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Maybe, if you had the curtains drawn and were staring out into the abandoned park with the high-spiked fences and broken-down pavement, maybe if you had cared to pay close attention to the shadows clustered together, while sipping a warm cup of coffee, you would have noticed a group of bundled children, huddled together underneath the big oak tree, cowering from the ruthless rain. You may had noticed that all five of the children, for there were five of them huddled together that night, were bundled in heavy jackets and carrying heavy backpacks. You may had wondered what these children were doing out so late, where their parents were. You may had wondered if you should call someone, alert someone of these children, perhaps the police. But you hadn’t, so you didn’t, and so we have our story.These children, with their flushed faces and quivering hands, could have been stopped if someone cared enough to notice. If their parents had cared enough, or their teachers, or maybe even a neighbor. If anyone had cared, these children would not have done what they did. If these children had a warm bed to return home to, maybe they would have stayed at home. Only god knows why these children weren’t blessed with these humble needs, but I guess someone has to lose them so that others can cherish them. A warm bed wouldn’t be so special if every little kid had one. But should a warm bed really be such a unique thing?The leader of the group, his name was Thimble, not his birth given name, but his chosen name, the leader gave a curt nod and just like that, the kids stepped out of the shadows and into the dead of night. The wind was bellowing, pleading, whipping at the kids' hair, but they continued their journey without so much as a whimper. Rue, the second youngest, had spotted a gaping hole in the middle of the earth, hidden in the woods a few days earlier, and she had alerted the children of this discovery. After further research led by Thimble and the second oldest, Tiki, delving into the existence of wormholes and alternate dimensions, uncovered that this hole led somewhere possibly better than where they were now, the children decided that they would venture into the hole and see what resided there. They hadn’t looked back since.Tiki’s grandfather had answered many of the children's questions confidently and without hesitation. In his mid twenties he had experienced a similar situation with a door that led nowhere, but it did lead somewhere, this somewhere being not on this plane of existence. He told them that he had barely made it out of the other alive, that the other was filled with winding, yellow hallways and the ghosts of once eager men, now vindictive and gray-eyed. The other was not all bad, it could be good sometimes, it could be blessed with good people, or good food or at least not utter boredom. Tiki’s grandfather urged the children to give it a try, and no matter how much Tiki’s mother had warned the girl of her grandfather’s delirious state could dissuade the children.So they had decided that on this very night, they would pack a bag full of water and rations, weapons and warm clothes, and make their way out their bedroom window and to the park. There they would meet, underneath the pregnant moon and venture into the woods to the hole. If the hole was not closed, for Rue wasn’t sure if it still remained and none of the children wanted to find out alone, then they would jump into the hole and that would be that.This is what they did, and this was where they were, gathered around the hole that had definitely not closed up, in fact it may have grown bigger. The hole was dark and seemingly endless and when Thimble dropped a rock in it, none of the children could hear its fallen journey end. The trees shook lightly against the wind and the children were excited to find out what lurked at the bottom of the hole that did not make sense and should not have existed. Mindy, the middle child, went first. She had always been ready to prove her bravery, wether it was a fist fight with the biggest kid in Tamren, or leaping into a hole 12 feet wide. She bid her friends adieu and jumped.Tiki was next, then Rue, then the youngest, DJ, and finally Thimble. When Thimble jumped, he braced himself to meet the cold floor of the other, but instead he met with the fall. The fall was continuous and after a while Thimble realized that this might take longer than he thought. He couldn’t see any of the other children below him and when he called out to them there was no response. It was as if his eyes were closed, the darkness was all encompassing, but Thimble had checked to make sure they weren’t. The hole was dark and deep and infinite and it went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.Until it didn’t.When Thimble hit the ground it hurt so much, but not as much as he expected, not as if he had been falling for as long as he had. The other children were not there, not Tiki or Mindy or Rue or DJ. Their backpacks weren’t there and there was no sign that they had ever been there. But they were there. They were all standing in relatively the same spot, looking around with the same shocked expression on their faces. They were all together, but they weren’t. They couldn’t see each other, couldn’t feel or hear or smell each other. It was like an exact copy of the same place, pasted for the children.First there was the fear, the nerves, the crying and screaming and begging. And then came the acceptance that this was the place Tiki’s grandfather had described, and they all just had to focus and find their way out and they would be together again. It was a yellow hallway. It seemed to go on for ages. There were fluorescent lights on the ceilings, and a gross, moist yellow carpet, and a soft buzzing sound that came from nowhere and everywhere. Sometimes the hallway would turn left, sometimes right. Sometimes there would be rooms, sometimes there weren’t. The lights always stayed on and the buzzing always continued and other than that there was silence silence silence silence silence silence silence.Sometimes Mindy would notice that she had ended up in the same room five times, for you would notice those things if all the rooms were nearly identical and all you could do was count the differences. Sometimes Rue would hear the sound of crickets chirping and that would go on and on until she realized she actually hadn’t heard it. Sometimes Thimble’s heart would race when he saw a door, a brown door on the wall, and he would run towards it and grasp the handle because it might be an exit, finally an exit, and then realize that there was no door.Luckily, the children had each brought many bottles filled with water and much food to keep them from starvation, but the bottles would empty as time continued and the food grew scarcer and scarcer as food does when you eat it. There was nothing the children could do but walk, nothing to keep them from going insane, from getting lost in the boredom and tearing down and clawing out their eyes. And that’s exactly what Mindy did, for her nails were too long and when you scratch at an itch that won’t go away you’ll start bleeding.But the others managed to find ways to preoccupy themselves. Rue counted every single light she saw and went up to the thousands, Tiki told herself stories, Thimble sang songs, as many as he could remember, and DJ was so young he just thought it was all a game. And at some point it did become a game. It was fun, it wasn't as bad as it was at first.Time blended together, how long had it been? A day or 2, weeks, months, perhaps a year, perhaps a decade. They slept on the ground, shivering, their dreams plagued with emptiness, you don’t dream in the other. Unless you do.And then the numbing same started to fade into something different. The yellow wallpaper began to peel and rot, the buzzing grew loud, so so loud, almost causing the children to go deaf, and then the buzzing stopped. The carpet was no longer carpet, it was concrete and the lights changed and it changed and then they saw each other.One minute they were alone, trenching through this new place and the next they turned a corner and caught sight of faces they had memorized long ago, faces they could trace with their eyes closed. They ran and enveloped their friends and hugged and cried and were so so happy. Words that the children themselves had shoved down now escaped. “I thought I’d never see you again.” “I thought I would be alone forever.” “I thought” “I thought” “I thought” “I thought” “I thought” “I thought” “I thought”Something was still wrong though. If you had been there, and thank the lord you hadn't been, you may have counted and stopped and thought wait, there are 4. Didn’t there used to be 5. Tiki noticed first and she asked a question that hung in the air, unanswered. “Where’s Mindy?”Where is Mindy? Mindy was still wandering, blind, blood running down her face. Exhaustion clung to her, but she just kept telling herself, one more step and then I’ve escaped. Tiki’s grandpa said keep going so that’s what I’ll do. Mindy kept going, until she didn’t. Until she realized with a start that she was out of water. She needed water, she was so thirsty, what was she to do? She kept walking, she fought it but now all she could think about was water. She would surely die if she didn’t have water. Why had she never cherished water before? Her lips were dry, cracking, crumbling, peeling.How long could the human body go without water? The carpet was soft and squishy and moist, moistened by some kind of liquid. Water, was it water? Could she just drink the mysterious liquid that prevented the carpet from baking. Was it water, water, waer, water WATer, WaTer, WATER waTRtawartwatr.She knelt down, the blood now cakey underneath her gouged eyes. She knelt and shoved her face in the carpet and lapped up the liquid. And it tasted like water. It was so refreshing. The thirst lifted, and she could run a marathon, she could fight god and win. After she was done, she stood up and kept walking, one more step and then I’ve escaped I will escape. Until she fell, until she spasmed and shook and her body twitched and she vomited upon the carpet, puked up blood and snot and the liquid wasn’t good it wasn't god it wasn't good it wasnt water.
The children huddled together and cried, they cried together, they mourned together. Thimble wondered if he should go back, but somehow he knew that even if he did he wouldn’t find Mindy and he wouldn’t find his way back out. So they cried, Thimble, Tiki, Rue and DJ, now missing the fifth. Her memory was fading, and though they mourned, they weren't as sad as they shouldv’e been. They had spent years with Mindy, knew everything about her but with her death came the forget and all the children could be was grateful that they made it out. That it was her instead of them.That was what they thought. That they had made it out. So gullible.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After the bliss of being reunited with their chosen family had worn off, the children slowly began to notice that though they had escaped the yellow hallways which had cursed them with an unshakeable loneliness, they hadn’t yet escaped this warped reality. They were now trapped in the repetition of concrete floors and walls, their sight clouded by fog and condensation. Piping and rebar often peeked through the cement and dirty water formed puddles on the ground so if the children weren’t looking carefully, their shoes may submerge in the muddied liquid. And these hallways went on and on similarly to the rooms with yellowed wallpaper. But in contrast to those halls, the children often came across stairs leading to other floors, doors leading to isolated rooms and rarely elevators and escalators. These additions only seemed to cause traversing this level all the more difficult and confusing.Thimble began to notice that the water and rations the children had brought in their backpacks was dwindling and they would soon run out in maybe three or four days, but he didn't wish to worry his friends anymore than they already were and he knew that there was nothing they could do to change it even if he did inform them so he kept it to himself. Looking back on it now, Thimble sees that this was an irresponsible decision but at the time he was under great duress and was also extremely tired, which caused him to not think straight.And so, the children ventured off together, sleeping in clumps so as to share body heat and keeping each other hopeful with games and songs but the children’s faith was beginning to relinquish.One night, as the children slept soundly, huddled close, exhausted from a long day of travel, danger lurked close by. A large, feral dog-like creature on all fours skulked in the shadows. Other than the wild, unkempt hair which protruded from the entity's head in tufts, the creature was relatively hairless. Its mouth was filled with devilish, sharp fangs and its eyes were a pearly white, missing irises and pupils. Though so skinny you could clearly see its ribs poking through its thin skin, and though its skull was misshapen and deformed, it was strong, rabid and ravenous. As soon as it had caught the scent of soft flesh and warm blood, its senses had heightened. This creature was called a Hound, one of many, and it was bloodthirsty.It crept closer to the four children, sniffing curiously at their bags and their faces, silent as a mouse but deadly as a rotting disease. Rue’s eyes fluttered open, awakened by a nightmare and caught sight of the horrifying beast. At first, she wasn’t sure if she was truly awake but when DJ’s heavy breathing brought her back to herself, she realized this was all too real.She opened her mouth and let out an ear curdling scream, frightening the Hound and jolting the children out of their deep sleeps. Thimble immediately took charge, grasping onto the blade he had in his pocket and leaped at the creature. “Run!” he yelled, and the other children did just that. They grabbed their bags and ran as fast as they could. Most of the children hadn’t fully seen the Hound, but they had instantly heard the panic in Thimble’s voice and knew never to disobey him when he got like this.Tiki led the younger one’s through a door, up the stairs and around the corner, never once looking back. She understood that without Thimble to lead the way, she must guide the youngsters until Thimble was well enough to return.Thimble could feel his heart thumping in his chest but he had to do this, for the kids. So he shrieked as loud as he could, baring his teeth and locking eyes with the beast. The Hound looked perplexed, so Thimble used this as an advantage to slash at the dogs flesh. It pierced its skin but only slightly and the Hound looked disconcerted by this. It snarled, jumping out and striking Thimble across the face with its claws. The pain was instant and sharp and Thimble’s eyesight began to fade but he struggled to stay awake. There was a ringing in his ears as he quickly dodged to the left but the Hound was quicker and bound at him, pinning him to the ground. Thimble yelled out in fear as he came face to face with the beasts glaring pearl eyes. The entity's drool dripped down its chin, close to Thimble's face. This can’t be the end. He thought. I have to survive. We’ve already lost Mindy, they can’t handle losing another.Thimble’s grip tightened on his knife and with one swift motion, stabbed the Hound in the temple. There was a moment of silence that lasted ages and then the Hound slid to the ground, its mouth open in an infinite snarl. Thimble breathed a heavy sigh of relief and slid himself out from underneath the now corpse. Thimble’s face was throbbing and he was bleeding excessively but he didn’t care about any of that. He needed to find the rest of the children. Where could they have gone?The children, and by the children I mean Tiki, Rue and DJ were farther away from Thimble than they might have thought. They trudged through the halls, their nerves the only thing keeping them awake. Tiki realized almost instantly that she was missing her bag but she knew they couldn’t go back now, not with that monster prowling the halls, so they continued on without it. They weaved through the rooms, attempting to retrace their steps but alas that is impossible in a non-linear space such as this.Thimble does the same, but now that the children have been separated, it is almost impossible for them to reunite. It is only by the will of the gods that the children managed to find eachother again.As Thimble traveled through this level, he felt an aura calling to him, drawing him through the rooms and the halls towards something special. He was wary of this ambience, but he didn’t know where else to go and he feared that if he lost too much blood he may lose consciousness and that wouldn’t be good for anybody. So he willfully followed the pull and it's a good thing he did because in the distance he saw something quite out of place in the infinite basement of concrete.It was a diner.A diner standing innocently in the middle of these identical passages. It looked like it traveled straight out of the 1950’s. Its fluorescent lights beckoned to Thimble, reading out Tom’s Diner. The windows allowed him to peek into the warm, inviting space where he could see people huddling around booths, drinking and eating and laughing. Real people, not Tiki or Rue or DJ but adults. Thimble raced into the diner, pulling open the wooden door and stepping into the inviting space. All eyes turned to stare at him and for a moment Thimble wondered if this was a mistake. But, after a few seconds, the adults seemed to lose interest and resume their conversations.The floor of the diner was checkered black and white, there was a retro jukebox situated by the left playing music Thimble didn’t recognise, there were multiple red leather booths where the few customers were sitting and at the front there was a long counter with stools that appeared to swivel. A large, burly man wearing a dirty apron and a hairnet scrubbed patiently with a sponge at the inside of one of the glasses. As Thimble walked over to the booth, he looked up and gave a kind smile. His eyes widened and he took in Thimble’s condition, the young boy's grubby clothes and the blood trickling from his forehead.The man rushed over to Thimble, grabbing a towel on the way and wiping a bit of the blood off the boy’s forehead. Thimble flinched away at first, but the man’s touch was soft and Thimble felt oddly calm around him. “Now,” said the man, leading Thimble over to the booth and urging him to take a seat. “What in tarnation happened to you, boy.”“I was just . . . I-I didn’t mean to,” the man shook his head, chuckling softly, but there was a sad look in his eyes that Thimble couldn't seem to place.“Don’t be scared, boy. You're not in trouble. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just wondering how you bumped your head.”Thimble shrugged. “I was - there was this dog that attacked me, attacked my friends. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to,” Thimble realized that his voice was beginning to crack and he took a few breaths. The man waited patiently for him to continue. “I fought off the dog. I think I killed it.”The man raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How’d you manage to do that?”“I stabbed it. In the head. And now I can’t find my friend and I don’t know what to do and-” Thimble couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears were pouring out now. All the days of exhaustion, all the times he held it together for his friends, it was all flowing into tears. Thimble’s face flushed with embarrassment but he couldn't stop crying. He was a child after all. He was only fourteen years old.The man embraced him in a tight hug and let Thimble cry into his arms. He didn’t know how long he stayed like this but after there were no more tears to cry, the man let go, “Let’s get you a milkshake.” he said and then stood up, walking behind the bar to prepare the drink.Thimble took this time to gaze at the other patrons that filled this establishment. He realized that most of them weren’t as old as Thimble first thought, instead, they seemed to be weathered by stress and fatigue. Many of them were injured, some were missing limbs and all of them were dirty. Yet still, even by these circumstances, the customers seemed happy.The man returned to Thimble, holding out a tall glass filled with strawberry ice cream, topped with a cherry and a straw. Thimble couldn't even fathom his gratitude, so instead he murmured his thanks and took the milkshake. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. So rich with the strawberry flavor, the perfect consistency of icecream to syrup ratio and Thimble thought he was in heaven. How could he be so lucky?After he finished most of the drink he began to bombard the man with questions. Who are you? Why is there a diner in the middle of this infinite hell? Who are all these people? The man tried to answer as best as he could and didn't seem to be annoyed by Thimble’s constant stream of questions. In fact, he seemed delighted by them.“My name is Tom. I’ve been here so long that I’ve forgotten my full name or if Tom even is my name at all but that is what people call me. I was a popular chef in the real world before I accidently noclipped here, to this strange dimension. I barely survived the first couple nights. I was attacked by monstrosities such as Skin-Stealers and Hounds. I believe that you were attacked by a Hound, and I can’t believe you made it out alive, not at your age. You’re extremely lucky boy, you know that? After spending many months in this world, I realized that I probably would not be returning back to my family. I would have to forget my old life and strive on to create a new one. So I created this diner, a safe space for explorers who have stumbled upon the Backrooms, which is where you are young boy. It was difficult, for entities kept on attacking the diner while it was in construction, but I was aided by the BNTG, which is a trading faction that supplies me with the food that I use to create meals for these poor souls. You are one of the youngest I have met. I wasn’t sure if children could even travel to the Backrooms, yet here you are. You are so brave.”Thimble got to know some of the customers at the diner, some of Tom’s friends. They were all kind and willing to help. One of the patrons gave Thimble medicinal supplies and helped wrap up the boy's head. That night, Thimble slept well and wasn’t plagued by insomnia or stress.Unfortunately, Tiki, Rue and DJ were not so lucky. While Thimble was sound and comfortable in the Diner, these three younger children had not felt the pull nor seen the welcoming lights. They saw no light at all, for the fluorescents that night glitched and turned off, leaving the children in a darkness. They did not sleep and they did not let go of their bags for fear that they would lose more materials. After a few hours of the darkness, the children heard the menacing sound of loud footsteps and growling.They were prepared to run and hide behind the door of an empty room until the monsters passed. They did not glimpse the creature's face because of the darkness but they could tell this being was not human.When the lights finally flickered on, the children continued their journey in search of Thimble. Rue noticed a mysterious drawing carved onto the blank walls with what appeared to be black marker but when she looked away to tell the others, the drawing disappeared. This happened twice, as if to taunt Rue. They were nearly out of sustenance now and were almost starved. But things were not all bad. For suddenly, many long hours later, they caught sight of a large crate. The excitement was immediate as the children rushed over to the wooden box and pried the extremely heavy lid off.The crate was filled with bottled Almond water, a few sandwiches and canned foods, a sleeping bag, clean clothes that appeared to be around the children’s sizes, and some medical supplies contained in a first aid kit. The crate also contained a box of crayons and some paper, two dead mice, shoelaces and what appeared to be a bundle of human hair. Though the contents were quite strange, the children didn't doubt it for one second. This must have been a miracle.One more day passed. After Thimble believed his head was healed enough to continue his search for his friends, he thanked everyone and said farewell to Tom and the other patrons of the diner and set off. His bag has been restocked with water and food and he felt fresh and invigorated. A good night's sleep and a full stomach can do that to you.The children did not find each other immediately. It took a long time, though how long the children weren’t so sure. Time is relative. It could have been a few hours or a few days. But soon enough, the children stumbled upon each other once again. Thimble told the younger friends of the diner that he discovered and the kindness that Tom granted him. Rue told Thimble about the crude drawing she saw on the walls and Tiki described the crate filled with strange things that ensured their survival.Some jealousy was held by Tiki, for she wished she could have seen the diner and been granted a milkshake and a good night's rest but when the only family you have is venturing through danger by your side, you can’t stay mad at them for long. So they continued on together.They came across a few more monsters but they managed to either run away or hide. Thimble had decided that he would not attempt to kill the entities unless necessary, for the stories that the patrons of the diner had told him had scared him out of the false bravery he once held. Now he knew that to survive he must be cautious and careful and smart.And finally, as they turned a corner, they stumbled upon something new.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After turning a corner, the children found themselves in an unusually tight and narrow tunnel filled with strange, industrial piping strung up on the walls and ceiling, causing the tunnel to be even tighter so that the children were forced to walk in a single file line. The walls appeared to be made out of a dirtied concrete, withered by age. DJ dragged his hands across the paved walls and when he brought them back to be inspected, he gasped in surprise to find a chalky residue coating his fingers. He rushedly brushed the stains off on his pants and hurried off to catch up with the children. As the children continued on in their journey through the tunnels, they noticed that arbitrary machinery was often attached to the walls, which emitted a quiet whirring sound. The children were not sure what the machinery was built to do, and Thimble suspected that they had no reasoning other than to cause navigation to be much more difficult.Oftentimes, the children would come across a flatbed trolley, and when further examined, they would find that the trolley was filled with miscellaneous machinery, cardboard or empty wooden boxes, and sometimes even oil drum barrels filled with strange liquids such as a mysterious green goo or water, most likely Almond water from the murky complexion.The children had to be careful when walking through the tunnels, for at one point Rue stepped into a pile of broken glass and scraped the flesh above her ankle, causing blood to trickle down her leg. Wood piles could be found in corners of the tunnels, as well as stepladders, and even toolboxes.The tunnels wouldn’t go on forever; sometimes they would split into two, forcing the children to make a decision of which arbitrary tunnel to follow. Sometimes the different tunnels would widen into almost a hallway. Buzzing, fluorescent lights which reminded the children of the ones lining the yellow hallways were the main light source of these tunnels. The wiring for these lights were exposed, and Thimble warned his fellow companions not to touch any of the wires, nor the machinery. So the children kept their hands to themselves.At one point, the children walked down a tunnel that was not coated in strange piping and machinery, and instead, five or four doors lined the walls. The doors seemed to be of a steel construction, coloured cream or gray, and sometimes the doors had strange patterns etched into them, do not enter signs hanging nearby, or spray painted symbols that the children did not recognise.Of course, the children had come upon doors in this dangerous reality before, most often in the level they had explored previously. But these doors were different. They released a sort of aura that couldn’t be described, except that it was like they had seen the doors before in a past life, a kind of deja vu. Also, the signs and symbols proved that humans had wandered through these very tunnels. Whether the humans were still here was not known, but there was a chance that the doors might lead the children to the humans and so, Rue curiously tried at one of the door’s handles.The first door was locked, as was the second, but the third door, a door with a sign which read “they don’t work”, did open. This caught the children by surprise, for they were beginning to assume that all of the doors were unopenable. Thimble wandered in first, and the three others followed close behind.Their eyes widened with disbelief and hope as they saw that this room, which was shaped like a triangle, was filled with large PC’s and old computers sitting on top of wooden desks.There were computers, which meant that there was a possibility that they could communicate with the outside world and perhaps ask for help. They could get out of this. They had a chance. Thimble and Tikki were the only two who knew how to use the computers, so Tikki took a seat in one of the swivelly chairs, and with a shaky hand, clicked on the mouse.The computer began to whir as it slowly lit up, and Tikki clicked on the google symbol, typing in a simple question: How to contact the police? It took a second for the computer to load - it must have been very old - and then many websites popped up with the police’s phone number, or other ways to contact including texting or emailing.Tikki copied the police’s email down and then went back to the home page, clicking the email app and logging in. Luckily, she still remembered her username and password, which was something Thimble did not. She noticed that even though the children had been missing for days, maybe weeks or even months, not one had bothered to contact Tikki, asking her where she had gone. Not the kids in her class that she thought were her friends or even her parents. She had received no new messages since she had been gone. Did this mean that no one cared, or perhaps time moved differently in this world and maybe she had only been gone for a few minutes back on earth.Tikki clicked on the email button and pasted down the police’s contact information. Then she slowly began typing out a distress email.Dear Police officers,My name is Tikashi Carrier.Me and my friends have found ourselves trapped in a very strange place with monsters and long winding tunnels that don’t seem to lead anywhere.We would greatly appreciate it if you could come and find us.We fell down a hole in Wadeson Woods and ended up here.There are 4 of us now, but there used to be 5.We have lost one of our friends. Her name is Mindy Faust and we would appreciate it if you found her too.Thank you for reading this.Do your best to save us because I don’t know how much longer we’ll stay alive.Sincerely: TikiShe looked back at the others and Thimble nodded his approval slowly, so Tiki moved the mouse to the send button and quickly pressed it. As soon as she did so, she heard terrified screams coming from her friends and quickly jumped up and turned around. DJ and Rue were quivering in fear and Thimble was gripping his blade and glaring at the creature which was slowly beginning to approach them.It looked like three devices such as ipads stocked on top of eachother, connected by these sort of wires. There were two screens on top with pictures of human eyes, a screen in the middle below those two which was a photo of some sort of dog’s open mouth, maybe a pitbull. The final screen was long and rectangular instead of square like the three on top of it, and it reflected a photograph of flesh as a body. It was tall, very tall, and the photographs seemed to glitch. It was an odd sight, almost like a lucid dream and Tiki blinked a few times before realizing that this was no hallucination. Then she let out an ear curdling scream.The entity began to slowly waddle closer to the children and Thimble made a decision to attempt to stab at the creature’s screen with his blade. He raced towards the monster but was suddenly surrounded by a large, transparent box with black edges.Thimble stabbed at the box with the blade but was shocked and horrified to find that as soon as the blade had passed through the walls of the box, it disappeared right at the handle, as if it had been cropped out of frame. The creature’s dog-like mouth let out a childish giggle and waddled closer.Thimble was now trapped and the children didn’t know what to do. Terror wracked at Tiki as the box surrounding Thimble began to shrink. DJ began to wail loudly. It was all too much for Tiki to handle.But Rue, somehow Rue knew exactly what to do. Somehow, Rue was the calmest out of all of them. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a crayon that she had found in the crate during the previous level. She held the crayon out to the creature and it stopped. It cocked its head, or well, cocked the screens that showed its eyes and mouth.“What are you doing?” Tiki hissed at Rue but Rue didn’t respond. Instead, she walked forwards and set the crayon down in front of the entity. Tiki let out another scream as a strange, white, bloody arm emerged from the bottom screen. The arm was large and long and shot forwards, picking up the crayon. It then kept a hold of the crayon as the arm shortened back into the bottom screen. The crayon materialized on the screen as if it had always been there, now made out pixels and glitching similarly to the other pictures of the other devices.The transparent box surrounding Thimble disappeared. The creature bowed its “head” as if in thanks and then waddled away, shifting through the wall and out of existence. The children stood there, breathing hard and then Thimble ran over to Rue and enveloped her in a hug.“You're a genius.” He cried. “A genius!” Rue grinned proudly and shrugged her shoulders. The children left the room and decided that they would avoid any other doors unless it was necessary for them to enter them.That night they slept outside of the locked doors and when they awoke, they continued on their journey. Nothing seemed to change, the piping and machinery continued to line the walls and the tunnels continued to become narrow and tight to squeeze by. At times, Thimble would get stuck and had to have people push or pull him through but because the other children were so small that wasn’t much of a problem. When this did happen, it didn’t cause any fear or worry. Instead, the children would laugh and tease Thimble. They had always been jealous of his height and strength, so it was quite hilarious to them that this was his downfall at that moment.Of course, they came across more doors but most of these were locked. It must have been rare, Tiki thought, that they had found a door that was unlocked. She wondered if the police had received her message and were looking for them but there was no way to know and Thimble told her not to think too hard about it. He secretly doubted that anyone was looking for them.Rue noticed that there was a window next to one of the locked doors. When she peered through the window, she was surprised to see that the window only showed a black void with seemingly no end in sight. It spooked her, for the emptiness was so black and devoid of light. She peered in it for many minutes, chasing the others to grow frustrated. They didn't seem to find the window quote too interesting.“It’s just nothing.” Thimble said. “Let’s go.” Rue shrugged and followed along but secretly she wondered that if you were to get lost in that void, would it be peaceful or cause her to go insane. She assumed the latter.The children came across a couple more monsters they hadn’t seen before but made it out alive both times. The first time was when Rue accidentally nudged some of the exposed wiring that kept the fluorescents alight and everything went dark around them. They could see that in the distance there was light, but it was quite far away. Rue was scolded, but they didn’t mind quite so much since they hadn’t come across anything dangerous in a while. Thimble turned on a flashlight and they walked towards the distant light.DJ noticed it this time. He kept on glancing behind him and tugging at Tiki’s shirt but she was too distracted to notice. Finally, she was forced to turn around when DJ let out a whimper and whispered “There’s a glowy smiley thing.”That’s exactly what it was. Behind them, in the dark, was a long, white smile with sharp teeth and two glowing eyes. It looked like something a little kid would doodle on their homework, a menacing smiley face that stood out against the contrasting blackness. Tiki paused and nudged Thimble who rolled his eyes and turned around, then paused as well.It was a faceoff. The smiley face stared at the children and the children stared back. Rue leaned over to Thimble and whispered “You turn off the flashlight. Then we run.” Thimble nodded and slowly counted to three in his head. Then the flashlight was off and it was total darkness and the children were running as fast as they could to the light in the distance which was getting closer. Tiki looked behind her and shrieked as she realized that the Smile was chasing them at an alarming speed.“It’s coming!” She shouted. “Go faster!!” Thimble lifted up DJ, who was slowing them down, and threw him over his shoulder. They ran as fast as they possibly could, the adrenaline driving them forward. No one looked back, their lungs burning and stitches forming but they didn’t stop until they were surrounded by light once more. They didn’t stop until they couldn't see the darkness.After they realized that the creature was no longer chasing them, Tiki started laughing, and then Rue, and then DJ and finally Thimble joined in. “What did I say about not touching the wires?” he said in between fits of giggles.The second time was much less eventful. Thimble saw in the distance what looked to be another human. The children grew excited and rushed over to investigate. The man was slowly walking forward, with his face turned so they could only see the back of his head. Tiki shouted out her greetings and the being slowly turned around. It was quite clear that this thing was not human, for it had no face. It was like his eyes, nose and mouth had been erased, leaving a fuzzy textured skin.It didn’t attack, it just stood there. The children turned and walked away and it didn’t run after them. It didn’t mean to hurt them. The children came across another one of these entities once more, a woman this time. Once again with no face. But the monsters were not harmful, they were barely monsters at all. The children decided to just ignore the creatures and move on.So that was that. The children began to feel like they were getting the hang of this adventuring stuff. None of them had been hurt, nothing bad had happened in a long time, and though they had been stuck in these tunnels for quite some time, it wasn’t so bad. None of them were dead. None of them were sick. It was all too good. Too perfect. Something had to happen soon.A few days passed. The children were wandering through the halls as normal. They were playing a game, seeing how many names that started with J they could come up with before repeating them.Thimble had just said the name “Jerry.” Tiki and Rue nodded their approval. Then they heard a voice whisper. “Jerry.” Thimble darted around, his eyes scanning the surrounding space but couldn’t see anything. The voice spoke again. “Jerry is everything.”“Is that you?” Tiki asked Thimble angrily. “Stop making that creepy sound.”“Jerry is what I live for.”Thimble shook his head. “It’s not me I swear.”Tiki rolled her eyes. “You're so stupid. Just quit it ok. Your freaking out DJ”“All hail Jerry! ALL HAIL JERRY!!”“I’m telling you, it’s not me.”Five figures stepped out from behind the corner of the tunnel. Five figures wearing long blue robes, a mask in the shape of a bird’s face and sharp knives. They kept on echoing the same saying. “ALL HAIL JERRY!! ALL HAIL JERRY!! ALL HAIL JERRY!!”Thimble stepped forward and raised his hands to appease these strangers. The children weren’t sure if these people were humans or some other kinds of monsters but they sure didn’t want to find out. “Let’s just . . . go.” He said, grabbing DJ’s hand and then slowly walking away.But the hooded figure wasn't too ok with that. They punched, quickly and without warning. Grabbing the children, they threw them to the floor, twisting their arms behind their backs. The children kicked and punched but these figures were much stronger than them and easily restrained them.They picked up the children easily and began walking forward. They were taking the kids somewhere, but where the children weren’t sure. So the kids waited nervously, biding their time.“Who is Jerry?” Tikki asked after the Figures had been walking for many hours. The man not carrying a kid and instead seemed to be leading the group looked behind him and answered in a solemn tone. “Jerry is everything. Jerry is our savior, our prophet. He will lead us to heaven and save our souls from the pit of damnation we live in. You will see. You will know. Jerry is everything.”There was a moment of silence and then Thimble spoke up. “That doesn’t really . . . answer anything.”The figure laughed darkly. “Foolish mortals. I was once like you, unknowing, feeble and weak. But Jerry will show you the light. You will see. You will all see.”More silence. “I like your bird masks.” Rue whispered meekly.“Silence!” The leader shrieked rabidly. “I grow tired of your insolent behavior. Let us talk no more.” Rue shrugged and so they walked on in silence, as the blue hooded figure wanted.Finally, after many hours of walking the figure’s stopped at a large blue door. Rue craned her head curiously as the leader reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a silver key with an intricate bird-skull design on the handle. He inserted it into the lock on the door knob and twisted it. There was a satisfying click and then the door screeched open.The figure’s walked through the door in a single file line and the children’s eyes widened as theft ook in the room. It was large and cast in a blue hue. Several large paintings lined the walls including the largest on the back wall, all of them depicting a blue macaw parrot. A wooden bird perch was situated in front of the largest painting near the back and a single blue parrot sat regally on the perch. Many other figure’s wearing the same blue robes and bird mask kneeled in front of the bird. The five figures set down the children, closed the door and then walked over to the huddle of figure’s, kneeling as well.All at once, the figure’s began chanting. “ALL HAIL JERRY! ALL HAIL JERRY! ALL HAIL JERRY!”The children stood there, taken aback. And then Rue began to giggle and all at once the four of them were laughing, wheezing, smiles splitting their faces. DJ began to roll around on the ground. The figure’s looked back in shock and anger, not understanding what the children could find so funny.“Silence!” The leader screamed, standing up furiously. He marched over to Thimble and grabbed the boy by his collar, shaking him. “Why are you laughing! Stop laughing! Stop it!!”“It’s a bird.” Thimble wheezed. “You guys are all praying to . . . a parrot. Your savior is a bird!!” The four erupted in laughter once again.The leader angrily struck Thimble across the face, sending him toppling to the ground and the children grew quiet.“How dare you!” The leader spat. “How dare you come into Jerry’s Room and insult him in this way. We were going to save you, to bring you hope and everlasting peace. You could have joined us. You could have been happy. But you’ve ruined it. Jerry will never accept you as one of us now. Now you must die. Boy, because of your stupidity, you will watch your friends throat’s to be slit and then you will follow them. You are going to wish that you never said these despicable things. You are nothing. Jerry is everything! EVERYTHING!!! You are not worthy!”Thimble narrowed his eyes as the leader walked away, walking towards the perch that Jerry stood at. Rue ran towards the door and clawed at the handle, but it was imminently locked. There was no escape.The leader grabbed a large blade with a blue handle, it looked sort of like a meat cleaver and he dragged it across the floor as he walked back towards the children.“We’re sorry ok!” Tiki cried out in fear. “We’re sorry we insulted Jerry. He really is fabulous. Don’t do this!”“Too late!” The leader hissed. He grabbed Tiki by the hair and pulled her forward. She let out a yelp of pain. DJ jumped out and began to slash at the leader while Thimble too fought back with all his might. Many of the other figure’s ran over to help their leader by grabbing the arms of the fierce children and hold them back. DJ screamed and screamed as tears dribbled down his face and Thimble began to beg.It was such a distraction that none of the figure’s noticed when Jerry himself, the blue macaw parrot lifted its wings and flew over to Rue who was kneeling on the floor, holding out a hand that she had poured Almond Water into. “Here birdie, birdie.” She whispered as Jerry grew closer. “You must be so thirsty. It must be so much work ruling over all these people right.” The bird cocked its head and landed on her arm. Its head craned down and it began to attempt to lap up the almond water out of Rue’s hand with its little pink tongue. Its beak opened and closed and Rue began to giggle despite it all because Jerry was tickling her. “Can you help me out?” Rue whispered after it seemed that the bird was done drinking, when it seemed that the bird was content. Rue stroked the bird's head and it leaned into her hand. “Can you tell your servants not to kill my friends? It would be a really nice thing to do.”Jerry squawked and all the figure’s froze. The leader did so as well, just as he was lifting the blade and about to chop off Tiki’s head. “What is it, Jerry my master?” He asked. The bird squawked again. “What do you mean ‘Let them go.’ They were doubting your power, your regality. We can’t let them get away with this. I have to kill them, you see.”The bird squawked once more, this time louder and more aggressively. It lifted its wings and flew up into the sky and screeched. All at once, the figure’s winced and covered their heads with their gloved hands, moaning in what appeared to be immense pain. The leader dropped the blade and fell to the floor, writhing in agony. “I’m sorry!” he screamed. “I’m so, so sorry. I was not doubting you, I swear it. I will do as you say, I will. Please! I’m SORRY!!”The bird flew back to Rue, who was now standing up. Jerry landed on her shoulder and Rue giggled once more. The three other children, shocked by this turn of events, slowly walked over to Rue and the children stood together. The leader stood up and walked over to the kids, hanging his head in shame. “I deeply apologize,” he murmured, “for all of the pain we caused you. Jerry trusts you, and a friend of Jerry is a friend of ours. If you ever need our help, call out Jerry’s name and if we can, we will come to your savior. And if you are ever back in this level and find our door, you may use this key and enter. We would be glad to aid you.” The leader reached into his pocket and grabbed the silver key with the strange bird skull design on the handle. He handed it over to Rue as she nodded her thanks. “You are free to go now.”Rue pet Jerry across the hand once more, stroking his feathers. She whispered something in his ear that no one else could hear and with that, he flew off her shoulder. Thimble reached out and opened the door that had led them into Jerry’s room in the first place. As they left the room and reentered the famillari halls, closing the door behind them, they heard the beginning of screams of terror. When the door was fully closed, the screams were silenced.They continued walking as if nothing had happened.Thimble was beginning to come to the conclusion that there was something special about Rue. The way she held her head high, the way she seemed to know things the others did not. She was special, he could tell. Thimble nudged Rue, who looked up at him with a smile. “You're so smart.” Thimble whispered to her. “You're the best of all of us. You're destined for greatness, I hope you know that. You’ll do just fine here.”Tiki overheard this as she walked ahead with DJ. She gritted her teeth, not knowing why her stomach was tightening. Why was Rue so special? Just cause she could talk to a stupid bird. Tiki did so much more than her! Why had Rue won over Thimble’s affection? Her grip tightened on DJ’s hand so much so that he whimpered and pulled away. Tiki said nothing and kept walking.They wandered for more and for longer, coming across more faceless beings and sometimes more locked doors. And as you do, they finally found their way out. Rue noticed that one of the doors had words etched into it. When she stopped, so did Thimble and thusly, the others. The words read “you’ve made it.” in messy writing. Nothing else was different about this door, it was the same cream color as all the others and made out of the same steel.Rue nodded at Thimble, who reached out and turned the door knob. It opened easily, as if it had been waiting for them. They walked through the door into the room and found that they had made it out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The first notable difference that the children perceive is the change of material that the walls were made of. Instead of a dirtied concrete, brown bricks are haphazardly stackers on top of eachother, covered in pipes and machinery similarly to the world traversed previously. The floor is tiled gray and dusty, so much so that the childrens steps create noticeable footprints in the grime, and the ceiling is made of a dark, rusting metal.The whirring noise does not cease, it is almost heightened and the narrow reality of the halls only widens slightly. The air in these halls is oddly hard to breathe, and the temperature deepens to an uncomfortable warmth that causes the children to begin to sweat, their clothes dampening and their skin slick and moist. There are rooms that the children mostly avoid as they continue down the hallways.The layout seems to shift and warp seemingly at random, sometimes being illogical in nature and the only constant is the pipes that line the walls and ceiling. Sometimes the children come across odd, bulking machines that do nothing except smoke and whirr. Some of the hallways are dimly lit and somewhat menacing, and Thimble would wonder if they should perhaps turn around, but when his eyes fall on Rue who is walking briskly with an air of confidence, his fears melt away. It is true that in these hallways, the children do not come upon any monsters and the only footsteps they hear are that of their own.The first time the children come upon a white sign, they are frightened and somewhat intrigued. But the signs do not read anything understandable, just a seemingly random number and then cryptic text. The only pattern Thimble detects is that the number read on the signs increases as they continue to traverse and detect more of these illogical boards.As the children continue to wander, Rue leading the way, they come upon a dead end. Thick, steel bars block the hallway. This truly is a strange sight, and when the children notice this, suddenly a terrible feeling grips their gut. An inescapable fear and paranoia, like someone is watching, yellow eyes just out of sight. Tiki and DJ step back, putting as much space as possible in between them and the metallic bars without losing sight of their comrades. Thimble feels it too, but instead of hiding or running away, he grows violent. He begins to shake the bars, twisting them this way and that. He needs to break them, needs to get through because he knows that by doing this, they will finally escape this hellhole.There is a window past the bars, attached to the left wall. And the window emanates a bright light, like that of a sunny day. The window is too far for Thimble to see through it but he can almost feel the warm breeze on his face and hear the soft chirping of the birds. That window is their escape. If they could only get through these damned bars they would be ok.The bars don’t budge no matter how hard Thimble tries to rip them from their hinges. DJ begins to cry, tears dripping down his reddened face and Tiki yells at Thimble to stop this madness. It isn’t doing them any good. They’ll find a different exit. The bars don’t budge, and they never will.Thimble doesn’t listen. He doesn’t understand. After days, maybe weeks or even months of aimless wandering, they had finally found an exit. He couldn’t count how many times they had stumbled and barely escaped near death experiences. They had lost a childhood friend. He didn’t want to end up like Mindy, probably rotting in a hole somewhere.Thimble flinched as he felt Rue’s small, soft hand lie on his shoulder. He whipped around, his eyes blazing, and was met by the piercing stare of a ten year old who somehow knew more than all of them combined about this place. She slowly shook her head, her hair swishing back and forth. Thimble took a deep breath in and then nodded. He apologized curtly, DJ wiped the tears from his eyes and then the children slowly turned around and walked away.Rue was the last to leave and before she did, she glanced one last time at the shadows behind the bars and caught a glimpse of a tall figure. He was thin and bony and his arms jutted out in different directions and he looked wrong. And the figure stood still and stared and Rue stared back, almost daring the creature to come out and attack. But the thing didn’t, it slunk back into the shadows and Rue ran to catch up with her team.The hallways widen and the pipes grow more consistent. The main source of noise that can be found is the soft flowing and oozing of the sludge that inhabits the pipes, whatever that could be. It wasn’t long until the children noticed that a black tarry substance was seeping out of the pipes, dribbling onto the floor, fizzing slightly. It had a burnt smell to it and was too dark to see through. The children made sure to avoid the sludge, but it sure did catch DJ’s attention. They had been walking for hours without break, and Thimble had denied DJ’s request for a piggyback ride. They were all ignoring him, which had never happened before. They were all caught up in their own world of questions and regret, about the bars and the window or anything else and DJ was annoyed by this.Frustrated by the silence that bored into his mind, he began to slow down and then stop altogether, gazing at a particularly large puddle of the sludge. He bent down into a sitting position and reached out.He could feel the heat emanating from the tarry substance. It was so hot and this scared DJ out of his drunken state. What was he doing? He’d been burned before, his mother had once dropped a pot of boiling water on him, seemingly by accident. It had not been fun. Thimble called out to him, urging him to hurry up and DJ jumped at this. He rose and began to run after the others. Until he slipped, on a rock or some rubble or possibly on nothing at all. He slipped and fell right close to the puddle, and let out a piercing shriek as a fiery pain shot up his arm and spread like a disease.He hadn’t landed right in it, and that was a miracle, but his arm and some of his right leg had brushed the sludge and that was all it took to burn through his clothes and spread across his skin. And it did burn, just as he suspected it would, but it was so hot it was cold and his skin began to blister.Tiki was there first and then dragged him away from the sizzling liquid, pouring water on his wounds and hugging and kissing him. Thimble took out the med kit and began to dress his burns, tightening a gauze around them. And Rue wiped at his tears and told him about how it was going to be alright, how he just had to wait it out.The pain did leave, not completely, it still ebbed and flowed and beat like DJ’s heart. Thimble told him that soon they would stop to rest and gave in to DJ’s demands for a piggyback ride. DJ began to sniffle but he was staying strong for the others. He hadn’t caught a glimpse of his blistering arm and so didn’t know how bad it was and with all of the attention he had gotten, DJ was almost happy. He didn’t know that all he had to do to be paid attention to was cry and bleed. This was useful information and would surely come in handy later.As they continue walking, DJ now sleeping soundly on Thimble’s back, Tiki begins to hear the heavy beating of wings. She looks behind her and widens her eyes as a massive moth flies into view, it's dark eyes staring mindlessly at her. It is almost as large as she is as it flies closer, she cries out a warning to the others.Thimble mutters some choice curse words before they begin to run, darting this way and that between the doors. The horrible moth is surprisingly slow and not very agile, especially when Rue whips out a flashlight and shines it on the thing. Tiki opens a door that leads to a solid room and everyone crams inside. They barely make it, and Tiki slams the door shut, leaning on it with all her might in fear of the moth’s attempts to wrestle it open. But they never come and she breathes a sigh of relief.The room is large and spacious, there's a computer tucked in the corner that appears to have security cameras and a large generator hums. There is also a backpack slumped on the floor and the children split up. Tiki and Rue go to the computer while Thiumble and DJ are attracted to the bag.The computer is already on, with multiple consoles sticking out of it. The camera’s are trained on only specific spots, such as the hall barred off with the window, or specific signs and hallways. “This is super creepy.” Tiki mutters and Rue nods in agreement.The two fidget around with the computer and find that they can roll back time. They catch glimpses of gross monsters like the large moths or a disgusting thing seeping pus and snot, hunched on all fours, covered in holes and blisters that almost twitch. The creature drolls as it lumbers across the screen and Tiki gags. Her attention turns to the hallway protected by giant bars. She scrolls in closer to see the window, and finds that she can see through it.The reality is shocking. It’s a blue sky with clouds and nothing else. No ground or trees or any signs of life. Just this infinite blue that goes on and on and on and on. She stares at clicks closer but there's nothing to see. Just that same blue. “I think it's a good thing,” she whispers as she turns to look at Ryue. “that we didn’t break through the bars. I don’t think that there would have been anything good through that window.”Rue nods solemnly. “I tried to tell you, but I didn't have the words.”Tiki scrolls back in time with the camera still aimed on the bars. She scrolls back so far that she finally comes across the footage of them, of Thimble shaking the bars, screaming and kicking at them, aimlessly. She stares at herself, huddles up in the corner and mutters the word coward. She should have taken charge. She’s the second oldest. Why had she been so scared?“Someone’s watching us.” she whispers.The footage continues to play to the point where the children give up and turn to walk away. And Rue stays and she stares at a point hidden by the shadows behind the bars. “What were you looking at?” she trunks to gaze at Rue who has a strange look written across her face.“Do you not see it?” Rue asks. Because in Rue’s eyes, the shadowed figure is clear as day in the monitor. But Tiki see’s only darkness.“See what?” Tiki asks. “No seriously, Rue. What do you see? You shoul;d tell us, we deserve to know.” Rue shrugs. “Just a figure. Prolly just seeing things. It's not important.”“If you say so.”“Hey guys. Come check this out!” Thimble calls from the other side of the room.Tiki and Rue rush over. The once full backpack is now slouched in the side in a heap and the items found inside are lying on the floor. They are incredibly strange. A plastic water bottle filled with some mysterious red liquid that bubbles strangely, a white, gelatin that looks like soap and a water gun.First the red liquid is inspected. Tiki picks up and swirls it around in the plastic bottle before asking the question that everyone is wondering. “Is it drinkable?” After pouring water on DJ’s wounds, the amount of water that the children now possess is slim. “I mean,” she continues “we can’t let it go to waste, right?”Rue shakes her head. “Don’t drink it. Get rid of it.”Tiki immediately turns to scowl at Rue. “How do you know? Have you tried it? We can’t throw it away, we need all the supplies we can get.”“Then we won’t.” says Thimble. “But I agree with Rue. We shouldn't drink a mysterious liquid. We don't know if it's poison or-”Tiki is suddenly angered by this. “Poison, are you serious?” Then, under her breath she mumbles “Of course you agree with Rue?”“What’s that?” Thimble asks. “Speak up.”Tiki shakes her head. “Whatever. I won’t drink it. But we shouldn't throw it away. It might come in handy.” Thimble looks to Rue for guidance who shrugs so he tucks it away in their bag.”DJ reaches out and grabs the squirt gun next. He grins as he holds it in his hands. It appears to be a normal water gun attached to a backpack with straps. DJ playfully pulls the trigger and water flows out in a spray fashion. Thimble snatches it away from DJ.“There’s water in there. Don’t waste it DJ, we’re already low because of your injuries.”DJ begins to pout and starts to tear up. “Just give it back to him.” Tiki says. “DJ is still a kid and this is a toy. He should be allowed to play with it as long as he doesn’t waste the water. You won’t waste it, l will you?”DJ shakes his head and smiles innocently and Thimble sighs deeply. “Fine. You can hold it, DJ. but don’t use it. This is a lot of water and could be helpful later on.”DJ rolls his eyes and nods again, reaching out to snatch back the water gun. He puts it on like a backpack and aims the gun at the wall, running around and fake shooting imaginary monsters.Thimble is satisfied and the three turn to look at the final object. The gelatinous cube.“Is this edible?” Tiki asks.Thimble lifts it up and sniffs it, suspiciously. Suddenly, he’s filled with the most delicious scent of honey and cinnamon and vanilla. It fills his nostrils and fills him up and his stomach growls greedily. “It sure smells good.” He mutters.Rue reaches out and grabs the cube. Thimble doesn’t even seem to notice, as he’s still in his fantasy world, swimming in the scent of the gelatin. Rue eyes the cube and then takes a big bite, chewing slowly.Tiki yells out in alarm as Rue rolls onto her back and lets out a yell of delight. “You have to try this!” Rue says. “I promise you it's good. We should save it. Take small bites.”So Tiki does the same and the taste is tremendous. It’s like a feast fit for the gods. It’s sweet and creamy and kind of tastes like cake. In only one bite, Tiki is full and content and giggling with joy.“DJ. Come over here and try this.” DJ runs over and hesitantly nibbles at the cube. His eyes light up and he bursts into laughter, Tiki and Rue following suit and finally Thimble as well when he takes a bite.No matter how small the amount is when you bite it, the cube always makes you content. “We have to save this.” Thimble whispers after the four are done laughing. “We can’t waste it. It’s too good. We will only eat it when we need to.”He tucked it into the bag and then lay on the ground, grinning soundly.The other children did so too and that was where they stayed until the peaceful dimension of sleep pulled them into their dreams. Rue dreamt of the dark figure, its bony hand reaching out from between the bars to grab her by her hair and pull her close. She could feel its hot breath against her skin and awoke gasping for air, sweat dribbling down her skin, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the heat or the fear. She wondered if the bars had been placed there to keep wanderers out or to trap the beast in. Perhaps he was a prisoner, but she didn’t plan to find out. Some things are better left untouched, and she would rather remain innocent than get trapped in a rabbit hole she couldn’t escape.They stayed in the electrical room for two more days as DJ healed his blistering arm. It was nice to spend some time not constantly looking over their shoulder. Rue and Tiki showed Thimble the camera’s and though he also shivered at the thought of some unknown creep watching their every move, he also grew excited by the thought that they weren’t the only ones down in this pit. They hadn’t interacted with other humans in a long time, not sane humans at least, not after Thimble had stumbled upon that Diner.But the children knew that they couldn’t stay in this room for much longer, for while it was a good hiding place, they would not be able to find their way out of this level by staying still. This thing was like a maze, or a video game, and the children still had hope that there was a final level, a final boss that when defeated, would lead them out into the real world.So on the third and final days, the children packed up their stuff and opened the door to the room, stepping out into the heat. Immediately the warm air felt suffocating, but they shook off the impending sweat and forged on. Much like they had done before.And they kept on walking, and for a while they came upon neither monsters nor dark sludge. They did find some more food which quenched their hunger, but not the formidable one in the back of their minds,in the hunger for that gelatinous substance that had tasted oh so delicious, like nothing they had ever had before. They craved just another bite, and everything else seemed dull in comparison. One night, as they were sleeping, Tiki sneaked another bite of the substance. She slowly crept close to Thimbles bag and opened it, grabbing the cube and taking the smallest nibble. Immediately, the satisfaction came, and she carefully put the gelatin back. But the next morning, that hunger was back, and while for the others it had seemed to fade, it was only stronger for Tiki.This became a sort of repetition for her, every night, she would sneak a bite, just a small one so no one would notice. But no matter how small the bites you take, it will start to affect the size of what you are eating, eventually.So they walked, and hid from the monsters when they came into contact with them. They started seeing more of those gigantic moths which DJ had nicknamed the “skull-flies” for on the backs of the giant moth’s wings was a pattern that looks scarily similar to a human skull.But none of the monsters were as horrible as the puss-sparying creature that they faced on their 4th night away from the safe room. It was huddled up in a ball in the middle of the hallway and Tiki immediately connected it to the horrible creature she had seen in the camera monitors. It was even more grotesque in person. It was slightly humanoid, but also had a canine appearance as it sat on all fours like a dog. It almost looked like it was rotting, but most nauseating of all were the sores on the monster's back.Huge calluses, almost like pimples, that oozed a mysterious snotty substance and twitched like there was something trapped inside. The children all froze, and breathed a unanimous sigh of relief when they found that the creature seemed to be asleep. They started to quietly walk back to where they had come from, but evidently not quietly enough.Even though the creature's ears seemed like they had almost rotted off, it had a fantastic sense of hearing, and when DJ took too hard a step and almost slipped on the tiled floor the creature immediately lurched upwards. The sudden movement caused some of the calluses on the creatures back to pop, a sickly sound that was louder than expected. A green acid like liquid shot out and sprayed the walls beside the freak as it let out a raspy growl.It almost seemed like the acid was burning the creature as well as the walls around it, it wasn’t immune to the venom its own body created, and its growls almost seemed like moans of pain and distress. But none of this mattered as it began to barrel towards the children. The acid continued to spray from its now broken calluses.“Don’t let it touch you!” Rue screamed as she dropped to the floor, narrowly avoiding the liquid. The others did the same, dodging the venom as they raced down the halls. “Water will harm it! We need water.”Tiki glanced at DJ as they continued to run and noticed that he was still clutching the water gun filled with to the brim. “DJ!” She yelled. “Use your gun!”“But I thought I wasn’t allowed to waste it.” he called back.“Ignore that! You aren't wasting it.”A grin spread across DJ’s face as he stopped dead in his tracks, whirled around and pulled the trigger on his spray water gun. A blast of cool water protruded from the nozzle and soaked the horrible beast. It stopped dead in its tracks and seemed to appear confused, but then its skin began to sizzle and the horrible stench of burning flesh filled the children’s nostrils. It was strange. The monster did not make any noise. Its skin began to shrivel and it opened its mouth as if about to scream but instead a gross fluid began to leak out.It fell to the ground and spasmed for a few seconds, its pours leaking the same fluid that had oozed from its mouth, not acid, almost blood but not quite. Tiki ran over to cover DJ’s eyes, but he pushed her hands away and gazed with an almost feverish fury as the creature died.THimble patted DJ on the back and congratulated him on his bravery and after a few seconds, Tiki did the same. Rue did nothing. She just stared at DJ with an odd look before stalking off.DJ was so proud of himself. He knew that the gun would come in handy and he was glad that he was the one to have dealt the final blow. It was always Thimble who got all the glory and he was so happy that he had gotten a turn.They kept walking, for what else were they supposed to do. It seemed that they were always walking but it had become less hard for them as time had wore on. Rue was sure that sometime soon, they would come to the exit and she said so when DJ asked how much longer.So they kept on walking, and then they stopped to rest and fell asleep. Rue woke up because of that same nightmare she had had in the electrical room, and so she heard the sound of the nails. They were scratching the walls, a deafening sound that struck fear in the pit of her stomach.She stood up and began to walk to where the sound was, not worrying about losing the others, only curiosity filling her mind. What was that sound? First she saw a backpack and slowly picked it up. It was heavier than she would have thought. Then, she turned the corner and the stench of sickness filled her lungs. That smell of vomit and ooze and just sick. And there he stood. Well he wasn’t standing. He was upright but he had no legs. Just his upper body and he was using his long nails to drag himself across the ground, a pale trail of blood behind him. His hair was long and matted and almost all of his face was covered in scratch marks, presumably from his own nails which were long and nail and had bits of skin and blood stuck under their nail beds.His eyes were bloodshot and when they turned to look at her, they widened. And Rue screamed. And this person screamed back, almost taunting her. He once was a human, Rue knew that. He once was a person just like her, a wanderer who had found himself stuck down here. But he wasn’t that anymore. Now he was sick and infected and he meant to cause the same fate upon her.He was surprisingly fast, dragging himself across the ground towards her, reaching out and rasping. But Rue had legs and so she ran back towards the other children, the half-man close behind. She woke the others up and Thimble instinctively stood in front of the others as the man came into view.He whispered something, in a view like nails across a chalkboard, high pitched and whiny and broken. “Kill me.” he spoke. His eyes rolled back in his head, as if he were fighting something but he said it again louder, breathier. “Kill me. Please, please.” His eyes watered, he didn’t cry, those weren’t tears. He was still in there, a little bit of him at least. Not all of him, not what was controlling his body, his limbs, but his mind and his mouth were still his. For now at least.His eyes seemed to be begging Rue and then slowly glanced at the grimy backpack in her hands. She unzipped it and then reached inside, pulling out a gun. A torn smile found its way across the man's face. “Yes.” he said. And then he dragged himself closer. DJ sobbed heavier, buried in Tiki’s chest and Thimble snatched the gun from Rue.He raised it with shaky hands and stared stone faced at the broken man, who continued to drag himself closer, closer still. And then, Thimble dropped it, his hand’s shivering in the warm heat as the sweat continued to pour and he began to cry for he had forgotten he was a kid but now he remembered and he didn’t want to kill anyone. He had killed monsters before, but this person was not a monster. He had dreams and ambitions and a family. And he also had a hunger that only Rue sensed and only she knew the danger in letting this man go free. The man was holding back, trying with all his might to not hurt the others, but he couldn’t hold back much longer and the best they could do for him was end his suffering.So she leaned down, picked up the gun, aimed it at the man's head, squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the very real trigger. There was a loud bang, a loud scream of human agony laced with the screams of inhumane parasites and then there was nothing at all.They kept the gun and walked in silence and never spoke of the subject again, but all for different reasons. Rue because she was horrified at what she had done, Thimble because he was horrified at what he couldn't do, and the others because no one was talking at all.They found the silver doors of an elevator, finally. They pressed the only button on it, the arrow pointing down. The silver doors dinged open and they stepped inside. The elevator was covered in mirrors and they finally got a good look at themselves as the elevator went down. They were dirty, they were all dirty and their eyes were hollow and sunken. What was it called again, the thousand-yard stare?The elevator doors creaked open once again and they stepped out.
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When Thimble was 10 years old, his father, who at the time still had a job and was not a bumbling drunk, brought his son to work with him. This happened very often on the weekend, when Thimble’s mother was working at the ER and his father at the office. And Thimble liked it there, he liked the bustling sounds of people hard at work, and he liked the thought of his dad doing something important. Thimble would sit in the corner with a book in hand, usually something the school librarian had recommended, and would read quietly until it was time to leave. Sometimes his father would show Thimble what they were working on, though it was all gibberish to him, full of charts and numbers and equations including more charts and numbers. Thimble could tell that his father loved his job, so it only made it all the more miserable when the family got the news.Thimble was never completely sure what his father’s job entailed, but he knew it had something to do with insurance. It turned out that the business owed a lot of money to customers across the world who had been paying them for the insurance, and so they were forced to sack a lot of the workers that they couldn’t afford.When the news was first overheard, Thimble’s father told him that they had nothing to worry about, that they would be firing people who hadn’t been working there for a very long time and who weren’t contributing much. Thimble’s father had been working there for 18 years; they would never fire him.And yet, when the grueling letter arrived in their mail, Thimble witnessed first hand as his father’s face fell in dismay. He promised the family that he would find a new job as fast as he could, and during that time, Thimble’s mother would just have to pick up a few extra shifts at the hospital. But days turned into weeks and months and Thimble’s dad still hadn’t found a job.He was turning into a shell of what he once was, not the man Thimble had grown to love and look up to. He was becoming a mean and unfair man who drank and smoked and gambled.Eventually, Thimble’s mother and father got a divorce and Thimble was forced to choose who would have custody over him. He knew deep down that his mother was the wisest choice, she still had a job and was still capable of taking care of him. But he still respected his father, worried that if his mother had custody his father wouldn’t have anything left. And he still hoped that his father would turn it around, get a job and everything would go back to how it was before. So he picked his father. But no change occurred and everything just got a whole lot worse.Thimble wasn’t quite sure why all of these memories had flooded back so quickly. It wasn’t like he was trying to push them down, but it was a lot to take in. Though, he had an inkling of an idea that maybe by exiting that elevator and walking into a space that looked quite similar to his father’s office might have had an effect on him.It was an empty office building, made mostly of concrete. There were fluorescent lights and the occasional blank doors or stairs that led to another wide room almost identical to the first. Other than that, there was absolutely no furniture to be seen. No humming computers or desks or chairs of potted plants. And this scared Thimble, though he wasn’t sure why. He wondered if the space had been under construction before it had become a part of the game. The only furniture to be seen were the occasional water coolers, fountains and vending machines encompassing the level, making it even easier to find almond water.This wasn’t a negative thing though. Compared to a lot of the other dimensions the children had traveled through, this one was extremely mild. There were barely any monsters lurking through the halls and there was a large amount of supplies that the children could stock up on.As soon as they entered the office building, they immediately noticed unlabelled plastic bottles full of Almond Water and food which they crammed into their bags. They gorged on the water as they hadn’t done for many weeks. No longer was that nagging thirst in the backs of their throat that they were unable to chase away. Now they were almost too full and their belly’s were jostling with water and bland sandwiches.As the children wandered up and down the stairs, entering more identical wide rooms devoid of anything but the wide, open space, windows began appearing. But not normal ones. These windows were completely blacked out with what looked like . . . sharpie? It was as if some scared little kid with shaky hands decided to dedicate hours of their time to haphazardly color in the windows, making sure that no one could gaze out of them to the world beyond. While DJ and Thimble were mildly pissed by this, Tiki was almost relieved. After what she had seen on the security cameras, peeking into the window with the endless blue sky, she believed that windows in this world were nothing but a trap and the person who had coloured in the clear glass was doing them all a favor. She tried to catch Rue’s eyes and give her younger friend a knowing smile but Rue avoided her gaze and Tiki quickly gave up with her attempts to strike a conversation with Rue.Rue had always been soft spoken and quiet, keeping her thoughts to herself, but Tiki had just assumed that she was nervous and shy. Now, Tiki wasn’t so sure. Tiki had begun to wonder ever since they had spent time together by the cameras that Rue was hiding something from the other children. Had Rue known of this place even before they had leaped through the sinkhole and entered its realm? Could she have warned them of the danger?Tiki had decided that she would attempt to become closer to Rue and perhaps edge her out of her shell. But ever since they had entered this world, Rue had become even more silent. While before Rue would crack the occasional joke or even go on long rants about her newest obsession, now she was almost mute and Tiki was sure that her eyes held the answers to all their questions.The children stayed in the office for quite a long time, taking the chance to catch up on their much needed rest. They spent their day wandering through the halls but they were slowly forgetting how dangerous this place was, memories of monsters and mazes slowly drifting from their memories.The most dangerous thing about this place was that it could lull you into a false sense of security, and that’s when it decides to pounce. They didn’t know that the office was almost more dangerous than any of the other rooms and worlds they had ventured before. At least in those other places, the children were on their guard and prepared to face off with anything that could cause them harm. But by spending so much time in such a seemingly safe space, the children began to grow content, which is never a good thing.They started to wonder if they could just stay here. There was surely enough food and barely any monsters. They occasionally noticed a hound, those ugly dog-like entity’s on the prowl, but they always knew to stay far away.For this reason, as they were continuing to wander, Rue at the back of the pack making sure no one fell out of line, not one single eye noticed when a long, thin, bony arm protruded from out of the floor.It warped the molecules and space around it so that the arm was seemingly emerging from water. It was pale and jutted out awkwardly, as if it were broken. It slowly wrapped its long, cold fingers around Rue’s ankle and in one fluid motion, pulled her through the floor into the room below.Rue let out a sharp yell that was quickly silenced when her body dropped through the concrete. And no one noticed. That was the thing, even though she had managed to let out a call for help, Thimble was too busy talking to DJ and Tiki . . . well, she noticed. Her eyes caught on to Rue as she slid through the floor, her arms reaching out. And Tiki said nothing. She turned around and kept walking.Rue swept through the floor and it felt odd. It was as if all the atoms that made up her body shifted and she went completely warm.It was only for a millisecond, but Rue shivered when she fell onto the floor, as if the air was too cold as if touched her sweating skin. The creature was looming in front of her, tall and bony. It had gray skin stretched tightly around its body and it had no facial features and no hair. Its arms and legs were too big for its torso and it leaned forward, almost wobbling awkwardly as it stood, as if the weight of its one body was too much for it to handle.Rue’s head was bleeding when she banged it on the ground after she had fallen and she touched a finger to it, drawing it back red. But she felt no pain. Her atoms were still confused from this sudden shift, leaving her numb. Rue reached into her backpack and drew out a kitchen knife she had decided to bring for the trip. In her other hand she grabbed a bottle of almond water and hid it behind her back. The entity cocked its head back, as if laughing at her feeble attempts to protect herself.It reached out one long arm and grabbed Rue by the throat, raising her up close to its face. Though it had no mouth, it slowly unhinged its jaw and it opened up revealing a dark empty abyss down its throat. It roared loudly, spit flying onto Rue’s face. She shut her eyes as she was brought closer to this makeshift mouth. She gripped the bottle of water tightly in her little fist and when she was brought close enough, she poured the water directly down its gullet.It didn’t make any noise, just a gurgling sound as it dropped Rue towards the floor. As she fell, she swiped her knife, cutting the creature's chest. Then as she hit the floor, she stabbed it into the entity’s foot, causing it to gurgle louder.Rue knew something about this monster that many others did not, and thai was that the duller was a coward. As soon as it faces an actual danger, no matter how slight it may be, fear courses through its black veins and it runs away. This is what the creature did.It slowly backed away and then fazed a wall, leaving Rue panting. After bandaging up her head with some of the medical supplies in her bag, she wandered around on this lower level a little bit longer before finally finding stairs leading up to the level above.These levels were not quite as big as any of the others they had encountered, only being large rooms instead of hallways so Rue quickly found the others fast asleep, huddled up in a corner. Only Tiki was awake and she was feasting on the gelatin cube.She had started taking larger bites now. The gelatin’s juice squirted out as her teeth ripped into the cube, covering her face. Tiki froze as Rue walked over to the small huddle of children. Rue sat down and held out her hand, and Tiki slowly gave her the cube. Rue took a small bite and a smile spread across her face. Then she cowered up next to DJ and closed her eyes.Tiki stared at Rue for a long time before coming to a decision. Rue was not normal and something had to be done about this girl. She was human, but knew more about this place. How could she have possibly escaped the long gray arm which had dragged her down under the floor. Rue was threatening the others and had to be disposed of. Tiki cuddled next to Thimble and fell asleep.No one had noticed Rue’s disappearance except for Tiki so no one commented on her sudden appearance when she came back. Rue was not sure how long she had been gone, as it seemed that when she passed through the molecules of the floor, it had altered time quite a bit, but she didn’t feel the need to ask. She was concerned by the fact that not one single person had felt the need to check that she was there and it was at this moment that she decided that this new place, this abandoned office building was bad news and that they shouldn’t spend any more time loitering.That next morning, Rue attempted to convince Thimble that they should leave but Thimble only ignored her. “What do you mean?” he asked. “This place is great. We have all the food we need, all the water and there are no monsters. It’s just us. Why would you want to leave, we don’t know what’s out there. We could die! You're the only person who wants to leave. It’s not happening!”At first Rue was upset by this answer but she decided that in due time, the others would understand how wrong they were. Besides, she still wasn’t sure how they would leave anyway.Maybe by the window they came across which, strangely, wasn’t blacked out. Rue walked over to the window and the others followed close behind. It was empty and dark, a dark gray shade all encompassing. And there was the shadow, the outline of a figure pointing solemnly at the children.That was all it did. Just pointed and didn’t move and this immediately caused a sense of nervousness to fill the stomach’s of the children. Rue wondered if this figure was the same one she had seen behind the bars in the previous dimension. But this time it wasn’t hiding, almost like it wanted them to find it. Only DJ, the most innocent and naive of them all, heard the whispers from the shadow.They weren’t menacing whispers. More like the hushed voice of a young child and it beckoned DJ to play with her. DJ had not interacted with any children his age in a long time and he was excited to hear the voice of someone seemingly his age. This is aht the voice said.“Do you see me? Do you see me down here in the playground, waiting for you? Have you decided to join me? Oh, please do! I am ever so lonely and would love for you to join me down here in the playground!”DJ reached out and met solid glass. His hand touched the window and the figure reached out and did the same, as if it were a mirror. Now their hands were right on eachother, their palms facing each other. Rue raised her eyebrow and looked around her but no one did anything to stop DJ. It was like they were all in a trance.“Come on, friend. Let’s play. I’m oh so lonely. I would love for us to play. Break the glass, my boy, my friend and we can play down here in the playground as long as you’d like. Your friends can come too. Of course they can.”DJ nodded and the figure did the same. DJ reached into his bag, looking for something heavy that he could use to break the glass. The figure voice grew louder and higher pitched.“Yes yes yes!! Come on my friend. Let’s play together. Come on Jordan!”DJ froze at this. He hadn't been called Jordan in a long time. He hated the name. Only his mother called him Jordan, and she was dangerous and quick to grow angry. His friends called him DJ. Only those who wished to cause him harm would lick their lips and utter the words Jordan.DJ stood up and swung the back over his back. “Let’s go.” He told the others. Rue breathed a sigh or relief and they turned to go.SLAM! Rue whipped around and the figure was nor banging on the window with all its might, screaming and yelling and pleading. “NO NO NO! JORDAN OPEN THE WINDOW. PLAY WITH ME DOWN HERE. I AM SO LONELY AND SO VERY HUNGRYYYYY!”Rue grabbed DJ by the elbow and led him away as the figure continued to bang on the door. They found another staircase and walked to the next of those infinite levels with the banging and pleading still ringing in their ears.At this point, both Rue and DJ wanted to leave. But Thimble and Tiki were still strict on staying in the office. “I’m serious guys!” Thimble said when rUe asked once more, DJ’s voice at their heels, for them to leave. “We aren’t leaving.You tw don’t know how good you have it. Stop asking me.”So they stayed longer and continued to avoid the hounds and the unblocked windows which were becoming much more common. And they kept eating and drinking, and Tiki kept sneaking bites of the gelatinous cube that everyone had nearly forgotten about.I’m sure that they may have stayed down there until the figures finally got them and dragged them through the window if it wasn't for Amor Incrementum. One night, as the four of them were huddled together eating and drinking and laughing, they heard a singular voice emerge from all corners around them. The voice sang a prayer that Tiki slightly recognised.“Gracious God, Gentle Shepherd, Garden Planter, we come to You on behalf of those who toil in farm and field, producing food for Your children and feed for creatures around the world…Lord, hear our prayer.”Thimble stood up and began to look around to see who was speaking these words but the sound came to be coming from everywhere. Then a second voice joined in, and then a third.“Time just keeps moving on And many years have come and gone. But I grow old without regret. My hopes are in what may come yet. On the farm I work each day. This is where I wish to stay. I watch the seeds each season sprout From the soil as the plants rise out. I study nature and I learn To know the earth and feel her turn. I love her dearly in all her seasons. For I have learned her secret reasons. All that will live in the bosom of the earth She is the loving mother of all birth When my body is old and spent And my soul to Heaven has gone. Please compost and spread me on this plain So my Mother Earth can claim That is where I wish to be. Then nature can nourish new life with me. So do not for me grieve and weep. I didn't leave, I only sleep. I am with the soil here below Where I can nourish life of beauty and glow. Here I can help the falling rain Grow golden fields of ripened grain. From here I can join the winds that blow And meet the softly falling snow.”Ten naked men emerged from the corners of the children's sight, of which they cannot see and grinned at the kids with yellowed moldy teeth. Tiki covered Rue’s eyes while Thimble stepped forward. “What do you want?” He cried out, attempting to mask his fear.The tallest man walked forward, his hair long and mangled like a hound’s and his beard almost touching the floor. “We wish to feast!” He screamed and the others nodded and yelled their agreeance. “Thou aren’t meat? I see that thou are a feast for many moons to uphold the emptiness in thy belly. God has gifted us, Amor Incrementum, us humble farmers, with a life that can be ours! Only the strong shall survive.”“We are not meat!” Tiki yelled. “We are humans, like you.” At this, the cult of naked men and women burst into laughter.“Tis the same thing. And unless thou have something to trade for thou life, we shall gorge on thou flesh. In the name of the almighty!”Rue gazed upon the group in front of her and noticed that each of them had a cross etched into the skin between their collarbones. She dug her hand into her bag and pulled out a necklace with a golden cross pendant. “Do you know what this is?” Rue asked as she held up the pendant.The people froze and their eyes widened and they jumped with glee at the sight of the cross. “How . . . did you find the value of the god?” The naked leader asked? Anger crossed his face. “Are’t thou a thief?”Rue shook her hand, a smile dancing on her lips. “He gave it to me. He dropped it from the sky and told me that when I find a group worthy of it, that I would gift it to them. And I believe I have found this very group.” Rue grinned mischievously and lowered her arm. “Are't thou worthy?”The group eagerly nodded and the leader got on his knees, pressing his hands together. “Pleaseeeee! We are so sorry. We didn’t know that thou was an angel. We are so worthy!!!!! Thy am sorry.”Rue nodded and swiftly threw the necklace at the group. They let out cries of glee and rushed towards it, fighting each other to simply touch the cheap metal. “NOW LEAVE!!!” Rue cried and they all ran away, their hairy legs pattering against the concrete as they flew around the corner and were gone.Thimble, with his mouth agape, turned to look at Rue. “Where did you get that?”Rue shrugged. “My parents were super religious and made me always carry one of these necklaces around. Even if I didn’t want to wear it, I still had to carry it. I guess it finally came in handy.”“I didn’t know you were religious.” Tiki said.“I’m not.” Rue responded.There was an awkward quiet and then finally Timble spoke up. “So . . . should we figure out how to get out of here?”Rue and DJ started laughing, though DJ wasn't completely sure what was going on. “Yes!” Rue cried. “Finally!!”It was almost like as soon as the children decided they wanted to leave, an exit finally appeared for them in the form of a stairway leading left and out of the wall towards something more. Rue took the lead this time and they finally left the empty office building, never to return again. Or so Rue hoped.
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When Rue entered the door and stepped foot on the white marble floor, clean and shining almost as if it were just recently cleaned, a loud noise broke through her eardrums, a screaming, piercing noise almost like a ringing whistle, which caused Rue to kneel down and cover her ears with her hands. The others did not seem to hear the petrifying noise, and looked to her in confusion and worry, Thimble lowering himself to her level to comfort her. Rue gritted her teeth and waited for the ringing sound to go away but it did not, instead it slightly numbed itself. Rue wasn’t sure if the noise was getting quieter or if she was just getting used to it. Eventually she stood up and smiled grimly at the others.“Are you ok?” DJ asked. Rue nodded her response and then looked around at their surroundings.They were standing in a hall, an endless hall, but it was like nothing they had ever seen before. This was new. The walls were covered in mahogany red, with ornate gold painted designs spiraling down the walls. Pillars stood to the side and there were beautiful lights dangling from the high ceiling, enlightening their path. The hallway wasn’t quite so bare. As the children continued walking down it, away from the door that had led them to his place, bookshelves, potted plants and seemingly antique sofas spawned to the sides.The bookshelves were filled with classic old volumes like Winnie the Pooh and Dracula and Alice in Wonderland. Each of the volumes seemed slightly dusty and withered by old age, but in pretty good condition and Thimble even pocketed a small volume to the stage script of Othello by Shakespeare.The children weren’t sure how the potted plants were alive. Who was watering them? How were they getting the nutrients they needed? Tiki wondered if there were other people down here in this . . . hotel? Mansion? What was this place anyway?The occasional furniture such as couches, chairs or tables seemed new but also old. They were in great condition but their designs had not been used for decades. They gave me a nostalgic feeling.Smooth jazz music fluttered down the hall through old speakers, the source at first undefinable but eventually, the children came across a single turntable constantly playing the same record. The record did not name the title of the song, it was just a blank disc going round and round. Though the songs were switching constantly, the record stayed the same which the children found odd but ignored as just another unexplainable mystery.Antique candle holders were also hung on the walls, illuminating slightly dim parts of the hall. The occasional door would show up, made of dark oak, but most were either locked, or if unlocked, led to a completely empty room, dim with white wallpaper and floors.Now, this place would have been perfect. It should have been. There were absolutely no monsters they had come across yet, they were not hungry, there was nothing dangerous about it almost seemed like a pleasant hotel. But the children knew better. And they knew not to ignore that haunting feeling of someone watching them. Especially the paintings of old men and women in Victorian style clothing with their eyes following the children as they walked. The children had soon decided that they would not be staying in any place for a long time and always search for an exit. Always be searching.But no exit came, no obvious one anyway. The children attempted to open every door, followed every hall, and investigated every piece of furniture. Nothing seemed to be unnatural.That was, until they found the elevator. Now, beforehand they had ridden elevators and found the exit that way. So when they saw this elevator, they immediately entered it. It was old and mirrored, so that everywhere the children looked, their faces gazed back at them. And there were so many buttons to press, 382 to be specific.Which one could they choose? Tiki’s finger wavered over the highest button but Rue clicked on the 10th one before she could press down. “Hey.” Tiki yelled, more jokingly than actually angry but when she saw Rue’s stone-cold face she grew slightly perturbed.The elevator was slow, indefinitely slow but finally the elevator reached the 10th level. And when the creaky doors opened . . . they revealed the very same hall. Tiki seemed annoyed and was about to push one of the higher buttons when Rue exited the elevator.“Why?” Thimble asked.“Because if we go higher, the elevator is going to swallow us whole and we’re all going to meet a grisly end.”Tiki started to laugh but then stopped when she saw that Rue wasn’t joking. And so they left the elevator and didn’t enter it again. Even if it was an exit, it wasn’t worth the chance. And besides, they had given up arguing with Rue. She knew what she was talking about, as she had proven before.At the end of the day, they found a door different from the ones they had seen previously. The door itself did not look very different from the others but there was a silver placard screwed onto the middle of the door which read in fancy dark printing: The Beverly Room. And the door was unlocked.The door opened into an extremely large and spacious room, unlike the infinite hallway. One of the strangest things about the room was that there were doors . . . all over everything. There were doors on the walls, on the ceiling and even on the floor, which they stepped very cautiously over. The doors came in all shapes and sizes and colors.The floors were carpeted and had intricate designs with red and gold, and the walls were a dark wooden shade. There was only one thing in the single gigantic room, and that was a table in the center of the room with a beautiful detailed chandelier dangling above it and illuminating it in shimmering lights. The children were surprised by this change in scenery and approached the table in the center. It was covered in a white tablecloth. There were a few glasses filled with what looked like some sort of alcohol and an unfinished game of what looked like Mahjong in the middle of the table.Tiki reached out to touch the game but was met by a strange feeling, like someone telling her to stay away from the game so instead she picked up a glass and took a large swig. There was a burning sensation at the back of her throat and she started coughing, which fizzled into laughter. Thimble took a sip and then passed it to Rue. No one offered any of it to DJ because he was too young and they still felt the need to parent him.They hung out in the so-called Beverly room and drank and got drunk for the first time in their lives. They told secrets and laughed about the stupidest things and just all around acted like how kids act when they're drunk. Rue stayed remotely the same, as if she wasn’t affected by the stuff but she did smile more than usual and DJ was extremely happy but this turn of events because the others were acting way more fun than they usually did.At midnight, or what they thought was around midnight, the kids were still up and filled with energy so Thimble suggested they try some of the gelatinous cube they had discovered a while ago.At this Tiki started to sweat and grow nervous. She couldn’t remember how much of the cube she had eaten. She had made sure to take small bites, hadn’t she? “Maybe we shouldn’t.” Tiki muttered but it was too late. Thimble was already reaching into his backpack, searching for where he put it. Rue gave Tiki a knowing look but didn’t do anything to stop him, which enraged Thimble, though maybe it was just the alcohol.Thimble finally found the cube and pulled it out. His eyes widened and then scrunched up suspiciously, gazing at the children. The cube was noticeably smaller, almost completely eaten, and it had bite marks sunken into it. “Who . . . took it all for themself?” Thimble asked accusingly.Rue shrugged and DJ laughed. “Not me.” he murmured, though he was quite tired and barely got the words out.There was a second of silence “I didn’t.” Tiki said as well, standing up and pacing the room. “Maybe it was you, Thimble, and you just forgot.”She smiled sheepishly but Thimble didn’t chuckle. He didn’t even grin. He glared at her as if all the happiness they had all held previously had washed away. “You're so selfish, Tiki.” was all Thimble muttered before he walked away, falling asleep at the other end of the room.DJ was already asleep as well and Tiki turned to look at Rue. “I didn’t eat it. I swear.” Tiki whispered, sweating profusely.Rue shook her head. “I really don’t care either way. But you shouldn't lie about it, Tiki.” Tiki grew even angrier at that and suddenly, without warning, struck Rue across the face so hard her lip started bleeding.Tiki was as shocked as Rue and after a bit of silence where Rue said nothing except stare at Tiki with a strange look in her doe eyes, Tiki feigned sleep. No one talked about it in the morning, as if they had forgotten. But they hadn’t. They just ignored it. Cause that was easiest.When they woke up, their brains pounded like crazy and Thimble finally understood why his father had always been especially cranky after drinking. They decided that they should exit this room and re enter the hallway as maybe they could find another room that would lead them to their exit. There were so many doors to choose from but eventually they picked a dull one that was no more unique than any of the others. They opened it and walked through and they were back in the hallway.They kept walking down the hall and some of them seemed to notice that the creepy paintings of old men with long beards and striking eyes were staring at them even harder, almost obviously. Thimble walked over to one of the paintings and slid his hand across the portrait of the noble man’s face, but there was no difference to it then any other painting.And then there was a cat. A kitten with black and white fur proudly sashaying out from behind a corner down the hallway towards the kids. Now something important for you to know is that while Tiki, Rue and DJ were absolutely in love with cats, Thimble was violently allergic to them.“Awwww.” Tiki crowed as she walked over to the cat and picked it up, striking its ears carefully. The cat had brilliant green eyes and the softest fur and she was extremely small, about the size of a teacup. It had been a while since the children had laid eyes on something cute, something that didn’t want to kill them. Though of course, this was no ordinary cat.“How did it get here?” Thimble asked, taking a tentative step back and making sure to keep at least 5 feet between him and the feline. DJ and Rue inched closer and both started petting the cat as well, who let out a content purr. “No seriously. What is a cat doing in a place like this? How can it survive?”“I do just fine on my own, thank you very much!” said a voice emanating through the four children’s heads. Tiki was so surprised that she dropped the cat, which of course landed on all fours.The voice sounded like that of an old woman and the children looked around trying to find the owner of the voice. “Down here you imbeciles!” said the voice again.The children looked down with surprise at the face of the cat who stared up at them lazily. “You . . . can talk?” Thimble asked, now closer to the cat to get a good look.“Of course not!” said the voice, though the cat's mouth did not move. “Have you ever heard of a talking cat? Absolutely ridiculous. No, no. I can’t speak.”“So then . . . how?” said Rue.“Well, I was just wandering through my owner's house that day when I bumped into a wall. Except I didn't bump into it, I bumped through it and into this world. After a couple years I realized that I now had the ability to insert my thoughts into the minds of you humans, though the chance to do so is slim seeing as you're quite a rarity.”“That’s amazing! Do you . . . have a name?” Thimble murmurs.“I think so. And yes, my human owners used to call me Samantha. I quite like that name. Now, because I have let you pet me, which might I add is an uncomfortable feat for me to endure, you must pay me back or suffer the consequences.” The cat began to lick her paw.“Sure!” Said DJ excitedly. “Whadya want? You wanna tag along with us on our adventures. We always have room for one more.”Thimble shot DJ a glare which was promptly ignored.“I couldn't think of anything more atrocious than hanging around with you brats. No, I crave something of more girth. Meat.”“What?”“Did I stutter?”“I think maybe. Did you say meat?”“Yes, that is what I said you cacophony of morons.”“Are you a carnivore?”“Of sorts.”“Well, sorry little kitty. But we have no meat. Other than that of our own of course.” At that the cat’s fur stood on end and her eyes tightened. She bared her fangs and began to growl, a low and menacing sound if it hadn’t been extremely cute.“You dare approach me with no gift. I even let you rub between my ears! You will pay for this mortals!” The cat leapt forward suddenly and landed on Thimble’s face. With her claws unsheathed she began betting at his face, raking her claws across his skin.“Why me!” Thimble yelled in pain but no one could hear him over the violent hissing. Rue ran forward and tried to tug the cat off but to no avail. It clung tight. Tiki reached out and snatched DJ’ water gun, spraying the cat across its fur. The cat hissed even louder and scrambled off Thimble’s face. “How dare you! How dare you!!” Smantha sputtered.“Try that one more time and you’ll be in for a soaking!” Tiki said with a grin, aiming the water gun nozzle at the cat's already drenched face.“Alright, alright. You win. But this will not be the last time you here from me.” Samntha ran away behind the corner and in a flash, disappeared from the children’s line of sight.Though Tiki, Rue and DJ were mildly disappointed, Thimble was downright mortified. Only a couple hours later he began sneezing and coughing and rashes were spreading across his arms.“Damnit.” He muttered. “Damnit, damnit, damnit. Stupid cats. Why the hell would there be cats here? What a hell hole! Why couldn’t it be a dog or a parrot or a turtle? No. It had to be a cat!”Though the horrors a not-quite-sane talking cat bestowed upon the children were quite frightening, at least to Thimble they were, it did not compare to the confrontation experienced shortly after with an inhospitable ghoul of a creature. After many more hours of the halls they came into contact with something less than human, or more so depending on who you ask.“Ahhhh, finally, something to feast on.” Echoed a voice with a strange foreign accent that none of the children recognised. It appeared almost out of nowhere. Resembling a human but not quite. Its skin was pitch black, as if enveloped by darkness and the only trait it wore was a frightening white smile etched across its concealed face. It looked like a walking shadow.The children were tired. They did not want to deal with another one of these creatures, these strange beings. And Thimble was still getting over his cat allergies. So they didn’t even pretend to be surprised when they turned around to face the disturbing image of the shadow.“Huh…” The chilling accented voice murmured. “You look quite young. And I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”Tiki rolled her eyes and took a step forward. “Look, guy. You're super scary and all but we just aren’t in the mood to deal with this right now. So why don’t you go on your way and we go on ours.”There was a pause of silence and then a disturbing laugh began to emanate from the shadow as it took a step forward. “Interesting . . . yes. I do quite like you. But, I have been wandering these halls for quite some time and haven’t come upon any possible prey. So unfortunately, I can’t let you leave.”Thimble swore under his breath and slowly began to reach into his bag, searching for a weapon of some kind. He wasn’t in any kind of rush, and that was his downfall, for none of the children noticed the spear that the shadow had concealed behind it and in one swift motion the spear was thrusted. It soared through the air, and to Thimble it seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion. Then it slammed into Tiki’s shoulder and she dropped like a fly, howling in pain and writhing on the floor. Thimble immediately sprung into action with DJ and Rue close behind him but the shadow and the advantage of surprise, and it was much stronger and faster than he appeared to be.It targeted DJ first, grabbing the young boy by his collar and slamming him into the wall, choking him with tight, slender fingers. DJ gasped out for air, his lips turning blue. Thimble leapt forward and the shadow dropped DJ onto the ground, before whipping out a knife from some hidden belt and holding it to DJ’s throat. The young boy let out a squeak of fear and everything screeched to a halt.“Let go of him.” Thimble spoke through gritted teeth. It was almost as if the shadows white smile grew broader. “If you hurt him, I swear, I will kill you.”Rue grabbed Thimble’s hand and tightly squeezed it. Thimble acquiesced and murmured a hushed “please.”“Here’s what's gonna happen.” Said the shadow, holding the knife even tighter to DJ’s pale skin. But it never got to finish the rest of its sentence. Because the sound of a startling gunshot caused a befallen silence to settle upon the group. The children all crouched down with hands over their ears and a terrified expression on their faces, except for DJ of course who was still being clutched tightly to the shadows chest. A white hole in the shadows forehead began to seep with a strange shimmering liquid, supposedly the creature’s blood as it staggered this way and that before finally slumping upon the ground in a defining thump. DJ was sobbing now, brutally, and ran as fast as he could over to the Thimble who squeezed him tightly like he would never let him go.But of course he did, when he remembered what had happened to Tiki shortly before. She still lay on the floor, a few metres away from the dead shadow, with that spear sticking out of her shoulder. She was unconscious.Thimble and Rue looked around suspiciously, trying to see who had shot that defining bullet into the shadows head. DJ had now crawled over to Tiki, and was attempting to rip the spear out of her shoulder.“Don’t,” said a harsh feminine voice. And suddenly there she was, clear as day, as if she had always been there, standing with long, dark red hair tied into a tight braid and a cold look on her face. She was holding in her right hand a smoking gun.“That spear is the only thing keeping your friend over there from bleeding out. If you rip it out, nothing will stop the blood from flowing.”Thimble suspiciously glared at the tall girl, but she seemed to know what she was talking about, and they did owe her their lives, so he nodded at DJ and the young boy stood up. “Why did you help us?” Thimble asked.The girl shrugged and waltzed calmly over to the fallen body of Tiki. She kneeled down and inspected it slowly. Rue and DJ walked over to Thi,ble and the three stood, nervous and desperate.“Can you help her?” DJ asked quietly, a whine sneaking into his voice.“I can’t.” Said the girl, finally standing up. “But I know some people who can. You can follow me if you’d like. Or you can stay here and let your little friend bleed herself to death. It doesn’t really matter to me.”Thimble weighed his options. On one hand, he had only met a few people in this place that were actually good and didn’t want to hurt them. They had learned to rely on only themselves, and didn’t exactly trust this girl. But on the other hand, he had no clue how to help Tiki and feared that he would only make things worse. And they were all tired and scared and, though he was embarrassed to admit it, even to himself, this girl was kind of pretty and he hadn’t seen or spoken to a pretty girl in a … long time.“Ok.” He said. “Ok fine.” He walked over to Tiki and carefully picked her up, swinging her over his shoulder. Luckily she wasn’t heavy, seeing as most of them had dropped a lot of weight since entering this place. But still, he didn’t think he could walk very far with her. “How long until we get to … the place?” he asked the girl.“I’m not really sure.” She said with a shrug. “Hopefully, not too long.” And so they began walking through those hallways once again. This time with a guide. Sometimes the girl would stop in front of a door and stare at it for a few moments before moving on, which bamboozled Thimble and DJ as all the doors seemed the same to them. Rue was busy thinking about other things. She felt uneasy about this girl but didn’t exactly know why. She knew that this girl was their only hope of saving Tiki, but still she felt like they should get away from her as fast as possible.It didn’t take too long. Maybe half an hour later, the girl approached a door that looked the same as all the rest and stared at it for a few moments before nodding and reaching out, grasping the handle and turning it slowly. She walked in and the three uneasily followed after her. Their eyes widened.They recognized the room with the table in the center of it and the fanciful, illuminated chandelier above it. They had been in this room before, not long ago. But it certainly couldn't have been the same room. For the room they had seen before had been empty, but this one was filled with people. Actual humans, not creepy monsters looking to hurt them. These people still appeared strange, as they were dressed in clothes that didn’t look like they were from any time period the children frequented.All eyes turned to stare at the children, but after a few seconds they resumed their chatter. The girl walked further into the room and the children to follow, uneasily looking around them at the strangely dressed citizens. Some were dressed as if they lived in Victorian times, others like they had come straight from the 1900’s. The girl wandered over to another woman who was dressed in a cap with straps hanging below her ears and goggles, as well as an old, tattered jacket. They talked in hushed tones, and occasionally the woman would look over at the children and eye them, before resuming her conversation. Finally, the woman nodded and beckoned the children over.“Well pull my teeth. I ain’t never seen kids as young as yous around these parts before. You sure look like some swell old tadpoles. Why don’t you hand over your partner over there and we’ll have a looksee. I’m sure we’ll get her up and jiving in no time flat.”The children stared, boggle eyed at this strange woman. The mysterious girl burst out into quiet giggles, attempting to disguise them by covering her mouth with her hand. She hastily cleared her throat. “I’d like to introduce you to Amelia Earhart. Maybe you’ve heard of her.”DJ hadn’t and Tiki was still unconscious but DJ quickly understood that she must be well known by the shocked looks on Thimble and Rue’s faces. “What?” said Rue with googly eyes and a mouth wide open for bugs to fly open. “THE Amelia Earhart? The aviation pioneer that went missing in the 1930’s? The first woman to fly a nonstop transatlantic solo flight?”“The one and only.” The girl said with a grin.“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Amelia held out her hand and Rue excitedly shook it. Thimble was still standing there, wide eyed.“You can’t be her. It doesn’t make any sense. How have you survived this long? You look like you haven’t aged a day.”The girl shrugged. “Time moves differently in here. It’s weird. I try not to think about it too much.”“How did you end up here?”“Well, I was riding in my plane as I do, when I saw the darndest thing. It was the tree, but the tree was glitching, like a, what did you call it Ruby? A video game? I was so distracted that I accidentally drove my baby plane into the tree. We crashed and ended up back here.”Rue was absolutely bamboozled, as was Thimble. “Anywho, let’s quit the chit chat and get your pal some care. I fear that if we wait much longer she won’t be flying high any more.” Amelia called over a few other oddly dressed people who carried Tiki away. Normally, Thimble wouldn’t let them take Tiki but he was still so confused by the fact that he had just met THE Amelia Earhart and so wasn’t as focused as he normally was.“So,” said Thimble, turning to look at the girl. Rue was still talking to Amelia and some other dwellers of this place and DJ had fallen asleep. “Is everyone here from some strange time period?”Ruby nodded.“Are you?”“No. I just happened to meet them when I was wandering around and they took me in. Explained what was going on.”“And your name is?”A tilted smile appeared on the girl’s face. “How exactly is that relevant?”Thimble shrugged. “Well I feel like since you saved my life, we should get to know each other better. Besides, you're the only person I’ve seen in a long time other than my friends over there who is actually normal and doesn’t want to eat me.”Ruby laughed. She had an easy laugh, and when she did her eyes would squint and dimples would form on her cheek.s Thimble wanted to make her laugh more. “My name’s Ruby. And you're Thimble.”Thimble cocked his head to the side. “How exactly do you know my name?”Ruby sheepishly looked away. “I may have been following you guys around for a bit and picked up some stuff.”Thimble should have been furious. He wasn’t. “You were stalking us?”“Not exactly. But come on. Give me a break. Most of the people I meet around here who, uh, don’t want to eat me, as you so eloquently put it, are super boring adults. And then suddenly a bunch of kids appeared. It gets lonely in here. I’m sure you know that.”Thimble nodded. He wasn’t often lonely since he had to care for all the others but sometimes, late at night, he would feel an emptiness inside him. “How did you end up here? Did you also find a black hole?”Ruby shook her head. “Nope. I just opened a random door in my house that hadn’t been there before and ended up in here.”“Ohhhhh,” Thimble had always thought the only way to end up here was by the blackhole, so he was glad to know there were other ways. Well, glad wasn’t exactly the right word.“Wait,” said Ruby with a pause and another wide smile. “Did you say blackhole?”Thimble laughed. “Yeah. Me and my friends found it and wanted to investigate. And then we landed in here. Well, not here. A yellow place. But I think it’s kinda the same idea.”“You saw a BLACK HOLE and the first thing you did was . . . jump in? What the hell?”Thimble thought about it for a second and then began to laugh. He was tired and regretted his past decisions and had never thought about how stupid they had been. Ruby joined him in laughter. Ruby and Thimble continued to talk for hours more. They learned about each other’s families, school’s, and what they wanted to do when they got out of this place. They fell asleep next to each other and when they woke up Amelia was leaning over them, telling them Tiki was ready for visitors.Tiki was lying on a deflated mattress. She was pale and looked exhausted, but she was no longer bleeding and a heavy bandage was patched around her shoulder. DJ and Rue were also there, crowding around her and snuggling into her arms. “Hey,” said Thimble. “Are you okay?”Tiki smiled softly. “I’m ok. Ya know, as good as I can be down here.” Her head swerved to look at Ruby, who was staring at Tiki with something of curiosity. “I heard you were the one who saved us. Thanks a lot.”Ruby nodded and an awkward quiet slid around. “I think I’m gonna give you guys some space.” Thimble nodded and Ruby wandered away.“The doctors say I’ll be up and running in a day or two. They sure talk funny.”The others quickly agreed. “Um,” Thimble said, stepping closer to Tiki. “I wanted to talk to you guys about something. So you know Ruby. That girl, she’s the one who saved us. Well, she’s kinda on her own and she seems really nice. I think maybe we should let her travel with us. Join our little group. What do you think? It’s the least we can do.”Rue shook her head and sat up, crawling out from beneath Tiki’s arms. “I don’t think Ruby is good.” She said, tugging on Thimble’s shirt.This angered Thimble. “What do you mean? If it wasn't for her we would all be fish food.”“She’s hiding something.” Rue continued. “She isn’t telling us everything. She’s a liar.”“That’s fucking nonsense. I know we don’t know her too well but she risked her life for us. Besides, she’s just one girl. What could she do?”“Do you like her so much because she’s pretty?” asked DJ innocently.Thimble flushed pink. “What? No! I mean, she’s not not pretty but it’s not just that. She’s…ugh- you wouldn’t understand.”Tiki began to chuckle. “I mean, I think we should still be careful around her but yeah, if things go well she can hang out with us. At least I think so.”So the children summoned Ruby over to them and told her the good news. She seemed absolutely elated and they spent the rest of the day sharing stories, telling jokes, and laughing, laughing, laughing. Thimble hadn’t felt so happy in a very long time.That night, as the five of them were gathered around a picnic blanket eating some of the rations they had stored in their backpacks, Ruby snapped her finger and jumped up. The other children sat up with a tart. “What is it?” Tiki asked. She had been well enough to leave the bed now and was even walking around the room.“I can’t believe I forgot. It completely left my mind.” Ruby ranted.“What? Forgot what?”Ruby excitedly began to talk and the more she did, the more interested the children became. “There’s this guy. Well, not really a guy. I’m not exactly sure what he is. But he’s the nicest, greatest person. I met him in here a couple months ago and I’ve been doing odd jobs for him. He’s smart and knows a way on how to get out of this awful place. I know we only just met, but you four have been so kind to me and I just think that you got to meet him. I’m sure he’d love you too! What do you say?” Ruby almost looked desperate for them to agree.“I don’t know,” Thimble said, glancing at Tiki, “I don't think she'll be able to go anywhere for a while.”“The doctors said Tiki will be fine in a few days. We can wait! Please say you’ll go. I'm begging you!”Thimble and Tiki met each other's eyes. Thimble noticed Rue shaking her head in the corner but decided to ignore her. “What do you say, Tiki?” Thimble asked.She shrugged. “Why not? I’m just aching to get out of here.”If it was even possible, Ruby’s smile grew even wider. So they waited three more days. Tiki got better extremely quicker which confused the children but Ruby told them it was just the way things worked down here. At first the kids were overjoyed to be somewhere safe but the only people there other than them were strange and they eventually began to grow bored, as kids do.So on the fourth day there, they packed their bags, said goodbye to Amelia Earhart and left the room. They travelled for miles. Ruby was strangely quiet so they barely spoke, except when they asked Ruby if she thought they were lost. She always laughed and told them not to be silly. And then the silence once again would settle in.The trapdoor in the ground was what led them to the room. It was red and easily missed, small, barely big enough to squish in Thimble and the others, but they managed. They climbed down a steep ladder that seemed to go forever. Finally, they reached the ground floor and followed a dark hallway to a red circular door on the other side. Ruby went to open it, took in a deep breath, and then did.An office room. A fancy one with a large wooden swivel chair, large windows blasting a bright light, a desk with an old tiny phone, papers strewn about, a globe, record player. It was extremely elegant and homey and the children rushed over to the windows to search for some kind of earthly environment, but it was just white.“Welcome,” said a presidential official, in a deep voice. The swivel chair swung around to reveal a man in a black suit. Except the head of the man was that of a blue squid. “To my humble abode. Good girl Ruby. Thank you for bringing these gorgeous young children to me.”It wasn’t that weird. It wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d seen. Strangely enough, they didn’t find it weird at all.“I’m sure Ruby has told you all a little about me. They call me the Gentlemen of the Hotel. Well some do, others call me the beast of the hotel. But look at me. I’m no beast.”The four laughed but Rue stayed silent. Her eyes were scanning the surroundings, searching for an exit. Only she noticed that the red door had disappeared.“So, I understand that you're probably tired and terrified of being in this horrible place. So I have a proposition for you. Ruby has already joined me. All you need to do is shake my hand and the whole world will be yours. Do a few favours for me and I’ll repay you back ten fold. You may even be able to get out of god forsaken place. What do you think, children? You’d be a fool not to agree.”Any other day, with any other person, Thimble would have spit in the man’s face, grabbed his friends and ran away. He would have been distrusting if it had been anywhere else, with anyone else, but something about this tall man with the squid head put Thimble at ease. It put all of them at ease except for Rue.He held out his long, blue hand with tendrils for fingers and Thimble stepped forward, eager to shake it and solidify this deal. The squid-faced man leered at the children. Ruby was watching intently and nervously, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something before closing it tightly shut once again. That was the final straw.Rue ran forward and grabbed Thimble by the arm, then grabbed Tiki and dJ and ran straight at one of the windows at the end of the back wall. Surprisingly, the glass was pretty easy to break and they all plummeted through the shattered shard, falling supposedly towards their death. Except they landed softly on the ground, on their feet, as if nothing had happened, in another one of those similar hotel hallways. They looked up at the ceiling which they had fallen through and noticed a broken window attached to the ceiling. The man with the squid head slowly walked forward and loomed out, looking down at the children from above. “Run!” Rue screamed. “Come on.”It was like they had been knocked out of a trance and the children, all of them, even Thimble who only moments before was nearly going to shake the man’s hand, realised how creepy this so called “Gentlemen of the Hotel” was and how completely not normal him having a squid head had been. And they weren’t so sure he wanted to help them. So they did run.Tiki was slow and lagging behind, still healing from her wound but adrenaline filled the hearts of the children, and they had adapted to be quite fast runners. But the Gentlemen’s voice seemed to follow them wherever they went, no matter which corner they turned, and the paintings on the walls watched them intently. “What a shame.” Said the voice. “Ruby had told me you four were wise but I guess not. It would have been fun but I suppose this will be fun too.”The children rapidly opened doors, searching for a room they hadn’t seen before, but everything was the same. They did see another elevator, like the one they had approached previously, and so they rushed inside, scanning the buttons, wondering which floor they should choose. They all looked at Rue expectantly, knowing that only she could foresee which level would grant them escape. She squinted at the glowing numbers before confidently pressing down on level 9. The doors closed, and they waited in silence. They could no longer hear the taunting voice but somehow they knew he was still watching them, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.When the doors slowly creaked open, the children let out gasps of relief. This was a room they had never seen before and at this point, anything new was a miracle to behold. This room was very large and filled with vintage machinery, such as old piping that twisted and turned around the room like a maze. It was hot in this room, as steam emanated from the machinery and piping. The children entered and began ducking under the pipes, travelling deeper within the room. The voice returned.“Lucky little ducks. I really had high hopes for you. We could've conquered the world together. You would have had everything you could ever dream of. But instead this is what you chose.” The children tried to ignore the unsettling voice but it still caused them to grow more terrified as they ventured on.He stepped out of the shadows as if he had always been there, with Ruby standing beside him, white faced and sweating. The children stopped and stared at the man. He was flickering in and out of existence, like a glitch. “It’s not too late.” Ruby whispered. “He will still forgive you if you just shake his hand. Please…”“It is too late.” Rue said and glared at the two of them.The Gentleman cocked his head to the side, held out his arm, and let his long fingers extend forward quickly. The slimy fingers found their way around the children’s bodies, in their mouths, under their clothes, sucking and dripping and draining them of any energy they had left, so they could not even scream.‘This is the end.’ Thimble thought. ‘We had a good run but we were foolish to think we were ever getting out of here.’Of course this didn’t die that night or there wouldn’t be many chapters left in our story. Because one thing no one had counted on was that Ruby still had that gun in her pocket which she had used to shoot the Shadow those days ago. And she whipped it out, aimed it at the back of the Gentleman’s head, and fired.He did not fall. He barely flinched. But his fingers, his wet tendrils retracted back into his hands. He turned to stare, baffled, at Ruby. She didn’t say anything. She never apologised. Her actions were apology enough. She didn’t need to tell them to run. They knew by the look in her eyes.They ran, and the Gentleman attempted to go after them, but more shots were fired and he was forced to aim all his attention upon Ruby. The children heard her pained screams behind them, her gurgles and finally that silence. All they could hear were faint whisperings coming from the furnaces and pipelines. The pipes grew closer and the room grew hotter, stickier, and they kept running until the scenery changed and the darkness set in.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Darkness. Only darkness. An unquenchable darkness that oozed into the children’s eyes, stiffing out any hint of light they could see within a millisecond. DJ let out a sudden scream, and grabbed onto . . . someone. He didn’t know because he could not see. None of them could see a thing.Thimble quickly opened up the bag slung over his shoulder, and searched around inside it for some sort of flashlight or lamp, something to permeate the darkness. His hand grasped the hilt of a flashlight and he brought it out of the bag, stumbling to push the button and turn it on. When he clicked it, nothing happened. It seemed as if the flashlight was broken. All of them were, as well as the lamps, as well as anything that could produce any spectrum of light in this thirsty darkness.All of the children’s senses were dampened, not only their sight but also their ability to pick up noise. They could not hear anything, as if they were deaf. No matter how much DJ cried, or Tiki yelled for the others, or Thimble tried to instruct them to stay together, the sounds did nothing to penetrate this silence. This eerie silence was much more horrifying than the darkness.Thimble reached out and grabbed someone’s hand, a small hand with short nails and soft skin. He assumed that this hand belonged to Rue and reached out to touch the owner's face. It did indeed belong to Rue. He felt her short, silky hair and pockmarked face. He pulled her hand close to his own face and let her explore with her fingertips. He sensed her understanding when she halted. Rue and Thimble walked forward and Rue bumped into Tiki who was clutching tightly onto DJ. Rue grabbed Tiki’s hand who grabbed DJ’s hand.The chain had been created and each of them silently pledged never to let go of the hands that they were clutching. They quickly knew how easily it would be to lose each other in this place and to be alone in the darkness would be the worst thing they had ever experienced.They began to silently walk forward. Those who had a free hand, so Thimble and DJ, reached out to find the walls enclosing them. It was a tight hallway with cold, smooth material on either sides of them. Perhaps concrete.They began to walk, to follow the turns and edges of the hallway, to wander deeper into the darkness. They walked for who knows how long.Rue enjoyed it. She had never felt a silence, a peacefulness such as this before. No disturbances perturbed her mind, disrupted her train of thought. She could think as much as she wanted now, letting the steps she took become as mindless as breathing or her beating, allowing her mind to unwind and take in everything they had just experienced. She wasn’t happy. She didn’t feel like anything. She was becoming part of the darkness. She wasn't even her own person. She just existed in this echoing infinite space, the only thing tying her down to reality was the feeling of Thimble’s hand clutching her left and Tiki’s clutching her right. An intrusive thought began to burrow its way deeper into Rue’s brain. If she just let go and wandered alone, she could feel like this always. They didn’t have to find an exit. It wasn’t a necessity. And wasn’t this feeling, this feeling of calm, better than anything she had felt when she had been out in that place, knowing not what would come next. In here it was predictable. Nothing would penetrate the darkness and the silence. It would always be nothing.Tiki hated it. A polar opposite of Rue. She squeezed her friends hands tighter as tears trickled down her cheeks. This place reminded her of the worst moments in her life. Those moments where she would curl up in a startled ball under her covers, squeeze her eyes shut, and will herself to fall asleep. She never did. An insomniac. When she was younger, she would blot out the noise of the screams that trickled their way under her door from the living room, or kitchen, or her parents bedroom. She hated the noise, so she would plug her ears and think of nothing, let her body fade into the mattress, and eventually, though she was not asleep, the noises faded and she was left with nothing. Except the fear. It was not better. And Tiki never felt more alone than she had during those moments. She had promised herself that she would never let that happen again and here it was, that same, well known sensation that she had tried so hard to escape. She couldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t allow it. She kept on reminding herself that those hands she was holding were attached to a body, and she was standing close to others, others who loved her no matter what mistakes she made while in this hellhole. Anything was better than this. Slowly the bodies faded, and the hands were just their own, and she was her own.Thimble faced it. He faced it as he had faced any other trial. He thought not of himself but of the others, and this is what kept him whole, kept him centered. He had a goal, a mission that he would never abandon, no matter how dark and how quiet it would all become. He had to find a way out of this place. Not just out of the darkness, but out of this whole other world. Not for himself, though it was an added benefit. For Tiki, who he had known since preschool, sensitive and smart and always looking out for others. For Rue, who had a whole other place inside of her head, and her birthright of sharing this other world with the world. For DJ, who was still so young, who had a whole life ahead of him, who barely knew anything except that they were there with him. And for Mindy, so that her memory would not disappear and her death would not be in vain. He had a mission and he would not give up and he would find a way out of the darkness and out of it all. He would always find an answer.The DJ heard music. Well, he did not hear it. He heard nothing, of course. That was the way of this place. But he felt music, thrumming through his veins, through his heart. The music was his breath, the beat inside his chest, the coursing vessels under his skin. He did not hear any of it but he felt it and he sang along. Though the song made no noise and no one heard it, he sang loudly and boldly and it made him feel safe. And he wasn’t scared as he had first been. He tried to send the song under the skin of Tiki, who was holding his hand tightly, squeezing it so tight it was almost cutting off his circulation. But she ignored it. It was ok. He couldn’t force anyone to hear the song if they didn’t allow him. So he let himself feel it and that was all that mattered.Waves. Crashing waves. The ocean. The water lapping up against the sandy beach. It wasn’t a noise that Rue heard. But it did stabilize her. It was calling her. And they were going the wrong way. She stopped suddenly, jerking the others back. They waited. She listened, not with her ears, not with anything except maybe her skin cells. And she turned and began walking towards the left. And the others followed daintily.I’m not sure if it was because it liked her or didn’t. If it wanted to help her or just didn’t want her in itself. But it sent her down the maze guided by a map of waves and salty liquoring water. She had to think hard. She had to focus. She couldn't do it haphazardly. She had to spit all of herself into the task at hand.Right. Left. Forward. Walk forward. Turn left. Left. Walk forward. Pause. Turn right. Walk forward. Right. Turn left. Turn back around. Pause. Right.If you are surrounded by darkness for more hours than you can count, your eyes and your brain begin to interpret things that aren’t actually there. It has to make sense of this strange black, it doesn’t understand why suddenly your eyes are broken. So the brain sends a message to the eyes, the ears, the nerves, and tells it all to do something, conjure something.Spiders. Tall figures. Heavy breathing. A tap on the shoulder. It doesn’t matter. Conjure anything. But whenever the hallucinations began to whisper and taunt, the hands, the sweat slicken, tight hands would send you back. Because they weren’t alone. That was a fact. Nothing can relinquish facts. Even the nothing could do nothing. And they had already endured so much. Of course they were still driven to the edge, almost every second they were in that darkness they were certifiably insane. But if all you know, if everyone near you is insane as well, then what even is insanity.Left. Pause. Right. Turn right. Right again. Walk forward. Pause. Backtrack. Left.A door. Rue did not discover it. It was the wrong direction. And how could she have, when her hands were occupied. No. Thimble felt the interruption under his fingertips. The abrupt break from the smooth, cold wall. Metal. Even colder. With a doorknob. Thimble stopped this time. He tugged them to the door and they all took turns feeling it over. Rue didn’t want to go. She tried to tug them back. It was the wrong direction. But they could not talk and there was no way for Rue to interpret this to the others. It was a door. It was different. And so they decided to open and see what was there and if it was nothing as they suspected, then they would continue on. But if there was something there, well this might be the exit. Or it might be something else. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t nothing.Thimble opened the door. It was nothing. Ultimately more black. They walked forward into the black and were met with the nothing. It was disappointing. They turned to go.Noise. Actual noise. Not in their head, not only what one of them could sense. They all heard it, the scuttling. And they all knew that they all heard it because they all tensed up at the same time. The only thing they had wanted while down here was to see something or hear something real, and now that they had they regretted it. They quickly went to leave. How did they to know what it was? It could have been anything. It could have long teeth and a huge maw. It could swallow them, crunch down on their heads like a piece of candy, like popcorn. They turned to leave. And then heard words.It wasn’t entirely English, but somehow they all understood.“Hey. Wait. Don’t leave just yet. Don’t you wanna see it. Don’t you wanna flick the switch. I found it. Finally, I found it.”The voice was scratchy and high, like a scraped up record version of The Magic Flute. It didn’t seem human at all. It didn’t seem animal, or as if it had come from this plane of existence. It came from another.“It’s here. Right here. Right above your heads. The light switch. It dangles, softly dancing from side to side. I can’t reach it. You must pull it. Pull the light switch. Let the bright angels breathe sight into your eyes. It will not blind you, though it will feel as if it did.”They weren’t falling for it. They had learned from their mistakes. They couldn’t trust anyone but each other. They had trusted Ruby, and look at what that had gotten them. They were okay, they had survived, but just barely. And Ruby had not been so lucky. They weren’t going to follow this strange voice's bidding, especially not a voice as unsettling as his, like a mixture of Golem and that Other Mother from the movie Us.They couldn’t audibly deny the voice of his ask, but he sensed their joint decision. He sensed their doubt. He could smell their fear like a dog. He wasn’t angry. He just began to cackle.“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Of course not. Of course you won’t. I’ve met plenty like you before. All cowards. Fucking pussy’s. All you have been wanting since you’ve set foot in this place has been light. And now that I’ve offered you exactly what you want, you still decline the invitation.”Here’s the thing. These are still children we are talking about. The oldest of them all is only 14, still prone to baiting, still prone to mockery. Eager to prove himself. Him least of them all. Well no, Rue least of them all. But you’ve probably already deciphered that Rue is different.I am nothing if not unpredictable. What’s gonna happen, huh? Are they gonna leave, listening to Rue’s warning and walk out of that room? Or will they ignore her and pull the switch, as they have ignored her many times before? Not quite. Rue lets go of the hand’s she has been holding, reaches up and pulls the switch.Nothing happens. Of course nothing happens. There is no light in this place.Silence. Of course. And then frantic muttering. “Did you pull it? You didn’t, right? You couldn’t have. But you did. It doesn’t make sense. Where's the light? Why is it all the same as it was? This can’t be true. It’s impossible.”Sobbing. Quite cries of anguish. Rue found the hands again and guided them out of the room. The only thing that keeps you alive in a place like this is hope. And when finally one’s hope is extinguished, there’s nothing left of you.After they left the room and closed the door, muffling the sobs, Rue paused and listened for the waves. When she picked them back up again, they kept walking, kept turning and following.Left. Turn left. Go forward. Right. Left. Right. Turn right. Pause. Go forward. Turn left. Go forward. Forward, forward, left. Turn right.Eventually, they felt the ground underneath their feet begin to careen downwards. They almost tripped over the sudden appearance of stairs. They ventured down the stairwell, much slower than usual, for each step lower had to be taken with caution. This stairwell was long and kept on leading lower and lower into the same black darkness. Then another door. This door was not made of metal. It was not cold. It was warm and inviting and seemed to be made of wood. The doorknob was wooden too, and engraved with some sort of sculpture, though of course they couldn’t tell what the sculpture was carved to appear as. ‘What a waste of talent.’ Rue thought. She was not quite all knowing to sense that the doorknob was carved in the shape of a fish. She turned the door and they walked through.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The first thing the children noticed was that their shoes were now wet, squelching uncomfortably under the shallow puddle of water that had formed on the floor. The carpeted floor was covered with this puddle of water, coated with the strikingly cold liquid.The kids look around, taking in the surprisingly normal room. The only thing strange about it was the puddles of water. But other than that, there is simply a bookcase, a small wooden coffee table with a matching wooden chair and a singular light fixture hung on the wall. The children breathe a sigh of relief and sit down, their eyes slowly adjusting to the light flooding back into their systems. They had almost forgotten how utterly beautiful light could be. They take the time to eat, drink, sleep and be merry. But eventually their curiosity was drawn to a door on the opposite end of the door they had emerged from.The children certainly didn’t want to go back from where they came and no matter how safe this room was, it was still a dead end. They only way through was to continue on. Just keep swimming. So DJ walked over and opened the simple door, already accustomed to his damp shoes.What the children saw through this door was utterly impossible, cheating any gravitational laws discovered previously. Though, I didn't surprise them quite as much as it should have, taking into consideration everything they had already dealt with.The door opened up above an ocean, looking down upon the ocean, as if the door was just floating horizontally in the air above the water. It was truly a horrifying site to behold, especially if you were haunted by the fear of Thalassophobia, a fear of deep waters, but luckily the children were not. By far, the strongest swimmer out of all of them was Tiki but the three others were still talented swimmers. They had spent many summers together jumping into the lake near their houses, swimming for hours in the warm waters. Obviously this place was much less inviting than a quiet lake but the swimming itself was not a problem. Besides, the children had no clue how long they would be swimming for.There was certainly an extremely strong gravitational pull that caused DJ to topple over and almost fall face first into the weather but luckily Tiki was there to catch him. They all stayed there together staring into the water and planning their next move. Eventually, they decided that there really wasn’t much they could do to prepare, so they ought to just jump into the sea and hope it turned out okay. They took a final swig of almond water, a final bite to eat, took a few deep breaths to calm their nerves, and then turned to Tiki to jump in first. At first Tiki opposed to the idea but she was interested in taking up a leadership position in their group and she believed that this might be a good time so eventually she aquised, squeezed her eyes shut and jumped into the water with a splash.The cold of the water was startling and Tiki let out a squeal of surprise. She had thought that the puddles in the room had been cold but this was like ice water. She kept her head out of the water and looked around.There was absolutely no land in sight. The water stretched on for miles in every direction. There was no sky that Tiki could find when she looked up. Instead, only a couple metres above the water was a concrete ceiling and she could see directly above her an open door, sticking out of the ceiling. She called up to the others still leaning out of the door, watching curiously. “It’s ok. It’s safe! A little cold but it should be fine!”The children’s bags were already waterproof so there was nothing they could do to procrastinate further so they all jumped in one after the other. They each let out some sort of strange noise when they hit the cold water but other than that they were okay.It was strange. The water was very clear, so clear that they could see their feet swimming under them, but there were absolutely no fish. No creatures of any kind. Just the deep blue. It was honestly unsettling. But if the children had learned one thing in this place, it was that the lack of creatures was normally better than their existence. At least there were no wicked entities looking to kill them.They began their swim. It was certainly difficult. The children were still carrying their waterproof backpacks, which weren’t as waterproof as they had previously assumed. And it was still so, so cold. Sometimes the children submerged under the waves, usually DJ, and it was extremely scary for the others to frantically look around themselves, searching for their lost compadre. But there was something about the air in this level that when they breathed it in, they could hold in their breaths for much longer than normal, which certainly came in handy. Whenever the children needed to rest, they would take a deep breath in and stop swimming, allowing themselves to float just under the surface, until they were ready to continue their journey.Swim, swim, swim.Eventually, after maybe an hour or two of this monotonous swimming, the children came upon the first sight of land they had seen in a while. It was a small, rocky island. It was only about the size of an English classroom, specifically Sandra’s new English classroom.But things were going too well, it was too quiet, trouble was lurking under the waves. Suddenly, and without warning, a large spear that appeared to have been carved out of a large bone was thrust towards the children. It skimmed Rue’s face, causing a small cut to begin to bleed, but it could have been a lot worse. The children knew that whatever was hunting them, they wouldn’t do much good at defending themselves from in the water, so they swam as fast as they could towards the small island. Unfortunately, the creature attacking them was very well adapted to the ocean, and quite a bit better at swimming than the children.This creature had striking blue eyes and was wearing a black swimsuit. They had covered their head with the hollow skin of some kind of large fish or perhaps a shark that they had slain. And they had a look of evil intent in their glowing eyes. They swam every closer, drawing another spear from behind their back. The children had to think fast. Thimble unsheathed a knife he had stowed in his pocket and abandoned the route to the island, instead jumping at the creature in a feeble attempt of attack. He screamed boldly but missed his target, swinging past the creature. Still, the creature winced, and Thimble realised that something he had done, whatever it was, had subdued his opponent. So he swung more and screamed louder, missing every time. The creature fought back, scratching Thimble across the face, but it was acting noticeably less fierce.Thimble swam towards the island as soon as he got a second to spare, knowing that he would be a much better fighter on land than in the sea. Adrenaline fueled his swimming and he got to the rocky island in no time, quickly hauling himself up upon the shore and taking a stance.The creature was visibly angered by Thimbles and the other childrens claim of the island, and it slowed down to a calm paddle, though it still circled the island. Thimble continued to tightly grip the knife but he loosened his shield of defenses when he noticed the lack of aggression the creature was showing.“So,” the merman started, “I see you’ve made yourself quite at home in my territory. How has the sight seeing gone? Have you taken all your photographs? Done all your research? Or perhaps you have returned for another attempt at an interview?”Tiki laughed, which surprised the creature. “Don’t act so cocky. Not everything is about you. We don’t even know who, or what, you are?”“Yeah!” Agreed DJ. “We just want you to leave us alone.”The creature stopped swimming, and instead floated in one place, paddling its legs and arms constantly on the waters.“Hmmm. That does make things better. But not by much. Why have you come here? Don’t you know it is a death sentence for any mortal to set foot in this place? Or have you simply all made a suicide pact?”Thimble was angered by the creature’s conceptions of the children. He believed they deserved some kind of respect for having made it this far. “We never wanted to come here. We weren’t wandering around looking to spend the rest of our life in some cold, endless ocean?”“Please…” Rue continued, “We just want to get out of here. Move on to the next level as quickly as we can. I know it may surprise you, but we aren’t so conditioned to the waters as you are.”“That is of no surprise. I hate to disappoint, but I fear you will not be leaving this place alive. Count yourself lucky you haven’t joined the fates of your brethren. Count yourself lucky I’m feeling merciful.”“You weren’t acting merciful when you tried to stab Thimble with your spear!” Tiki shouted.“Semantics.”“Stop!” Rue cried, silencing them all and planting an amused look on the creature's face. “You may not think highly of us, and we aren’t asking you to put your belief in us. All we’re asking is that perhaps you could tell us the route out of here and let us deal with the rest.”“And why would I do that? What exactly would I gain from that encounter?”Thimble shrugged. “We could do something for you. Or give you something. There must be something you want.”The creature thought about it for a second. “Well, there is something. But I doubt you will get away with it. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for you to try. No harm done on my side. Ok then.” The children listened eagerly as the creature began. “I am not the only one living in this ocean. There is another. It is called The Thing. It is large, far larger than I, and extremely intelligent. It resides below, in the Midnight zone and the Abyss. I reside above, in the Daylight and Twilight zones. That is my home. We have an unspoken agreement. But lately, The Thing has been breaking our agreement and finding its way in my territory. I believe it must be bored. But I fear that soon its boredom will become aggression, and if it gets too comfortable in my territory . . . well that’s no good. So here’s the deal. I’ll let you travel through my territories and into the Midnight zone and the Abyss. That is where you will find your exit, in a mountain, in a cave. And if you find yourself face to face with The Thing, which I do not doubt you will, you must remind it of our shared terms. Tell it Tiny sent you. It should be pleased with that. And if all goes well, you will enter the underwater cave burrowed in the tallest Mountain towards the peak of the Abyss and make it onwards. Though whether that is a blessing or a curse is up to you to decide. So, do we have a deal, small mortals?”The children agreed and kneeled down, leaning over the island towards the waters to shake the slimy hand of the creature. Then, the merman bid them ado and dove back down under the surface.“So, where are these so-called Daylight, Midnight zones?” Tiki asked the question almost all of them had been abashedly wondering.“Have you ever been paying attention at school?” Rue replied with an eye roll. “They are below the water. Different levels of depth under the ocean.”“Wait, wait, wait.” DJ interrupted. “S does that mean we have to go” DJ pointed down at the water. “down there?”Thimble nodded. “Yup.”The children had already come to the understanding that the air in which they were breathing was heightening their abilities to hold their breath. They had counted a maximum of 17 minutes so far, and that wasn’t under the effects of adrenaline, neither a life or death scenario. But they did not know how far apart these different zones would be and how fast they would need to swim. They would have to hurry, have to go as fast as they could. They had to try.The children spent a day simply holding their heads under the water to determine just how long they could hold their breaths before blacking out. They got as far up as 26 minutes before losing consciousness. They also practised their swimming techniques. Tiki helped the younger ones who weren’t so good at swimming out to perfect their form. Then the time came.They leaned over the edge, said the final words they would to each other in this place, and then dove under the waves.The water was very well illuminated and they could see everything in front of them, so that it was easy for them to stick together. There was absolutely nothing to be found, no fish, no plants, nothing but the cool blue leering down. They continued to swim downwards, and felt that they were making great time. Eventually, they passed an invisible line and the waters they were lurking in grew dimmer.Finally, something could be seen in these parts other than each other, though they weren’t so sure that was a good thing. Skeletons. Sometimes full skeletons, sometimes simply bones. A majority of the skeletons were fish shaped, though these fish were larger than expected, and much more intimidating. There were also a scarce number of humanoid looking figures, though they weren’t quite human. Some of the skeleton’s feet ended in what might be presumed to be flippers, some of their ears were quite large, some of their jaws were quite long and some were just simply odd. The children wondered wether that strange amphibious man they had met above the surface had caused the death of all these creatures. They shivered with a sudden understanding of just who they had been speaking so bluntly with.The water pressure in this zone was also getting noticeably stronger, causing the children to experience quite powerful headaches. They hoped that this was the worst it was going to get, but they doubted it. They continued on lower, their chests only now beginning to squeeze with the lack of oxygen. They were more than halfway there.Around 18 minutes through their journey they entered what Rue supposed was the Midnight zone. This zone was almost drenched in darkness, nothing compared to the darkness they had experienced recently, but still quite frightening to swim through. The numerous amount of skeletons only doubled, and the shapes of these bones grew even stranger. Some of the skeletons looked properly terrifying to encounter in their own right. What could possibly have caused the deaths of all these beasts. The merman had warned them of another creature that frequented the ocean. What could it possibly be? These thoughts plagued their minds as they attempted to ignore the growing cold, the pain in their lungs and the feeling that their bones were being roughly squeezed due to the pressure.Though it was too dark to properly grasp the size of the beast, or how close it was to them, the children instantly sensed another being nearby.Thimble drew a flashlight from inside of his bag, which had magically continued working since they had escaped the previous level, and hastily shone it out in front of them. It was so dark that the light rays barely cut through the darkness, but it still allowed them to see the absolutely enormous fish in front of them.It was huge, at least the size of a building. Its singular eye was around as big as a car. It didn’t seem to notice them yet. The children were incredibly startled by the appearance of this fiend and Tiki let out a yell, though of course it wasn’t a yell as they were under the sea. A spray of bubbles emerged from her mouth and she clamped a hand over her lips.They all stayed deathly still, only moving slightly to keep themselves in place. They anxiously looked around, searching for something they could use, thinking of something to do. There was no way they could defeat this thing. It was far too large. But perhaps they could outsmart it. Or at least out run it.Thimble turned off the flashlight so as not to attract any unwanted attention and beckoned the others to follow him further down. They had to swim as silently as possible. But they continued downwards and were elated to find the emergence of mountains. Simply the peaks but it was certainly a change in scenery. They began to swim faster, as they were experiencing quite a lot of pain in their lungs. They had been holding their breaths for nearly 25 minutes. Unfortunately, their eagerness was their downfall, as the ripples in the water travelled far in this place and alerted The Thing of their existence.They heard a deafening gurling roar and they began to swim ever faster, as fast as they possibly could, towards the tallest mountain peak they could see. The Thing was slow, but it was large and quickly grew closer to the children. As it did, it opened its mouth. If it swam any faster, it would end up simply swallowing with them in its mouth.Thimble turned the flashlight back on again, as really, nothing more could go wrong here, and began to frantically search for some sort of cave opening on this peak. He saw one. It was small, claustrophobically small, but there were no other openings and they didn’t have enough time. DJ screamed. A gurgly scream. The other three whipped around and saw that DJ had stopped swimming. His tiny lungs had finally given out and he breathed in the water. The giant fish with its maw open was swimming right towards him.Rue leapt into action. She swam over to Thimble and grabbed the flashlight in his hand. She pointed at the opening in the cave and urged him to grab Tiki and go. Then, before she was met with Thimble’s disagreement, she turned away and swam towards the fish and towards DJ. She swam dangerously close and directed the light without deviation at the fish’s eye, right at its iris. The reaction was immediate. The fish let out a bellow and turned around, attempting to get away from the flashlight’s rays. You see, the Thing had adapted to seeing in the pitch black and had not come across the slightest bit of light in many decades. This caused it to be greatly affected by the sudden burning blindness of a flightlight shined directly in its eyes.This gave Rue just enough time to grab DJ by his hoodie, who was already unconscious, and drag him behind her as she swam towards the cave opening. Thimble had waited with Tiki, not wanting to abandon the others no matter how much his lungs were aching, but as soon as he saw Rue coming towards them he beckoned Tiki closer and they tightly swam through the tallest mountain’s cave. The entrance was tight, but as they continued on, the opening slowly widened and the water began to diminish, steadily causing this underwater cave to become more similar to a series of underground caves. When the children finally emerged from the ocean depths, they breathed deeply, coughing up water and smiling, gleefully excited about their survival. They had not forgotten about DJ and began to perform CPR on him. Slowly but surely, his breath began to revive and his eyes fluttered open. He vomited a little bit, all over Rue’s jacket, but no one cared.They were just glad they had made it. And thus a new chapter began, for them and for you as well.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When the four had settled into the new habitat and felt safe enough to continue, they began walking down through the sprawling cave labyrinths. None of them had ever gone spelunking before, but they had heard of it, and were excited to explore the network of underground tunnels and caves. Stalagmites and stalactites jutted out from the ceiling and the floor. Wading puddles of water could be found along the floor, and the rock walls were slick with water as well. The tunnels twisted and turned in all directions, and it was impossible to choose a seemingly correct, inviting path as they were all the same level of frightening.It was dark and cold. There was no natural light, forcing the children to continue using their flashlights. They wondered how long the batteries would continue to last, but they pushed this thought away and focused on continuing to explore. They had found a rhythm now, a rhythm in this strange world, and they knew that every level had an exit. They knew that if they looked hard enough they could find it. And though they were no longer sure if they were ever going to make their way back home, the only thing they could do was try.They bundled up in their thick jackets, as it was much colder than any of the previous levels, pulling on warm hats and gloves. In addition to the strain that this cave setting was putting on them, there was also the fear that their materials, their food and water, was beginning to grow once again, scarce. They drank only from the cleanest looking puddles and small, dripping waterfalls emerging from the rock, not wanting to waste their bottled water. The comforting and familiar flavour of almond water filled their mouths. It was cold and refreshing and only slightly tampered with dirt.The spiders were the first thing that began to cause the children to despise this level. No one likes spiders, especially not young kids. And especially not when the spiders are clustered in immense groups, crawling across your soaked shoes and skin. The spiders began to grow more confident as the children continued down the randomly chosen tunnels. They began crawling into the children’s bags, making a home in their pockets. No matter how many times the children slapped the spiders away, dumped out their bags, stepped on, squished, terrorized the arachnids, more always kept coming. Luckily, the children didn’t suffer from arachnophobia and so though the spiders were a nuisance, that is all they were. Eventually, the children began to ignore the existence of the eight legged insects. They were too small to bite and they didn’t seem like they wanted to do any more harm than take up the children as taxis.Occasionally, larger, hairier spiders attempted to attack the children, which was quite terrifying. They had large pincers and actually looked like they could do some damage. But the children would shake them off, and squish them under their steel-toed boots. They were manageable. They had dealt with worse.As they continued walking, they neared another puddle that was darker and appeared thicker than the commonly found ones. It was more of a small pool than a puddle, and appeared to be filled with some sort of viscous substance, similar to that of tar. Curious as always, the children attentively approached the pool and inspected it, dipping their fingers into the surprisingly warm, almost hot, liquid. When they withdrew their fingers, they were coated in the black, sticky liquid.The pool began to puddle and movement could be seen slightly beneath the liquid. Slowly, almost enchantingly, hands began to emerge from the pool. They were covered in this liquid, and it was impossible to determine whether the hands were connected to a larger body or simply a part of the pool. The hands were human like, with the classic four fingers and a thumb. The hands reached out, first slowly, but began picking up speed as the children began to grow uneasy, as if sensing their fear. The hands reached out and suddenly, leapt at and grabbed Rue by her neck, attempting to drag her under the pool.Though the pool had been hot when Rue had dipped her fingers in, these hands were cold, icy cold. Thimble quickly reacted and grabbed a blade, beginning to slice at the hands. They fell apart as if made of sand, but continued to be remade and continued to attack the children. Luckily, the hands could not reach out far enough to grab any of the children once they had stepped a few meters away from the pool. The hands stopped, wiggled around and then exploded into the liquid, dripping back into the pool, ceasing to exist and returning to the tar-like puddle.Rue had some marks around her neck, slight bruises that had already begun to swell, but she told the others that it did not hurt and that she was fine and that she had anticipated this, and the children believed her because Rue had never lied in her life and they had learned to trust her in here. They were considered by the fact that though she had anticipated the attacks, she had still let it occur. The truth was that the encounters the children had endured in the ocean had put more of a strain on Rue than she would ever admit. She had appeared so stoic and calm in the face of that giant fish, but in reality she had been absolutely terrified, especially fearful that she wouldn't be able to save DJ.Because of this, she wasn’t listening quite as attentively to the music of this world. And because of this she had been missing certain significant things that could have granted them a better chance of survival. For instance, if Rue had been more in tune, she would have known exactly which tunnels and caving corridors to go down to so that they might find the 9th path. This way, they would be able to make their exit out of the caves much easier. She now knew that it was too late to backtrack, as some sort of creature was prowling through the necessary pathways they would need to follow to get to the 9th path. She did not tell the others this, because she was worried they would grow angry and not find her valuable any more.They continued to walk. They make their way to a larger tunnel that broke off into almost a chamber. It appeared as if the ceiling of this chamber had collapsed in on itself many eons ago, as the floor was littered with boulders and rubble and the ceiling was much farther up than the others had been. But this was not the most interesting part of the large tunnel. Not by a long shot.In the middle of the chamber, in front of the entrance to the next part of the continuous tunnel was a rock. A large rock. A floating rock. It was about the width of a twin side bed and the height of a double decker. Near this large rock were small pebbles also floating in mid air.This bamboozled the children and excited them, as they had never seen something like this before, something that so boldly disobeyed the laws of gravity. DJ reached out and touched one of the pebbles. Luckily, he wasn’t so innocent as to attempt to touch the largest floating rock. As soon as he touched the pebble, it fell to the ground, as if it had been in a trance, and DJs simple prod had drawn it back to reality. The children all made a note to not touch the floating boulder, for if they did, there was a good chance it would also plummet and cause quite a bit more mayhem than the boulder.This proved to be difficult. The boulder was floating, but not so high as to float above the head of a child, and neither were the pebbles. For fear of causing a chain reaction, the children decided to not touch any floating rock they might see. So, to be sure of this, they lay down in their belly’s and began dragging themselves across the floor to the opening of the next tunnel, like snakes. It was incredibly slow and awkward work, especially since they had to also take off their backpacks so as not to awaken any of the lower floating pebbles. But they eventually made it, waved goodbye to the giant floating boulder, and continued walking through the caving tunnel.This was certainly not the only strange rock formation they came across throughout the caves. A couple hours after the gravity denying rock, they were met with even stranger statues and an even stranger, and larger, caving network.Funnily enough, it was raining. Of course this didn’t seem possible in a cave such as this, where they had not been able to see any inkling of sky since they had arrived here. But nevertheless, it rained. The wind blew loudly and there were clouds near the ceiling. There was a dim aura in this room, lighter than usual, as if they were walking through the earlier hours of the night. It shook the children to their core, made them even colder than they previously had been, which had been quite cold. They hadn’t brought umbrellas. They were used to being wet, though. So they continued.That’s when they saw them.This cave had some sort of strange affinity for hands, evidently. First the hands emerging from the puddle of tar and now this. Thousands upon thousands of what had once been stalagmites were now, well, were now hand shaped features reaching up from the floor. Once again, humanoid, with four fingers and a thumb. The hands sometimes were clustered together, sometimes some, sometimes on the ceiling, the floor, the walls, always reaching.It was … unsettling, to say the least. The hands ranged in size, from as thick as a tree to the size of a normal hand. And the hands were intricate, as if carved from the most talented sculptor. If you looked extremely close at the hand-rocks, you might even see finger prints, individual finger prints, each unique. It didn’t seem possible that these structures would form naturally, but what else could have created them.This cavern wasn’t empty of all animals. The first creatures the children would see in the caves, other than spiders, of course, were here. There were two main creatures that could be seen scuttling around, feeding on the moss that grew off of the hands.The first was a small crustaceans species that appeared similar to a centipede slash fish. It had many legs, was long like an insect, had pincers and antennae, and also multiple scales running off its back. It was small and weird and appeared harmless. The other creature was substantially cuter.It looked like a miniature elephant, with a trunk that appeared to be more of a hand shape than a tube, and a body which was far more square shaped than the original elephant body. The little elephant was fat and had two small horns growing from its head. It was gray and lumpy and spent its time shading its hand-trunk to pick the moss off of the hand structures.The creatures mainly ignored the children as they walked through the cavern. A few elephants lay down expecting cuddles like a cat, and cuddles they got.Unfortunately, this strange cavern was not void of predatory entities. During one of the children’s pauses, while they were cuddling a family of small elephants, they heard a noise and looked behind them. What they saw brought a a tear to their eyes.A humanoid, four armed, hairy, brown thing with large white eyes and a gaping maw was stuffing a squealing tiny elephant into its mouth. The children wondered how they had not seen this beast before, but their question was quickly wandered when the entity noticed the children watching and changed colours, blending into the rock behind it. Though now that it had been spotted, it was not invisibly and they knew it was coming straight towards them and the family of little elephants. They took off, each grabbing an elephant before they ran. They knew they couldn’t save them all, but at least these ones, this happy family with the cutest, tiny babies.Rue and Tiki noticed around the same time, which of course was a slow reaction time for Rue, that the creature must be blind, as it continuously bumped into the hand structures and flung its own arms around the guide itself. Besides, it’s white eyes stayed dull and empty. Tiki and Rue both picked up some rocks off the ground and threw them away, towards the far left. The beast stopped, perked its ears and turned around, running towards the crashing sound. This gave the children just enough time to run as far away as they could until they found an exit leading to the next series of cave passages, empty of hand stru cut urea. They set the tiny elephants down, patted them on the head, gave them a kiss goodbye, and went on their journey. Part of them wished they could take the family along with them, treat them as pets, but they knew that they were already growing hungrier and their food shortage was becoming a more pressing matter. They barely had enough to take care of themselves, nevertheless a family of tiny elephants. On they went.They went down the tunnel, continued following the twists and turns, and continued growing farther away from the 9th path. They weren’t paying attention anymore, still thinking about the cutest little elephants that ever lived. So they completely ignored the strange occult hieroglyphs carved into the nearby cave walls, were so distracted that they didn’t see the giant web that they had walked into until the spiders were crawling over their face and into their nostrils.They screamed and began swiping at their faces, but those small spiders weren’t what they should have been worrying about. For they had stumbled upon a lair. A devilish lair. A lair that would surely bring impending doom. The lair … of the SPIDER QUEEN!Now, the spider queen was the cause of the immense insurgence of spiders that were hoarding the cave. She was large. Much larger than the normal spider. And she was guarded by a matriarchy of soldier spiders. Larger, though not as large as the Spider Queen, venomous spiders dedicated to protecting their one and only queen. And of course, their territory. And the children had just stepped foot into their territory. Which was bad.They now had perceived the children as a threat, who had destroyed their wall. And they were not happy. And they sought revenge.The soldier spiders began scampering towards the children. And even if you don’t have arachnophobia, you still would be deathly afraid of giant spiders with giant pincers spitting venom. So yes, they almost shit their pants. And then they leapt into action.The children bolted. Run, run, run goblins.And run they did. DJ was the one who had the bright idea to try and find some sort of body of water, to ward off the giant spiders. He had remembered when he was really little, whenever spiders were in the bath or the sink, his mom would simply turn on the tap and watch them flap their little legs. Spiders couldn’t swim and they were afraid of the water. At least normal spiders were. He wasn’t so sure the same would be for these mega spiders but no one else had any ideas.They backtracked towards the raining cavern, hoping that maybe a deep crevice had filled with water and created a sort of lake. A lake wasn’t exactly what it was called. More of a flooding. The rain had become a storm and the storm had no other outlet other than to fill the cavern to the brim. Not so much so that it was flooding into other cave territories. There was a small wall that blockaded most of the hand cavern from the continuing tunnel. Just enough to wade in up to your hips and wait. Wait for the spiders to lose interest. It took a VERY long time.8 hours to be exact. 8 whole hours of sitting nervously, sweat dripping down your temples even though it’s freezing out, the cold water lapping at your thighs while you are face to face with the beady eyes of twenty giant spiders or so.They chittered angrily, attempting to make their way into the water before changing their minds and staying strictly on the other side. Eventually, they slowly crept away, frustrated, outraged that their prey had found a way to deceive them, to out run them.The children waited two more hours until they left the wet expanse of flooding. They considered themselves lucky, even though Thimble was pretty sure he had a little bit of frost bite in his left toes. Getting eaten by spiders would have been a pretty painful way to go. Badass, but painful nevertheless.The children went in an alternate direction than they had originally from this spot, away from the mother spider cave and towards something hopefully much more encouraging.After around another day of trudging through cave walls and thin tunnels, the sight of grass, moss, plants growing up from the floor like a busy field was enough to make a grown man cry. Now this was something to look forward to, no matter how strange it appeared. The gravity seemed to be extremely glitchy in this section of the cave, for small rats crawled on the ceiling and lived their lives upside down. On the floor was a bed of vegetation, supposedly supplied from the rat droppings that fell from above. Giant mushroom trees were frequent across the ground and it was all just a wonderful utopia of flowers and life. It was bright too, though there was no noticeable outlet for any natural light.The children were starving. And they didn’t know what to do. But all they saw was mushrooms and plants and strange fruit and they wondered what was worse: dying from starvation or poison.Tiki noticed one of the mushroom species as edible from a book of foraging she had taken out of the library in the 4th grade, so they quickly harvested as much of those mushrooms as possible, making sure to avoid any other suspicious plants. They ate and stuffed the mushrooms in their bags for safekeeping. It was a short term solution but it was good enough for now.They decided to fall asleep on the nice fur bed of moss. They slept soundly that night for more than 13 hours. I’m sure they would have slept through the whole day if not for the earthquake like tremors that shook them awake.The ground trembled as they all stood up and gathered their things. The left wall specifically was shaking, and pieces of the rock had begun falling and breaking onto the ground. The left wall completely split open and a large, pale male face peaked out. The face was attached to a worm-like torso instead of a humanoid body. The creature was very large and very long and slithered towards them similar to a snake. It appeared to have used its body and head as a drill to pile through the rock wall.It opened its mouth wide to reveal humanoid teeth. Somehow, the creature’s similarities to the hominids made it even more terrifying. Also the gigantic size. It was all breathtaking. So much to behold. It spun around as it slithered, or at least its head did as a wheel.It opened its mouth even wider in a ghastly smile. It was coming straight towards them. Once again, they were running. But this time it seemed much more difficult to out maneuver this creature. Even if it was too big to fit through any holes or slim tunnels they might crawl through, it would just destroy anything in its path.Still, crawling into an enclosed space did slow down the wrangler some, so the children found an extremely tight hole to wait out in. It wasn’t enough. The wranglers giant head kept mashing on the front of the hole, learing at them, making this horrible chittering noise.Looking into the worm persons white evil eyes struck a chord in Rue’s stomach. She grabbed two rocks and began striking them against each other.“I need a stick!” She shouted. “Or something flammable.”Thimble opened his bag and found some paper, but there were no sticks to be seen. “This is all we got.”“It’ll have to do.” Rue shouted, continuing to strike the rocks together. Hurriedly, she generated a spark, and the spark became a flame lit upon the paper. Thimble grabbed more of pieces of paper and allowed the fire to spread. Now they had small balls of flaming cardstock.“It’s gonna hurt but we’re gonna have to throw the paper at the worm!” Rue shouted. “Pick it up fast and get rid of it quickly so it doesn’t scorch your hand. Cover your hand with leather or something less flammable.” The others listened and began throwing the flaming paper at the worm. It seemed like a feeble attempt at attack, but something about the fire utterly terrified this creature. They continued to generate more fire stricken papers and though their fingers were burning and the smoke was closing their eyesight, they did not stop until the worm had screeched and drawn away in fear, burrowing back into the cave, slithering someplace else.They attended to their wounds. Luckily, the burns weren’t so bad, and they had plenty of gauze and med packs to heal them. They drank some more water, this time from their bottles, and nervously left the cave.As they continued on, they noticed the giant gaping hole that the human work had created in its escape and were even more grateful for their means of offense. Rue was in a better mood than she had been since she had stepped foot in this place. She had regained her usefulness. She was no longer a piece of garbage. She now had a purpose once again. Her hands, of course, had maintained the most amount of burns but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she could still protect them.More walking. You know the drill.They left the vegetation of the strange gravitationally inept hallways and made their way back to the normal caves. They walked through the average halls for some time more until they saw a light up ahead in the distance and the sound of running water.It was a large stream. Glowing bacteria and fungi frequented the stream bed and the water, causing it to be a heavy glow of shimmering lights. Fish swam in the stream. Strange fish with strange features but fish nevertheless. They even managed to catch a few and cook them for dinner. And there were shrimp, which were harder to catch but delicious once you did.But hidden under the stream was something even better than food. It was a guide.Tiki saw something shining in the water, an orb, and pointed it out to DJ who was willing to wade in up to his knees and investigate. He reached down to touch the glowing orb. His hand passed right through it and as soon as it did, the orb began to glow brighter and whizzed up out of the stream. It began to dance and tinkle and sway. It was like an angel. So beautiful and innocent. Was it an animal? Or a trick of the light?It started to whizz down the tunnel. “It wants us to follow it.” Rue said. And it did seem to give off a beckoning aura. So the children did follow it down the hallways, left and right. Whenever the halls split up into multiple paths, the orb would never hesitate and unsteady confidently choose a path to go down. It was easy to follow as it produced a light that was impossible to not notice in the dead of the cave. And it also produced a tinkling music.Around 5 hours of following this orb led to salvation. The orb stopped suddenly in its track and floated near a sign they had never seen before. Thimble had been wondering at first if they had been going in circles but his unease was quenched at the sight of this wooden sign.It read: WELCOME TO THE 9th ROAD. Help is ahead. Stay strong.Markers could be seen up ahead, continuing to guide one down this 9th path. Rue breathed in relief. They had found it. Not because of her, but that was ok. They had found it. The glowing orb dipped and swirled and accepted the children’s thanks. Then it flew away and the children followed this 9th path.This path seemed much safer. There were no spiders, no floating rocks, the gravity was normal, everything seemed normal. They only walked for one more day before the tunnel narrowed and they finally emerged from the cave out onto a dark, suburban street. When they looked behind them, it was as if they had emerged from a house, with the door wide open. A simple, small house.Were they finally free? Was this the normal world? Had they made it? Of course not.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was dark out. But a different kind of dark. This was different from anywhere they had been before. There was not a ceiling above them, and though the streets seemed to go on forever, they were not enclosed in a building. There were stars in the sky. There was even a moon. There was a cool breeze drifting across their faces. They were outside.They were standing in the middle of a paved road. On the left and right were stone sidewalks, and beyond that stood houses of all different shapes and sizes, supposedly middle class. There were no cars. In front of the houses were nicely trimmed yards filled with gardens and trees and short green grass. Ever so often, a dimly lit street lamp was dispersed. The lamps flickered ominously.The children were shocked by this strange place. They began to hoot with joy and laughter. They had made it. Surely this was the world they had come from originally. Though it was different from the neighborhood they had grown up in, it was still eerily familiar. Eerily normal.The children hugged each other tightly and wondered which house they should knock on first. It must have been the dead of night, for they couldn’t see anyone walking the streets or any cars driving across the road. They felt awkward waking up civilians from a few rest and didn’t want to be a bother, but they couldn’t wait any longer. They wanted to go home as soon as possible. They wanted to reunite with their families, apologize for leaving them, and promise to never take for granted their comfortable lives again.Rue wasn’t so sure about all of this. She was more concerned by the queries of this place than the others. There were no cars. None at all. No people. It was so quiet. There were no dogs, no squirrels running up the trees. And the moon that was shining in the sky, it didn’t seem like their moon. “Be careful.” She warned the others. “Don’t get too excited just yet. Stabilize yourself.”“What do you mean?” Tiki asked as she wandered over to a green house with a wooden door and a brass doorbell. “We’ve made it out. Stop acting so glum.”“I just want us to remain ready for anything that could happen. Ok?”“Rue’s right.” Thimble said, walking forward and laying a hand on Tiki’s shoulder. “We should still prepare ourselves for anything peculiar. Everyone remain tepid.”Tiki sighed and nodded, before rapping her knuckle on the door they were standing in front of. There was no sender. She rapped again, louder this time. Then she tried the doorbell. It didn’t work. She looked behind at the others who shrugged. Then Tiki tried the door knob. It was unlocked.The door swung open with an ominous creak of its hinges. Tiki slowly walked inside the house, with the others following behind her. She called out. “Hello? Is anyone home?” Once again, no answer. She yelled a little louder. Simply silence.Rue found a light switch and attempted to flip it on, but it seemed like the electricity was out. It made sense as they had seen no power lines on the street.The house seemed like an average, upper middle class house. They were currently in the living room, which had a couch, a tv, nice rug and picture frames on the wall. The pictures were supposedly of a family, a mom, dad, and two children, but the faces in the picture were scratched out. In every single family picture, it looked like someone had set a sharpie against the glass and etched out the family's faces. It was disturbing.The children meandered about the two story house. They found a master bedroom and the kid’s bedroom, bathrooms, a kitchen and a dining room. All of these rooms were nicely furnished with family pictures on the wall. In the kitchen, the refrigerator was even stocked full of food, fruits and meat and water. Snacks filled the cupboards as well. The children wisely stacked their bags with food to the brim.There was no electricity throughout the house. None of the lamps turned on, none of the lights. The phones didn’t work. Neither did the tv. But other than that, things seemed to be working just fine.By now the children had begun to suspect that this place wasn’t their escape, that they hadn’t been freed from their perpetual prison, that this was simply another layer. But they still held out hope.They left the house and travelled to one next door. That day they explored 15 houses. It was all the same. Though the decor was different, the sizes, shapes and colours varied, and the amount of people in the individual families changed from house to house, the important things remained. There were no people. No cars. No electricity. And all of the family photos had been scratched out.That night, the children were still grateful to fall asleep on real beds, real mattresses with pillows and blankets. They were grateful to have eaten a full meal. They were grateful to feel full. And they still held out hope that someone would come and save them. But their hope was diminished and they knew in their hearts that this word was tainted by evil, same as all the others.Two days passed by. The children continued to explore the houses and stocked up on food. They found everyday things in the houses such as toys, jewellery, art supplies, cooking supplies. Even money, not that that would prove helpful to them.The road stretched out for eons, the scarcely planted trees shook in the wind. It was always night. The sun never rose. The moon remained high and mighty. The lamp lights flickered on the street. Other than the disturbing aura, things were relatively safe. That is, until the third day came.This day was different. A fog had come to the town and settled across the roads, in the yards. It was a thick fog that brought with it the scent of burning rubber. The wind blew louder when displaced in the fog and with it also came a freezing cold. Fortunately, the children could hide out in the houses, but the fog did not leave. It remained, obscuring their vision and drifting through the town, following them.The longer the fog remained, the louder the roaring wind grew, almost bellowing in the children’s ears.The night after the arrival of the fog, while the others were fast asleep in a random house they had chosen to camp out in, Rue was sitting and looking out a window at the growing fog. She shivered in fear. Suddenly, the sound of unquenchable child laughter and cheering could be heard, quite clearly. It should have been horribly disturbing to hear in a sullen place like this, but instead it did the exact opposite for Rue. It brought her a sense of calm. She looked up at the sky and saw hundreds of colourful kites, varying in shape and colour, flying through the air, passing the house. It felt like a warning. Like the colourful kites were on their side, trying to help them. Trying to wake them. They flew farther away to the left of the house and Rue squinted out the window, trying to sense what they were flying towards. She saw a large shadow, large and glaring, far off in this distance. She knew right away that they had to leave.She quickly woke the others up. They were groggy at first, especially DJ, but they had grown accustomed to random disturbances in sleep, and immediately leapt into action. They grabbed their bags, and left the house, travelling in the opposite direction of where the colourful kites had been heading. The kites were no longer there, and the laughter had dispersed. In their place, was a stream of confetti barely visible in the distance, plummeting downwards. And of course the towering shadow. It was huge, larger than a tree in an old forest, with four limbs it walked on similar to a dog, though it was far too humanoid. It was tall, its legs were thin and spindly. This was just the creature's shadow far off, but it seemed as if the monster was growing closer. So the children ran quicker, as far away from the creature as they could.The creature seemed to have spotted them, and began crawling forward in an unnatural way. It let out a large scream, similar to the sound of roaring wind. The scream shook the children’s minds, attempting to cleanse them, but they plugged their ears and kept running. The thing chased them. It was far quicker. Seeing as its individual legs were the size of Thimble’s whole body. It was very spider-like, scuttling through the buildings, climbing over the houses, screaming louder and louder. Its skin sagged and flapped as it chased them. It was getting closer.Out of the corner of her eye, Tiki noticed a blue silhouette flapping through the air. As the silhouette drew closer, a hoard of people in long cloaks wearing bird masks emerged from the darkness, following the blue macaw parrot.“Look?” Tiki cried! “It’s Jerry!” The others looked up and noticed the bird. It cawed bravely and flew over to Rue, landing on her shoulder.“Hi baby!” Rue said with a smile, scratching the bird's head. The hoard of cultists stopped in front of the children.“Jerry has brought us here to help you.” Said one of the lead cultists. “Though I am not sure why you are important to our leader, our master, the wonderful god, we will blindly obey his will. ALL HAIL JERRY!” The other cultists echoed his chant and the children joined, nodding and trying not to laugh.The parrot rose up and cawed loudly. “Do not be afraid.” Said the lead cultist, stepping closer to Rue and putting a hand on her head. “We will save you. Jerry will save you. We need no thanks.” And with that, the hoard, led by Jerry himself, started running straight at the towering beast, which was growing even closer.“Are they gonna be ok?” Tiki asked timidly, watching them run, their cloaks billowing in the wind.Thimble shrugged. “Let’s get out of here. And Rue? Thank your bird friend for me?” Rue nodded, grinning, and the children ran in the opposite direction of the monster, weaving through houses and yards, until they could no longer hear the roaring of its call.To be honest, Rue had doubted that Jerry or his bird cult would ever hold up their end of the bargain, but their rescue today had calmed the storm in her mind. She hoped that those who had risked their lives for her and her friends were safe, but she had a feeling that they would be able to conquer that monster. Strength in numbers. And if not, they would die doing what they loved most: serving Jerry. But they wouldn’t die. No. They were just fine.That night the children entered another empty house that seemed almost identical to all the others, except for a colourful glow illuminating from within the windows. Though too tired to investigate the glow, they promised to do so after they rested and fell asleep on linen sheets. After they woke up, they raided the pantry, and looked through the jewelry box that was set on the nightstand. DJ saw it first. It was a necklace with a large silver and crystal pendant. The thin chain was made out of some sort of sleek metal with a small clasp at the back. But the pendant was of most interest. A large opal crystal was embedded into the center of the pendant and silver leaves emerged from the crystal, warping and wrapping in strange and hypnotizing ways. It was beautiful and radiated with energy.At first DJ was excited to show his findings to the others, but as he gazed longer at the jewel, he immediately grew protective of it, much like Golem and The Ring. This was something that DJ could keep just for himself. Everything they had found in this place, they had had to share. But this wasn’t something necessary for survival. It was just a pretty trinket. So why should DJ feel guilty about not sharing it with the others. DJ unlocked the clasp on the back and wrapped the dainty necklace around his neck, clicking the clasp back into place. He tucked the pendant under his sweater collar and then wandered back to the others, who were crowding around the pantry feasting on some chocolate bars they had recently discovered.“Did you find anything?” Tiki asked DJ in between bites.DJ shook his head and the others paid no mind. They had no idea that far away, the Neighborhood Watch was awakening with an insatiable hunger and a need to retrieve what had been taken.When the children had eaten their fill and gathered their materials, they kept walking through the road aimlessly searching for some kind of exit.Thimble saw the creature out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought he was hallucinating, and attempted to blind away the shadow, but the beast remained and Thimble slowly realised it truly was there. It was a large floating eyeball, staring lifelessly at the children. It was lurking in the shadows, behind one of the leafier trees, but when you took notice of it, it was clear as day.Thimble alerted the others and the children paused, not sure whether this creature wished to cause them harm or not. Unfortunately, the latter presented itself for as soon as the floating eye realised that it had been spotted, it emerged from its hiding spot and sent a beam of light spiraling towards them from its iris. Luckily, the children were able to dodge, and the beam zapped a large tree that had been set beside the children. The tree immediately turned to dust in the blink of an eye. The eye began speeding towards them and the children took off, weaving in between trees and lamps, attempting to bamboozle the floating eye. But the eye was quick and intelligent.It seemed to be waiting for something. A larger eye emerged from behind a house, this time with large insect-like legs. A second floating eye also came into sight. The children were cornered by these learning beasties.Thimble took out his gun and started firing at the floating organs of sight. When the bullets hit the larger figure with long insect legs, the creature reeled back hissing and screeching. But for some reason, the bullets appeared to do no harm to the floating vessels, bouncing off them like rubber. It only seemed to enrage the beasts, encouraging them to shoot more eye beams.And the children were growing tired of running. DJ was bursting with hatred and fear. All he wanted was to be left alone by these evil entities, but everywhere they went, the children were followed by strange, creepy creepers. He was growing sicker of it by the second. He wished with all his might that these floating eyes would just disappear.And with the wishing of his, DJ’s new necklace began to glow and alleviate off his chest. The floating eyeball creatures grew horrified by the sight, their iris’ widening. And then, with a pop, the largest of the eyes disappeared. Out of thin air. Like it had never been there before.The two other creatures roared with anger. DJ felt a weight on his chest, and looked down at the necklace. He knew what to do. He willed himself and the necklace to eliminate the other enemies, and they too disappeared with a pop.With every entity that went missing, DJ grew more and more exhausted. The weight was filling him up and pulling him down towards the center of the earth, or whatever this place was. But he knew he had to continue until all the threats had been eliminated.The popping sound was loud, and seemed to draw forth more of these eyeball creatures, both levitating and those with long legs. No matter how many DJ spent spiraling into nothingness, five more appeared angry and ready to put an end to the children.At this point, Rue had put two and two together and understood that they were not what these creatures were after, but instead they wished to regain control of the glowing, levitating necklace DJ was wearing, which he must have been using to cause these creatures to disappear. Thimble and Tiki slowly understood this too, though not as fully.When DJ eventually collapsed upon the ground, his face pale and slick with sweat, his breathing shallow, the weight of all those entities he had sent into oblivion too heavy for his little shoulders to carry, Tiki ran over to the unconscious body and ripped the necklace off of his chest. She wasn’t sure what to do with it, but she had a feeling that if they got rid of the necklace, they would reach safety. Tiki ran over to Rue and thrust the necklace into her hand. She trusted her to get them out of this.Rue nodded and stepped forward, closer to the giant eyeballs, holding the necklace out in her hand. It wasn’t glowing anymore, but it pulsed, beating like a heavy heart. The eyes irises widened once more at the sight and slunk closer. If they had hands, they would surely be pawing at it.“This is yours.” Rue yelled, her voice bold and raw. “This is not ours.”The eyeballs paused and levitated slightly higher, than don again, seemingly nodding.Rue nodded in return. “We are sorry we took it. We did not understand. Now we do. You can have it if you do not harm us.”The eyeballs slinked closer. “We do not want it.”She stared at the eyes, glaring them down, and then tossed the necklace towards them. One of the eyes with the long, insect-like legs, sprang forward and lifted one of its limbs, catching it out of the air. It blinked at Rue, sort of, and then led the charge away from the children, back into the shadows towards some house far off down the path. Perhaps to put it once again in its place.DJ had not yet woken up, so Thimble picked him up and slung him over his shoulder like a piggy back ride.They walked a bit longer, maybe for one more day, resting in another house, though not searching through the fridges or raiding the jewelry boxes. In the morning, when DJ had awoken, they scolded him for his mistake. They weren't so angry. Thimble and Tiki understood what had gone through his mind, and thought that if they were the ones who had found the necklace, then they would have made the same mistake. DJ sulked a little bit longer about the loss of his necklace, the stripping of his new found superpowers, but he was too tired to really throw a tantrum of any worth. And besides, Thimble said he would keep giving DJ a piggyback for another few hours.They followed the road until they came across a pathway leading upon a blank expanse of land, almost as if a house should have been there, but had disappeared. The expanse was directly in between two other houses and was simply a grassy field that stretched on wider outwards. The children went down the path and trampled through the field until they decided that this was a new place, until they could no longer see those wretched houses, all different, and yet all made up of the same ash and bones.
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Wheat. Golden hairs of wheat poking up from the christened, moist dirt. So much wheat. Wheat over there, and over there, and over there too. The children had never seen so much wheat in their entire life.They were standing in the middle of a field filled with, as previously stated, pastures of wheat and barley, reaching towards the bright sun and blue, cloudless sky. It was daytime. This was the first thing they noticed which notified them that they had made it out of the creepy city. It was no longer a petrified night. Now, it was a petrified day. Much better!They could see no more lamp posts, or odd identical yet unique houses, or paved roads or pathways leading to green grass. The grass had dispersed little by little, clotted with the residual wheat, and now all you could see was wheat. It was so golden and bright. It was blinding.The ground underneath their feet was damp and squishy, as if it had very recently rained. The children lay down and spread out upon the wheat and barley, making a body-shaped imprint upon the pastures.Unfortunately, because the sun was perpetually shining, it was much harder to fall asleep, no matter how tired the children were. Even when they closed their eyes, the darkness was still halted by the sun.They began to frolick. The frolicking frolickness brought them great frolicking joy. They ran through the barley, kicking up dirt and straw and sawdust. The itchy feathers tickled their knees and shins. Hee hee hee. They giggled.Pan out. You see a sun, blue sky, and children wading through a sea of golden-brown wheat. Pan back in.They walk for an hour. Maybe two. They have no watches. The sun never makes its sluggish path across the sky.A bitter mist rolls in. They see over the horizon a small shed, built haphazardly out of red wooden planks and brick. They venture towards it. Oh what a shed it is. So small and unsturdy with the faint scent of pig manure. There are no pigs though. :(The doorknob is rusty beneath Tiki’s hand, and is stiffly refusing to budge, refusing to open the door to the mediocre shed. Tiki begins violently tugging on the door knob. “Open up slut!” She yells.“What does slut mean?” DJ asks.The doorknob falls off. My integrity as a writer goes dripping down the drain. I’m so sorry. You may skip ahead to the next chapter if you wish, but, I will hate you and eat your first born dog.The children are stunned by the mundanity of the door and trudge inside the glorified closet. It is empty except for a beautifully, gloriously rusty rake, leaning on the left wall. The children are enamored. They are drawn to the rake’s ethereal splendor and caress it fondly. Mmmmmm.They pick it up, lift it from its cobwebby cage, feeling its immense weight underneath their palms, feeling the gritty wood and getting splinters. “Ouch.” Said DJ. They all agreed.DJ volunteers to carry the Rake throughout the rest of their journey. They cannot simply abandon it. They sleep in the shed that night, cradling the Rake close like a new born baby. They get many more splinters, in places they shall not mention.The next morning, they leave the shed with the Rake slung over DJ’s shoulder. They continue to venture onwards.The sun beats down on them, the mist from the day before sizzling away. But as if the gods could sense their plight, a small lake was unveiled, summoned from the ashes of their despair. They burst out of the wheat into knee deep water, and rejoiced in its refreshing opulence. The water is a cool blue, shimmering like lapis underneath the poised sun.They strip down to their undergarments, abandoning their clothes perched on one of the bushes dividing the field of wheat and barley from one another, and leap into the ever-welcoming waters.They relish in the frolickness of the lake. Lots of frolicking spurs. They play marco polo and have chicken fights, Rue on top of Thimble and DJ on top of Tiki. DJ bodyslams Rue into the wheat. Tiki tackles Thimble and mildly drowns him, scarring him for life.When they grow tired, they allow the sun to dry their tanned skin as they pull their clothes back on. They grab Mr. Rake and wash him off. The lake turns a bright red. They continue onwards.In the distance they see a house. It is large and tall and possesses a wrap around porch, with a rocking chair creaking ominously on said porch. The paint is white, or used to be, for the sun has bleached it a pale yellow and the shingles are brown with a blue trim. They jump with excitement and clap their hands. Perhaps they will have an actual bed to sleep in tonight and not a pile of hay in a lame ass shed. They reach out to open the door when they hear a quiet sobbing emanating from behind the door.They hesitate to open it, as the sobbing is met with loud, furious shouting from another. The children grow intrigued, wondering whether they will soon be joined by another group of adventurers. Thimble grabs the door knob and turns it. Rue grabs him by his hair and pulls him back angrily. Thimble is shocked and now has a headache. Rue has never exhibited such ire before.“We must not enter.” Says Rue, is a hushed tone. “The house is empty. It is not for us.” They glance through the windows and take in the antique decor, mournfully discarding the idea of sleeping in not a shed. Besides, the house emits a strange aura that would surely bring them nightmares and death. They trudge away crying.Day does not turn to night in this desolate place. The joy they felt after leaving the city has long since turned to despair. The only thing keeping them hopeful is their precious Rake.A hedge bars their path, and they turn left. Whichever path they wish to take, the hedges begin blocking them, interrupting their flow and meeting them halfway with a deafening Kachow, thou shalt not pass. The hedges seem disrespectful, concealing a greater purpose. The hedges are large, about the size of a barn. Oh yes, a barn. Ridden behind those green spiky leaves, a barn must be standing, concealed beneath the horrors of the hedge. The children must reach the barn! It is their only way to escape this madness with Mr. Rake still intact. They must push through the hedge, like that one Homer Simpson meme. Into the hedge they waltz.They shove through the leaves, poked by little branches and bitten by little fleas. Oh the pain, but it is all worth it, for surely there must be a barn behind the hedge, a reason for the disruption. They shove DJ in first, and he gets stuck in the hedge about halfway, needing an extra push out to the other side. When they emerge from the hedge, there is dirt on their face, sticks and leaves in their hair, and little scratches littering their bodies, leaking little drops of blood. They look for the barn and find that . . .There it is. The barn they knew would surely be waiting for them stands tall and welcoming. Red paint flakes from the bellowing form of the rundown barn. A small fence trails halfway around the building before sinking into the goopy mud, sticking to the children’s shoes. It summons the picture of an old woman milking a cow, and the scent of manure, though no animals from which the feces must have dropped from, wafts through their nostrils. They push aside the rotting gate which squeals on its hinges like an injured pig. One of the shingles fell off the roof and landed in the mud with a squelch, barely missing Thimble’s pretty face. He screams. The others laugh at him and he is sad :(They trot into the barn and let their eyes adjust to the dimly lit, vast expanse of a room. Piles of hay cushion the dirt floor, and along the left wall empty stables sit, lacking a job or purpose. Dirt cakes every surface. Nothing is clean. It is a far cry from the civilised farm house, but it would have to do for the night. Besides, the stacks of hay were basically the same as a bed.DJ roughly shoves Thimble into a pile of yellowing hay, and the unlucky boy erupts into fits of sneezing and coughter. He spasms on the ground, whimpering. The others laugh even more at his disheveled form. Hee hee hee haw.That night, the children’s dreams are laced with farm-like memories from a distant past.DJ dreams of his life long ago as a farm dog herding the cattle with a bark and a bite. Grrrr! He is an Australian shepherd, with a happy expression, always panting. He digs many holes and finds many strange looking skeletons. He becomes famous for his dinosaur fossil hunting, and his discovery of the DJSaur.He lives the rest of his life in a castle made of bones.Tiki dreams of her life as an llama, tall and regal and spitting at children. This is NOT a petting zoo. You may not touch me. She knocks a child out and is euthanized. It’s quite sad.Rue is that one spider from Charlotte's web’s long lost sister. She is even more wise and well read and even better and writing messages in a thread upon the walls. She can also crochet. Her messages are full of gossip and secrets from across the town. She starts her own newspaper and exposes Brian for cheating on his wife with the priest and the milkmaid and his brother.Thimble dreams of his life as a singular blade of wheat. He is constantly sneezing.When they wake up, they mourn their past lives except for Thimble who is eager to leave this fucking place and doesn’t know why they are worshipping a rake.As they are about to leave the barn, Rue notices out of the corner of her eye a rope dangling from one of the many beams holding up the loft, with a knot tied at the bottom. The rope is moulding and disintegrating, but still appears to be intact, and safe enough to ride as a swing.The children run over to it and begin taking turns, jumping onto the rope and swinging out and wide, jumping and crashing into piles of hay, erupting into childish fits of laughter. Thimble stands awkwardly to the side, still in a bad mood from all of the atrocities he had faced in this specific hell.“Don’t be such a sore loser!” Tiki yelled as she swung out and toppled into a particularly large pile of hay and straw. “It’s fun. You’ll be fine.”Thimble shook his head, a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach warning him, but as the children continued to egg him on, Thimble’s pride got the best of him. He pulled the rope back and jumped upon it. The speed was uncontrollable, and the manure-wiped wind pulled and pushed at his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and jumped out.He barely heard the snap of the rope falling with him and he burst out, missing the pile of hay and flying right through, tumbling into a rickety stable and hitting the floor with a smack, rolling forward, still clutching the rope in his left hand. He rolled and toppled deeper, into a small pit dug into the dirt layered upon the floor of the stables.The pit was deep and … writhing?Oh god.Hundreds of worms were squirming and burrowing themselves into Thimble’s flesh, digging deeper into his skin and laying their eggs, eating away at his nutrients. The worms were small and pink and longgggg, wet and hungry. Thimble screamed loudly and leapt up, swatting at the worms that had now made their way under his clothes and were leaching off of his blood. For every single worm Thimble swatted, ten more burrowed deeper. The others ran over to Thimble and when they saw the immense amount of worms inching their way into Thimble’s mouth, ears, nostrils, they screamed too.Tiki pulled Thimble out of the hole and began dusting the worms off his body, pulling them out like leeches. DJ and Rue used the rake to swat at the remaining worms in the hole, killing them.But there were so many, and the worms were angered by this sudden attack, growing hungrier and more violent. They began eating at the rotting wood of the rake, and in just minutes, half of the rake's body had been munched away, now lingering in the worm's stomachs. All that remained was a stubby stick that the young children threw fearfully into the hole before running out of the barn. Thimble and Tiki followed behind, with Thimble’s shirt now being used as a swatter. Eventually, Thimble had rid himself of the worms and was relatively sure they hadn’t had enough time to lay their eggs in a truly concealed spot. His face, arms, every inch of skin was littered with small scars, left behind by those worm’s sharp and tiny teeth, and the holes they had carved.He looked similarly to Jonathan Sims, head archivist of the Magnus Institute, London, except younger and now shirtless. His clothes were also riddled with holes so he changed behind a bush into something more suitable.At this point, the magic of this farm land had worn off. The children were now simply fed up with the never-turning sun, the hedges and small pools of water and were grateful that their precious rake had been eaten. If it had gone on any longer, they may have started a cult.Many hours later, a road began to unearth itself from the wheat as the barley thinned and the path grew more stable. They followed the road down down down and forgot of this place as you should too.I hate this level.
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The skyscrapers towered over the children like domineering gods, glinting in the sunlight of the ever blue sky. It had happened so suddenly, as if the city had grown around them, sprouting like saplings and flourishing into the mighty oaks they were now. If the children hadn’t been hopeful and then, quickly disheartened by the world of the small town they had traversed not recently, they would assume that this was New York or Las Vegas or some other sort of bustling city up in the normal world. But of course, the lack of people, birds or disturbances quickly dampened the sliver of hope that bloomed in the children’s hearts when they first caught sight of the large buildings.All around them, stores, structures and other buildings that you would commonly find in a growing city flourished. The children had never personally travelled to the Big Apple, or any other city of fame, as they had lived their whole young lives in the small town they called home. But this was always how they had pictured it.The road that they had followed slowly birthed a strip of yellow paint, and for fear of getting hit by cars, though this was a laughable phobia in a place such as this, the children had made their ways to the paved sidewalk to their left, which also frequented the light. Traffic lights that flicked from green, to yellow to red stood intermittently throughout the city where the roads interconnected and dispersed.Stores of all shapes and sizes with oddly vague names such as Grocery Store, Drug Store, Bakery, Restaurant, ect, lined the sides of the roads, proudly displaying exactly what they were. The children chose to venture deeper into this city, as it seemed to go on infinitely,and perhaps search for a sign of further civilization. But of course, after exploring the numerous stores they could find.Each building they walked into looked exactly like what would come up in your photo bar if you searched the name of a vague establishment into Google. The restaurants had large tables, a back kitchen filled with food, even a cashier with money, though by now money provided no source of joy.The Grocery Stores were also filled with food, such as chilled fruits and vegetables, candy, bread, granola bars and more. They stalked their bags full and moved on. The Drug Stores had things such as hair brushes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, books and birthday cards.The Bakery was lined with loaves of bread. There was a Pharmacy stocked with medicine of all kinds,some they recognised like Advil and Aleve, some they did not such as Giuhhwerjkg or UTgjkww. There was a Clothing Store which was incredibly helpful, as the children had grown tired of wearing the same four shirts, pants and sweaters. Also, time had passed, and they were beginning to grow out of their shoes and hoodies. They went on a shopping spree, as the Clothing Store surprisingly had a numerous amount of styles and aesthetics.The Toy Store was next for DJ. He got a toy train, some cars, a lego set and an incredibly annoying toy called Tickle Me Shmelmo, with a strange name that brought them memories from the past.After that they went back to the Drug Store, because Tiki insisted she wanted to try out some pink highlights. They dyed her hair in the Drug Store bathroom.They walked past a Liquor Store and one thing came to another. Underage drinking is a no go, and besides, the drinks weren’t even laced with alcohol, but the children all pretended they were, and woke up with no memory of how they had gotten there.They slept in Apartments, for there were no houses in the city. They slept in the most luxurious Hotels. They swam in the Pool, read in the Library, stared at a black screen in a Movie Theatre. They ate and drank and were ultimately merry. This place was great. It had it all. Except for actual people. It was safe, as they had come across no strange monsters or entities yet. If they closed their eyes, they could almost pretend that they were in the normal world.They continued to explore. They saw many structures that were similar to important structures in the real world, but with a slight twist, like the alternate dimension didn’t want to get sued. There was a rip off eiffel tower, statue of liberty, science world (heh heh Canada), great wall of China that was kinda short, and more. If they had phones, they would have taken cheesy pictures in front of the structures like tourists.They had found a Device Store, but none of the phones or computers seemed to be working. No electricity worked, except what powered the stop lights.What else? Hmmmmm.There was an empty School, Bank, Mall, Gym, Museum, Theatre, Car Store, Bed Store, Pet Store, Makeup Store. It was all so utterly normal and yet … and yet. It was empty. All of it barren, clean, it had no soul. No one had lived in it, muddied it, loved it. Everything there was fake, the teddy bears and the books were all dead inside,deader than something simply inanimate. They hadn’t been made, crafted. They had been summoned.No one had worn the golden necklace, no one had played with the toy train, slept on the bed, swam in the pool. Each step they took was probably the first step in that place. And this hadn’t disturbed them so much in other dimensions, like the field, or the hotel, or the caves or the town. But here, for some reason here, in a place that was supposed to be busy, cluttered, dirty and sad, the lack thereof was just depressing.It made its final rounds when a car rolled down the street, a simple black car, not driving, just rolling, not turning or waiting, not emitting any sound or fluctuation. It rolled slowly at a snail's pace, and even though everything about it, even the figure inside, the emptiness of it all, should have immediately notified the children, they were still hopeful and rushed over to the car.It didn’t stop rolling. It didn’t stop for them. It wouldn’t stop for them. It would forever roll down those streets, and the faceless man sitting emotionless by the wheel, sitting and staring with no eyes, looking out on the expanse. When the children saw the figure, they ran faster towards the rolling car, ripped open the door, hopped in, turned to face the man. They had seen one of these before. The faceless, staring empty out into the expanse, eyeless, void of emotion.He wasn’t angry. He didn’t grow violent. He didn’t even acknowledge they were there. He just sat until they got out of the car, closed the door, and let the car roll away. They couldn’t stay here. They didn’t want to. They had never said the words out loud “Let’s stay. It’s basically the same.” But they had all been thinking. And this washed that away and they stopped looking at the city with wonder, entering each individual store and crowing with excitement. “I found a nail clipper!” or “Look how cute this hat is.” They took what they needed, the necessities, the food, the clothes, the water, and they kept walking, looking for something different.Squelching, screams, bubbling gasps and moans for mercy. The children overheard all of this several hours later, as they were walking through the city, mindlessly talking about their lack of dreams, what they missed and what they didn’t. They paused at these sounds, and the hairs on the backs of their necks raised when they saw a pool of blood creeping out from behind a large building. They decided to investigate. Maybe it was a real person who needed help.A tall man, or at least the form of him, wearing a long black cloak that wisped against the ground, was shoving a long silver spear into the bleeding body of a middle aged man with a beard and beady eyes. The screams of the man were pathetic and should have made the children feel empathetic, feel sad, feel something. But they didn’t. They watched as the cloaked figure drove the spear ever deeper into the man’s chest. He spat up blood. “Stop.” He wheezed. “I haven’t done anything to … to deserve this.”A chilling laugh bubbled up from the hooded man as he unsheathed the spear from the man’s chest and raised it above him. “You are a sinner. You are the worst kind of person. You do not deserve to live, tainting this world with your cruelty and selfish ways. This is exactly what you deserve.” The hooded man’s voice seemed to emanate from all around them. It was cold and raspy and held absolutely no mercy. Then, without flinching, the hooded man drove the spear down the bearded prey’s throat, through the back of his head.The victim screamed, which faded to a gurgle, which faded to a whisper and then nothing. The body slumped on the ground, now a corpse. The hooded man leaned down and awkwardly kissed the corpse on his forehead before closing the corpse’s eyes manually. At this strange act of compassion, Tiki let out a small gasp, soft and quiet, barely noticeable, like the gasp of a mouse.But the hooded man darted upward and turned to face the building the children were hiding before them. He was not like the faceless, he had a mouth, a nose, an expanse where his eyes should have been. But it was like they had been pried out with spoons and the scars had healed long ago. Still, he was handsome, with a chiseled jawline and long dark hair. As he laid his lack of eyes on the children, they didn’t dare to move, dare to breathe. They were frozen, not with fear. They didn’t fear this figure, which was strange as they had just watched him absolutely annihilate some random dude. They were frozen with awe.When he looked at them, it was as if a hundred eyes were taking them in, the eyes of gods and devils and angels, the eyes of all that lived on this planet. He held their gaze sternly and they couldn’t look away. It was impossible. His gaze was magnetic, and they knew they were being judged, all of their deeds were being weighed on an invisible scale.After what could have been years, or hours, or seconds, the hooded man strode towards them, his cowl billowing in the nonexistent breeze like some superhero. He smiled, warmly though not confidently and stopped a few feet away from them, as if he did not wish to scare them.There was a moment of silence. “...hi?” Tiki said with a small wave.The figure nodded and waved back. “I won’t hurt you.” He told them.“We know.” Rue responded. The figure paused and then nodded again.“I am Argos. That man you saw me … well…”“let brutally drown in his own blood?” Thimble said.“I would say … eliminate. He wasn’t a good person, children. He had done horrible things. Unspeakable atrocities. He wasn’t like you. He wasn’t a good person. And if I didn’t do something he would have continued wreaking havoc and hurting people. I would never do something like that to you.” The children could hear the figure cracking his fingers under those heavy sleeves.“We understand.” Rue said after a moment. “We have seen our fair share of brutality. I’m sure you did what you had to do.”“How old are you?” The man said, suddenly concerned.The children shrugged. “I’m the oldest.” Said Thimble, stepping forward. “I was fourteen but … it’s been a while and there’s no calendar in this place.”The figure shook his head. “Horrible. Just horrible.”“It’s not so bad.” Added Tiki.DJ nodded eagerly. “Train.” He said, showing the man his toy.“Do you need …” the man paused. “Would you like to come with me? I know of some other children around your age wandering around this place. It may be better for you to stick together. And, well, I could brew you some tea if you would like. You could relax for a bit. We could talk.”Thimble looked at the others and then back at the hooded man. They had no reason to trust him. They had just witnessed him dismember a person. But they were tired, and the mention of other kids, kids their age, real people, was exciting. Besides, who could deny tea? Worst came to worst, he would eat them. That wasn’t so bad.Rue nodded. “We would love that.” she said with a kind smile. The figure nodded and smiled back.“Follow me.” He began walking forward and the children ran to catch up. They walked for little more than half an hour, silently weaving through the buildings, through the labyrinthine streets. Argos seemed to know this place like the back of his hand. Every so often he would attempt to make small talk, saying things like “The weather is nice today,” or “I think I saw a bird. Oh no wait. It was just a bird shaped cloud.” But other than that, the stroll was relatively quiet.Still, there was not an awkward stillness to the quiet. Instead, the children felt comforted by it, as if they could walk for hours in silence with this stranger and be absolutely content. When they arrived at their destination, the children were almost disappointed as it signified the end of this calming quiet.“Here we are,” Argos said, gesturing to an old sort of police station. It wasn’t large or overwhelming, it was just as it should have been. It looked around 2 stories tall. Argos opened the front door and held it for them as they walked into the building. Their heads craned upwards, mouths agape as they marvelled at the tall ceiling and absolutely colossal waiting room.There were red sofas to the left where several … humans sat reading magazines or picking at their nails. All of the people looked normal except that their hair was all parted the same, in the middle, showing off a tattoo of a third head printed on their forehead. They looked up when the children and Argos entered the room, smiled welcomingly at them, and then resumed their work.To the right was a large brown desk with a computer and a woman sitting behind the desk in a swivel chair. She was dressed business-casual with her hair in a neat bun, but strangely, she had a black blindfold wrapped around her eyes. Argos walked up to the desk and the children followed hesitantly behind him.Argos wrapped lightly on the desk with his pale knuckles and the woman looked up from her computer. She smiled brightly. “Ah. Welcome Great One What are you doing back so early? I thought you said you would be returning around 2.”Argos cracked his knuckles absentmindedly as he talked. “There were some complications.” He turned to look at the children. “Not that you four have any sorts of complications.”The woman, who appeared to be a sort of secretary, craned to look at the children. “And you’ve brought guests. How wonderful.” She smiled once again, showing off her white teeth. She was very pretty.Argos nodded. “Yes. I was going to bring them up to my office. Could you order us some tea? Maybe some chamomile.”“Of course my lord.” The woman said, nodding.“Thank you Belinda. Greatly appreciated.” Argos walked away towards the large elevators settled upon the wall opposite to the doors they had entered by. Stood by the elevators were too burly men, both equipped with the same blindfold the secretary had been wearing. Argos didn’t seem to pay them any mind as he clicked on a button by the elevator board and waited until the elevator doors slowly curved open. He walked inside and beckoned the children to follow.There were 77 levels that Argos could click on in this elevator, including some in the negatives, and he chose the 52nd. The elevator was lined with mirrors and bright music played as they rode upward. When the doors opened he walked into a strange room, medieval almost.There was a giant circular couch in the middle of the room with a cheetah pattern on it. Strange framed photographs lined the walls, along with large stone statues of minotaurs and lions. Argos sat down on the couch and the children did too. It was comfy and sagged under their weight.“So…” Argos said after around a minute, letting the children take everything in. “What has brought you to this place? Where did you come from?”“Well…” Tiki started. “We originally came from a small town in Canada. From the real world.”“This place is real,” said Argos. “Just not your world.”Tiki nodded. “Ok. From our world. But if you were talking about where we had come from last, we were recently exploring this boring golden field. It had a lot of wheat. And worms.”Thimble shivered at this.Argos nodded knowingly. “Ah yes. The bumper crop. Well, I am glad you have your way to my humble paradise. I'm quite surprised you made it so far. What level did you originally spawn in?”DJ spoke up. “It was big and yellow and buzzing.” He giggled.Argos nodded again. “Indeed. The tutorial level is quite large. And you four made it all out. No one got hurt or injured?”Thimble shook his head. “We lost one of us in that place. Mindy. She never emerged.”“I am so sorry for your loss.” Argos replied. The elevator door to the room opened and another woman with a blind fold holding a kettle and small cups entered the room. Argos thanked her as she set the platter down and he poured the tea into the cups for the children as the woman left.He continued. “You are very lucky, though. You have found your way here. You may stay here as long as you’d like. It is very safe and hospitable. A wonderful place to grow up. And there are many welcoming communities I’m sure would welcome you with open arms.Rue shook her head. “I’m sorry. We appreciate the offer but we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. We want to get out of here. We will not stay here.”Argos paused at this. “Are you sure? There is a great chance that the other levels you will stumble upon on your way will be incredibly dangerous.”Thimble nodded. “We’ve made up our minds.”Argos took a sip of his tea and the others followed suit. It was warm and delicious, and travelled down their gullets lighting a hopeful path.“I understand. Well then, I will help you as best as I can. Unfortunately, the way I leave this place will not work for mortals. You see, I was born here and I will die here. So how I travel, well, to put it simply, it would unravel your atoms and dissipate you into the galaxy if your tried. But I know of others, of one, who has found the exit of this place. You will not end up in your reality, but you will leave this city and venture onwards. Perhaps you can find the true exit on another level.”Rue nodded eagerly. “Who is this person?”“His name is Ralph. He owns a Radio Shack not near here. I do not know the way, unfortunately. He guards his radio shack well. But there are other children, children like you, who have discovered the whereabouts of his radio shack. They are his competitors, so it may take some convincing for them to show you the way. But they are young and kind. I have met them and they mean well. I’m sure they would love the company. I can help you find them.”“That would be amazing.” Thimble said, taking another sip of his tea.Tiki continued. “Thank you so so much for all your help. You really are a noble person.”Argos laughed and gave a shrug. “I just try to do right by this place. You four must be exhausted. Sleep for tonight, and tomorrow I will help you find the children’s base camp.”The children were brought to another room that had bunk beds and a calming atmosphere. They were given dinner by Argos’s compatriots and slept soundly in the beds. In the morning, after a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, Argos and the children left the building and travelled around an hour more until they came to a park. Set up in the park were 5 tents, as well as boxes, a grill, water tanks, and several radio’s.One girl sat in the middle of the camp site, humming and writing in a journal. She looked up when she saw the others. At first, you could see a look of fear cross her face but when she saw Argos, the fear fell away and she smiled, quickly standing up.“Hello Tom.” Argos said. The girl has brown hair in a loose braid and was wearing baggy clothes.“Hello Argos.” She replied. “Who are they?” Her eyes lingered on the children suspiciously.“These are some children I found wandering through the city. They are good people and want to leave this place. I thought that perhaps you and your group would aid them in their query.”The girl, Tom, seemed to think for a second before coming to a decision. “Any friend of Argos is a friend of mine. Of course we will help them.”Argos smiled underneath the hood. “Thank you Tom. Now, I must be off. I have plenty of work to do, sinners to punish.”He turned to look at the children. “Tom and her people will take good care of you. I will be watching, in my own way, so do not worry. No harm will pass over you in my territory.”The children nodded and gratefully thanked the hooded figure, and just like that he was off, walking into the shadows.“What are your names?” Tom asked, sitting down and picking up a blade and a small wooden structure. She began swiping at it with the blade as she listened, slowly sculpting the piece of wood into a bear.“My name is Thimble.” Said Thimble. “That is Tiki, Rue and DJ.” He gestured at each individual as he said their names.“Well,” said Tom. “I am Tom. My friends are out scavenging but they will return soon. What exactly do you need help with? We do not know how to leave this place and don’t know why anyone would want to, so we cannot aid you in that manner.”“We were told,” began Rue, “That you knew of a man named Ralph and his Radio Shack. If you brought us to him, we would appreciate it. We believe that he knows how to leave.”Tom scowled at this. “Ralph is a prick. He thinks he’s so high and mighty and looks down upon us, simply because we as well run a radio. We do not like Ralph but if you must see him, we may help you. For a cost.”“What kind of cost?” Thimble asked protectively.Tom thought about this for a second. “Well, you four don’t have anything we would want. But Ralph indeed does. So, if you could ask to borrow something,and then hand it over, that would be enough.”Tiki nodded. “We can probably handle that. What do you wish us to … borrow?”Tom smiled cheekily. “I don’t know how, but Ralph got his hands on a PC with infinite storage space. We could really use that for our radio program. So if you could just … grab that for us as payment for our help, we would greatly appreciate it.”The children looked at eachother wearily. They didn’t want to steal something, but if this was the only way that Tom would help them find Ralph, they didn’t have much of a choice.“Fine.” Said Thimble. “We will-”The rest of the sentence was interrupted as a group of children marched over to the tent site, emerging from behind a nearby building, lugging large backpacks.“Who are they?” A boy asked.“Friends.” Tom answered. “In exchange for our help, they have agreed to steal Ralph’s PC for us.”The boy laughed and dropped his backpack, slapping Thimble on the back cheerfully, though not unpainfully. “Well yippee kayae. Thanks a lot gang.”There were four children other than Tom who had arrived. The boy who had aggressively nudged Thimble was short with a buzz cut and pockmarks covering his face.A young girl with glasses, dark skin and dreads stood nervously near another girl with short blonde hair and a Tyler the Creator t-shirt. The two were whispering to each other.Finally, a short asian boy with a scar over his lips stood near the two girls, eyeing the children up and down with his arms crossed.“I’m Kyan.” Said the aggressive boy with the buzz cut. “You’ve already met Tom. That’s Bowie,” He said gesturing to the girl with short blonde hair, “Yoshi,” he gestured to the short asian boy, “and Padme.”“Like from star wars.” The girl with glasses and dreads said.After the kids introduced themselves, they slowly went off in individual groups to socialise. DJ walked over to the youngest looking kid, Padme, and they started Star Wars. They got into a little argument over whether the newer movies were actually good but over all they got along.Rue stuck beside Thimble as they talked to Tom and Kyan, the seeming leaders of this little group. Thimble didn’t trust them and Tom didn’t trust Thimble, so it was slightly awkward, but Kyan tried his best to dissuade the awkwardness with crass jokes.That left Tiki to talk to Bowie and Yoshi. They started talking music, recommending bands back and forth to each other. Bowie even let Tiki suggest a couple songs they might play on their radio station and showed her how it all worked.“We talk into this mike.” Bowie said, gesturing to a microphone attached to an old computer. “Right now the music’s set on a repeat of our playlist but if we want to choose any specific songs we go here, and if we want to talk to our listeners, we turn on the mike?”“Do you actually have listeners?” Tiki asked curiously.Bowie seemed offended by this question. “Of course. Though Ralph does more, we're gaining on him.Yoshi wandered off around the same time Rue got bored of interacting with Kyan and his overall loud exterior. They found each other and Yoshi asked her if she wanted to play chess with him. Rue won, but only barely. They were about to start a second round when Tom walked over to the two of them.“We’ve got it all sorted out, Yoshi.” She said, smiling and tussling his hair. “We’re gonna bring the gang to Ralph’s place. It’s lucky we met them, and lucky they met us. Are you making a friend?”Yoshi shrugged and looked away shyly. Tom laughed and walked away.Around an hour later, the children had gathered and restocked their supplies and were ready to make the journey to Ralph’s place.“Let’s get hiking.” Kyan yelled and led the pack through the city. It took a long time, almost half a day, for them to get to the small, remodelled shack that seemed very out of sorts for this place.“That’s it.” Tom said, pointing at the shack. “Ralph should be in there. Don’t forget about the PC. If you try to trick us, we’ll-”Kyan interrupted her with a laugh. “Tommy! We trust our compadre’s, don't we?”Tom rolled her eyes but nodded.“Are you coming with us?” Tiki asked.Bowie burst into laughter. “Bro. Ralph hates us. Haven't you heard? He won’t tell you anything with us around. We’ll hide while you're in there and wait until you get out. How’s that sound?”Tiki shrugged and the children watched as the others darted into the shadows of the city. Rue walked up the rickety door of the shack and knocked on it three times.“One sec,” Yelled a nasal voice from inside. “I’ll be right back.” The voice said. “Tune in. After this, we’ll be discussing my favorite entity. And it’s a new one.” There were some shuffling sounds and then the door swung open. A middle aged man with a dirty beard, long tangled hair and a gross t-shirt covered in stains peered out at them.“What do you want?” he asked, gruffly. “You interrupted.”“Sorry,” said Rue. “My name is Rue. We were told that you may have some information we would find helpful.”Ralph cocked his head. “What sort of information?”Thimble spoke up. “Information on how to leave this level. Move on to the next.”Ralph grinned, showing off yellowing teeth. “Did Argos set you up to this. Gah, he’s such a bastard. Alright then, come inside. Take off your shoes. Leave your backpacks out there. Don’t want you to stink up my humble abode.”That was slightly ironic as the shack already smelled like dirty socks and garbage, which immediately wafted into the children’s nose but they complied.The shack was small but stuffed to the brim with things. A large desk was to the left, with a computer and PC propped up on it and a spinny chair. A small TV was set to the side. A clock and mirror hung from the walls and advanced radio equipment was scattered about. Finally, near the back a coffee machine and even a vending machine were set up.“You don’t mind if I record this, do you?” Ralph asked, though it seemed like he was already setting up the microphone. “It’ll be great for the radio. Haven’t interviewed any new guests in a while.”The kids nodded. Ralph dragged a few chairs out from a cupboard and set them up around the microphone. He offered them some coffee, which they denied because coffee tastes disgusting, and then he pressed play and started talking animatically.“Alright gang. Sorry about the interruption. A slight change of plans. Instead of discussing entities, we’re gonna switch over to Talkin with Ralph, as I have some interesting looking kids with me up for talking. Why don’t you four introduce yourselves?”After they did, Ralph began asking them questions. “What’s your favorite month of the year? Are you more of a night or day person? What were your most recent grades looking like?”The children answered as best they could, though they began to grow increasingly frustrated at how long this was taking. After about 45 minutes of answering useless questions, Thimble interrupted Ralph angrily. “Sorry, but I think it’s about our turn to ask the questions now.”Ralph shrugged, took a long sip of coffee. “Ask away! You’ve earned it.”Thimble asked the first question. “How do we get out of here? Out of this place? Now just this level, this whole fucked up world.”Ralph smiled grimly. “You don’t. You can’t. There is no exit. Just infinite rooms leading to infinite hells. You might as well stay here. This is the best it’s gonna get.”“Bullshit!” Thimble spit. “There’s gotta be an end to it all. It can’t go on forever. It just … it can’t.”Ralph shrugged. “I don’t know. There have been rumours, of course. Nothing but rumours. But I haven’t found a true exit yet. If I did, I wouldn’t still be here. Or maybe I would. I do have a pretty comfortable way of living. To tell the truth, I have grown quite attached to my Radio Shack, and my listeners.”“Alright then,” Rue said, silencing Thimble with a raised hand. “But there has to be an exit to this specific level. This city.”Ralph nodded slowly. “Of course. But the exit will just lead to someplace worse. Worse than this. Much, much worse. There’s no reason for you to leave. You should linger here, and be guests of my radio. We could use some younger narrators. You could even run your own section if you want. As long as all rights remain in my hands.” He grinned again, showing off a sparkly silver tooth and a large gap in his front teeth.“We don’t care,” Tiki whispered.“Speak up darling. I’m deaf in my right ear.”“We don’t care!” Tiki shouted. “We’re not staying here. We’re not just gonna lay down and give up, like some spineless worms. Even if there is no exit, even if we’ll be damned to wander here forever, we will wander. How can you just give up? With all you know? Just … just tell us the exit. Tell us how we can get out of this world and onto the next.”DJ nodded evenly. “Please,” he murmured, with a light lisp.Ralph took in a deep breath. He chuckled sadly and scratched the back of his neck. “Fine. Ok, yes. There’s a window. Many. But the closest one to hear is by the Pet Store down the road. You know the one?” The children shook their heads. “You leave here and go left. Walk for like twenty minutes until you come to a pet store. You enter it. There will be a bunny cage to the right. Empty, obviously, but it’ll have this large tag with a picture of a little rabbit on it. Whatever. Right to the left of the bunny cage is this big window. It’s closed. Glass. You have to break the glass. Then you crawl through.”The children paused. “That’s it?” Thimble asked.Ralph nodded. “Yup. But don’t hate me when your suicidal choices lead to a suicidal death. I won’t keep you here. I don’t care about you that much. Now, is there anything else you want to ask?”The children paused and glanced at each other. While Ralph was certainly a strange guy, eccentric would be the polite way to describe them, he didn’t seem like a cruel person. Quiet on the contrary. And he seemed lonely. They didn’t want to trick him, or steal from him, or anything of that sort. But they also knew that to betray those other kids, the Radical Radio, would not bring upon anything pleasant.“Yeah.” Rue said, raising her hand. “Can you show me to the bathroom? There is a bathroom in here, isn’t there?”Ralph shrugged and stood up. He leaned down to the microphone set upon the desk. “I’ll be right back listeners.” He then ushered Rue over to a small dirty door near the back of the shack. “This leads to a guest room for possible radio guests. There’s a bathroom here?” He opened the door and stepped through into the room with Rue. She glanced at the others as she left, the eye contact solidifying this half assed plan.While Rue and Ralph were in the other room, Tiki helped Thimble unplug the PC and stuff it into Thimble's backpack, while DJ dutifully kept watch. It was a tight fit, and the bag was noticeably larger when Ralph and Rue emerged from the guest room, but Ralph didn’t seem to notice. He simply waved goodbye offhandedly and retired to speaking into the microphone, describing the children as they left the Radio Shack, like the narrator he was. ‘He would sound awfully good reading an audiobook’ Tiki thought as she closed the door.When they left the shack, they glanced around but couldn’t see any of the children. They wondered what they should do. They didn’t want to actively search for them, for fear that the instructions Ralph gifted upon them would be forgotten in the haze. They sat down near the Shack, leaning up against a simple building, and waited. Maybe an hour later, the Radical Radio children returned, carrying packets of soy sauce and miso soup under their arms.“Sorry we took so long.” Kyan said as he slumped onto the ground. “We found this bomber sushi shop. The fish looked a little suspicious, but nothing can go wrong with Miso soup, right?”“I haven’t had miso soup in years.” Bowie muttered as she began slurping up the plastic bowl’s contents.“So,” Tom said. “Did you get it?”Thimble nodded and dragged the heavy PC out of his backpack. The other’s eyes widened at the sight of it and Kyan began to laugh hysterically. “Nice. Honestly, I didn’t think you would do it. Thanks gang!” He slapped Thimble on the back again. Thimble was getting more and more fed up with this guy by the second.“So, did you figure out how to leave this level?” Tom asked curiously.Tiki shrugged. “We think so. Thanks for all the help guys. You sure you don’t wanna come with us. Maybe you’ll find a way back to your home?”Thimble widened his eyes at Tiki and discreetly shook his head but she ignored him. It didn’t matter much though, as Radical Radio shook their heads as well.“We like it here.” Bowie said with a smile.Tom nodded. “Yeah. It’s much better than our life before we got here. And the other places are dangerous.”“This is our home now.” Padme said.The Radical Radio seemed to agree with one another, except for one. Yoshi stood to the side, staring at Rue and thinking about his life. He loved his new friends, he would be indebted to them forever. But they never truly understood him. And he had grown bored, and wanted to explore this world. He didn’t care much about seeing his family again, but he didn’t want to be stuck either. He would rather live in danger and excitement than comfort and stability. He uneasily raised his hand.“You're not in school.” Kyan said with a scoff. “Just speak.”Yoshi flushed b. “If you’re really okay with it … would it be too much of a burden for me to come with you?” The Radical Radio looked surprised at this.“What are you talking about Yoshi?” Tom asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t leave. You have a whole life here. You have us.”Yoshi shook his head. “This is no life. I want to leave.” Though he was nervous, he spoke firmly. “I will leave.”Rue nodded and grabbed Yoshi’s hand, smiling shyly at him. “Can he come with us?” she asked, turning to look at Thimble. Thimble sighed, but agreed.“If you betray us, I will never forgive you.”Yoshi hugged his friends and said goodbye. There were tears and promises that they would meet again, in another life. Then once five, then four, then once again five again children walked away. Following Ralph’s instructions. The Pet Store wasn’t far, and they smashed the window above the empty rabbit cage like Ralph had told them too. They each climbed through the window, making sure to avoid the sharp glass, and as they passed through the clear portal into another realm, curiosity overpowered their fear.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
All dreams start in a room. A single white room with a table and a chair and a door to the left. And when you leave this room, finally, after decades of waiting, your utmost desires open Pandora’s box with a thin skinned hand and let out a bellow of courtesy. For some, the wait is infinite, spanning time immemorial. For others, the wait is simply a blink, a flutter of a butterfly kiss, a heavy breath. It all depends on what you know, what you’ve heard and how it is interpreted.When the children crawl through that glass speckled window, the world around them shifts and changes, like that of a dream, and they are altered upon the fruitful womb of these dreams.The room is white. It is not a bone white, nor a powder white, nor even a porcelain white. It is a true white, the first the children have ever seen and will ever see. It is a hungry white, a carnivorous white, and all consuming and all relenting white. It is blinding.In the center of the room is a circular white desk, a representation of King Arthur's Round Table. The children don’t understand this though. There is a singular chair tucked under the table. Directly in front of the table and chair, to the wall, is a tall white door with a silver doorknob.There are steps to this, you see. When in a dream, you have a newfound cognizance for this realm. You know exactly what to do, and no matter how mind bending or utterly rule breaking this realm is, you do not doubt. You simply fulfill your purpose and move on.In an alternate reality, where the children were caught in this place between dreams and reality, the results of this room would have been greatly skewed.The children would have walked up to the white door and open it. They would walk through the door into another identical white room with a table and chair, as well as another door directly opposite them. They would continue to open these doors, which would continue to lead them to more identical rooms. As they would continue, the rooms would begin to vary slightly, in their size, shape, and the items encompassing it. The rooms would become more of an infinite abyss, and finding these doors would become much more of a challenge. The children would begin to find more white furniture such as more tables, more chairs, lamps, drawers, bed’s. Sometimes these items of furniture would be stuck between the walls or the floor, poking out like a groundhog on groundhog’s day.The children would become stuck here, their memories would fade, their sight would grow foggy, and they would become lost in this maze. They would lose each other, drift apart, or else find reasons to divy themselves from their community. And that is how they would stay. For the instructions on leaving this place are specific, and one wrong move would lead you into a world of inescapable monotony.But here is the thing. Previously, the children had come into contact with Argos, a god, a protector, something else, something special. While Yoshi had not come into contact with Argos at the same time the others had, he still had certainly had many conversations with the god. And for this reason, each child had been blessed, for a short period of time, no longer than a week, with this ulterior sight. Argos was looking over them, even if unintentionally, and the reaches of sight spanned across the levels. So the children knew exactly what to do.STEP 1When the children entered the room and saw the table and chair, as well as the door, they immediately strode towards the furniture in the center. Rue took a seat in the chair. It was an unspoken agreement. It could have been any of them. It didn’t matter. But Rue was trusted, and so she sat. The others gathered around the table, some sitting upon it, others under it, others simply near it. In this dream state the children were still themselves. They were not solemn, and while they were hypnotized, they were not a walking corpse of themselves.They’re personalities, quirks and memories remained. The only thing different was an unexplainable new found understanding that needn’t be addressed.The children knew that they had to gather by the table for around 15 minutes. Only then could they progress upon the next step. So to pass the time, they asked Yoshi what had convinced him to go with them to abandon his friends. It was definitely a gutsy move.“I have been here, well, there, for a long time. It’s hard to calculate time in this world, as I’m sure you know. People like to think of themselves as points moving through time, but I think it's probably the opposite. We are stationary and time passes through us. But here, I do not think that the time passes at all. And yet, we are not stationary. But neither do we move through time. Shit, I know it makes no sense. The world around us is frozen, except this place. And we move and we change, but our surroundings stay the same and unless we alter them manually, nothing will be different. We are the time.“Anyways, I don’t know how long I have been in that place with those people. We met each other slowly, though became a group overnight. I found them when they were already acquainted with each other, much like you are. They welcomed me. They were content. I should have been. I mean, before I came to that place, it was much worse, right. I almost died. That’s how I got this scar. And many others. And here was this place where I had found a home, I had made friends, there were barely any monsters. It was practically the same as where I came from.I don’t care much about getting home. I don't think you can. I don’t think there is an exit. I think this just goes on infinitely. Have you heard about the multiverse theory? I think we stumbled upon an entrance and now we are just traveling through the infinite multiverses. Or something of the sort. So yeah, I don’t care about going home. I never did. But, well, it’s an odd thing. I grew so very bored. There was no one to talk to, no one on my level at least. Sorry. That sounds condescending. But no one understood me and I didn’t understand them. And I was bored. Like I was bored in school. I needed something to challenge me, like a puzzle. I don’t know. You guys are a puzzle. And it’s like, I’m gonna die someday anyway. So what does it matter when, or how soon. Wouldn’t it be better to see things, go places, actually make a difference in this world, be a piece of sand that moves instead of staying stuck on this beach. I don’t know, that sounds better than being bored to me. So yeah, you figured out how to leave and I decided to follow. I don't know if it makes sense, but that’s the best way I can explain it. I’m just grateful you let me come with you.”It did make sense, at least to Rue. And the minutes had passed. So they stood up and progressed onto step 2.STEP 2After the invisible timer ticking silently through each of the children's heads was through and that silent chime signifying the end of the wait was complete, the children quietly bickered over who would open the door. They each wanted to do the honours, especially DJ. But in the end, they settled on allowing Yoshi to open the door, as he was the newest recruit to their team and they wanted him to feel welcome.Yoshi nervously walked to the door. His hands shook, and a cold tempest shivered his bones, as if a ghost had floated through his body. He reached out and grabbed a hold of the painted white door knob. He slowly turned it and was met with the stern halting and ka-thunk of the locked door. This was to be expected. For of course, the door was locked. It couldn’t be that easy. The children had known this entire time that the door would be locked. It was part of the rulebook.STEP 3Yoshi turned back around and nodded at the children. He wordlessly told them that the door was locked, as it should be. And so, they began searching, scouring the room for a hint of change, an alteration. The door and the chair remained untouched. The walls were thick and white, unmoved. But there was a nook, a hidden nook somewhere. Somewhere, the walls had folded in upon themselves, revealing a small corridor. A small closet, an opening, a trap door. Some kind of nook.It didn’t take very long for them to find it, as the room was small and cramped. Take the wall with the door, then look to the right and you would find that a shadow had transpired, small and reflective. If you knelt down and reached, you would find a small opening, wide enough for one to awkwardly crawl through. A square dimple in the wall, casting a shadow upon the floor. The walls inside the square hallway were painted white and it seemed to go ages, so it naturally blended in with its surroundings. But a brief amount of soul searching uncovered it.The children entered the crevice, in order of height, with DJ the shortest going first and Thimble going last. The cramped halls were much shorter than first anticipated, and only a few minutes after the children had begun the crawling journey they were met with an opening into a much bigger room.This room was also white and very large. There were tables and chairs, exact replicas of the ones they had seen in the first room, but there were many more, and these pieces of furniture were peculiarly glitched through the floor, the walls, sometimes the ceiling. Finding a door proved to be much more difficult. The room was more of a long hallway, or an expanse. But eventually, as one does in this place, they found their way upon another white door, slightly shorter than the one they had first seen.STEP 4Yoshi once again did the honours. This time, the door was not unlocked. It gave in easily, silently sliding open. They walked into what seemed to be an absolute copy of the first room they had entered in this white abyss. Small, with a white table and chair in the center of the room and a white door opposite to where they had entered. When Yoshi closed the door, it immediately melted away into the thick walls.STEP 5This was a longer wait. Luckily, the children had plenty more stories to share. First the children described the gaping hole they had discovered in the forest. They explained their discovery of the first yellow room, and the loss of their friend Mindy. They went through each of the numerous rooms they had yet traversed, and told humorous stories. Stories of Jerry the blue macaw, of the suited squid man from that hotel, of the darkness and the giant fish lurking in the water. Of spiders and large eyeballs shooting lasers. Of a rake.When they finished, they asked Yoshi how he had first come to know this placet. He explained that he had accidentally fallen down the stairs late at night while getting a sip of water. He had squeezed his eyes shut during the fall and had opened them in the abandoned city. He described the fear, the loneliness and desolation, the brief quip of insanity. He hadn’t experienced quite the adventure that the others had endured, as he had always been too scared to leave the city. His past friends had warned him against it, and so he had stayed in that desolate place for god knows how long. He described some close encounters with giant moths, people without faces and giant glowing smiles lurking in the darkness. He also explained how he met Argos, who led him to the others. He described his first set on the radio.His face lit up with joy whenever he described his time with his friends, all of the mischief and shenanigans they had got up too. When he finished talking, he wiped away a tear. “It’s all for the better.” He murmured. “I loved them, but they were stuck.”The children nodded understandingly. Rue enveloped Yoshi in another long hug. The timer wasn’t up yet, so they played games and continued trading stories. They played truth or dare. They had a talent show. It was the longest hour they ever had sat through. They were bubbling with excitement and curiosity, but knew that if they acted too early, or too late they would have to start again. Or be met with worse punishment.Eventually, after 58 minutes the children stood at the door and waited, counting down the seconds. At 59 minutes and 30 seconds, Yoshi rested his hand on the doorknob. At exactly 60 minutes he opened the door. It wasn’t locked, but neither did it flow open. It screeched hesitantly and was heavy. Yoshi even needed Thimble’s help to push it open completely. They couldn’t tell what was through the door. Their mind was obscured by a faint layer of fog.They walked through the door, Yoshi leading the way, entering the next level with a new found understanding of each other, and one particular kid walked through the door feeling giddy, as a crush flowered in their heart.