CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio - "The Thing in The Backrooms" Creepypasta

Episode Date: April 2, 2021

CREEPYPASTA STORY►by ThatExoGuy: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm...​Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO-SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd...​iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...​SUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS-►"Good Places to Start"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7YCb...​►"Personal Favourites"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEa2R...​►"Written by me"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX6RA...​►"Long Stories"- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...​FOLLOW ME ON-►Twitter: https://twitter.com/Creeps_McPasta​►Instagram: https://instagram.com/creepsmcpasta/​►Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/creepsmcpasta​►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreepsMcPasta​CREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic​ ♪►http://bit.ly/Myuusic​ ♪►http://bit.ly/incompt​ ♪►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM​ ♪-This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only-

How many doors did you open today? What about in the last week, month or year? What about your entire lifetime? The answer to that is probably many. Yet, if you're listening to this now, probably not enough of them. So, consider yourself lucky. Or luckier than me, at any rate.

My ordeal started about five months ago. It was a usual day. wake up, go to work, be bored out of my mind. Only it was a night. I worked the night shift at a small pawn shop and the night passed at a glacial pace. That's usually good news, as I'd browse the internet on my phone.

But my charger did that thing when you sleep and it just bloody disconnects, leaving you with no battery to speak of. And me being me, I didn't notice until I got to work. Great. So, I was a lot of. alone and bored out of my mind for some ten hours, but the night eventually passed.

A co-worker came in as morning broke, so I left. On my way to the car, I stopped at a local mart and grabbed a couple of sandwiches and a water bottle. I was too lazy to make myself something to eat when I get home, so I figured I just waved down the sandwiches and go to sleep. The commute was only ten minutes long, and it passed in a blur, as I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to anything. My mind had melted under the boredom to the point that I couldn't wait to get home and plug my phone into watch some YouTube. I pulled up in my driveway

and went for the entrance, fumbling for my keys. When I finally found them, I opened the door and entered, still not paying attention to my surroundings. Had I been a little less negligent, had I looked inside before going in, my life would have been so different today, but I didn't.

The door clicked shut behind us, me and I made my way to the kitchen through the corridor. I was also searching through my backpack for one of the sandwiches. I finally noticed something was off when I reached for the place where the table should have been, but I didn't bump into it. There was supposed to be a chair here for me to sit down and eat my meal, but there was nothing. I looked up frantically and noticed the table was gone entirely, along with all of the furniture in my kitchen, the drawers, the fridge, even the dammed sink.

Not a trace of them remained. I was dumbfounded to say the least. Did someone break in and steal everything while I was gone? But why? How? On a closer inspection though, I realised it hadn't been thieves because the sink's train was gone, replaced by a smooth wall instead. No one could have done this in the ten hours I was at work.

And even if they could have, I couldn't fathom a reason for them to. Looking up, I saw the same. the light bulb was gone as well. At that point, I started freaking out badly, because light still emanated from where I used to be. I grabbed my backpack and ran to the front door, hastily opening it.

The street... Was gone. In its place, only another empty room. I let out a yelp of surprise mixed with fear as I froze in the doorway. What the hell was going on? Remembering my phone, I pulled it out and prayed that it still had some battery,

but I was out of luck. The thing was dead. I took a few minutes to calm down and decide what to do. My breath smoothed out after a while, and I felt confident enough not to have a panic attack, so I closed my eyes and opened the door again. Still, a room instead of the street. Crap.

I explored the rest of the house, hoping to find something that would have helped me understand. But every room was the same story. All the furniture was gone. The walls were uncharacteristically smooth and featureless, and the light bulbs were nowhere to be seen, even though there was plenty of light to go around. I had hoped against all odds that I'd find my landline phone in the living room,

but I think you can guess how well that went. I don't know how much time I spent, curled up on the floor of the living room, just crying. And I don't know how much time I'd have. spent opening and closing the front door, hoping it would finally reveal the street to me. Many hours, at any rate, until I finally gave up and decided to take a leap of faith. I entered the room the front door led to, closed it behind me, and opened the door again. Now my corridor was gone, its place taken by a small room with a singular door on the other side. If someone would have been there with me, they could have pointed out the door.

the exact moment my soul shattered by the pop it made. But no one was there. I was all alone and lost in a twilight zone of empty rooms. I sat down, pulled my backpack in my lap and took a sip of water. I didn't feel hungry yet, so I decided not to touch the sandwiches. With only two of them and a litre of water, I had to make them last. My mind went into survival mode and I didn't know how long I'd be here. or how to get out.

I eventually decided to take a nap, as I was still tired from the night shift I'd been through. I decided I'd have a better chance at figuring things out if I was rested. Sleep came swiftly, but it was fitful and as bland as the room I was in. I didn't dream at all, and I constantly woke up feeling paranoid, like someone or something was watching me.

The fifth time that happened, I jumped to my feet. The room was dark now I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face After I was done dropping bricks I thought I died and was now in some sort of hell But I walked around slowly And still found the walls of the room In about the places I expected

It clicked to my head It was night time This place, wherever or whatever it was kept track of the time outside I huddled myself in one of the corners and waited for the light to return. That took a few hours, but, with nothing to draw my attention and excite my senses,

it felt like a small eternity. There was only me, the darkness, the sound of my occasional breath, and the pulse of my heart pounding in my ears. I thought I'd go crazy, that I'd start to hallucinate any moment now. But then I noticed a small inkling of light emanating from the ceiling. Dawn was coming.

The light slowly grew in intensity, mirroring the pace of a sunrise, but I didn't wait any longer. The moment I could see even past the vagus of shapes, I got up and on the move. Despite the poor quality of my sleep, I felt rested and refreshed, so I started exploring. Door after door, room after room, all I found was more of the same. The walls were different colours and the shapes of the rooms buried to mirror their purpose. purpose, a small closet, a garage, a bathroom, a corridor once in a while. But other than that, they were all the same. For a split second, I felt like I was in a video game and I'd entered an area that I wasn't

supposed to. A building the devs didn't flesh out because no one was meant to enter it. Only this was reality. At one point I got an idea. I kept finding windows, which, although, they didn't show anything on the other side and were flush with the walls, I thought maybe would lead somewhere. So I threw my water bottle against one of them, hoping to shatter it, but it bounced right off and rolled at my feet. The next few days was spent going from room to room, only stopping at night when I couldn't see a damn thing. But I made a few, interesting

discoveries, if you want to call on that. About how this place and my body worked now. Closing a door randomized the room on the other side, so you could walk in a circle without going in the same room twice. As soon as the door left your direct line of sight, even if you left it open, it would close on its own. This one I figured out after I had the bright idea of not closing any doors behind me, hoping I'd managed to figure out how big the place was. I didn't need sleep,

or at least I didn't need it as often as I normally would. Despite a few days having passed at that point, I didn't feel tired, and I only slept through the first night I spent there. Same went for food and water. I didn't feel hungry or thirsty, even though I still had both sandwiches and the water bottle was missing and only the few sips I took on the first day. That was either a curse or a blessing,

depending on how you chose to look at it. It would give me more time to find a way out, but it had the potential of prolonging my suffering immensely, if I didn't. I decided to take it as a blessing for the time being and kept going, room after room, day in and day out. I think I opened more doors in that time

than I would have in my entire life otherwise. But, after roughly a week, I finally found something that wasn't just another bland wall. Though, I wished I hadn't. The first thing that hit me as I entered another room was the gut-wrenching smell. It was stagnant and putrid, to the point that it made me wretch and made my eyes water. I slowly looked up and found red trails adorning the floor.

They had a radial pattern that led back to a common source, and looked as if they flowed at one point or another. As my eyes followed them, slow and uncertain, my gaze came upon something in the corner. It was a dry husk with his back against the wall and his hands. beside its body. The trails led to its wrists, and I could see bone beneath the mummified skin. Words were strewn on the wall behind it, in the same red colour as the trails on the floor.

I backed up slowly as the realisation hit me like a truck. This person, whoever he or she might have been, was like me at some point. Someone stuck in here that couldn't take it anymore and decided to end it all. That was their only way out, their only release, and I feared more and more each day that it would eventually be my only option as well.

For hours, I fought back the urge to leave the room and shut the door behind me. The reality of what I was facing sunk deeper and deeper into my soul, bringing with it despair and a feeling of complete helplessness. Many slaps later, I managed to snap myself out of it and approached the corpse to inspect it. I thought that maybe they'd have to be. something useful on them. Though

what exactly that would have been, I had no idea. Certainly no food or water. Else they might not have taken their own life, and certainly not a map that led outside, or else I'd not have found them here like this. I fashioned a mask to cover my mouth and nose

out of my t-shirt, and walked over to it slowly. The words behind it came into view as I got closer, and I could read them when I was a few steps away. Beware the dark. Don't follow the footsteps. The eyes.

Oh God, the eyes. Make it stop. I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that was the gist of it. Short sentences with an ominous feeling to them. They certainly did a good job of making me feel like I drowned in dread. I tried to puzzle them together and draw some meaning from them. But I couldn't. What eyes?

What footsteps? I'd been here. for more than a week now, but, besides the sounds I made myself, I didn't hear anything. I was still terrified reading it, though. I kneeled down next to the corpse and started pulling on its clothes in search of pockets. It was dressed pretty blandly, jeans and a t-shirt, so I not found much. One of the front pockets of the jeans revealed a phone with no battery, and the back pocket revealed a wallet.

There was a bit of cash in it, a few bills and coins. but I decided not to even count it, let alone take it. But I found an ID and a driver's license and took those. I figured that if I ever get out, the least I could do was turn these in and let their relatives know of their fate. His name was Brandon, an average-looking 25-year-old guy with dirty blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. He didn't deserve his fate, and I didn't either.

I found nothing else on him, so I decided to move on. Staying put wouldn't do me any good, and, after finding Brandon's corpse, I felt a renewed sense of urgency. The next few days followed the same pattern as before, stopping only at nightfall. Before, I moved as long as I could see, but with Brandon's warning to beware the dark, I began stopping the moment the light started to fade.

I was itching to move, to keep my mind occupied, so we're going. wouldn't collapse in on me, but I was afraid. I didn't need to see any monsters on top of all I'd been through. As the second week came and passed, I was certain I'd travel for dozens of miles now, and more or less in a straight line too. I'd grown properly hungry in the meantime, so I ate one of the sandwiches and held on to the other one until I'd literally be starving.

I was also down to half a bottle of water, but if my body could, kept it up at the same rate, these meger supplies would have lasted me a month or two. That was unless I'd have found her. As I entered another room, I saw someone huddled in a corner. Thinking it was a corpse, I approached it slowly, my nerves on their ends. It looked shriveled and malnourished, but I couldn't tell if it had been dead for long now. Decomposition was probably affected the same way as my hunger amount. my thirst, which is why my sandwich went stale, but was still edible. But then, she opened her

eyes, looked at me with horror, and started to scream. I covered my ears to shield them from the loud screech, and it took everything I had in me not to bolt it out of the door. She screamed for a solid 30 seconds before she stopped to gasp for air, but I could see she was ready to do it again. "'Stop that!' I yelled. "'I won't hurt you.' She opened her eyes, and they were wide with surprise. A look of disbelief, and then a relief washed over her features, and she huddled down tighter. Help me, please. Oh God, if you're a real human, help me.

I rushed over to her and kneeled down. She looked bad, but knowing she was still alive in her condition made it so much worse. Her face was scrawny, a skin pulled toward over a bird. her clothes looked a few sizes too big, hanging loosely on a frame. Her hair was disheveled, dirty, and bunches of it have fallen off to reveal her bare scalp. What happened to you? I asked, although I probably knew the answer. Do you have anything to eat or some water? she asked. I considered for a moment to lie and tell her no, but I couldn't have lived with myself if I did that.

however long I still had to live anyway. I opened my backpack and offered her the sandwich. She warped it down in a few seconds and then licked the plastic wrap clean. Thank you so much, she said after she was done. I haven't eaten in months. I gave her the water bottle too and told her to drink it slowly. I was no expert in malnutrition and starvation, but I knew that if the stomach is empty for a long time,

it's not a good idea to stuff it all of a sudden. She, of course, didn't listen to me and drank the water in a few gulps. I couldn't really blame her, though. I can't even imagine what it feels like to not eat or drink for months. We stood in silence for a while, as I allowed her to regain some composure.

She eventually opened her mouth and started to talk, and to this day, I still regret hearing her words. Have you seen it yet? She asked. See what? I asked back. So you didn't travel through the dark then?

She continued. No, I haven't, I answered. I can't see anything. So when night comes, I stay put. Good, she said. You didn't answer me, though. See what? I asked again.

I tried to get more out of her, but my attempts were met with failure. She didn't evade my questions. She outright shut them down and told me it was for my own good. Seeing that I didn't relent, however, she eventually told me something. Listen, you really are better off not knowing. Believe me, just don't travel through the dark, and you will be safe. Fine, I said, accepting defeat. The terror in her voice was not hidden at all.

It was laid thick on every word she spoke. So, I didn't pester her further. Still, her questions and cryptic words felt eerily familiar. Brandon's words, written in blood, came to mind. Beware the dark. I stayed by aside as the day passed and night settled, even though I was itching to get on the move again. I had not seen another human or spoke to anyone in over two weeks,

and although I thought I'd never miss it, that changed. I was starved for conversation, for interaction, and most importantly, for information. Her name was Vanessa. She was 25 years old and had been living a few towns over from me. One day, three months before I found her, she went to the bathroom in her own apartment. Pre-arcupied with her phone, she didn't check on the room she entered, only when the door was shut behind her and she was cut off from the wall. world outside, did she notice something was up? By then, it was too late, and she'd been

trapped in here ever since. Her story sent chills down my spine, as it was very similar to mine. In a moment of distraction, she walked through a door she'd opened countless times before, only for it to lead her here. The gears in my head started spinning as I began to theorise the how and why. I knew these rooms are copies of real ones, that much was evident from day one, seeing as I'd entered my own house, and thought someone had stolen all of my furniture, and I knew they were randomised upon closing the doors. But where was this place, outside of our reality? Did we enter it because we weren't paying attention?

Or was it something like quantum mechanics, where the content of the room weren't decided until they were observed? That, I didn't know. It could have been any one of them, a combination of them, or something else entirely. Anyway, after me and Vanessa talked some more, she fell asleep. She was obviously weak, so I didn't wake her. I stood by her side as a light slowly dimmed, hoping she'd get enough strength back the next day to walk. I myself couldn't sleep.

In fact, ever since I'd gotten here, I only slept that one time through the first night. The rest of them I spent awake, pondering my predicament and my life thus far. Tonight I was glad to have someone next to me, even though all I could hear was her steady breathing. I wasn't alone anymore. About halfway through the night, I got up and paced around through the room for a bit to stretch my legs. I do this every night to stop my muscles from going stiff, but I never left the rooms I was in. At one point I stopped, after maybe ten minutes of walking in circles. I listened for Vanessa so I could return next to her.

and it didn't take me long to pick up on a breathing. But before I could take a single step towards her, I heard footsteps. I stood as still as I could, listening, hoping my mind was only playing tricks on me. But it wasn't. Although they were faint and sounded like they came from far away, I could clearly make out every single step.

They were slow, with a few seconds between them, but they followed a steady way. rhythm. I turned to face the direction they seemed to come from and took a few steps of my own, slow and careful not to make a sound. I hinged forward until my out-tress hand met the wood of the door. I leaned against it, pressing my ear in the wood, and heard the footsteps clearer. I hoped it would be another person. I hoped Vanessa and I would get another companion to help us out. but the more I listened, the more that hope was eroded away, until it was shattered entirely. The steps were too heavy for a normal human, too drawn out, and besides that, the room they

seemed to come from wasn't decided yet. For all intents and purposes, I shouldn't have been able to hear them. The moment that realization hit me, Brandon's warnings and Vanessa's question suddenly made sense. A deep sense of dread and fear took over me, and I made my way next to Vanessa without even taking a single breath. The night passed one heartbeat at a time, one footstep at a time, because they never went away, not until light returned in full. At that point, I woke Vanessa up. She came to a census slowly and noticed the change of my demeanor. Did you see it? Was the first thing she asked me?

No, I answered. Did you hear the footsteps then? She continued with the questioning. Yes, I admitted, but I didn't follow them. We should be safe then, she said after a long pause. Vanessa tried to get up on her own, but she couldn't. She was still too weak, and we both doubted a sandwich and a bit of water would change.

that. I helped her to a feet and threw one of her arms around my shoulders, basically dragging her along. You don't have to, she said as we walked towards the door opposite of the footsteps I heard during the night. I'm not going by myself, I cut a short. If I spend another night awake by myself, I'll lose it. She didn't say anything else. Having been alone for the past months, she probably understood me. We spent the next day in a straight line, door after door, hoping one of them would lead us outside. It hadn't, of course, and by nightfall, we stopped once again.

I sat Vanessa down in a corner and laid next to her. She lifted a right pant leg to reveal the shin, and I saw it was full of straight cuts in various angles of healing. I didn't know what to make of them, but they looked suspicious. like tally marks. With the nail of her thumb, she cut another line into her skin. She winced a bit,

but didn't let out a sound. Seeing my confusion, she started explaining. I'm counting the days I've been here, she said. On your skin? I asked and nerved by it. I've got nothing else,

she said. We talked a bit more, mostly about her lives. She had finished high school but didn't pursue higher education. That left her working at a restaurant as a waitress to make a living. There, she met a man who would soon become a boyfriend, and then fiancé. He was the son of the owner, but from what Vanessa told me, he worked with him whenever he was needed. He sounded like a swell guy, to be honest.

Anyway, the two of them moved into an apartment by themselves a year prior, and they'd been happy together. Vanessa said she could already see the rest of her life with him. Until, well, this happened to her. I told her I was in a similar position to hers, working a dead-end job in order to scrape by. Only I'd wasted years of my life going to college, getting a degree that never led me anywhere. I still lived on my parents in a small suburban home,

hoping to find someone to share my days with and maybe start a family. You can guess how well that went, I said, trying to pass it off as a joke. Vanessa managed to giggle, but could tell she didn't really taste my joke. I don't blame her, but I always found humour alleviates bad situations for me. We kept talking until the lights vanished almost completely,

and we'd have done it even after that, probably all through the night. But something we heard stopped us. The footsteps. The God-Dame front of the footsteps. the goddamn footsteps. They returned as the last rays were gone, seemingly closer than last night. Listening in anticipation for what must have been ours.

We huddled closer together, bunching into one another for a fleeting sense of safety. The night eventually passed, and we were both still alive by the end of it, scared out of our minds, but alive. We spent about two more months travelling together, passing the days with small talk and the nights fearing for our lives the footsteps got closer some nights but if we kept quiet they wouldn't approach us

we both got weaker by the day withering away to hunger and thirst but Vanessa was much worse off than me I didn't think someone could be that thin and still alive and I think only a world to survive and see through this kept her alive at that point we'd made very little progress for a few

days, and I guess we both knew that she didn't have long left, but I refused to acknowledge it. One evening, as we stopped for the day, she was too weak to even talk with me. She went straight to sleep, which worried me, since I didn't need sleep once since I'd met her. When morning finally came, and she woke up, she kept uncharacteristically silent. I waited half an hour for her to wake up fully, before I suggested we get on the move again. But she stopped me. Just leave me, she said in a weak, sad voice. We both know I don't have much left, and I'm only slowing you down.

No, I protested. This is not some movie. You're not doing some heroic sacrifice for me? She didn't even bite me about it. Maybe she was too weak to. Or maybe she simply didn't care anymore, knowing we both. with me to rent in here regardless. Fine, she accepted my decision after a while.

But at least, let me tell you the truth. God knows how much time I have left, and this might be my last chance to. I wanted to stop her, to contradict her, and reassure her we'd make it eventually. But I listened. I was curious, but I didn't want to risk braving this place alone

without knowing exactly what I'm in for. There's something in here with us, she said after a long pause. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's hunting us down. If you move during the night, it picks up on you, I think. Then it will start circling the rooms in search of you, making those footsteps we've been hearing. If you make noise, or if you follow the footsteps, it can find you. Did you see it? I did, she admitted with a surprising calmness.

When I first got here, actually, I ran around for a few days, even through the dark. One night I bumped into it, but I didn't get a good look at it. I ran away like hell, and I guess I lost it. How did it look? I asked, even though I was sure I'd regret finding out. Tall, gaunt, spindly limbs, Vanessa said, and paused for a moment. Her sight got lost in empty space, and for a few heartbeats, I was sure she wasn't there with me anymore on a mental level. And those eyes, she eventually added, red and shining and... Tears formed her inner eyes and flowed down her cheeks, but her expression didn't change to reflect that.

Haunting? I asked. She nodded her head. Okay, I said. That's enough. I'm not sure I want to hear more, and I'm pretty sure it's not doing you any good to try and remember more. She is she busily nodded ahead again, so we closed the subject. We got on the move at a glacial pace, with breaks every other hour or so for her to catch a breath. We mostly kept silent, with barely a few words exchanged between us, but I still appreciated her presence. I think another week or so passed, and Vanessa withered away visibly by the day. It wasn't long before she couldn't walk anymore

and she kept insisting that I either leave her or end her But I didn't do either Couldn't do either At least not in the meantime For as long as I was able I'd carry around in my back Which is exactly what I did And even though she was more bone than flesh at that point

She still felt very heavy A clear sign of my own degradation We travelled less and less starting up later and stopping sooner every day. Vanessa kept tallying the days in her skin until she ran out of room on her legs and had to move onto her forearms. Bored one evening, we counted the marks

and we found out that she'd been in here for a little over six months. At the right time going, she said after a while. I have maybe another month left. She didn't bring it up again, but I knew from the look in her eyes that she was afraid.

despite her inhuman amount of resolve she feared what another month in her condition would mean so much pain so much suffering and although she never said it I knew she was angry with me for refusing to end it for her that night was the first time I slept as well and I can't describe how good it felt

escaping the hell I was in for even a few hours was a blessing but unfortunately I didn't get to relish in it for too long all of the stress, all of the anxiety and all of the worries had built up in me. They turned into nightmares and ruined my rest. I dreamt of Vanessa dying, of me crying over a lifeless body. My resolve continued to shatter. But then she opened her eyes and reached a skeletal arm out towards me.

I tried to scream and back away from her. But you know how well that goes in dreams. I was paralysed. the yells frozen in my throat and she threw me to the ground effortlessly Why didn't you kill me? She asked, climbing over me and wrapping her fingers around my throat

I couldn't answer and I could in fact barely fight her I thrust around beneath her and tried to scream again and again but I was only met with failure the struggle didn't last for long fortunately the real Vanessa woke me up But I led out a single, loud screech as I came to and regained control of my body.

It's all right. It's okay. You're okay. She whispered and covered my mouth. The silence that engulfed us was all too consuming, that I heard the beating of my own heart in my ears. I kept quiet as the shock of the nightmare faded away, and Vanessa did the same, not making her single sound. I could barely hear her breathing. All my senses adjusted, I heard something faint and distant. Footsteps somewhere far away and doors squeaking as they open and closed. They got closer and closer and I knew that the creature heard my screams.

It was only a matter of time until he would reach us. We have to move, I whispered to Vanessa. We will be found. We can't outrun it, Vanessa said, and it'll hit. us. It'll hear the doors. The footsteps got even closer, to the point I could tell them apart. The creature was only a few rooms away

at best. We don't have a choice, I said as I got to my feet. Let's go, we'll figure something out. I didn't wait for Vanessa to answer. The footsteps were maybe two rooms away. We didn't have time to argue any longer. I took her hands and pulled her to her feet, getting her on my back and taken off. I tried my best and move as quietly as possible,

but as soon as I opened the first door, the footsteps quickened behind us. The door to our room opened just as we left it, and I heard a guitar or scream from behind. That was all I needed to convince me to throw all caution aside. I sped up, not quite running, but hurrying to the best of my abilities. I went at random, opening and closing all the doors in my wake, but the creature was onto us.

I didn't have the strength to go any faster and lose it. It soon caught up to us, and I turned my head around in time to get a glimpse of it. Dredd invaded me at the sight of its glowing eyes filled with malice, and I almost tripped right then and there, but kept going, and by some miracle I stayed ahead of it for a little while longer. Leave me, Vanessa urged. I'm a goner anyway. I'll buy you some time to get away.

No way in hell, I yelled back at her, not an option. The next room was the flight of stairs, with no other route in sight. I could barely make out a door all the way up, and with the way I came from blocked by the creature, I started ascending. I don't think I made it five steps before I tripped and was forced to continue on all fours. Vanessa was barely hanging on to me, and I felt a grip around my throat loosen. Whether or not she was letting go intentionally, I'll never know. Your guess is as good as mine.

At any rate, she didn't get to fall off my back. The creature caught up to us, bounding up the stairs like a crazed animal. And it got its callous hands around my ankle. I tried to kick it away, to keep going. But in a single motion, it hurled me through the air and back down the stairs. I landed hard on my back, getting the air knocked out of me. I had Vanessa crashing to the floor somewhere. to my right.

Through the stars in my vision, I could vaguely make out of form in the murky darkness, and she was completely still. Vanessa, I yelled, crawling towards her. Just go, she yelled back. Get! Her words were cut short by the creature

as it plowed into her. It picked her up off the ground so fast that its spindly body was just a blur of shadows and movement. I heard a loud thud as it pinned Vanessa against the wall, and I heard a gargle as she tried to scream. Her eyes locked for a final time,

and behind a gaze I saw a terrifying calm, an acceptance of her fate that I didn't think possible. She mouthed, go one final time, and her eyes left mine, moving to meet those of the creature. I didn't want to. My heart screamed at me to stay, to help, to fight. But my tired, Malnur's body fought me back,

And I found myself turning around, limping away in all fours. As I reached the door and left the room, I heard a sickening sound of flesh and bone being torn apart as the creature led out squeals of satisfaction. It won. It got its prey. I went as fast as I could, closing all the doors behind me, hoping that the rooms would get reshoveled and I'd be safe. More than once I was tempted to do with a stop or outright turn around.

round, because what was the point? But I kept going, until my lungs burned and my souls felt raw. The human survival spirit is a hell of a thing. After Vanessa's death, I have no idea how much time passed. Days, weeks, a month. Even slowed down as it was, hunger and dehydration were finally catching up to me, and I soon started resembling the state that Vanessa had been in during her final days. With my conscious lapsing in and out, spending more and more time sleeping each day, I picked a room and decided to just give up,

to let myself die and end the nightmare. But that didn't get to happen, obviously. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here telling you my story. One fateful evening, as the lights in the room dimmed to almost nothing, one of the doors opened. Two figures walked inside, shining flashlights in my face. I opened my crusted eyes slowly and tried to speak,

but all that escaped my mouth was a throaty rasp. Bloody hell, mate, one of the figures said in a thick British accent. He's still alive, get him out. More people appeared behind the two, banishing shotguns and firemen axes. Two of them grabbed me by the feet and arms, hauling me up and carrying me along. I passed out on the way, but I was conscious for long enough to notice that they left every door open behind them. They also spread a thick steel rope as they went, which kept the doors from closing and shuffling. I made it out of the back rooms, four months after I entered, and I woke up in a small town in northern Alaska.

Seeing as I am from West Virginia, I was quite a ways away from home. The local doctor defied arts in treating me. and his idea of keeping me in the back rooms for another day, while he gave me liquids and glucose, was quite smart. He feared that bringing me back outside to the real world would have caused my body to instantly collapse and die. I didn't get to meet my saviors. By the time I woke up,

after a few days of non-stop sleeping, they were already gone. A pair of monster hunters named Damien, the British guy, and his apprentice named Miles. That's all I managed to get out of the locals. Men in black arrived before long and they made up a story about me being kidnapped by human traffickers for unknown reasons

when we're all on the same page they contacted my family to let them know that I was alive transport was arranged for me to return back home and I made it without incident but my life hasn't been the same since for starters I removed all of the unnecessary doors in my home and I replaced the rest with glass ones so that I could always see what laid on the other side.

Unfortunately, I was unable to share Brandon's and Vanessa's fate with their families, and not from lack of trying. Believe me, I did try. But from the day I got home, the men in black have been keeping me under surveillance. For how long they'll keep it up, I don't know. I'm not even sure who they work for, beyond the nebulous concept that they're part of some branch of the government. Anyway, that's all I got.

I wish I had a better resolution, a happy ending, but I don't. I'm a scarred and traumatized shell of the person I used to be, a nomad of therapy and meds can fix me, and I'll forever be paranoid when opening doors. I will never again in my life enter a room without checking what on the other side first.