Lost in the Backrooms: Excerpt from Chapter 4

 

(An excerpt from Lost in the Backrooms: The Phoenix Files vol. 1, Chapter 4)

An energy burst swooped through Jane and MK as they fell onto the dingy yellow carpeted floor. Jane quickly jumped up onto her feet, grabbed her crossbow from the backpack and held it tightly in her hands as she looked around vigilantly. MK stood up, “Damn that was a drop,” she said, feeling a bit dizzy. “Shh, keep your voice to a whisper, remember that even though it seems like this place is empty, it’s not.”

 “Okay,” MK mouthed. The sound of the florescent lights sounded above like bees in a hive.

 “They are kinda loud but not that bad,” MK pointed at them, Jane nodded.

  “Father Patrick gave me these,” Jane handed MK earplugs.

 “This will muffle out the buzzing a bit. They are comfy but useful and they are also ear-coms,” said Jane. They both put earplugs in their ears. “I don’t hear the buzzing as much now, though I’m sure it will get louder as we move onward.” MK tested the ear-coms by tapping on the bud of the device.

 “Can you hear me?” Jane nodded then took out the tracker that Father Patrick gave her. The tracker is the size of a flip-phone from the 2000’s. It has a silver cross embedded at the center. “Nothing,” Jane whispered. “The girl would’ve popped up on the tracker if she was close, but nothing yet.”

A worried look shadowed her face. “Don’t worry Jane, we’ll find her and maybe some of the others that may have disappeared.” 

“Maybe but our first priority is Talia, that’s who we are here for.” They proceeded onward, stopping to look around, taking in the sights. MK gulped, “So, I wonder if they can see us through the bodycam?” asked MK.

 “I think, but not sure. They can see what we can see but he didn’t say anything about the bodycams receiving sound. I believe that it does but for how long the devices will work, I don’t know,” said Jane as she looked around at the grotesque yellow wallpaper, dingy carpet and the florescent lights that flicker above.

 “There’s a smell here,” MK noted.

 “Yeah, I noticed it too,” Jane responded. They walked on for what seemed like hours.

“Maybe we should rest,” MK suggested. Jane saw a dirty brown couch and a table, just sitting there in the middle of a room. “What the Hell?” she mouthed. She pointed at the couch; MK looked.

They walked over to it and Jane inspected the room. “It seems okay, other than the couch being dirty and smelly,” she said as her nose wrinkled in disgust. She sat down, resting her backpack next to her feet and setting the crossbow down on the table. MK set her backpack down too. They sat in silence for a moment, listening. They are not sure if they will come across any of the infamous creatures of the Backrooms, but they have remained conscientious of their surroundings. Jane opened her backpack and took out a water bottle, MK did the same. They took out energy bars and started eating.

“They could’ve given us sandwiches, but they chose energy bars. Guess they are trying to get us used to them. I wonder how long we’ve been here. It doesn’t seem like we’ve been here long,” said MK and took a sip from her water bottle.

“I don’t know, time moves differently in this place, and we might’ve been in here for a week or more now.” At a distance they can hear indiscernible sounds that are hard to interpret. Jane stopped chewing, took out one of her earplugs and listened. Their eyes shot open. Jane gulped, “I get that whatever it is might seem distant right now, but I truly believe our paths are meant to intersect eventually,” she said and continued eating the bar. MK noticed a medium-sized clock hanging on the wall. It showed 10:10. “I wonder what time of the day it was,” she asked.

“What time of the day was what?” Jane stared at the clock. 

“I wonder what time of the day it was when the dimensions merged, and everything stopped unbeknownst to many who were working and living in the Backrooms. According to what I’ve read, the first victims of the creatures that began to filter through were the ones that were in a cafeteria,” MK said. Jane glanced at MK and took out the map from her backpack. 

“Where did you get that?” MK asked.

 “Father Patrick put it into the backpack. He wasn’t sure if it would be helpful because the map is going by the first model of the Backrooms,” she unfolded the map. “According to this, the cafeteria is another three miles away from here and in that direction is the library. However, the Backrooms tend to change.” Jane marked the spot with a marker. 

 "This place is like a maze," MK said, taking a moment to look around. "But seriously, these people seem to have had it all. I’m curious if they have showers and bathrooms too, because I haven’t spotted any yet," she remarked while sipping from her water bottle.

 "I get what you mean, but once those creatures got in, it was game over. The people in charge tried to seal off big parts of the Backrooms, but by then, it was already too late." Jane glanced at MK and asked, "Do you need to use the bathroom?"

MK replied, "Yes, but it can wait." Jane smirked and scoffed, saying, "I need to go as well." 

She then turned her attention to the map, looking for restrooms. “Hmm, it looks like there might be restrooms in that direction. We’ll head that way in a bit, but if they don’t have any, well I guess we’ll just have to

do our business at some corner. The carpet is messed up anyways and it smells like people have been urinating throughout the Backrooms,” said Jane, referring to that moldy, dreadful smell. She put the map back into her backpack.

 “This place already smells like feces,” said MK, rubbing her nose in disgust.

Jane chuckled, “I guess so. When I read the file back in the office, there was something in there about killing a creature and if you kill one, others will come, so let’s try to avoid killing anything yet, if possible.”

 MK nodded and said, “I wonder if it’s because they are connected.” Jane thought about that for a moment and said, “Maybe but nevertheless, we will have to be as quiet and vigilant as possible.” They finished eating their energy bars and saved the rest.

 “Well, we better head onward.” They picked up their backpacks and continued walking. Suddenly Jane stopped, “I think it picked up something,” she said, looking at the tracker. A red dot appeared faintly on the screen.

 “Could it be her?” asked MK, looking around, her eyes scanning the endless void of rooms, hallways, and corridors. She senses something else too. “There’s something out there and it’s not human, but I feel that it once was human.” Jane looked at her and they proceeded onward. They came across a wooden crate. “Should we attempt to look inside? Father Patrick said almond water is vital in this place,” MK mentioned. Jane nodded and they headed toward the crate, looking around cautiously. They tried to pry it open, but the lid didn’t budge. Jane opened her backpack and took out a screwdriver. 

“Guess they thought of everything,” she said, referring to the items in the backpack. The nails began to loosen. The lid fell to the carpet. They froze, afraid that the noise might attract unwanted attention. Jane looked around. MK searched through the crate.

“Oh look,” she pulled out several energy bars. “Well, I was hoping for beef jerkies or something else, but we need everything we can get,” said Jane. They packed a few Almond waters and more energy bars. “You know, our backpacks are getting a little chunky, I hope we’ll be able to move if we are attacked,” MK made a good point. 

“We can toss them on the floor if that happens. I’m not expecting to get attacked soon but I hear you.”

“I was wondering, how can one child survive in this place. If those creatures are around, wouldn’t she have already been dead?” 

Jane pondered, and replied, “True, Father Patrick did not specify how long she has been here, maybe she found a hidden room or something where she might be safe, I really don’t know. But I am sure that whatever way we find her, we must bring her home dead or alive.” MK nodded, “Let’s hope it’s not the latter.” Jane agreed. 

( Images are for the readers entertainment)

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