The Backrooms: Descent into Madness (REWRITE IN PROGRESS)

Chapter XXI - Gnosiophobia.

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I appeared in the familiar small room of manila wallpaper. A lone water dispenser upon which sat a refilling tank of Almond Water quietly bubbled in the corner. A square table with two chairs sat in the center of the small room. A knock echoed through the wall next to me, which I ignored. I sat Morgan down in one of the chairs and bound her with Smiler Matter before walking to the other side of the table and having a seat. I allowed my Smiler Flesh to consume my body and the lights dimmed once again. Now I just had to wait for her to wake up. I put my elbows on the table and put a fist under my chin, reflecting on the events of the past few days. A calming sensation washed over me as I remembered that everything would be ok. I just need to stay determined. 

Suddenly, the lights flickered and a loud, maniacal laughter echoed throughout the room. One that I knew all too well. The lights went completely out, and everything except myself and the chair I sat on vanished. I stood up in a panic and got defensive, allowing my arms to form blades. That's when I saw it. The source of my continued existence, the monster that was almost my demise those months ago. Two red pinprick eyes appeared in the darkness and a large red smile stretched out beneath it. It was about eight feet from the ground and seemed too large for a regular Smiler's face. The face laughed and began to speak without moving its mouth, in that same language I spoke to the Smilers during that battle for Level 0. "YOU. I'VE been LOOKING EVERYWHERE for YOU." It said in a malevolent tone. I held firm, allowing my Smiler flesh to increase in strength which turned my face red. The creature was unfazed. "YOU take HAND? YOU ESCAPE? YOU THINK free?" I stared at the creature in fear, unable to move. "I FIND you. I RIP YOU to pieces. I MAKE you REGRET BREATHING." I held firm and finally willed myself to say, "What? Are you salty that your attempt at killing me didn't work out as you had hoped?" The creature's face was unfazed. "YOU try HIDE FEAR. I SEE FEAR. You SCARED DEATH?" I grinned and said, "Death can have me when it earns me." The creature seemed amused and annoyed. "YOU arrogant FOR PREY." I laughed at it, realizing that there wasn't anything it could do. If it was really here it would have already made a move. "Not like you'll do shit, you don't even know where I am do you?" The creature paused, staring with intensity. I chuckled, and the creature's eyes grew in intensity. "YOU WILL NOT LAST... YOU WILL FEAR SADIST." It leered. Shivers ran down my spine as SADIST stared at me intensely. "YOU MOCK knowing I AM far... WHAT WOULD happen IF I APPEARED before YOU, I WONDER." SADIST pondered threateningly. "I WILL make YOU PART of ME."

The lights flickered back into existence, revealing the same scene I had been ripped from. My Smiler flesh retreated and the whites of my face returned. I realized I was sweating profusely and fell back into my chair. My black veins were pulsing and my eyes seared in pain. Morgan was still slumped over the desk in her chair, unconscious. I let my fear overtake me, causing my Smiler flesh to reclaim my body and my face to turn red. The lights flickered out again and my eyes flared brighter. My Smiler flesh pulsated and whipped around like tiny spikes in ferrofluid that appeared and disappeared violently. A screech pierced the air, likely my own, and I held my head in my hands. It hurt so bad. Whispers mocked and degraded from the dark corners of the room as my panic attack increased in severity. Some were legible, saying things like "You're going to die," or "There's nothing left, there's nothing left, there's nothing left," but most were the mad ramblings of a mind long since lost to insanity. Was it all in my head, or was there something there? The pressure in my head increased and another screech pierced the air. The glow from my face increased in intensity. 

Suddenly, reality returned to me as I noticed Morgan beginning to rouse back into consciousness. She looked around with blank eyes, before they reached me. Her eyes turned black and she stared at me intensely. Blood seemed to trickle like tears down her face, and her face was monotonous. "Morgan?" I asked tentatively. Her face then curved into a small smile. "You thought she was still present?" She asked in a strange and foreboding tone. I flared my crimson visage and stared into her eyes. "Deacon..." My senses had long since informed me of this piece of human waste. The first Partygoer to ever exist. He puppeted the others in a hivemind structure, which was obviously being proved. "Your senses are very interesting... given that you know who I am. It's good to meet another chimera like myself, and from the looks of it you even made me a new chimera puppet." Deacon spoke through her. I glared menacingly. "Me and you are nothing alike." Deacon laughed at that. "Oh really?! Spare me the high and mighty talk, oh kingly one. I noclipped into a True Phobic Centipede, you ate the hand of a Smiler, we both became a combination of the two. You are just as incomplete as I am." He mocked. My immovable smile that I have been unable to move since my transformation tightened. "Not only that, but you made me the perfect Chimera Puppet! A woman who was infected with Partygoer Venom but does not have a Pygmy Phobic Centipede in her anatomy? It doesn't get much better than that!" I squinted at him. "And what makes that so great?" I asked. Deacon grinned through Morgan wider. "If you must know, a Partygoer is a Chimera of Human and Phobic Centipede, an entity in the Backrooms that isn't much on its own-" He began. 

"The Backrooms?" I cut him off. He seemed slightly amused. "Yes that's what this place is called. Did you not know that?" I stared at him. He chuckled before continuing. "Anyways, when the Human and Pygmy Phobic Centipede combine with Partygoer Venom in the mix, the human obviously changes form permanently but also becomes more feral while still abiding by my commands. However, outside the presence of Partygoer Venom, the human can shift forms and is directly controlled by yours truly." He grinned. I glared at him, "Well it seems we're at an impasse. You can't leave this room without my help and I'm not leaving until you give up control of Morgan." He smiled wider, "And what's keeping me from transforming and forcing you to get me out?" He asked. It was my turn to smile threateningly. "This." He screamed in pain and struggled in the bindings of Smiler Matter that kept him in the chair. Black veins pulsed around his forehead. "OK! OK! STOP!" He yelled. I released my command, allowing him to catch his breath. "So... you tampered... with this one?" He asked. I smiled at him, "Why do you think there wasn't a Pygmy Phobic Centipede?" His expression darkened and his smile dropped. "I see. Then what if I propose a deal?" He asked. My eyes narrowed, but I let him speak. "If I release this one from my control, you'll show me how you did what you did." He proposed. I laughed, "And let you enslave the entire human population in this place?" I asked. His expression grew more desperate. "No! I just want to convert my current population into better versions!" I flashed my teeth, "And how do I know you aren't lying. This is clearly a deal with the devil." His expression softened a little, as if I hurt his feelings. "Do you think I convert without reason?" He asked. "You've given no proof for me to believe otherwise." I responded. He only stared. "Fine, new deal. I'll release my hold on this one and you won't go sticking your nose in Level =)." That was enough for me. "Fine." He smiled and raised two fingers to her head, next to her ear. He split the fingers like scissors and made a cutting motion, causing her eyes to go blank. Green liquid began to leak out of her ears as she fell unconscious on the desk.