Chapter 7

I woke up to find a very sticky, very wet spot on my bed, at the very end where the sheets covered my bare feet. It took a while to come to, but I knew for a fact that I was in my old room back in the house we’d lived in before they moved when I went to the White Room. It was all still there; I could see the dresser beside me, the closet door in front of me, and my sister’s bed beside me. The first thing that concerned me was a big, red blotch on my sheets and something round against the wooden end on my bed. It wasn’t that round, though. It looked like an oval that caved in. I squinted, really hating my nearsightedness at the moment, and figured someone spilled sangria on my bed or something. Then I remembered I wasn’t really in my own room, but still in the Maze Dimension. Anything could go wrong. I reached over to the desk at my right, fumbling for my glasses which I hadn’t had to wear since I was 10, because my vision was so blurry that I couldn’t make out anything past the tip of my nose. The darkness of the red blotch made me uneasy, and so did the metallic smell; I could feel in my gut that something was wrong, and my heart skipped a couple beats when I managed to get my glasses on. It only took one look at what was really weighing down on my feet before I had to bite the pillow, avoiding the scream that was clawing at my throat.
The head wasn’t severed, thank God, but the neck had to have been broken because a giant piece of bone was sticking out of the flesh. The way the body was disfigured made me want to vomit, so I‘ll refrain from describing the sad state. A man’s wide, wide eyes were staring into their hazy nothingness, and the mouth was wide open as if he’d seen something truly terrifying. I jumped out of my bed and leaped into my sister’s, which was right across from me, and tried to calm down so I could evaluate the situation I’d found myself in. First off, there was a body in my bedroom. Second, the body was, in fact, very dead and grossly mangled. Third and most important in my opinion was I didn’t know how it got there. Then again, this wasn’t the real world.
I opened the door to my room and snuck through the hall into the kitchen, keeping my eyes in motion at all times to make sure nothing came up behind me. I grabbed a flashlight off the refrigerator, flicking it on, and quickly crawled under the kitchen table. I flicked the light off, just in case, but remembered that it was dark-o-clock. I couldn’t see anything past the end of my nose. I could barely see the outline of the flashlight in my left hand. I kept hearing footsteps, praying that my mom or dad would be the ones walking. I had a bad feeling they weren’t, though. I heard whispering, then a jarring croak that eerily reminded me of something out of a foreign horror film. I knew that a person would make that sound if their neck was broken, but thanks to that stupid movie it scared me even more. That croak had been the butt of my jokes for a long time, and I guess I was paying for it now. I flicked on the light but held it at my side, keeping the light from spilling out from underneath the table, and managed to have a look at the intruder or intruders. All I could see were big-booted feet, then a pair of pale bare feet. Again, I hoped and prayed it was my dad and little brother. I peeked out from underneath the table finally, getting the slightest glimpse of their faces. The shorter, child-like creature’s face wasn’t really a face at all, but more like latex poured over a head. There were no eyes, no mouth, and no nose…just emptiness stretching beneath a rubber mask. I did notice they were both pale; the latter of the two, the taller creature that seemed female but I couldn’t really tell, was even more ghostly white than the “child.” She, too, had no face that I could see; there was just black hair and a shadow for a body. The boy child was holding what looked like a razor blade, and my heart stopped when I saw blood dripping from it. I knew I’d have to get out of here.
When they’d left the kitchen, I snuck out from underneath the kitchen table and into my parents’ room. I couldn’t feel the bag at my side, so I had to get something to protect myself with. I couldn’t feel my doll, either. I knew where the gun closet was, but I didn’t know where the key to opening it was hidden. I felt around the table beside it, finding the key within seconds. I was so glad that it was so easy to find. I unlocked the door as quietly as I could and drew out my dad’s silver pistol, which looked like it could blow the head off an elephant. I loaded it, stuffed ammunition into my pockets and went out into the kitchen again. Before all this, I was known to prefer a sword to a gun because it was less painful to use. Right about now, I was really thanking the Good Lord for Dad teaching me how to shoot. Although I had bad aim, I could still do some damage I figured. I soon saw my enemies again; they were whispering about something in my two little sisters’ bedroom. I remembered they’d gone out for the week, and I was home alone. Thanking God again that they were safe, I took a closer look at them. They seemed to be arguing in whispers, an odd language I didn’t quite understand. The boy then turned its head and vanished, which had me alarmed. What if it saw me? I had to hide.
I ran back to my bedroom but didn’t turn on the light, knowing for a fact I’d be caught if I did, and shoved the body in the closet. I assumed the same position that the body was in to the best of my ability, figuring I could ‘play dead’. I hid the pistol at my side, as well as the flashlight, so it couldn’t be seen at first glance. I waited for a while, my eyes starting to glaze over and sting from the air drying them out. I blinked once, relieving them of their dryness. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead, making me nervous. I knew dead bodies didn’t perspire. I heard footsteps. Thunk, thunk, thunk-like boots across the hallway carpet. Then I saw a white, black eyed face staring at me. I froze, paralyzed by fear and surprise, unable to get a firm hold on my gun.
Follow me.
The whisper came to me like I was hearing things, but when the creature repeated it I knew what I’d heard. It was trying to help me. The thing started to glide away from me, the same thunk sounds hitting the floor with every “step”. I got up, gripped my pistol and flashlight, following close behind. We managed to slip past the front door without making any noise at all, even without turning on the porch light that was motion sensitive. I’m still not sure how we managed to do that, except for the possibility that the light had burned out. The cold, strong wind almost made me shout in surprise, for I felt myself being whisked away by it. I managed a gasp, and the creature put a bony finger to its “lips” and hissed Shhhh..
I nodded and before I could catch my breath, it started to run. It got at least a few feet in front of me, like the wind was carrying the ghost-like hallucination. I started running after her and soon after, I heard the front door to my house open. The wind grew stronger, and started howling ominously at me. The creature in front of me turned its head and grinned a most awful smile, probably the most disturbing one I’d ever seen in my short life. As I heard a third set of footsteps approaching fast, the black eyed-black mouthed-pale faced creature stopped grinning and the eyes widened, the mouth in an O-shape. It was just like the body in my bedroom; she had the same exact expression.
It’s coming! It’s coming! I heard her hiss, like she was trying to warn me. I kept squinting into the darkness, but I saw nothing. Literally, nothing. I couldn’t even see my own house anymore. If I ever lived through this, I’d never be able to go back into that house again. We reached the neighbor’s house a few minutes later, the creature slipping in the door first. I laughed with sick relief, knowing with every step I was closer to safety. Closer, closer, and even closer….then I felt something. A hand grasping my hair from behind. I stopped and staggered, fighting whatever had a hold of me. I shot the pistol in my hand, rounds causing dirt to fly into the air as I missed my target at least five times. I didn’t have time to reload, I realized just as I felt a thousand arms wrap around my entire body. My eyes went wide, wider than they’d ever been, and so did my mouth. I felt a bone break. Then it was over.

At least, I thought it was.

“Clear!”
The shout was distinct and crystal clear, along with the jolt of electricity through every fiber of my being. I couldn’t feel any pain and I knew I wouldn’t be alive for long.
“Clear!”
I heard it again, a stronger bolt of lightning running through my veins and forcing my weak heart to beat. I gasped, a horrific sound to most considering my voice was so raspy, and coughed up a small amount of blood. I felt my heart hammering as I screamed and flailed, fighting the doctors that looked warped and tall like white-colored demons. They restrained me, starting an IV while one of the female nurses ran a hand in my hair which turned out to be really soothing. Am I home? Alive? Breathing?
When my vision returned to normal from the red fogginess it once was, I could see the faces of my brother and sister. “Amy…Anthony,” I whispered hoarsely, and they nodded as my sister stroked my hand. Burning tears ran down my face in a torrent of relief, agony, and fear. I’m out of the Maze Dimension.
I figured I was in the clear now, that I was safe…until he walked in.
It was Dr. Carter. The doctor that haunted me, chased me, and tried to kill me in my own personal hell. His face was dark but I could see that sick, twisted grin that made me want to vomit.
I was still there.
The screams I heard of defiance and fright were my own but were soon drowned out by awful laughter, and I could feel the familiar burn of a razor cutting through the veins in my wrist. I screamed louder, begging him to stop, but to no avail. With one swift, precise movement of his hand, all went black again.
What scares me the most is I can’t wake up.

I can see everything around me, but I can’t hear or feel. I can see you, mister judge, the one person who wrongfully made me look like a criminal. You’ll pay for it, too. I know you’ll be sorry once you see me.

I don’t need to be afraid anymore.

Reviews

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Whoa... This was by far one of the best things I've read in a long time. It's shocking at every point and I love it. It's beautifully descriptive, I felt like I could see everything happening, and it was very clear what was going on. I would absolutely love to read a continuation of this, like the aftermath of this or something. I really want to know this person's future, and if they ever get better. You really have me at a point where I care about the main character and I can connect with them and I'm curious to know more about them. Overall this is great!