LUCY | backrooms story

Nostalgia..

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF CHILD 4BU$3 AND TRAUMA, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SAID TOPICS!

Samantha turned around and saw nothing. She spun in a circle, and still saw nothing. "Who said that?" she asked, but she never got her answer. It was dead silent.

She decided to explore a bit, hoping to reencounter Tony. For some reason this level gave out the same vibe as the others, but a tad bit more nostalgic. It made Sam remember the past, her childhood.

She looked to one of the walls, where drawings made by crayons were hung up. The drawings mostly depicted parties, but there was one that caught her eye. It was of a small girl, around 3 or 4, holding up a drawing to an older woman. The woman was most likely the girl's mom, and it caused Sam to remember.

She was showing a drawing to her mom, it picturing her playing guitar while her parents looked at her while smiling in approval. She couldn't clearly remember what happened next, but it must have been her mom telling her that it was a wonderful drawing. She quickly shook her head. Now is not the time to be thinking about the past, I must find Tony.

Sam walked for a couple more minutes before stopping. In front of her was a table that was loaded with presents. Ones with wrapping, ones with bows, ones in bags; there was every type of gift there. Yet again, she was hit with another wave of nostalgia when she spotted some familiar wrapping paper on one of the gifts, it being plain yellow with purple dots of different sizes scattered around. She remembered that her mom and dad got her a present for her 5th birthday with the same pattern.

Flashing back to the past, she remembered ripping off the paper and opening a box. Inside was a bunch of books about engineering. She didn't remember ever asking for something like that for her birthday, but she probably had just forgot. She then smiled at her parents, the memory once again becoming foggy.

"Thank you mommy and daddy! But-" the younger Sam started before the current her snapped  back to the present. Wonder what I was going to say.. hope I wasn't ungrateful. She thought.

Again, more walking. She wasn't getting close to her friend at all. On her trip, she thought she saw a red balloon out of the corner of her eye. But when she turned, it disappeared. Was she just seeing things? Was she going crazy? Samantha was very unsure.

Suddenly, she heard barking. It must have been the entity they were searching for! So without thinking, she began to run towards the noise. When she got there, she found a small dog with very soft and fluffy looking fur. She looked at the spot that King Rasputin Bartholemew III was barking at. It was another wall painting, but this time instead of looking like it was drawn by a child it looked really realistic. So realistic that she had to touch it to make sure it was just a painting, and it was. 

The painting was of a white door, standing tall and proud like a soldier. It was so familiar, but it was as if Sam's mind wouldn't allow her to remember why. But that is when it finally hit her. This time the memory wasn't foggy at all, it was crystal clear. The memory was also dark, so very dark. She couldn't see a thing, but suddenly light came through.

A door opened, the same door as in the painting. She realized that she was in a closet, and that the one who opened the door was her mother. She was in pure shock— she remembered her mom being so nice! But this lost memory told a different story.

"Did you learn your lesson? About thinking about other things than inventing? You made me very sad.." she told her daughter.

"Sorry mommy! I promise I'll be good! Just don't lock me in here again.."

It was odd, so very odd. Her mother was so sweet and caring, right? Didn't she love her no matter what? She wouldn't even think about locking her own daughter in a closet! But it all made so much sense, and Sam's mind began to put all the puzzle pieces back together. 

She remembered what happened after she showed her mother that drawing. Her mom was angry with her for wanting to follow her dreams of playing guitar instead of becoming an inventor just like her mother. As a punishment she ended up getting locked in the closet, meaning the memory from earlier was a continuation of this one.

She remembered what happened after she opened her birthday present. She told her parents she didn't ask for any books and wanted a toy guitar, and her mom looked a little disappointed. Her dad just told her to not be ungrateful, but her mom had a 'talk' with her after the party.

"You know I don't want you thinking about that stupid music shit, you're making me upset.." her mother told her.

"I-I'm sorry mommy! I didn't mean to make you sad! It's just-" younger Sam began before being interrupted from a slap.

"Fifteen minutes in the closet, then I want you to read through all those books I got you." she told her, making it sound like the idea to get those books as a birthday gift for her was her idea.

She snapped back to reality, and scratched the dog behind the ear some to calm down before picking him up. She carried him while still searching for Tony, and eventually found him. But it wasn't was what she was expecting.

The creature kinda resembled a yellow version of that old cartoon character, Gumby. It had hooks instead of hands and had a red balloon attached to one of them. The face of it looked drawn on, having two lines for eyes and a big grin. Tony was holding an axe and fighting it, and Sam knew she needed to help him.