Week Twenty-Four: The Backrooms Part Seven
1012 Words
Ollie’s heart pounded in their throat, pulsated in their temples. What happened? The lights had only turned off for one minute, twelve seconds, and four milliseconds. Okay, perhaps the exact numbers were from me, but even Ollie’s mortal understanding of time allowed them to know it wasn’t that long. How did their mother get injured?
“Ma? Can you talk?”
There was no response, just that same wheezing breath. They teared up, walking in a small circle. “Ma! You can’t… you can’t be hurt!”
They went to walk forward before stepping back. “Ma, please. If I walk forward, the lights will turn off again.”
The fluorescents seemed to buzz a bit louder at that, drowning out Ollie’s heart.
“But I can’t leave you here. I’m sorry.”
As soon as they stepped forward, the lights turned off. But they didn’t care. They kept walking through the pitch black. The hallways shifted and contracted around them. Nausea surged in their stomach, pulsating along with the deafening silence.
The lights turned back on. Ollie’s mother was right in front of them, so close they could touch her.
But she was dead.
She was laying on the floor, her skin taking on a grey tint, her eyes empty. Ollie froze, staring down at the corpse with mounting horror.
“Ma?” They knelt down beside her, eyes wide. “Ma.” Their voice cracked, a tear streaking down their face. They gently reached out to check her pulse.
And she evaporated.
Ollie screamed, launching backward. There was nothing left of their mother.
Ollie clenched their fists, trembling. “This isn’t real! It was a trick!” They didn’t know who they were accusing, but they knew it was someone’s fault. “I’m done falling for your tricks! I just want to go home. I didn’t ask to be here.”
The ground of the building started to shake. Was that it? Did it hear them? Were they finally going home?
A wall rose from the ground, crashing into the ceiling. Ollie fell back with a yelp. That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t fair! What did they keep doing wrong? Why did the building keep blocking them off from passageway after passageway?
They stood up, thoroughly soaked from whatevr was soaked into the carpet. They smelt of mold and rotten mothballs now. They felt disgustinging. Not to mention, their skin itched terribly. Was the liquid irritating? Could it cause rashes? Or illness? Or death?
Ollie tried not to think about that. They were getting out of here, not dying. If they thought they were going to die here, then they would. It was as simple as that. The mind creates reality based on expectations.
Except when it came to working in an office. Ollie really hadn’t been expecting that one, but it still blindsided them. But now wasn’t exactly the time to think about that. Not with so much at stake.
They stumbled forward into the same four way crossroads again. They didn’t know how they knew it was the same one at this point, but they just did. They knew.
They walked to the center and spun in a small circle. “Wait. No. Wait!”
If this was the same four way crossroad, then that meant all of the other ways were blocked off.
Which meant there was only one way to go.
Which meant there was only one way out.
Which meant there was no room for mistakes.
They shook their head. “No! You’re telling me every other hallway changes, but this one doesn’t? No. I refuse to believe that.”
She sprinted down the hallway she had heard Betsy’s voice in. It was going to be entirely different. There wasn’t going to be anything there. It was going to be-
They ran straight into a dead end. There it was. The same dead end that had screamed at them before. They shook their head. “No. No!”
They turned around and sprinted right back to the beginning. Without a second thought, they ducked into the hallway that forced them face Mr. Coleman and his impossible hill. It would be never ending hallways. It had to be. This place hated limits. Why would it suddenly abuse them? It didn’t make sense.
But there, again, that same dead end. Ollie cried out. “Stop it! Stop doing that!”
They turned around, the adrenaline making them not even care if they were out of breath. They headed right back for the hallway they had just come from. Where this building had pretended to kill their mother. Please. This had to be open hallway. This couldn’t be it.
But it was. Because they just ran into the same dead end. Ollie stopped and stared at it. This was nothing short of cruel now. How could the building treat them like this? Drag them through mold and heartache like this?
“I don’t deserve this!” They kicked the wall as hard as they could. It didn’t hurt, and the wall didn’t budge.
But the building screamed, just like before. But, Ollie didn’t care anymore. They just screamed right back, the high-pitched, whistling screech of the building mixing with the deep, almost guttural yell from Ollie.
The building went silent first. The building might not need to breathe, but it didn’t have human tenacity. And Ollie was full of that at that moment. They heaved for breath, regretting the way their throat burned. There was no water here. They might have just kissed their voice goodbye with that stunt. They made their way back to the center of four way crossroads. Well, there was only one way forward.
Ollie stood in front of the open archway, staring into the never ending maze. If they messed up in there, they’d get trapped in the same loop forever. They’d go insane. They’d die of dehydration.
What would the building make them face there? Their father? An old college professor? What could possibly be worse than their mother dying? They sighed. It was time to find out.
They walked into the maze, immediately feeling the atmosphere shift. This was endless terrain. This is what they were used to.
Gender:
Points: 780
Reviews: 31