The Backroom and Other Short Horror Stories

Sin is Near

Empty bookshelves surrounded the girl as she wandered around. Each and every one of them had a neon pink paper taped to it, saying "For sale" and the price it costed. Most shelves were too large for her liking, and rather, too expensive. She carried a couple $20 bills, but she didn't feel like wasting it all on one or two bookshelves. 

Eventually, she made her way to the back of the closing library. The haunting words, "THE END is NEaR" hovered above her, on a low hanging part of the ceiling. A pillar underneath it held many "For sale" signs taped to it. So did another pillar, all the way to her left. The floor pattern changed in front of her. A boring, grey flooring turned into blue and gold wrapped together, starting underneath the words. If she recalled correctly, this area was where mystery and horror novels were kept. Now, nothing but empty shelves sat. She was far too late to buy any good books. Nothing but books she didn't find interesting and crappy kids books are all that's left. But that's fine, she figured. She needed more shelves for her books anyway.

She stepped into the new area, a wave of abandonment flushing over. She whipped around, worrying when she saw no one else around her. There were people here not too long ago, she knew. Where did they go? Nevertheless, she shook her head and investigated the bookshelves.

The bookshelves here were more rounded and were different lengths, unlike the shelves she walked past, which were straight and the same size. She circled around one, which was half her height and had four shelves down and across, the top shelves having their own mini shelves. Not too big, plus a lot of room. She gave the bookshelf a push, and it moved with ease. Not too heavy, either. Only $40, plus tax. She had enough money and was willing to pay. Satisfied, the girl went to leave the area and find an employee to purchase the bookshelf.

However, when her foot stepped back onto the grey floor, immense pain shot throughout it. She recoiled and looked at her foot. Yet, once her foot was back with the rest of her body, the pain immediately went away. She figured it was just a cramp, and tried again. But the same thing happened again. She tried with her other foot a couple times, but it did the same thing. She even tried sticking her arms out, and they also felt great pain. She stepped back in shock. Why did it hurt to leave?

But she was determined. Without thinking, she ran out of the unique flooring area. Immediately, pain greater than she ever imagined struck every nerve in her body. She collapsed onto the ground soon after she stepped foot onto it, the words mocking her as they stood up high. Her throat burned as she breathed, her chest tightened, and she couldn't feel her limbs. Somehow, she managed to pass out from all the pain.

When she awoke, it was too dark to see a thing. The pain was gone, thankfully, but now a new pain struck her heart: fear. Suddenly, some of the lights flashed on. She blinked, her vision slowly growing clearer. Through the blurry lights, she could see the only word left was "END." Not a single mark of the other words were there. Confused, she stood up and brushed herself off. 

It was deathly silent. An annoying ring appeared in her ears, and she desperately tried to pound them out. But it continued, so she tried her best to ignore it as she tried to understand the situation. All of the bookshelves were gone, revealing the floors and the white and orange walls. All bookshelves were gone, except one. The one she wanted, left completely alone. She carefully glanced around before running up to it and circling around it.

"Sin," said a clear voice. Jumping, she looked up to see a man dressed in all white staring at her. "Sin. Sin. Sin." He repeated, the only thing he said. 

"Excuse me," whimpered the girl. "How do I get out of here?" She didn't care about the bookshelf anymore. Home. That was the only thing she cared about. Getting out of here and going home, where it is safe and bright and warm.

"Sin. Sin. Sin." Was the only thing the man said.

Fear gripped her heart, but not her mind. She ran past the man and toward the front of the bookstore, where a bright light shone ahead of her. She was almost there, she was almost free. She would've been free, if it weren't for the foot that tripped her.

She scowled and looked back at whoever tripped her. It was a different man this time, also dressed in all white.

"Sin. Sin. Sin," he chanted, just like the other one.

She shook her head and stood up, only falling back down to the ground again. This time, a woman in the same style stood next to the man. She also repeated "sin" over and over.

The girl continued to stand up many times, each time she was tripped and a new person appeared. By the time her frontal body ached, ten people surrounded her, chanting the word "sin" in such perfect sinc it was loud. If standing wasn't going to work, she decided to give crawling a try. She started to crawl, but a sharp pain dug into her foot.

A pole. A pole stabbed her foot, blood seeping out of the wound. She gave a weak gasp, turning to yank it out. But another pole stopped her, this one stabbing through her arm and pinning her down. Another stabbed her other arm. She was in a twisted position, only able to move her free leg and her head. Pain flowed in the areas she was stabbed in, and for that she screeched. The people around her were still chanting, "sin."

One pole stabbed her free foot, another in her stomach. Soon she was coughing blood and wishing to be free. The poles kept coming: one stabbed her chest, one stabbed her behind, and one stabbed her back. Her eyesight and hearing worsening with each stab. She could hardly hear the people chanting "sin," or see the bright light in front of her. Her body was giving out from the painful position and poles. She thought it was over when one stabbed her throat, and she was only breathing blood.

How she wished she said her prayers before she noticed the pole aiming for her head.