Interminable - A Backrooms Story

Chapter I: Novae Terrae

Sunday

"C'mon Ryan, it'll just be another hour," his friend pleaded from the passenger seat. "The exams don't even start until lunch anyway."

"Ian, it's one in the morning," Ryan replied, his left hand resting lazily on the midnight-black leather steering wheel as they zoomed down the normally-busy-in-the-day California freeways. Obviously, being just past midnight, the traffic was limited to just a few cars cruising along and the endless column of trucks in the right lanes slowly drifting in perfect unison as if they were mindlessly a part of a simulation. Which...maybe they were. Despite the numerous scientific achievements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the amount of information people knew about the origins of humanity and the reality of their existence was frighteningly little. Hyper-advanced simulations and separate dimensional planes could very well exist.

Ryan Sato sighed at his friend's insistence and glanced behind at his two other friends sitting in the back seats. Directly behind the driver's seat was Charlie Wilson scrolling through the endless depths of social media, while in the back-right seat was Mazie Rochefort, who was fast asleep.

"Pretty sure none of them would be up for going, anyway," Ryan said with a smirk as he looked back at Ian Jacobson, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Ian turned his head around to see a very bored-looking Charlie and a Mazie one would think was in a coma. In defeat, Ian reluctantly agreed. Ryan smiled and pressed the accelerator just a tad bit harder, speeding by several large trucks as the group of friends entered their hometown of San Diego.

After about a fifteen-minute drive, the car came to a halt as Ryan turned the engine off. They had arrived at the apartment that the friends lived in together, one not-so-fancy-but-not-at-all-run-down apartment complex of several floors. Though it didn't have any spectacular views, being that the beach was a couple of miles away, the apartment was livable and far better than the student dorms. The apartment complex also had a pool, gym, and restaurant, which often came in handy in times of need. The four friends had split the cost of the apartment, and have since been happily living together.

Unfortunately, one downside was their apartment wasn't the largest, and with only two bedrooms, the four had to sleep in bunk beds. But being that they were friends since Elementary and Middle School, it wasn't much of an issue other than a minor inconvenience. The four would usually rotate who they would bunk with, a tradition that started when nobody wanted to sleep with Ian because of his loud snores and even louder alarm ringtone.

Ryan walked over to the rear right door of the car and opened it. "Mazie, we're here," he said, lightly tapping her shoulder. Meanwhile, Charlie was next to the car stretching his arms and legs.

"WAKE UP!!!" Ian suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Shut up," the two boys shot back in unison.

After a brief moment of silence, a third "Shut up" was heard as Mazie finally woke up.

"Let's go inside," Charlie said as she began stepping out of the car.

The three agreed, Ian being more reluctant, and soon enough all four of the friends were back in their apartment, dying for a good night's rest.

Unbeknownst to them, it may be their last...

Monday

The next morning, Ryan was suddenly awakened by the excruciatingly loud clangor of his bunkmate Ian's phone's alarm. In annoyance, he covered his ear with his pillow and waited for Ian to shut it off, but he never did. After several minutes, he finally gave up and reluctantly got out of bed. But when he looked up at where Ian was supposed to be sleeping–on the top bunk–he wasn't there.