made his hair stand up for a second at the change of temperature. It seemed rather comfortable inside, inviting so to speak. It looked like a large great room with high ceilings, comfortable furniture, and exquisite decor. There were trophies and animal heads mounted on the walls, large shelving systems with countless leather bound books, beautiful tapestries and rugs on hard wood flooring, enormous lush couches and lounging chairs, towering pillars that spiraled upwards in creative patterns towards the vaulted ceilings above, and, best of all, a giant pit with a blazing fire that was neither too hot nor intimidating in the center of it all.

Ryan was too spellbound to even notice the door close or that there were people in the room with him until one spoke up. "Are you... Ryan?" His trance was broken as he turned to see the speaker not too far to his left. Now that it occurred to him he wasn't alone after all he glanced around the room and saw a couple more faces, unsure of exactly how many there were.

He was hesitant at first but could only think of one course of action so went ahead and responded. "Yes... but how do you know my name?" The speaker tried to answer but was immediately interrupted by another in the room.

"Ryan?" It was distinctly a woman's voice but Ryan wasn't sure who it was, his mind was still foggy. "Ryan!" She shouted this time and ran towards him, jumped into his arms with held back sobs.

He'd recognize that cute curly tail anywhere. "Jessica?!" He instantly wrapped his arms tight around the Shiba Inu, overwhelmed with joy that he'd see a friendly face in this place. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same." She said it weakly burying herself into his chest simply glad he was there.

"Well I'm... I don't actually know. I don't remember." He must've sounded ridiculous, but at the same time none of them seemed surprised in the least.

"You aren't the only one." Ryan turned around to see the one from before speaking again, who he now realized was a tiger like him. "None of us actually know why we're here, if that makes any sense. Look... there's a board with some stuff written on it, it was like that when we got here." The man gestured to something on one of the walls, it looked like a blackboard.

Jessica slowly let go giving Ryan the chance to go check it out. It was indeed a blackboard like he had guessed with some chalk and erasers. On it was the following words.

'WELCOME TO JUDGMENT ONE AND ALL

BEFORE THE GAMES BEGIN WE SHOULD ESTABLISH SOME RULES

1.

When a trial begins all participants should immediately head toward the newly formed testing area or they will be disqualified.

2.

This is home base, you cannot die here. If and when you are injured you may come back here and recuperate, but please keep in mind that trials cannot be reentered upon exiting.

3.

You will know when a trial has begun, there will be a clear signal. When it sounds twice, that means the trial has been finished and the testing area will begin to disintegrate. Failure to leave testing area upon the third sounding of the signal will lead to disqualification, you have been warned.

4.

Each of you will be gifted with the tools necessary to accomplish each of the trials. If you have not been given anything, it simply means you do not need anything to complete the task at hand.

5.

Finally, all of you, though you do not know it at this time, are here based off of your actions during your lives. That means your regrets, your dreams, and your sins.

6.

With that, have fun! Oh and this isn't a rule, cause you'd all fail if it was.

THAT IS ALL

I SHALL WAIT FOR YOU BEYOND THE ETERNAL DOOR'

Ryan was appalled, what kind of sick joke was this? He wanted to go yell at the other guy for coming up with something so stupid, but at the same time the handwriting was similar to the note from before so something weird was definitely going on. He tried to calm himself rather than just lash out. "Please explain this ludicrous game you're playing. I don't know what the deal is but if you think I'm buying this then-"

"Whoa easy there." Everyone in the room was staring at them but Ryan didn't care. "We're all in this same situation here bud, we've just been here longer than you. You can ask your lady friend if you want."

Ryan turned to Jessica who avoided his gaze, he realized he probably looked pretty intimidating right now but couldn't help it. "I-it's true... I was the first one to get here actually, I think its been hours but I lost track of time..." She bit her quivering lip, clearly still shaken up by the situation which made him realize she had probably been crying up until just now when he appeared.

"I see... well have you tried to make an escape or call for help or something?"

The guy answered him this time. "All doors are locked or lead to nowhere, and apparently our phones were taken." Ryan checked to make sure it was true and was dismayed to find his pockets empty. "And... I think you should see something. Try writing something on the board."

Ryan wasn't what he was getting at but went ahead and hesitantly picked up the chalk to write something on the board. He wasn't in the mood for jokes but he didn't know what else to write, so he just wrote "something" and mused silently to himself. It was a pretty bad joke and odd in this situation, but he figured it was better than nothing.

To his everlasting surprise, something else was written under his writing, but there was neither chalk nor hand to indicate what was causing it.

'har har, I see we have a jokester here folks!'

"What the hell?!" Ryan couldn't hide his shock, it was unreal. The chalk on the board had literally appeared out of nowhere and created words. He'd blame it on special effects but the very fact that it was a chalkboard made the theory vanish. He saw no plausible way for it to have been a trick unless he was just plain out hallucinating and he knew of no technology that could manipulate the mind in such a way.

Turning back around the tiger showed sympathy for him. "Yeah, we aren't sure whats up with that either." He simply shrugged unsure of how to console the confused green tiger.

Someone else in the room finally spoke up, and upon closer inspection Ryan saw he was some kind of lizard, possibly an armadillo lizard based off the spikes but this was his first time seeing one. Also, he was much younger than Ryan and looked like a rebellious teenager. "Don't play dumb, you guys all know why we're here!" The lizard was given a series of confused looks. "Just because you all lost most of your memories doesn't mean you don't remember what happened last thing. Think!" What was he talking about? Ryan wanted to argue but then images started to pop up in his head. "Come on, I know you all remember those last few moments. You all are just too scared to talk about it and its making me sick!"

_ What happened? What are these things I'm seeing..._ He was getting mixed signals, some memories came up cold like his ride home from Mr. Hesher's house. Everything suddenly became warm though as he thought about being complimented on his cooking and spending time with Jessica. Then... after that. What came after that?

The lizards words came out shrill and angry, he shook with every word. "Don't tell me you can't remember dying?!"

It all came back like a tidal wave but in no particular order. Stepping into the elevator, pressing the button, the ceiling collapsed, the lights flickering, playing with his tail, hitting his head, the warmth on his chest, the concrete crunching his bones, the door closing, the feeling of flight. "I'm... dead?" It was a question because despite the memories he still couldn't believe it.

The lizard was suddenly shoved into a nearby pillar and growled at. "Jack, shut your fucking trap!" The other tiger stepped in much to Ryan's surprise.

"Its true though! We're in this hellhole called 'Judgment' cause we're all dead! What, are you going to deny it? Fine by me, I'm sick of being around you anyway! I'll be in my room if you need me." The lizard violently shrugged the other guy off of him and stormed out. "On second though, don't come near my room!"

When he left a silence filled the room. It was a heavy depressing atmosphere that hung low and suffocated the life out of everyone. "Don't hold it against him..." Jessica suddenly spoke up, Ryan didn't realize she had approached him. "He's just scared like the rest of us so... don't hold it against him." She repeated the words, the repetition somehow managing to get the message through to all of them. "Lets just... calm down and talk through this."

Slowly, Ryan, her, the guy he talked to before, and one other final person, all sat down on two couches facing each other following her example. He was impressed by Jessica's ability to control herself and others in a situation like this even though it was evident she had been through torture during her time here. Little did he know, she would've still been in the corner if he hadn't come.

"Well then... I think introductions are in order. My name is Blake, so just call me that." The tiger across from him spoke first and said his name. Ryan took the chance to look closely at them all and memorize their names. Blake was a black tiger with red stripes, but it wasn't his natural colors. There were signs of dyes being used, which actually seemed to work really well for the guy where it didn't for most. He was probably somewhat shorter than Ryan, looked about six foot, but he had noticeably broader shoulders and chest with a grizzled look. This guy could've been a soldier, or maybe he just got into fights a lot it was hard to tell, because his physique and air of authority were strong and strangely admirable. Blake also wore a leather jacket and jeans accompanied by others things that screamed 'don't mess with me,' which was odd because his personality was different from the way he came off. All in all, the torn jeans, skull designs on the jacket, well place piercings, stud belt, long mane/hair, and golden eyes made him look kick ass. Where Ryan was refined and charismatic this guy was confident and capable. Ryan felt slightly envious of the other while Blake unexpectedly felt the same toward him.

"You all can just call me Jessica. Um... I enjoy fortune telling and ghost stories, mostly for the fun of it." Everyone continued to stare at her even though she had tried to finish her introduction. They weren't prodding her to say more, the pause was because she said more than needed, but she took it as the former rather than the latter and nervously fidgeted looking for something else to say. "And... my death was because of a fire."

Ryan visibly cringed as shivers went down his spine at the thought of his best friend burning to death. He felt compelled to hug her right then and there as Blake tried to interrupt what she was saying too late. "That's quite enough information thank you! You don't need to go tell us about that..."

An awkward moment passed and Ryan felt it was his turn, letting his grip around the canine loosen a little as he began to rub her shoulder sympathetically he spoke. "My name is Ryan Den." Although no one else expected him to say more a small grin appeared on his face as he continued much to their bewilderment. "And I died when my elevator plummeted to the ground." Jessica looked up in surprise noticing he was trying to console her by admitting his death as well.

Blake sighed not really wanting the death subject to come up again, not sure if he actually believed it himself and finding it rather depressing. "Oh and the lizard that left was Jack. Also, no, I don't know how he died." That made everyone else chuckle a bit. It was funny how easy it was to start laughing under stress considering they were talking about their supposed deaths.

Now, it was the last guy's turn, the one who had yet to speak the entirety of the time Ryan had been there. "Me? Oh, I'm Gil, nothing special here. And uh... support beam." The vague insinuation left them all to wonder how exactly someone died because of a support beam. Gil was a jackal that looked slim and agile, like one who was literally made to slither away from all conflicts and hide in the background like he had been doing. Like most jackals he had dark gray fur going down his back and had large, pointy ears that Jessica found kind of cute. Instead of just plain old light brown fur on the front he seemed to have a rusty looking hue to him and even had silvery streaks that went up past his eyes, around his chin, and also down his tail. While he didn't look necessarily weak Gil seemed to be the type who had tried so hard to beef up his body and was currently failing miserably.

Ryan, after his closer inspection of the guy, twitched unpleasantly trying to recall something deep with the recesses of his brain. "Hey... aren't you Bruce's lackey? I remember you standing next to him when..." He paused to gauge Gil's reaction, which was clearly frightful making him believe he was right. "When you were harassing and attacking that poor fox girl!" Ryan stood up angrily as his mind instantaneously made countless assumptions.

Gil jolted up as well but seemed to be fleeing from him rather than confronting him. "Look, I'm sorry about that, I didn't really-"

"Oh spare me! You know what I think? This is one of Bruce's stupid schemes to get back at me. I knew the mutt was retarded but this is ridiculous, why the hell would he kidnap a bunch of people for no good reason?!" Blake wanted to step in but caught a cold glare from Ryan telling him to sit back down.

"L-l-look! I know we were jerks but Bruce wouldn't..." He suddenly found himself unable to continue.

"See! Even you admit it!"

"No I don't! Look Bruce wouldn't come up with something this elaborate, and I don't think despite how much money he has he would be able to do something like this. So if you would please just-" Gil stopped hearing Ryan snarl angrily with resentment.

The green tiger bared his teeth showing clear disdain for the heartless jerk before him. He actually felt somewhat relieved he had someone to vent his frustration on, but in the end he was probably the one looking like the villain. Still, he didn't care. "You're sick, you and Bruce both disgust me. Some football players happen to be great guys, but no you two have to be the stereotypical jackass just because you have the power to. Do you enjoy abusing power?!"

Somehow, somewhere, that struck a cord deep with Gil and he felt his eyes begin to well up with tears. "POWER?!" The explosion in volume cut Ryan off. "I'd love it! I'd abuse it all the time if I could!" Ryan was taken aback, the jackal suddenly hard on the offense. "I'd control my life! I'd control everything! For once I just wish I-"

"ENOUGH!" Amidst the shouting Jessica managed to roar louder than any of them. With fierce deadly eyes she pointed back to the entrance of the room and all eyes followed her hand. No one had noticed the door open, and standing slightly behind it was a child whimpering in fear. Jessica could live with the quarrels and arguments but her caring side trumped them all when she realized the yelling was causing a kid to cry.

Both Ryan and Gil sat down immediately feeling apologetic and extremely guilty. Ryan let his hate and rage go realizing it was mostly only towards Bruce and that he had only seen this guy once with Bruce. Gil let his frustration and anguish go seeing as how the other was justified in his claims and emotions. One meeting of eyes let one another know how the other felt, ending the argument right then and there under Jessica's death glare.

Blake, upon seeing the little girl cheetah, rushed over trying to seem as friendly as possible and help her out. Some words were exchanged but it was hard to hear over the crackling of the fire. Apparently Blake was just asking to see if she was okay and explaining a bit of the situation to help calm her down. At the very least, it was probably easier to deal with a child than it was someone who was older and wanted a detailed explanation like Ryan had. Blake was surprisingly convincing it seemed ignoring his aggressive complexion, and soon he brought the poor child over to the grouping of couches to be with them. "Come on, its okay you don't need to be afraid. Can you introduce yourself to us?"

The cheetah cub couldn't have been older than 11 or 12, not far off from Jack. She was petite with black spotted deep ocean blue fur which looked practically alive in the way it whisked left and right like waves out at sea. Her tail was black tipped with some black rings near the end reminding him vaguely of a raccoon's tail. "I..." She sputtered trying to form words but was still pale with fear. "I don't know who I am..."

It was an odd thing to say, but she was young so it kind of explained it. "Its okay, I know you must be having a hard time remembering anything, but try to think about what your name could be." Ryan spoke gently trying to make up for the out burst from before.

The cub simply shook her head before Blake intervened. "Actually... I don't think she has a name. There is only one door she could've come from and no one could read the nameplate remember?" Everyone in the room nodded except Ryan who was left in the dark about the matter.

"Wait, what? Hey is that how you knew my name before? Because I had a door with a nameplate on it?"

"Well... yeah. Each of us woke up in a bed in our own rooms with our name on the door, there are six doors total out in the corridors."

Ryan remembered seeing the door with scribbles for a nameplate as well as the other ones he passed with Jack and Gil on them, but other thoughts were occupying his mind at the moment. "Wait... so you woke up in a bed?" Blake nodded slowly not sure what the question was suppose to imply. "Just checking..." And I wake up in a freaking closet?! What kind of rip off is that!

Gil spoke up. "So she doesn't have a name because the nameplate is void of one? I guess that makes sense... in a twisted way. Guess I'll just be calling you kid then if you don't mind."

Blake nodded and added in, "Is there anything you can remember?"

The cub, newly name 'Kid' for now, bit her thumb and thought about it. "I'm looking for my mother..." A wave of empathy fell over all of them.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find your mother, we just need to get..." Jessica had tried to sound comforting but stopped when Kid's eyes suddenly widened, stunned for some reason.

She ran up to the Shiba Inu and threw herself into her bawling aloud. "Mommy!" Jessica was no more astonished than anyone else in the room. She awkwardly fidgeted about trying to decide what course of action to take while waving her hands trying to clear up any misunderstandings. Everyone had already figured out what was going on though since there was no way they could be related, the species, fur color, patterns, and complexion were all completely different. Obviously, this was a mistake on the cub's part, probably from the memory loss. After all, Jessica was the only woman in the room so it would make sense for her to be seen as the mother.

Still though, there was probably no use in persuading Kid that she wasn't her mother, and it wasn't long until the poor canine's heart melted unable to resist the maternal instincts in her. "Oh don't cry... it's okay..." Jessica cooed softly and readjusted them of the couch so that they could embrace each other.

"Well then..." Was all Gil could say.

"Maybe we should..." Blake also at a loss for words.

"Lets just go check out all the rooms and see if there's anything new." Ryan seemed to be the only one able to change the subject and the other two just nodded dumbly in agreement. So they split up leaving the two girls alone.

* * *

Ryan walked the same direction as Gil seeing as how thats where their doors were. The jackal was about to go check out his room once again when a green paw stopped him. It wasn't abrupt or anything like that, just a touch on the shoulder. "Hey Gil I... wanted to apologize for what I said before. It was rude of me to assume such things, just because I know how Bruce is doesn't mean I know you. I guess that's all I'm trying to say..."

The jackal felt a pang of guilt rip through his being as he turned to face him. "I'm sorry... too. I said some pretty stupid things back there."

Ryan lightened up, his ears going from low to high. "Actually I can't blame you for that at all. I wish I had more power as well, I can easily name ten things I'd do with it." Gil looked up surprised and they both shared a moment of silent understanding before breaking out laughing. "Well anyway I'll see you later, I'm going to my room."

They waved to each other as he departed, continuing along the hallway until he past Jack's door which opened just as he passed. The lizard paused for a moment before continuing on like Ryan didn't exist. "Hey Jack." He got a grunt in response.

Once Ryan was finally at his own door at the very end of the hall he was already paralyzed by what he saw. Indeed, his door did have his name on it, but last he checked the door was half blown out of the wall. Currently, it looked like it had been freshly painted and neatly put into the doorway. It had its hinges intact and there was no blemish or scratch scarring its surface. With extreme caution the tiger reached for the handle and pulled the door open. Where he distinctly recalled there being a cramped closet darkness now stood blocked by a blackened gate. There was literally, an iron gate with a door, right after the first door, blocking his path. It was locked by the looks of it and if it was as sturdy as it seemed he wasn't going to be busting through this door like he did the last. The strangest part though, was what laid beyond. Absolute darkness, not a hint of light or object within the inky abyss. Ryan would've wanted to try harder to find out what was in there but something told him that was an extremely bad idea. He tried hollering into the black, but there was no echo. No echo, meant there might be nothing there at all. It was like his voice had just disappeared out into infinity.

* * *

Everyone sat in the main room looking positively exhausted by all the stress and disappointment this day had to offer. Jack was with them now but he took no part in the discussions, Jessica was playing with Kid somewhere else in the room, and the remaining three were completely stupefied by the countless anomalies and otherworldly experiences they were having. After a long discussion they came to a conclusion, that there was no solution or way out. Sure, they could've tried harder, but they had begun to accept that they were dead and there was no changing it. Especially since, even though they felt somewhat tired, they had yet to become hungry or need to use the bathroom. All the things that would normally come up on a day to day basis no longer mattered as if their bodies no longer needed it.

Yet, they all wanted those things, because the sense of normality was the exact comfort they needed right now.

Feeling bored, Ryan walked over to the chalk board and stared at it for a moment. "Hey... you there? I got a question for you." Writing spontaneously emerged.

'Ask away my good friend!'

Ryan would never get use to this, it was way too freaky. It felt like it was taunting him, but he kept the feelings of anguish to himself. "What did you mean by disqualification?"

'oh my, someone finally asked the hard question!

Well lets see... I know what you're thinking.

Truthfully its hard to explain, and right now you're thinking its death aren't you?

Well I have good news and bad news!

The good news is, its not even close to being the same thing, after all you are already dead!

But... bad news is its much worse than death, the oblivion awaits all who perish here.

I'm sure you can comprehend that can't you Ryan? You know oblivion better than anyone.'

An eerie chill passed over the green tiger thinking back to his room. Despite his best efforts he couldn't deny the strange concept, it was all too realistic to him. The dire consequences this had were actually within his mind's grasp, but he had to deny such a ridiculous fantasy. "Shut up! I know nothing about this so called-" His voice was drowned out by a loud booming that practically shook the building. Ryan knew instantly what it was, it was the signal, but that wasn't what concerned him. The noise sounded oddly familiar... like fingers snapping. "Snap once... and they'll come out to play." He didn't even notice the words left his mouth as he stared agape in terror at what was happening in the room. The first trial has begun, and judgment draws nearer.