The Backrooms

The Backrooms are dangerous, they run deep INSIDE our own reality, meaning there is no physical way to enter it. Rather, a person enters the Backrooms when in a state of deep despair, or during deep sleep. To most it is a fictional realm in which someone finds themselves trapped but some say they have actually been there, physically. Well, lets explore that. Below is a fictional short story I have written specifically for my blog. It is written as a first person narrative. The character is telling her story of the experiences she had in the Backrooms. Do leave your comment if you wish. TY

My name Reyna Salano and I'm 19. I attend the local community college while working part-time as a Target associate. One day,  my roommates and I went out for our usual Friday hang out at Buffalo Wild Wings to chat about anything that came to mind, most of the time it was about men. 

After we were there for two hours, Teresa's boyfriend walked into the restaurant. Teresa waved him over and he came and sat down with us.

"Hey babe, what are you guys talking about? I hope not about me." He said and gave her a kiss.  

"Really? You think every conversation is about you?" Teresa said. She loves his cockiness but I was never fond of his personality. He's too conceited and I often wonder what attracted her to him. I casually looked at the time on my phone. I was thinking that I should turn in early since I have a class in the morning, but in truth I just want to leave.

  "Hey guys, I'm gonna head home. I have a class tomorrow morning and work after." Teresa looked at the time on her phone. 

"I thought you were gonna stay till twelve midnight? They close at one in the morning. Stay," she said. I grimaced and sighed. "Um, no. I need my sleep, sorry guys." 

"Oh, okay," Teresa shrugged and turned her attention back to her boyfriend. She has no clue how I feel about him and it's better that way, it keeps the peace. 

 "We'll see you at home," Mary said. I stood up and gathered my things.

 "See you guys later." I said. Teresa, Mary and I are roommates and are renting a two bedroom condo in Murrieta Ca. Mary sleeps on the sleeper couch in the living room, while I take one room & Teresa takes the other. Mary's sleeping arrangements are temporary. We're looking into getting another twin size bed for my room, so we can share the room. 

I drove home and got ready for bed, however I laid in bed staring at the ceiling, time went by. Yes, I have a sleeping problem but it's not serious. I get to sleep eventually. Time went by and I heard Teresa and Mary arrive home. I looked at the clock on my side table. "1 am?" I mouthed. I rolled over and listened as they talked for a bit about their boyfriends. I am in between boyfriends right now but that's another way of saying that I don't have a one. They quieted down and soon they turned in for the night. A breeze was blowing outside and I can hear a branch from a tree tapping at the downstairs living room window. I slowly drifted off to sleep. Around 3:45 in the morning, I awoke with a start. I had a weird dream which jolted me out of sleep, leaving me with a feeling of uneasiness and trepidation. I rubbed my eyes as I laid in bed.

I let out a heavy sigh and sat up. I could hear Teresa snoring in the next room. Mary doesn't snore, thank God. I decided to go downstairs to get a cup of water. 

Mary was sound asleep, so after I took a drink of water, I set the cup on the counter and tiptoed upstairs. As I walked into my room, I suddenly tripped and fell. I found myself facing a dingy, dirty yellowish carpet. I jumped up onto my feet and looked around. I took a few steps backwards. My back touched the wall, I gasped. 

The entire place appeared to be a series of random  rooms interconnected with one another. The wallpaper, ceiling, and carpet is sort of an old yellow color, and overhead fluorescent lights, buzzed above me, like the ones found in many buildings that have not been updated for decades. My mouth dropped and I was flabbergasted. I stood there paralyzed. 

“Where am I?” I thought to myself. There was a muggy, dingy smell in the air and the sound of the florescent lights buzzed overhead. The carpet felt gross and dirty under my bare feet. 

"Am I dreaming?" I said to myself. My heart raced and I vigilantly walked forward through the maze of endless rooms, and hallways. After a while of wandering around, I began to panic. The realization that I will never find a way out sunk in. Every turn looked the same. I was exhausted, so I sat on the floor with my back against the wall, contemplating. My eyes scanned the strange surroundings. One of the walls looked a little different from the others, a little darker in color but I didn't pay attention. 

"I feel as though I am in a maze, trapped like a mouse. Something nefarious lingers here,” I thought. As I continued onward, I came across a camcorder laying on the floor at a corner of one of the rooms. It was a Canon HV30 Camcorder and the case was on the floor next to it. 

I saw some dried blood splattered on the wall across from me. I gulped. I picked up the camera and inspected it. A name was engraved at the bottom of the camera, Micah Watson. I wonder if this is the owner of the camcorder. I sat down on the other side of the blood stain wall and I re-winded the camera to where him and his friends entered an abandoned building. He did a selfie of himself with his friends. Micah introduced himself as one of the members of the Ghost Finders group, he is African/American. “Yo man, we’re here to investigate this abandoned building that was built over 15 years ago but for some reason, the company up and left. It is said that several workers at this warehouse died here under mysterious circumstances and another worker went missing.” One of his friends, interrupted. “We investigate haunted houses and abandoned builds in search of ghost or paranormal activity.” I decided to forward the tape. They walked through the building, exploring. Micah turned into a room, that separated himself from the others. 

“I just entered one of the rooms where someone said they saw the Rake,” he said, with a hush. His breath was shaky. After looking around and found nothing, he decided to leave the room. “Okay guys can you hear me?” He talked into his walkie-talkie

 “Yeah man, where are you?” One of the boys asked. “I’m at the far side and I’ll be heading back to you guys right now. I don’t see anything here,” he said. Then something happened. The video became distorted for a second or two. It looked like he missed a step or something because he fell.

“What the Fuck!” he said, as he regained his step and stood up. He checked his camcorder. "Can you guys hear me?” No one answered. The camera was still working, and his surroundings became clear. My mouth dropped and my heart sank.

“This can’t be. He is here, in this place where I am,” I thought to myself. I took a deep breath. I looked around and not too far from where I found the camera, a Nike shoe lay a few feet away. I gulped. I quickly checked the date on the footage. “April 4^th, 2014.” I gasped. I continued watching the footage. He frantically tried to find a way out, just like me, running but getting nowhere.

“Fuck, what is this, where am I? Guys can you hear me!” he shouted. I slowly shook my head. “No, I won’t end up like him,” I whispered. I fast forward the footage, then I stopped. He was terrified. The sound in his breathing said it all. Panic sinks in and he is running again through the endless corridors and rooms. Tears swelled in my eyes. I don’t know this person, but I feel his fear, anxiety and desperation to find a way out. I can hear the buzzing of the florescent lights get louder but there was something else. I weird moaning, wait, no. It was more like a low growl mixed with a strange clicking sound. He heard it and stopped. I gulped as I watched what appeared around the corner and his camera caught something unbelievable, a monster, a cryptid, or a demon. It peeked around the corner; Micah stepped back as the creature’s face emerged. It was gaunt, gray in color, long spindly fingers with long skinny arms that are disproportioned to its body. It stood tall and it’s knees were bent backwards; it’s body looked almost like those Grey Aliens that you see pictures of online but it’s head was shaped like a pray mantis, and it’s eyes were large, crimson red. I gasped, my face ashen and I held my breath. Micah turned around and ran as fast as he could, with the camera aimed downward, so I could not see which way he was going. I can only imagine that he could not have gotten far. He dropped the camera as something knocked him down. The camera fell in an angle that I could not see what was going on, but I heard it. That thing was tearing into him, his screams echoed throughout the maze. I couldn’t watch anymore so I turned off the camera and packed it into the case. “I will not go down like that,” I said to myself.

I thought for a moment, then I remembered about a wall that looked different than the rest of the walls. It was slightly darker in shade, the design seemed to stand out as well.

“That’s it! That might be my way out." It was just a hunch, but my gut feeling told me that it might be the way out, only if I can find that wall again and that’s a BIG if. I sighed, stood up and swung the camcorder case over my shoulder placing it diagonally across my chest and secured the case so that the camera does not fall out. I walked onward. It seemed like forever, I stopped and took a breath.

“I wish I had water,” I said, as thirst made my lips dry and my throat felt parched. The fluorescent lights buzzed above me and at times flickered. The lights tend to flicker on and off.  There were weird stains on some of the walls, maybe mold but the mold looked alive, I avoided it at all cost. There is a dirty, dingy smell coming from the carpet and stains on the ceiling. All hope was fading, I was feeling defeated. Suddenly, I heard something at a distance. I froze. My eyes shot open and fear engulfed my heart. 

"No," I whispered. I held my breath and listened then I started to run, and I didn’t care which way I ran, I just did. Only Fate will guide me out, I have Faith, I believe. “Please God, I know I don’t really pray much but please help me!” I said out loud. I could hear my heart pounding loudly, but that creature can hear it too. It increased its pace. I am not curious to see what it looks like, and I don’t care, all I know is that I will not die here, not in this place. Every corner I turned, every room I entered, brought me closer to the exit, I could feel it. I can hear the steps of the creature zeroing in on its pray, me. My heart pounded out of my chest, I did not stop, I kept running. Then I saw it, the wall. The colors on the wall flickered and I picked up my pace, but so did that thing close behind.

 I wasn’t sure if running into the wall would take me anywhere or I would end up knocking myself out, but either way, I had to try. I screamed as I jumped at the wall and disappeared through it. The creature managed to tear a piece of my bottom leg pajamas as I went through. I stumbled onto the sidewalk. Tears rolled down my cheeks, I wiped them clean. Breathing heavily, I looked around. I heard cars at a distance, so I walked out toward that direction. I stopped when I saw a familiar street. 

“Ivy Street. Oh my God! I’m not too far from home,” I said to myself. The sun was rising. I looked at myself and noticed that I was still in my pajamas and tank top. I sighed. “If a cop sees me, he’ll think I’m a crackhead or a drunk.” I thought to myself. I walked all the way home hoping that no one would try and offer me a ride. I knocked on the door several times until someone opened.

 “Oh my God, Reyna! Where have you’ve been?” Mary said, giving me a hug. Teresa ran down the stairs when she heard Mary. I nearly fainted out of exhaustion. Mary caught me and helped me to the couch.

“Where have you’ve been?” Teresa asked, her face ashen, showing signs of confusion and worry. She must have been losing some sleep as well, both were.

“I don’t know where to begin,” I started.
“Well, start from the beginning.” She said. Teresa sat down on the chair across from us. They looked at me, intently waiting for a big reveal. Their worried eyes staring at me. I set the camcorder down at the side table next to me.

 “Where did you get that?” Mary asked. “I’ll explain in a bit. Can I get some water?” Teresa nodded. My mouth was parched. She came back and gave me a water bottle of Arrowhead. I drank it all down. “Before I start, please keep an open mind, okay,” I said. They nodded. “But first, what day is it?” They looked at each other.

“It’s April 23^rd.” Mary said. It has been three days since I was missing but it has been 5 years since Micah went missing.

“We both know that if you were going to be gone for more than a day, you would let us know and give us information on where you’ll be,” Teresa said.

“Yeah but when we saw that your car was still here and your phone was still in the charger, we panicked.” Mary chimed in.

“Did you call the cops?” I asked.

“Yes,” Mary responded. I sighed, and facepalmed.

 “Okay, so I am about to tell you something that is going to be unbelievable, but I have proof.” I said. I told them everything that had happened and as expected, they gave me a skeptical look but when I showed them the video footage that Micah left behind, they were shocked. Teresa stood up and paced, nervously.

 “Oh my God, Reyna. This happened in your room? No one can ever go in there again.” She said. I agreed.

 “I can’t believe that place is real,” Mary mumbled.

“What do you know about it?” I asked.

 “Well, it’s really not supposed to be an actual place. It's some kind of weird fictional game online but apparently with what you've just told us it’s real,” she was in disbelief.

 “Tell me more,” I asked.

“They call it the backrooms and they are a series of randomly generated rooms interconnected with one another. The wallpaper, ceiling, and carpet are of dull yellow, and there are overhead fluorescent lights, similar to the ones found in many buildings from the 70's or 80's. I’ll send you a link to the info about it.” She said. I nodded. Teresa called the cops letting them know I was home. I told her to tell them I was with a family member and had forgotten to take my phone with me. I did not want her to tell them what I had experienced because no one would believe me, plus they might think I was on drugs or something.

“So, what are you going to do with the camcorder?” Teresa asked.

 I sighed. “I don’t know yet.” I left it at that. Six months later, Mary looked up a paranormal/private investigator, she said that the woman helps people with unusual, paranormal problems. Later that week I visited their office in Orange County. The woman told me that she’ll look into it and she also asked her assistant to take down my story of what happened to me so they can keep it on file. Before I left, the woman who is the owner of that business, said she will contact me and will pay me a visit within the next month.

 “I would like to see that room for myself and maybe I can help you get rid of the problem,” she said, reassuringly. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Even after all these months, my ordeal is not over, not by a long shot. I have been experiencing nightmares pertaining to what happened, and I've been sleep walking too. I don’t sleep in my room. I sleep downstairs with Mary. My door remains closed until the private paranormal investigator comes over to look at it. I went to the local church and said a prayer for Micah. 

Without Faith, I would never have made it out. I never knew that miracles could happen, but it goes to show you that even in the darkest and most desolate places, there is still hope. Someone truly does watch over you.

(Thank you for reading this short story. I will be using fragments from it for a book I'm contemplating on writing in the near future. Please do visit the link below to my website.)

My Website

NEW! I made a video relating this short story. Please visit link and comment. TY

The Backrooms

UPDATE: I recently published a book based on the Backrooms. Please visit link to download the eBook or purchase the paperback.

Lost in the Backrooms: The Phoenix Files vol. 1

Please consider a small donation to support Indie authors. TY

Donate