HATCH

Escape the house

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: CRINGE STUFF AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. ALSO AN UNNECESSARILY LONG CHAPTER, SO BRACE YOURSELF.⚠️

"Something's in this hatch, I know it," I peered down on the darkness despite not making out anything. Aniki just looked at me, still and quiet.

"Aren't you scared to go down there?" He suddenly asked.

I only shook my head but deep inside, I was afraid.

"Are you going to leave me here?"

I was surprised with his new question.

"No, I'm not," I replied quietly without looking at him.

I wondered why he didn't want to come with me down the hatch. Maybe it was because he came from down there in the first place and that he doesn't want to go back.

"Good, I suggest you stay with me," he shrugged his broad shoulders but I could tell he was up to no good if I went down the hatch.

I stood in front of the hatch. I could feel Aniki's burning gaze on my back as I looked down below.

Suddenly, the lights went out. I scrambled around for my flashlight and pointed it around in panic. On my left side was the woman from earlier who was standing on the ceiling, she was upside down. On my right was the bald guy and the long haired girl.

Aniki stood up from the bed, standing beside me.

I turned to face him and to my surprise, he looked extremely sad. His sorrowful gaze was resting on me as his eyes slowly turned completely black.

"Will you go there and leave me here? Or will you stay and be with me forever?"

It was a trick question. I didn't know the outcomes of both choices but I was sure one of them lead to freedom.

I only stared at him. The room was dim and the only thing the illuminated the whole place was my flashlight which was pointed to the floor.

I thought about Aniki and everything he wanted and he deserved. I considered his suggestion of leaving and finally decided to do so.

"Let's get out of the house."

I didn't waste a single second and quickly grabbed his wrist, dragging him with me. We headed down the stairs and to the field. I took one last glance at the direction where Aniki was buried and went on, trying to get rid of his corpse's vivid image from my mind.

When we got to the gate, there was a box that blocked the way. I tried to move it aside but it was too heavy.

So I opened the box to reduce its contents only to be scared shitless by what was inside.

Inside was a bunch of severed arms of unknown people. There were no tattoos or anything significant to identify whose arms they were.

I fell to the ground in shock, covering my mouth as I felt like throwing up at the horrendous sight. Aniki stared at the box, not knowing what to do.

But he acted quick as we heard the entities' screams and footsteps coming towards us. Aniki, being stronger than he looked, pulled the box with all his might so we could open the gate to freedom.

The gate creaked loudly as we pulled it open. Instead of a street existing to greet us, in front of us was a dark void with a white doorway on the other side.

Aniki and I took one last look at the house and dashed for the white light, leaving the monstrous screams behind.

Aniki could run faster than me, so he pulled me along with him as I looked back at the house. It was just there, sitting in the middle of nothing but darkness.