“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.
The video consisted of these teens who were
maybe two years younger than me. The date is April 26th, 2009, they
were ghost hunting at an abandoned old house. As I looked through the video,
the footage glitched and became blurry at times.”
