The Backrooms: Descent into Madness

Chapter XXIII - Leave the Deacon to his Demons.

The Second pursed his lips and furrowed his brows as I explained what happened in the Manila Room. He was relatively unphased when Morgan walked into the room with tentacles, but he was more interested when Deacon's control was mentioned. "So he had free will to control her?" He asked. "Not Anymore," I responded, to which the Second raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?" He asked. "I made him a deal, I will never set foot in Level =) and he released her. Partygoer Cerebrum flooded out of her ears and she passed out." The Second nodded. "You seem shaken, though. Did anything else happen?" He asked as he picked up his steaming cup of tea for a sip. I took a deep breath, "What is the Red Smiler?"

Something happened then, something that deeply disturbed me. The Second's eyes went wide and he choked on his tea. He took a moment to compose himself, before resuming his stonewall expression. "I was wondering when you'd ask about that. I remember Johnathan informing me about what you reported." He said with some discomfort. He paused and pursed his lips. "Do you know its name?" he asked. "SADIST," I said with some timidity. He nodded. "Name meets nature. The creature seeks nothing but the suffering of others. It controls the Smilers, that is until you came along." He spoke concisely. "Why is he able to bend their will more than SADIST is?" Morgan interjected. The Second chuckled, "They want a leader, not a dictator. SADIST makes them listen, but you come to mutual respect with them." I thought for a while.

"But why does it seek suffering? Where did it come from?" I asked. The Second paused, "It's anyone's guess. The current theory is it's like the Thing on Level 7. A being that either clipped into the Complex and evolved over time or a being that was generated within the Complex." I stopped and thought for a second about that, but only one option made sense. "It can't be a being that clipped in. It's Smiler all the way through. There wasn't an ounce of meat in that hand." I deduced. The Second nodded and covered his mouth with his hand in deep focus. "Well for now I'd recommend you both keep a keen eye out for any new occurrences regarding SADIST or the Partygoers, especially Deacon." I nodded and sighed, I have two problems to take care of now. Me and Morgan walked out of the tent and I shakily pulled out my box of cigarettes. "Really?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, really," I said with all the positivity I could muster, before putting the cigarette to my lips and lighting it. I took a drag and turned to her. "So, where to?" I asked. We stopped walking and leaned against the concrete wall of the chamber. "We have a lead on Deacon, he has to be in Level =) he's probably too scared to stick his nose out of his den." I nodded and took a drag. "Yeah, fuck that deal I made with him, let's rest up, and after that, I'll go kill him." She gave me a look. "You alone? Not gonna happen." I shot her a side glance. "You realize that you aren't anywhere near ready to fight him right? I might not even be ready." I said plainly. She gave me a determined look. "Then I have a lot of learning to do, better now than never." I sighed. "Fine, let's get started." I put my hand on her shoulder and transported us to Level ! in an instant. "What are we doing here? Weren't we going to take a while to rest?" She asked. I chuckled, "This place doesn't care if you need rest. We're going to run until we reach the exit, and you're going to keep up. Any questions?" Morgan opened her mouth to speak but I rapped my knuckles on the wall to the rhythm of "Pop Goes the Weasel" and the lights shut out, revealing the red exit signs. I gently shoved her into a running start before taking off sprinting myself.

The Smiler was upon us in only moments, Jaws wide with glee. Morgan kept up as I ran with grace, slightly panicked from the start. We ripped through the hallway like two bats out of hell, using a dead end death sentence as a proving grounds. "You know the rules, play nice!" I yelled to the Smiler, its eyes flashed red in response. "Oh shit." I said, causing Morgan to look at me with concern. "What's the matter?" She asked. "That one isn't listening to me... that means-!" The ceiling ahead of us crashed down, revealing a hulking black creature with a red face. "FOUND you." The creature, SADIST, leered.