The Backroom and Other Short Horror Stories

Guilty As Charged

"Have a good night," said his teacher, as he walked out of the classroom. He made no remarks, nor any sound. He just scurried out of there like a cockroach when the lights came on. In the quiet and empty hallways, he made his way to his locker. The floor was a dark green with red squares every few feet. The walls were nothing more than white tiles, hardly covered with posters and students' artworks. The lockers were beige, half as wide as the brown classroom doors. 

Inside his locker was his backpack, nothing more. He grabbed it, stuffed his school materials inside, and heaved it over his shoulder. Slamming the locker shut, he then scurried toward one of the exits. Normally, students had to fill out an exit form before leaving, but this boy didn't feel the urge to waste his time. Especially since who he was meeting isn't going to be in the office, but rather away from all.

He paced toward the nearest exit, which was also the most vacant area in the school. Down here was a blocked off room, filled with century old computers and technology. The school did not have a lot of students or staff, nor were they careful about their technology, so they saw no need to clean up the room. A fire extinguisher was next to the room, but that was collecting dust as well. Though fires were common, they weren't common enough for the most vacant area to be one of the unfortunate areas.

At the end of the hallway was the exit, three heavy doors behind a hanging exit sign in red letters. The classroom and fire extinguisher were on his left. Two of the doors were sealed shut except for one, which was held open with an orange cone. The boy immediately knew who kept the door open for him. In his mind, he thanked them, for it saved him the trouble of unlocking the door and making his escape. The exit doors at this school were laced with alarms. If one were to attempt to open them, loud alarms would go off, and the whole school would have to evacuate. They were more of emergency exits, but no stickers or signs bothered to be on the doors. Instead, staff would remind the students about the doors practically every day.

The boy squeezed out of the door, careful to not knock over the cone. He feared if the door moved the slightest, the alarms would go off. For the same reason, he left the cone and door untouched once he was outside. As soon as he was out of the building, he took in a deep breath and marched forward. In front of him was a forest, a worn-out paved path leading into it. He was currently walked through a parking lot, with no parked cars and only a dumpster filled to the brim. The smell bothered him, but nevertheless, he minded his own business and continued walking.

Birds chirped all around him when he walked inside the forest. Even though he only took a couple steps in, nothing but green, bushy scenery surrounded him. No one came into the forest anymore, but the town refused to tear it down because it was a sacred land to him. The boy was glad about this, for it made his real life easier when it came to his secret life.

Scanning the area, he made sure no one was around. Once he felt safe, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. A couple brings, and a dark voice answered.

"I'm ready," whispered the boy, griping his phone. The other line hung up first, in which the boy sneaked his phone back into his pocket. Within a few seconds, a giant purple vortex appeared in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he fixed his ginger hair and stepped into the vortex. An irritating ringing noise deafened his ears, but he only flinched, for he heard the same noise dozens of times. His vision went wiggly and wonky, purple shapes and lines invading his eyes. Again, he only flinched, for he seen the sight dozens of times.

Before he knew it he was in a courtroom. Only, this courtroom was odd. Big, fluffy white clouds were the ground, walls and ceilings, the sun being the light. Every seat and table were also made out of clouds, only they were darker and less fluffy. Beings dressed in white armor or gowns sat in some of the pews, eagerly talking about the upcoming event. They all had white wings, some attaching jewelry or hair accessories. Each and every one of them were beautiful, with shiny and smooth hair, and silky skin and perfect bodies. However, some of them looked at the boy in confusion or disgust. For them, he was strange. For him, they were strange.