1 Act 1: The descent

A woman ran through the dark hallways of a decrepit and abandoned mansion, she had a difficult time making out what was in front of her but still tried to look behind her, making her stumble on a dusty sheet.

Heavy footsteps seemed to follow behind her, making the girl's body tremble in fear as she lifted herself up with difficulty and started running.

She ran and ran until she could no longer hear the slow footsteps behind her and checked to see if the pursuer was still following her.

Nothing, just an old hallway filled with antique furniture and oil paintings.

She turned back towards where she was heading and showed a shocked expression.

A giant stood before her as he caught her by the throat.

She tried to struggle, cry for help, but only silent screams left her throat.

The giant man, still half hidden by a veil of shadows, kept her choking in the air as he walked towards a door that he easily opened.

He emotionlessly looked down the creaky stairs as he took the first step into his den.

Meanwhile the girl was only able to shed tears and wiggle around within his grip. She was almost out of air, on the brink of suffocating.

She suddenly felt a sharp pain pierce her back as the hand let go of her throat, letting her breathe and cough.

It took her a little bit of time to get the courage to look around, her eyes blurry from her tears, and see a rusty hook coming out from her shoulder. She felt the pain too.

*SCHLING*

The sound of a blade being sharpened sounded out in front of her, as she tried looking around her, into the dark basement, she saw a blood chilling sight.

A tall man wearing a lumber jacket and a potato sack over his head sat silently on an old wooden chair, sharpening an axe with a brick-like stone.

*SCHLING*

He was surrounded by different weapons all stained with blood, fresh, rusty, old, rotting blood of all ages, as if he used one weapon only for each of his victims.

*SCHLING*

He stood up from the chair and put the sharpening stone into his pocket.

He took one step forward, holding the axe with both hands.

Another step, raising the awe.

And a third, flinging the axe down, throwing it and cutting the girl's head vertically in half as blood splattered all over the screen.

It trickled down and formed a sentence.

THE REMNANT LUMBERJACK III

Return of the felling

"What a nice movie! I really loved it when the lumberjack ripped the first guy's arm out like a doll and then used the bone to stab him in the gut!"

"Yeah! My favorite was when he jumped down from the roof and skewered Cindy into the pool, filling it up with her blood!"

A bunch of people left the theaters, some excited by the bloodshed while others slowly walked out trembling from fear or on the brink of throwing up.

If I were a murderer I would definitely target them first, easy prey.

I too walked out from the theater, pretty indifferent. Compared to other horror movies this one was pretty soft on the gore and the lore behind the lumberjack pretty shallow.

Movies like 'Trap' or 'The other thing' have much better gore and their stories are based on mystery and deceit.

Basically psychological horror equals number one, but all horror movies are welcome no matter the blood shed.

I passed by the popcorn machine's plastic container and saw that my hair was completely messed up.

So I stood in front of it rectifying my short frizzy black hair.

I was pretty good looking since I started working out in high school, the reason wasn't that I wanted to look good to get myself a girlfriend or to be friends with the jocks, no.

The reason was that a better build could really help me in case I needed to survive a psychotic killer trying to murder me.

Stamina was key to outrun a killer, or even a zombie if that were the threat.

And while I am fit, it wasn't really visible under the white hoodie and blue jeans.

You could say I am more of the lean and tall type rather than the wide and buff type.

"Hey Kei! Can you believe it!? They are going to make a fourth one!"

A blonde haired guy appeared behind him as he clapped him on the back.

A "small" guy with a wide grin plastered on his pierced lips.

He was wearing a leather jacket, high boots and a skull T-shirt, all of them black and covered with fake metal spikes.

His name is William, but he prefers being called Will and as per his looks suggests he's an emo… or a goth… I always forget the difference.

And even then he's a strange one, like an over energetic goth kid.

As he said, my name is Kei. I'm an American just like them but my family is of Asian descent, Japanese to be precise.

"Yeah, doesn't surprise me. I really don't want them to ruin this series like the 'Missouri hillbilly massacre', it got weird when the whole mind control corn plot showed up."

"True… wanna hang out at the shooting range? Bob's waiting for us, he really wants to try out the beretta he bought this weekend."

It shouldn't come as a surprise to see American college kids using their second amendment to blast some targets for fun.

Me, Will and Bob have known each other since we were kids, playing together, getting bullied together and learning together.

All three of us are big horror movie fans, although for different reasons.

I like them for the plot and the gore, Will likes them for the friendship and betrayals and Bob… well he likes them for the bloody smut…

But we still like action or adventure movies that normal people love, especially when one of the main characters dies and the whole audience starts crying.

Rest in pieces Tony. Rest in pieces.

"The shooting range? Sure, I'll just fetch my Glock at home and come as well." I answered with a small smile.

"Great! See you there!" He heartily laughed as he ran towards our other childhood friend taking a smoke outside.

I left as well, heading in the opposite direction than my friends.

We live and grew up in Seattle, I personally have been out of the city and the country a few times but this place was a huge part of my life.

I knew my way around here pretty well, learned everything there was to know for fun and also to run away from my bullies when I was little.

So I walked around for a while before taking a turn and opening a door.

I was prepared to just walk up the stairs, into my apartment, grab my pistol and go join the others when I heard some kind of whistling coming from the stairs leading to the basement.

I was proud of my quick thinking, anyone else would have probably ignored the sound and headed to their apartment or gone to check what was happening, and go down into the basement.

But I know what it is, gas.

So I ran out through the front door as I tried pulling out my phone to dial an emergency number for urban leaks.

*BOOOOM*

But I was too slow. An ear piercing blast sounded out from right behind me and I felt a force that pushed me away.

The shockwave sent me flying all the way onto the street and ruptured my eardrums.

I felt blood flow along the side of my face and my bloodied lips kissing the humid concrete road.

I tried to turn myself around but I felt incredible pain from my chest, as if my ribs had been broken and skewered my lungs.

That wasn't the worst, I… I couldn't feel my legs anymore.

When I finally managed to push myself onto my back, I saw the embodiment of the worst day of my life.

My apartment I went through so much trouble to buy had crumbled down into a pile of burning rubble, I wasn't even able to walk there to try and put out the raging flames as my legs were completely burned away, leaving scorched stumps I could barely move and feel.

But the worst had yet to come, in the distance I heard wailing sirens approaching, leaving me relieved with a small and pained smile on my face.

The emergency vehicles rapidly approached the accident site, so rapidly in fact that the fire truck driving in the front didn't see the half dead man in front of them and ran me over, the last thing I heard was the sound of all the bones in my arms and chest that shattered with a crunch and the sizzling flames in the distance.

Ending this misery.

But starting a new one.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw an old yellow and moldy wallpaper next to my face.

It smells horrible and looks even worse.

What… What just happened? I heard the sirens and saw the… tires…

That bastard ran over me!

Isn't he supposed to rescue people? A fireman murderer that likes to kill victims?

Sounds kinda nice actually.

I remember everything, every detail before my death, the searing pain, the feeling of having all my bones getting displaced before being completley crushed… I shuddered just from the memory of it.

A flash of calmness overcame me after my uncomfortable feeling.

Wait. Remember 'The book', 'If you find yourself in an unknown place learn about your surroundings without losing your bearings or your cool'.

I jumped up, not even realizing my legs were back from their momentary disappearance.

Looking around I saw hallways covered in the ugly wallpaper. Everything was lit by strong flickering Led lights on the ceiling that almost blinded me.

I know where I am, the fucking backrooms, the infinite maze that puts IKEA to shame.

'Use everything at your disposal to survive'.

So I looked around my pockets and gathered everything together.

"A few coins, my house keys and my phone… obviously out of battery."

So I started running, I didn't do so out of anxiousness since I felt extremely calm, serene even.

My head raced at the same pace as my running legs, trying to come up with a plan of action.

I was already scratching the wallpaper with my keys to give me a sense of direction and show where I have and where I haven't been.

I died, I know that, it doesn't matter. Maybe it does? Ignore it. Survive.

I stopped dead in my tracks, key still against the wall.

Something is grinding against the floor, getting closer, nine O'clock.

I don't go to investigate, stay silent, go another way.

So I keep moving, in what feels like forever. Sometimes I hear 'it' and sometimes I only hear the buzzing lights.

But I don't want to know what 'it' is, so I keep running.

My marks and maze theory I learned both helped me a lot going further through this place. I know everything still looks the same but… something feels different…

The temperature is a little cooler and the wallpaper doesn't smell as much like moss.

So I keep moving.

I use my coins to distract the monster when it gets too close.

So I keep walking.

I walk around as many corners as possible to stay out of it's sight.

So I keep wandering.

I drink my own sweat from my dirty clothes to stay hydrated and survive, just one day longer.

So I… keep crawling.

Until 'it' found me.

I don't know how much time passed but it finally found me, as I forced my starving and exhausted body to crawl forward, searching for a way out, an exit that doesn't exist.

'It' didn't have a shape, just a mass of black, almost liquid smoke that made bone chilling screeching and grinding noises.

Spider-like appendages and severed hands came in and out of view as they wriggled around through the body made out of fog.

I had nowhere to hide, nowhere to run so I just watched as it came closer.

Crying, laughing, shouting… all of those were useless. I was going to die and those emotional releases wouldn't change anything to my situation.

So I just looked straight ahead, with a dejected smile plastered on my face.

It floated forward, drowning me in its smoke as it passed through me like a ghost

Even as it left, I continued to choke and spasm on the floor until everything went black.

[₮ł₥Ɇ : ₴łӾ Đ₳Ɏ₴, ₮₩Ø ⱧØɄⱤ₴ ₳₦Đ ₮ⱧłⱤ₮ɆɆ₦ ₴Ɇ₵Ø₦Đ₴. ₱ⱤØ₲ⱤɆ₴₴ł₦₲ ₮Ø ₮ⱧɆ ₦ɆӾ₮ ₲₳₥Ɇ.]

(Time : six days, two hours and thirteen seconds. Progressing to the next game.)

2097 words