INTO THE BACKROOMS

----PART¹ : ENDLESS MAZE----

"Where..am I..?"I wake up slowly,smelling the nasty scent,the wet ground and the lights blinding my half sleeping eyes.looking around,I can’t tell exactly where I am.The endless maze of rooms and walls is all that surrounds me. MThere is no one else in sight either.

I look down,seeing an endless carpet full of stains,and dampness.The scent of it is overwhelming.

Looking up.the humming of the fluorescent lights annoys my eyes

I try to yell,but my own voice sounds weirdly echoed as it is bounced back at me by the walls.It seems my voice can’t reach far here.It’s like a maze of endless echoes.

I shake my head,trying to ignore the headache then search for my phone.when I open it I see it's 4 am.
For some reason though,it just feels like the time is frozen here.I can’t quite tell if the clock on my phone is still accurate

I can also see that the Wi-Fi has disconnected for some reason..and i have zero signal

"Shit.."I get up and start walking through the maze,yelling out every now and then. hello? and is anyone there? are a few of the things i say,but there’s nothing but echoing and the hum-buzz response

The fluorescent lights continue to hum, and they continue to annoy me with no sign of stopping.

"Aagh where am I?! It's been hours and I can't even find a door!"

It’s definitely been a few hours.. but it feels like eternity.The labyrinthine maze of walls, rooms and halls seems to be endless. At some point I think i passed the same sign twice..or maybe I'm just hallucinating.

There’s a faint,almost unnoticeable stench of something rotten..like old food left to rot Like garbage. There is no door in sight.

I throw my shoulder into the wall and try to break it.The impact causes my body to shiver and a slight shockwave of pain to flow through me Though..the wall is still intact. It didn’t budge.

"Damn it.." I yell "IS ANYBODY HERE?!"

I yell out once again,but the only response is the echoing and bouncing off of my own voice.Whatever is in the maze with me is either not hearing my cries, or doesn’t want to respond.

Eventually though,i do hear a slight shuffle of footsteps.

I look around
"Is there someone?!" I exclaimed "Please help me I'm lost!"
The shuffling grows slightly louder,until i can hear and pinpoint a single pair of footsteps.They sound close..

There’s nobody in sight,just me and the endless maze of yellow walls and moldy carpet,but the shuffling and footsteps are definitely approaching where i stand.

I try to find the source,but there are numerous corridors and rooms surrounding me.They can be coming from any and all directions. Eventually, i do get a chance to hear the footsteps coming from behind me.
Someone is approaching quietly.Whoever it is, they’re good at sneaking.

I quickly glance behind myself,seeing a shadowy figure approaching quickly. It’s almost human-like in appearance,but it’s too hard to see right now.

The flickering fluorescent lights of the maze cast a chaotic pattern across the figure, making it nearly impossible to see clearly.

"Hey you there! Wait!" I begin to approach the figure,quickly running towards it. With each step i take closer, it begins to become more clear..

It looks human..but it appears almost dead-like. Its eyes are wide open and completely black, empty but with some sort of life still behind them. It’s clothing is torn and it looks old and messy, like a wandering traveler that’s been through hell and back.