The Holders Volume 11 (101-110)

(NOTE: All 545 Object entries in the Holders series aren't credited to any authors so I'll just link to the official website)

## The Holder of Cognition

In any city, in any country, in any hotel, there is a room that is never available. Ask the clerk at the front desk to give you the "best room on the ninth floor". It doesn't matter if the hotel is not nine stories tall. The clerk will be overcome with a look of fear, and they will rush to the back room. The manager of the hotel will come out and silently lead you to an elevator in the basement of the hotel. The elevator will have several buttons with unrecognizable symbols. Press any three buttons in quick succession, and the elevator will descend. When the elevator stops, you will be in a clean and well-lit hallway. Walk into the room at the end of the hallway.

Inside the room will be three windows, one on each wall. One window will display a view as if you are a few dozen stories up in the middle of an ambiguous city. The second will display a view as if you were in the middle of a foggy forest. If you look through the third window... well, then the next fool to seek these objects will find nothing more of you than your blood on the walls and floor of this room.

Spend three days in the room with no food or water, never looking at the third window. You may leave the room and exit the hotel at any time, but you will be plagued by dreams of unimaginable suffering for the remainder of your life. Should you remain within the room for three days, you will be suddenly overcome with absolute knowledge of the human mind. Many go mad at this point. If you survive the rush of information, call aloud: "What was He thinking?" As soon as you finish speaking, you will be told.

You are now Holder of Cognition. Your thoughts are Object 101 of 538. Your only salvation is to bring them together.

## The Holder of The Soul

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Soul". Should a conspiratorial look come over the worker's face, he or she will raise one finger to his lips in a gesture of silence, and hand to you a small glass ball.

Should you choose to look at this glass ball, you will see that half of it is pitch black, the black of deepest night, while the other half is made of the purest, soft, golden light of a happy summer day. The funny thing is that no matter how hard you stare, you will never be able to tell which half is which.

Now is your last chance to leave. Should you throw down the glass ball, it will shatter, and you may leave and continue a normal life, but never again will you have this opportunity. Should you decide to continue, enter any door that you see. You will find yourself at the beginning of a path.

The path itself is made of the cheapest of stone squares. They barely fit together, and weeds spring up between the cracks, but it is not the path that will attract your attention. To the right of the path you will see scenes of happiness, joy, and love. However, if you look closely, you will see that these scenes are not nearly so pure as they seem. To the left of the path you see scenes of misery, deprivation, and hopelessness. However, if you look closely, you will see that these things are not as bad as they seem.

You must follow the path. It will curve off to both sides from its starting position, but never will it fully enter either set of scenes. Should you be fooled by either of the scenes and step off the path, you will be stuck in the scene forevermore. Take care not to trip.

Should you reach the end of the path, you will find a large oak door. The door will have no hinges, knob, or any sort of decoration. Speak aloud the phrase, â€œThe Sides are the Same,â€ and the door will disappear. Say anything else and the door shall not move.

Upon entering the room you will see nothing, but feel as though you are being watched from all sides. Say to the invisible presences, â€œI walked down the Middle.â€ Should you say anything else, half of the unseen creatures will rip you to pieces.

If you spoke the correct phrase, you will hear them. Half will scream, boo, or hiss. The other half will try to begin to tell you of your foolish mistake. However, if you listen carefully, you will hear a small applause. Close your eyes and walk toward this applause. When all sound stops, you will find yourself outside the door you first entered, holding the glass ball.

That glass ball is Object 102 of 538. Now you must judge for yourself which side is black and which is white. There is no wrong answer.

## The Holder of The Pact

In any city, in any country, go to any large forest you can get yourself to. When you enter, walk until darkness falls, getting as deep into the forest as you can. When the sun vanishes on the horizon, ask to visit someone who calls himself â€œThe Holder of the Pactâ€. A chilling wind will rise up behind you, biting into your skin. Walk further into the forest. As dusk settles into night, you will come upon a rustic stone well and a hooded man standing near it. Walk to the well and stand on the opposite side of him. Sounds, faint and far away, will emit from the well. Do not look into the well, for even a glance will erupt horrors unto your mind and drive you to lunacy.

In a dark, crooning voice, he will ask you your name. Tell him the truth -- a dismal fate is all that awaits a liar. Your name will echo in the well. The sounds will grow excited and louder with your name. Hushed voices below whisper your name, barely audible above the growls. Hold out your hand over the well, and the hooded man will chant in a tongue that makes your knees weak, and your body shake with chills. He will slice your hand with a dagger, and your blood will drip down into the well. The sounds will grow louder, almost unbearably so. The whispers of your name will become moans of want, calling you to the well. The hooded man will respond to only one question: â€œWho else has made this Pact?â€

The noises in the well will quiet down as he answers. He will answer you in times dating back before books, explaining the life of each person who has ever made this pact, hundreds of people. Many had different reasons for doing it, and some had the same reasons as you. No matter the reason however, they all shared the same fate. The hooded man will tell you their cruel death and their pitiful existence thereafter. All of them were thrown into damnation, their afterlife filled with torturous hells that make your skin ache and your stomach sick. He tells you of one person, the only person who successfully gathered them all together. Once his story is finished, dawn will be nearly broken. An onyx black velvet hand will emerge from the pitch black well. Telling where the well ends and the arm begins is impossible. The hand will be clutching a black heart. Take it with your uninjured hand.

The Dark Heart is Object 103 of 538. You have the Object, but the denizens of the well have your name and your blood. Do not break the pact.

## The Holder of The Hearing

In any city, in any country, go to any nightclub you can get yourself to. If you can muster your courage seek out the DJ booth. Knock thrice on the door, but do not wait for a reply before opening. Once inside do be sure to close the door behind you. Please know that under no circumstance should you let the DJ speak for he is a trickster and would love nothing more than to lead you to a most gruesome fate. He was once a Seeker like yourself, you see, and would do anything to be free once more. Ask the DJ to play The Holder of The Hearing. Should the DJ ignore you, then leave the club as inconspicuously as you can. The patrons, failed seekers all, will soon know your presence and try to make you stay through whatever means necessary. Should the DJ smile grimly, on the other hand, you are free to try for this Object. He will point to a black trunk in the corner you will not have noticed before. Open the trunk and climb inside. You should thank the DJ; it never hurts to be polite. Close the lid and shut your eyes as you begin to fall.

In the all encompassing darkness you should feel your feet hit solid, albeit vibrating, ground. You are not yet safe, though, and you should not open your eyes. It is not certain how long you will wait in this blackness, but do not open your eyes or show any sign of impatience. This Holder is studying you, judging you, and it is your doom should you be found wanting. The only time you should utter a sound is if the vibrating beneath your feet stops. At this point quickly throw your left arm out, palm up, and shout, "Continue the song, I implore, lest it be ever silent!" The vibrating should come back. If it does not, then I would suggest keeping your eyes closed.

If the vibrating comes back or is uninterrupted you will eventually hear a woman humming by your ear and stroking your hair as a mother would her beloved child. Open your eyes, but continue facing forward even though you see Her lithe fingertips in the corner of your vision. Any hesitation or incorrect question at this point will be your undoing. Steel your resolve, and in a gentle voice ask, "What do They hear that We do not?"

A piercing cry will ring out all around you ever growing in magnitude. From the black plane in front of you a hand, fetid and grey, will break through the darkness. Out will crawl a woman's corpse screaming with the voice of every victim and mourning lover. She has been long dead and awaiting this question from You, dear Seeker. In her haste to get to you she will tear her flesh and break her bones, but do not step back or show the repulsion you will surely feel. Ask again your question in a tender voice, though your heart breaks at the sound of her cries, and your stomach turns at the sight of her rotted form. She will crawl up your body and cup your face in her hands. Her eyes, long dried, will roam over your face, and her jaw will quiver with the pain of a childless mother. "I will give you the means to know, but do not begrudge me what you learn," she will say as she presses her putrid lips to your own in a most passionate kiss. You will pass out.

You will wake up in a burned out shell of a building, In your hand will be a pair of headphones emitting a murmured hum. If you listen very carefully, you can make out what sounds like words.

These headphones are Object 104 of 538. You can now hear Them, but do not let Them hear You.

## The Holder of The Voice

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to view something known as "The Holder of the Voice". The worker may try to hide a brief look of panic, but will eventually compose himself. He will throw you a small, black, unmarked plastic bag, and walk away irrationally. You do not have to follow him, but something will bid you to trace his footsteps.

You will pass through a dimly lit hallway with panoramic windows for walls. Regardless of the time of day, the outdoors will appear to be dark. Should you look out the windows you will see only an endless stretch of woods. If you think you see motion in the woods, do not turn away. Keep walking up towards the end of the hall.

There will be no door, only a blank wall with peeling wallpaper. The worker will tear the wallpaper off just a bit, then flee into the shadows. When you inevitably finish tearing the wallpaper, a small, dusty attic room will be revealed. In the center sit two objects: a small doll and a tape recorder. Both are ancient and coated in dust.

If you examine the doll, you will see a small metal crank on it. Wind the crank and the doll will emit a sound somewhat akin to fingernails scratching against wood.

Press play on the tape recorder. It will play even if there are no batteries. There will be the muffled sound of a female voice in distress. You will not be able to make out the words. It will go on and on until you press stop.

The final decision facing you will be whether or not you should play the two sounds together. The bag given to you will contain two rusted railroad spikes. You know what you will do.

The moment you attempt to start both sounds at the same time, the ground will begin to shake, and the room around you will begin to crackle and start coming apart. If you were to survive the collapse of the building, you will be haunted by a sound so shrill and grating that should you remain listening to it for even a small amount of time, you shall bleed from the ears until death. Even before that, you will feel strongly compelled to impale both of your eardrums with the railroad spikes.

Your only hope is to, through the evil sounds piercing the air, nail the doll and tape recorder to the floor where you stand.

Should you succeed, you will find a tape inside the broken tape recorder. It is unplayable and emanates a buzzing hum if you listen closely.

That Object is 105 of 538. When the time comes, all held within shall be revealed.

## The Holder of Intuition

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Intuition". The receptionist will stand and lead you to a blank white door, but will not open it. Nor will you be able to. Return to the desk and wait for the receptionist to return as well. Repeat your request and wait silently while the receptionist fishes a keyring from the desk.

The keyring will have twenty keys, of various sizes, shapes, and colors. If you return to the door, you will not know which key to use to open it, and using the wrong one will freeze your body at the doorway for eternity. Return to the desk again and ask for "the final piece of this puzzle". The receptionist will ask for your forearm and slice a fine line with a razor from the inner elbow to the palm. The receptionist will then sit back down and will fall totally silent, responding only to one question, "How will I find the truth?"

He or she will respond, "Though the truth is elusive, you will now be helped in finding it," and disappear.

You will glance down at the cut and find that it is now glowing the most brilliant white. Startled, you will drop the keys and the glow will vanish. On picking up the keys again, you will find that the white glow returns only when you hold the correct key. If you can maintain your composure after this, move on and use the key to open the door. Pass through the door and you will find yourself in a circular white room with twenty more doors. Point at each of the doors in turn, and your cut will glow the same brilliant white when pointing at the correct door. Take that door (the others lead to a trapdoor to an eternal fall) and you will be at the desk again, but a woman in a red coat will be sitting at the desk in place of the receptionist. She will ask for your forearm and rub her index and middle finger along the cut. It will glow strongly to your touch and you will feel a sensation of cold so overpowering that you'd prefer to have it lit aflame. Make no move, however extreme the sensations; simply stand there, as still as you can be, until she is done, at which point she will turn and leave the room. Do not follow her, or your quest so far will be for naught as you will die an unimaginably painful death.

Looking back to the desk, you will find a slip of paper that the woman has left behind. Picking it up, you will read, "Whenever you find yourself lost, you will again be pointed in the right direction."

Your path finding cut is Object 106 of 538. May it point you the correct way when you need it the most.

## The Holder of The Blue

In any city, in any country go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Blue". The worker will take a step back and rustle through a drawer. Should they take their eyes off you, or you off them, run. They will alert the Holder, and the fate of all those in the room will be sealed. Should they hand you an old notebook, take it, turn, and look for a chair. It will be blue, and marked "Fresh Paint". The seat is dry. Sit in it and open the book. Look carefully. It will be filled with gibberish and pointless drivel. Look for writing on a page in an ink that matches the chair. This will tell you vital words, but they change each time this Holder is called upon.

Return the notebook to the clerk. They will wave you to a blue door with a paper sign on it. Lift that paper to reveal an arcane mark. Touch that mark with your hand and say the first vital word. Do not move your hand, even when ice covers it. Move your hand only when the door swings away. Blue halogen lights drown this hallway in light. There will be five doors ahead of you, Two on each side and one at the end. Go to each of the doors, first on the left, then the right, then the end. Say the second vital word at each door. If you think about it, this word will tell you which door is the right one.

Each door carries with it different trials. We Who Write have yet to test each door. Know this, regardless of what horrors await you, the third vital word will keep your mind from bleeding into madness. Meditate on it well. At the end, you will find a pedestal with a book and pen. It will detail your every step from the moment you realized the Objects were real. Read through this book to the end. At the first blank space, take up the pen and write the fourth vital word. That word will vanish into a plume of smoke. The smoke will coalesce into an imp with a face made from faces of all those you hate.

Ask the imp "What happens to those who fail to seek them?". It will tell you every horrid detail, down to every splintered toenail and every burned out eye socket. As it speaks, it will dissipate into the air. When it finishes its tale, it will be gone. The pedestal will slide away, revealing a small mask with hair, almost as if it was to be fitted over a doll's face. Take this up, and if you so choose, take up the book as well. Jump into the hole the mask was kept in. You will fall into a shower-room in the place you call home.

This mask is Object 107 out of 538, The Mask of the Blue Path. Its face always looks forward to when they are reunited.

The book is the first object of We Who Write, The Journal of the Writer. Hold it tight, for you may yet join us.

## The Holder of The Red

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Red.â€ The worker will nod and pull out a dusty old notebook and hand it to you. She will then point out a door labeled â€œNo Entryâ€. As you enter the door, take a look at the notebook. It will seem completely blank at first but upon further inspection, a random page will have four numbers written in red ink. Memorize the numbers and continue down the hall. Eventually you will reach a red wrought iron door. There will be a number lock in the center of the door with four spaces. The door is slightly warm to the touch. Enter the number you memorized. Enter the wrong number and a violent end awaits you.

Inside several red lights hang from the ceiling, casting everything in a semi-dark yet seeable shade of crimson. The walls are covered in childrenâ€™s toys, dolls, and model trains. Walk forward... inside a small boy will be crouching with his back to you. He will respond to only one question, â€œWho can control them?â€

You will be answered with giggles from the child. He will turn around and stab you with a needle attached to a strand of thread. Let him do so, stopping him will only make the pain much worse and last an eternity. The sewing needle will pop out your back, and he will pull on it, letting the thread become coated in a thick layer of your blood. Once done, he will begin to gracefully sew. Wait and do not speak... Do not move... Do nothing to draw attention to yourself. Before long, you will have a small blood red doll in the shape of a human. The doll has no face or any other distinguishing features but the craftsmanship is perfect. Protect it as though you were to protect your own life. Whatever happens to it also happens to you.

That Doll is Object 108 of 538. Do you control the Objects? Or do the Objects control you?

## The Holder of Rigor Mortis

In any city, in any country, go into any hospital you can get into. When you enter, you will see the receptionist behind her desk. Do not approach her, simply stand where you are. Then immediately fake your best seizure or any other serious medical condition you can do. The receptionist will see this, gasp, and then call for help. Several doctors will then put you on a stretcher and wheel you through many doors down a seemingly never-ending hallway. The lights will flash on and off, and you will catch a quick glimpse of the doctors in their deceased forms. After what seems like an hour, you will become weary, and lose all feeling and awareness of your limbs. You will be wheeled into a room, and left there. It will look like a normal operating room, with an operating table containing a scalpel, needles, syringes, and other medial paraphernalia. From there, fall asleep lying on your back, your head facing the roof.

When you wake up, you will find a Siamese-twin doctor, conjoined at the hip, standing beside your bed. You may try to sit up, but you will find that you are as stiff as a rock, and your body from the neck down has been numbed. The right head will simply say "Alright, he's awake.", and begin to operate. The doctor closest to your bed with tear open your shirt, and request items from the far doctor. He will hand him a scalpel, and begin cut a long line from the top of your chest to the beginning of your belly button. It's best you don't look, for you may pass out or simply go insane. You will feel no pain, but the knowledge of being cut open is enough of a burden. For an hour they will be operating on you, as the right doctor dissects you and the left doctor hands tools. At the very end, he will stitch you up and then leave covered in blood and other bodily fluids. To return to the real world, simply fall asleep again.

When you wake up you will feel a discomfort in your lower abdomen. If you look down, you will find a scalpel slightly piercing your stomach, making a vertically slanted flap of bloodied skin. Take the scalpel and bandage up your stomach using the bandage wrap beside you. After this, make your way to the front of the desk keeping the scalpel with you. When the receptionist asks if she can help you, stab her in the forehead with the scalpel. She will scream loudly in agony, and collapse to the ground. Trudge around to the back of the desk and lean down to her body. Hold the scalpel to her neck, and ask loudly and angrily, "Why were they dying?" She will cough and sputter blood, then tell you a story of a mass killing. Everyone in the story that died, died painfully and without mercy. Many limbs were amputated from these people, and were killed for the sheer joy of killing. The story will make you shudder in fear, and want to leave this wretched place. After she has finished the story, her eyes will turn black and she will spit blood at your face. Jam the scalpel into her forehead again. As quickly as you did this, leave the hospital. They will hurt you, and they will kill you.

The scalpel is Object 109 of 538. As the second scalpel, you can now wield one in each hand as weapons to fight for your life. You'll know when it's time.

## The Holder of Humility

In any city, in any country, go to any hospital you can get yourself to, and ask to visit "The Holder of Humility." The attendant will bow their head, grasp your hand and lead you down a pure white hallway. You must keep your hand within the attendant's hand, if you wish to live. As you walk down the hallway, you will hear a piano playing faintly in the distance. Should the song stop playing, whisper "You missed a key." If the song ceases to play, the hallway will turn pitch black, not even a miracle will save you from what you will then experience. Should the song keep playing, continue down the hallway until the attendant lets go of your hand and runs ahead. Don't bother chasing after them.

Walk forward five steps, then turn to the left, you should see a lone doorknob on the wall. If there is no knob, you will be wandering an endless hallway for all eternity. If there is a knob, turn it, and enter the room. The melody of the piano will be consumed by silence within the desolate room. As you enter the room, shut the door behind you, it should lock you inside. The room is small, the walls and floor covered with droplets of water, a clean bed with a pillow, both covered in clean white sheets, a digital clock with the time 3:00pm, an old black grand piano, and a bare mirror hanging on the wall. Look at your reflection in the mirror, you should see yourself as you are, and the room as it is. Stare straight into your eyes, ask nothing but this question: "Why have they no humility?" Your reflection shall then smile, and back away. You will witness yourself killing the child once inhabiting that room, with swift stabs, punches, tearing the child apart limb from limb, and a gunshot to the head. A silent scream pierces the disturbing silence. The mirror shall then break into seven pieces. The room you are in has become the exact image of the room within the mirror. Droplets of water now blood, and a mutilated body now lay in the once clean bed. The grand piano now old with the keys broken and scattered, and the digital clock looks like it was thrown against the wall.

A vague, yet familiar bullet shines on the now bloodstained pillow, next to a gun. The body will speak to you, telling you to stay within the room, but do not let this bother you. You must shoot yourself with the bullet, allowing it to enter your heart. Excruciating pain will consume your body, don't hesitate to scream. If you are lucky, you will wake up alive and well in a hospital bed of the hospital you visited. The time will be 3:00pm and a slight scar will be upon your chest. Check under the pillow your head is laying upon.

The diamond bullet is Object 110 of 538. Would you dare kill to keep the Objects apart?