A day before Jane and MK
would drive to the site, Jane picked up MK and they headed to Murrieta,
California. The drive was pleasant. Jane is listening to a mixed tape that
belonged to her mother. The song Kyrie Eleison by Mr. Mister is
playing in the background.
“Jane, I can’t believe you
actually have a tape cassette player in this car,” MK said, enjoying the music.
“Yeah, this car belonged to my parents, and they left it to me. They installed
a tape cassette player, CD player and a mini-Disc player. I guess at the time
mini discs were popular. My parents were old school and took care of all their
nick-nacks; the 1996 red convertible mustang is no exception. It’s still in
good condition,” said Jane, proudly. They arrived at the condo complex and
looked up the address number.
“It’s the same community she lived in back in 2018, but it looks
to be a different address. The Church relocated them to another condo,” said
Jane, as they both got out of the car and walked down the sidewalk to the
condo. Jane rang the doorbell camera. A young woman with long blonde hair tied
in ponytails opened the door. Hi, I'm Jane Phoenix, and this is my assistant, Mary
Kate Altra. We're here to see Reyna Salano. Does she still reside here?" The
woman smiled warmly. "She just finished her shower; please come in,"
she invited them inside. “Rey, there are two ladies here to see you. It might
be from that college you applied for,” the young woman shouted.
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” Reyna shouted back as she dried her
hair with a towel, put on her clothes and went downstairs. When she walked out
to the living room, she eyed them curiously. Reyna cut her hair and now rocks a
stylish bob with side-swept bangs. She doesn’t look like she did back in 2018.
"I'm Jane Phoenix, and
this is my assistant, Mary Kate. We were sent by Father Patrick," Jane
introduced herself. Reyna's eyes widened in surprise, and she gasped softly.
"Father Patrick? I
understand now," Reyna replied, her expression turning serious.
"Could we have a moment alone?" Jane
requested. Reyna's roommate eyed them with suspicion.
"Should I step
out?" she asked.
"It's fine," Reyna assured her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s okay,” Reyna reassured her roommate. Mary pressed her lips together and sighed, “Okay then, I will step out to get us something to eat,” she said, with a worried look on her face. She wasn’t sure if she should leave her alone with strangers. Mary grabbed her purse and left. She is worried that if Reyna re-lives the ordeal, that she may have a relapse. Reyna is seeing a therapist, one that the church assigned to her. The Church has a special therapist on hand who counsels victims of paranormal/supernatural experiences. Sometimes, if a paranormal incident happens in the victim’s place of residence, they are relocated, free of charge, and the house or apartment will be privately owned by the Church. It will be looked after until an exorcism is performed, if needed, but in this case, they just keep the condo locked. They can’t guarantee that the portal won’t open if another person was to move in. An exorcism is not an option, in the case of Reyna’s story, the condo must remain locked until further notice. “Reyna, I am sorry, but I must talk to you about the,” Jane paused and took a breath, “About the experience you had 5 years ago. Father Patrick sent us to get information about what you experienced and um,” Jane paused again, feeling uncomfortable bringing up something that clearly still haunts Reyna.
“Yes, I know but my experience still haunts
me, and I still have nightmares,” Reyna cut in, her hands trembling slightly.
“Please, there is a 13-year-old girl who is
lost in the Backrooms, we are Hunters, and we are going to rescue her, but we
need more information from you, like what did you see while you were in there,
and how you managed to escape,” MK said. Reyna gulped and sighed, “I trust
Father Patrick and if you say he sent you then, I will talk to you but please
don’t go to the Backrooms, it is a perilous place, and you may never return,”
she said.
“I understand, it’s okay, tell us,” Jane
reassured her. She took out a mini recorder. Reyna took a deep breath and
started. “I was 18 and attending a 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. We arrived at Wild Wing Hot Chicken at 8pm to hang out
and chat about anything and everything related to social media and boys. After
we had been there for an hour, Teresa's boyfriend walked into the restaurant.
Teresa waved him over. Her eyes lit up and her smile widened. "Hey babe,
what are you guys talking about? I hope it’s not about me," he said and
gave her a kiss.
"Really? You think every conversation is
about you?" said Teresa, with a Latin accent. Teresa loved his cockiness
and bravado, but I was never fond of his personality. I often wonder what
attracted her to him. After a while, I looked at the time on my phone and I
made an excuse to leave early.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna head home. I have a
class tomorrow morning, and I have work after." Teresa looked at the time
on her phone.
"It’s only 9:30, I thought you were
gonna stay till midnight? This place doesn’t close until one in the morning.
Stay," she insisted. I pressed my lips together and smiled, "Um, no.
I need my sleep, sorry guys."
"Oh, okay, drive carefully," said
Teresa. She turned her attention back to her boyfriend.
"We'll see you at home," said Mary.
I gathered my belongings. "See you guys later," I said. Teresa, Mary,
and I are roommates and we’ve been renting the two-bedroom condo for about two
years. Mary works at an Amazon facility, she is satisfied with where she works
and chooses not to attend college, she says she really doesn’t have the time,
and Teresa works at a dental office as a receptionist. At the time, I was the
only one attending college and I was the youngest of the three. Teresa was 23,
Mary 22 and I was 18. Our sleeping arrangements were as follows: Mary slept on
the sleeper couch in the living room, while I took one room and Teresa took the
other,” she paused. “Wait, where are my manners. Do you want some iced tea?”
she asked. Jane and MK nodded.
“Sure, that’ll be fine,” MK responded.
Recalling the whole incident makes Reyna thirsty.
“I’ll be back.” Reyna stood up and walked to
the kitchen. She poured three glasses of iced tea, set them on a tray and
carried the tray to the living room. She set the glasses down on the coffee
table in front of them. “By the way, a year ago, Teresa moved out and now lives
with her boyfriend, so Mary and I share the same room,” Reyna softly exhaled
and took a sip from her iced tea.
“You don’t like sleeping alone?” asked MK, she
suspects that her dreams have tormented her every night since the incident.
“Yeah, I have nightmares and sometimes they
seem very real,” she responded and took another sip of her tea and set it down
on the coaster.
“Continue,” Jane said.
Reyna nodded, “I drove home and got ready for
bed. However, I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling; time went by. Teresa and
Mary got home around two in the morning. “2am?" I said to myself and
sighed. I rolled over and listened as they talked for a bit, then they
quieted down and turned in for the night. A breeze was blowing outside, and I
could hear a branch from a tree lightly tapping at my window. I soon drifted
off to sleep. Around four in the morning, I awoke with a start. I had a weird vivid
dream which jolted me out of sleep, leaving me with a feeling of uneasiness and
trepidation. I rubbed my eyes as I lay in bed and stretched my arms over my
head. I let out a heavy sigh and sat up.”
“What kind of dream?”
MK interjected.
“My dream was a bit jumbled, but I remember being in a strange place that wherever I walked, I ended up back in the same spot where I started. I couldn’t escape. I suppose it was a premonition of sorts, perhaps I should have heeded its warning,” she said. MK and Jane shared a worried look. They knew it might have been the Backrooms she was dreaming about.
“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. The only light in the room was the dimly lit cabinet lights. I drank some water and placed the cup by the sink on the counter, then tiptoed upstairs. As I walked into my room, I suddenly tripped. A sudden dizziness came over me as well.
“Damn it,” I said to myself. I was afraid that
I would wake them up. As I stood up, I found myself not in my room! I
caught my breath and looked around.
“What the Hell,” I said
to myself, my mouth dropped. I took a few steps forward. I was faced with
randomly generated rooms interconnected with one another. The wallpaper,
ceiling and carpet were a dull dirty yellow color. There were fluorescent
lights hanging over my head, like the ones found in many buildings from the
70’s or 80’s. I was flabbergasted, and I stood there
paralyzed. My heart raced.
“Am I dreaming? Where am I?” I mused. There was a muggy smell in the air
and the sound of the florescent lights buzzing overhead was annoying. I realized that this place looked like
something from my dream. I was shocked, I didn’t know what to do and I was
barefooted too since I just got out of bed and didn’t put on my slippers
beforehand.
The carpet felt moist and gross. I curiously walked forward, not knowing how I got there and afraid that I would bump into something or someone that would harm me. I did not have a weapon, not even my hand taser that I usually have in my purse and my feet were bare. I cautiously walked around the maze of endless rooms, and hallways, while all the while the noise of the fluorescent lights sounded above me like a hoard of bees buzzing around. The place appeared desolate; no other person was around.
After a while of wandering, which felt like eternity, panic set in and I realized that I would never find a way out. I had the sunken feeling that I wasn’t going to leave at all. I was becoming hungry, thirsty, and weary. I sat down with my back against one of the walls, pondering, reevaluating what happened. I facepalmed, took a deep breath and stood up. I began to run, well more of a jog, then stopped when I heard a sound coming from afar. I caught my breath and listened. There are many strange rooms and hallways but it seems as though I am the only one in here but what was that sound? I thought to myself. I dare not call out for help. I don’t know what was coming toward me, but I turned on my heels and ran back the way I came; however the walls seemed to have changed, I was confused and frustrated. The florescent lights buzzed above, confusing me. One of the walls looked a little different from the others, a little darker in color, but I didn't pay attention to it at the time.
“Am I dreaming? I must be because this can’t be happening,” I mused, and I heard the sound again, something strange, scrapping along the walls, but the sound was still too far away to be of any concern. The florescent lights above sounded louder and flickered, sometimes the sound was deafening. I decided to continue my journey through the yellow crazy maze and perhaps I will find my way out eventually. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt like a mouse trapped, trying to find the exit. A part of me wanted to believe that this was a dream, a nightmare but instinct told me that it wasn’t. As I turned a corner, I came across a Nike tee shirt and Nike Air Max shoes. I picked it up and inspected the shoe, I saw some dried blood on it. I gasped and dropped it. I took a step back and looked around, wide eyed. I was worried that whatever killed the person who owned those shoes might still be around. I was dizzy with fear, my heart pounded, and I took a deep breath; continued through the ominous yellow labyrinth.
“There’s a killer in this place, something killing people. I must be careful, or I will end up like that person.” I stopped and listened. My ears strained as I could hear a low growl, but it was still far from me, not a cause for alarm. However, I remained vigilant. I breathed a sigh of relief. The musky smell lingered in the air; the moist carpet squish at every step my bare feet took. Lucky that in some areas, the carpet was somewhat dry.
“I will find a way out,” I kept telling myself. I have faith. I would find a way out but as I continued to journey through the maze, I turned a corner and stopped. “What is this?” I said to myself. I found a mini camcorder next to the case. I picked it up and looked at it. It was an older model of a Panasonic mini camcorder.
“I wonder where this came from?” I walked to a secluded corner where I felt
safe. It had a tape inside, and I played it. I quickly turned down
the volume. I held my breath, and looked around, my heart pounding. I waited a
few minutes then exhaled. Whatever was out there, did not hear me so I took out
the earplugs from the case, placed one into my ear and plugged it into the
camera.
“Hey, we might slip into
another dimension or something,” one of them joked.
“Very funny,” said the
African/American boy who was holding the camera. He turned the camera around
and introduced himself and his friends.
“I am Jet this is Mike
and Victor, we are the Truth Seekers, we go to abandoned places and
search for the paranormal,” he said. “They must have a YouTube channel,”
I mused. “Yeah, so we upload a new video every Friday on our YouTube Channel,
please give us
a thumbs up on this
video and subscribe to our channel,” said Mike. They proceeded to go inside the
house and look around. Nothing special, just old furniture and a lot of dust
everywhere. The curtains of the house were half hung by the rods, the rooms
looked as if whoever lived there before, left abruptly many years ago. Jet had
the camcorder and the other two had some ghost hunting gadgets. When Jet
entered one of the rooms it was then that the camera glitched and he found
himself in the Backrooms. “What the Hell
is this!” he exclaimed as he slowly stood up. At that point the camera must
have been facing down because I couldn’t see anything but the carpet. He lifted
the camera to check if it was still recording.
“Good, it is
recording,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. He moved ahead at a
slow pace, similar to how I did when I first got here. He just kept walking,
but eventually, he broke into a run down the hallways, glancing around and
breathing hard with each step. I can tell he was afraid and frustrated because
I heard it in his breathing, but he kept filming and pushing onward.
“Wow, I can’t believe this place, it’s
endless,” he said to himself. He called out to his friends but there was no
response. He began to panic. He stopped for a moment as though he had heard
something. He slowly turned around. He heard scratching on the walls but
couldn’t see anything. He started to run. On occasion he would turn the camera
back to catch something but there was nothing. Then he stopped cold on his feet
and was in a room with many columns. He saw something that frightened him. He points the camera in that direction. The
camera caught a grotesque looking creature, something out of Hell. It had the
head of a Human but acted like a hound. It crawled on all fours much like one
of them. I honestly thought it was a werewolf. The back legs were twisted like
the hind legs of a dog, and the claws were sharp. It was as though someone cut
the head off a person and sewed it onto the body.
The most horrific part of the creature was its
face. You couldn’t see it under the matted hair, but its eyes glowed as it
glared at him. When it opened its wide maw, it had several rows of teeth. I am
sure you must’ve seen the video that Father Patrick gave you.”
Jane nodded, “Yes, and you’re describing
exactly what I saw in the video.”
MK stared into Reyna’s eyes as she told them her story, she could see the Backrooms as vividly as if she was there. Images of the yellow labyrinth flashed in her mind. Reyna continued, “When I saw it on the video my mouth dropped; I was beside myself. “Is that real?” I asked myself. He continued running but I heard on the video the creature close behind. Jet couldn’t find a way out; it was then he dropped the camera and the case; he kept on running, as the camera caught footage of him running away. The creature lunged at him in a heartbeat and that was the end.
After I watched it,
I sprung up and put the camera securely into the case, hung the strap of the
case diagonally around me and continued the trek through the Backrooms as
quickly as possible. I came across a strange wooden crate, but I ignored it as
I heard that familiar sound again, the same sound that was in the video and the
same sound I heard earlier. I gulped and stopped. I held my breath, and I
slowly turned around. The creature was a few yards away from me, so I ran, as
if my life depended on it because it did. It was strong, fast and I could feel
its breath on my heels. My heart raced and the only thing that ran through my
mind was finding a way out. Then I remembered the strange wall, the weird
looking wall. It was then when I heard something say, “Go through
it.” Maybe it was my Guardian Angel, I don’t know.
Scary and interesting story
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