Doors - A story

Peekaboo!

The next room was a dark one. To put it simply, Elina didn't like the dark. 

She didn't like anything to do with the dark, in fact. She hated imagining that things could just crawl out of the pitch-black and kill her. Assuming that they had just watched an entity try and kill them, this feeling was only made worse. 

"George..?" she whispered tentatively. "Are there any... monsters? In the dark?"

"Not that I know of," he shrugged and shot a furious glare at Mimi.

They had broken Rule 1. Now they would pay.

"Actually..." Mimi hesitated at the tense silence and suddenly became very interested in the floor. "It's nothing. Never mind."

Immy cast a sympathetic glance at her friend. Out of everyone else here, she actually knew what Mimi was talking about. The whole reason they had come here was to prove the myths true. She dug into her pockets and found something. A lighter. Handing it over to Elina, she said: "Here. Use this. It'll keep them away." Elina nodded obediently and flicked open the lighter. It was a strange mechanism, but no one questioned it. After all, it was the only light source that they currently had. Then, she heard it. 

"Psst."

Mimi looked up, alarmed, and began looking around her for the source of the noise. Immy did the same. George merely laughed at everyone else's terror. "What, are you scared?"

"Psst."

"Who was that?" Mimi said, sharply turning to face him. George snickered; Elina tugged at his clothes and screamed. "George! Look!" The boy reluctantly sighed and turned - only to be met with a face that wasn't his own. In front of him, hovering impatiently, was a round, small, thing about the size of basketball and grinning menacingly. It was covered with a sticky, inky substance that shone in the light of the lighter and had spindly, short tentacles. Upon seeing George's face, it screeched and fled back into the darkness from where it had came. George thrust his hand in the direction of the creature and snarled. "Watch it, you alien turd!" Mimi turned to the now terrified Elina and said, rather calmly, "That's another entity. It comes in dark rooms. If you hear a psst, then make sure you check for him." The little girl looked considerably shaken, Immy reflected sombrely. It was all she could do but hope that they would get out of here soon.

There was little conversation between them as they continued walking. It wasn't like there was much to talk about anyways. Absent-mindedly, Immy kept trach of the doors. Door 28. Door 29... Were they on 30?  Or 31?  Her eyes scanned the room for any immediate danger, but she didn't see anything. "Wait a minute," she muttered. That's when she realised. "Wait!" she repeated, only louder. Mimi, who was on the verge of opening the next door, turned and frowned. "What?"

Immy pulled her away from the door. "Are you sure it's the right one?" 

Slowly, they all turned. Behind them was another door, almost identical to the one in front of them, with the only noticeable difference being the door number. Door 31. The one in front of them read Door 30. "Crap," Mimi grumbled, turning to face the others. "Any of you guys remember which door is next?" Immy shook her head, and George stared at the floor. Elina, on the other hand, smiled and ran excitedly towards the other door. "It's this one!" she exclaimed delightedly. "I'm sure it is!" Immy cocked her head slightly, unsure. "Elina...," she began - but it was too late. The eager girl wrenched the door open, only to be met with a devious red grin. The entity grabbed her, stifling her screams, raking its claws across her chest and leaving her dazed on the floor. Elina rose, bleeding from where the entity  had struck. Her lip trembled, and as her gaze rested on her friends' horrified faces, the child began to cry.