The backrooms: Liminality

Chapter 6 - Change

Remi:

The warehouse is non changing as we silently walk down the long expanse of stacked boxes, metal scraps and old machinery.
The air is thick and the warehouse stretches out In front of us, dust curdles the air, the light from the gaps in the ceiling giving light to the dark corners. I stare at it for a moment, watching as it beams down on us, my body showered with warmth.
"It's been 3 days and it hasn't got dark once" i mutter, an echo following. Hannah's eyes follow mine to the ceiling, "oh yeah" she says, voice soft as she readjusts the bag on her shoulders soon after, lifting her dark brown hair in a hurry, then uses a claw clip to hold the thick brown strands against her head. "Where did you even get that?" I mumble, she looks back at me and simply shrugs as she lifts the bag back onto her shoulders.
My eyes turn back to the expanse in front of us. looking at the things that pass us by. And I look back, the camp we set up a couple days ago now long gone, lost through the endless amount of walking.
The echo of footsteps gets louder with every passing moment. And i look over at Miles who stares at my healed hand, eyes sharp with curiosity, he looks away a few seconds later after catching my glance and turns his attention back to the surroundings.
My ears pick up on the slightest sounds, the silence barren along with the warehouse. I look at my hand once again, the light framing it, and questions flood my head, "how is this possible?" I think, my brain scrambling for an explanation.
It must have been something I drank or ate, some things you find here have weird affects, they are unpredictable.
It could have been the level, but it's also the reason I died in the first place. Or I really could still be dead, maybe I'm just imagining things, my healing body just the brink of my imagination.
The silence is abrupt by Hannah's voice.
"Guys look" she points to a single door, her arm firm and steady, I look past her arm to see boxes standing tall in front of a metal door, almost hiding it from sight. Metal structures frame it and cardboard scatters the area around.
A subtle noise travels through my ears, but I ignore it.
There's something different about this one, though many doors line the walls of the old warehouse. they are mostly locked, adding nothing but mystery to this place. But this one is clearly hidden, the top of the door peeking through the boxes.

Before I can walk towards the door the subtle sound in my ears turns into a sharp ring within seconds, it pierces my brain, blocking out every sound around me. My hands tremble as they push against my ears, trying to rid of the noise, but it continues. With every passing second my hands push harder. Hannah notices first and I can't hear her words, but I can read them. "Remi what's wrong" her lips say and I look up to see her eyes that are filled with worry.
In the corner of my vision I see Miles rushing towards me, taking his gaze of the strange door.
A minute later sounds slowly come back, stronger than before, every noise rushes through my body. The ringing continues but starts to disappear, just like my body's wounds that faded, the pain that slowly weakened.
I stare at Hannah and Miles, both gazing back, eyes tinted with worry.
"Somethings not right" Miles says under his breath.
And I didn't think of it as anything the first time, but as time goes on I start to process the fact that I died. I came back and stood like nothing had ever touched me, like the metal didn't pierce my body, like my heart didn't stop.
And the metal blade that I drove against my palm, the blood that slowly dripped from the gash.
The wounds that were left on my body, and the pain that came after it.
They all disappeared without a trace, no sign of the wounds, only dry blood across my clothes, the only mark left from anything.
The thing that I shrugged off creeps back, the panic that I covered with jokes and the questions that are still unanswered, hits me all at once.
"Yeah" I say, hands falling from my ears, and I stare at my palm again, my impulses tell me to drop the bag from my shoulders, slide the zip open and grab the small silver blade again.
I need to know if what I saw is real, I need to.
And as I drop the bag from my shoulders, quickly open the zip and reach for the blade, Miles realises what I'm trying to do, his eyes lock onto the bag. And as I firm my grasp onto the knife Miles's arm grabs mine, holding me in place.
"Don't" he says, his voice firmer than the grip he has on my arm, and I pause before letting go. The silver knife slowly falls to the floor, clacking against concrete. The sound echoes in my brain, and silence shrouds the warehouse. "Alright" I mumble, trying to sound cooperative, trying to fake my words like I'm trying to fake an accent.
And as his grip looses I quickly grab his arm with my hand, escaping his grasp as I throw it in the other direction.
His arm seemingly moves with ease, his body following, and as I reach for it once again Hannah, who stands close by, kicks it away with her foot.
I watch as it slides away, it glides against the concrete, like a stone across ice, before meeting a metal pipe that it bangs against before slowly stopping.
She grabs me by the shoulders, her hands firm, soft fingers digging into my collarbone. Her dark eyes meet mine, and in that moment I don't know what words to expect.
"You need to stop" she says, loosening her hands on my shoulders, looking back at the blade that she kicked away from my reach, making sure it stays far away.

My brain searches for the right words and i breathe in, "My body is able to heal itself within a few minutes," i breathe in again, and dust travels through my lungs "it can't just be a coincidence" I add, and her grip loosens even more with understanding.
"Ever since I woke up my body has changed" her hands drop beside her, and she just listens instead.
And I ponder for a moment, skimming through every detail from when I came back to life.
"It's not just the healing," I mumble "Im able to hear every single sound"
Her gaze changes with each word that comes out of my mouth, and Miles sits beside her.
I also pushed away his arm with ease, and the ringing in my head, every sense in my body has increased.
"I've changed somehow" I mutter.
And the words flow across my mouth. I look towards the door that stands behind boxes and nod towards it.
"But anyway, how about we check this out" I get back on my feet and make my way to the hidden door.

As I walk towards it, my feet dodging cardboard, I hear someone talking.
"I know you're confused"
the words sound so familiar, and I look back at Hannah and Miles, expecting one of them to speak again, but I notice it wasn't either of them speaking in the first place.
I stand there enveloped in my confusion, "did anyone say anything?" I ask, my attention shifted.
They both shake their heads at the same time, confusion making its way between them.
My mind replays a memory, and I begin to realise why the words felt so familiar.

"I know you're confused, Remi" my auntie said that night, the gentleness that always lingered in her voice, in that moment, too gentle.
"Your parents," she paused, unable to speak the words, knowing that telling 7 year old me would undeniably break me.
And it did, for the longest time I felt pain, the thought of my parents being dead was still too hard to process.
The hospital stood silent around me, it felt as though the walls were closing in on me, crushing me slowly.
It didn't take me long to realise what she was about to say, it felt as though I was bleeding, without any blood to show.
The air around me suddenly escaped through the door, and my auntie wrapped her arms around me, just like my parents used to, but it didn't feel the same, the emptiness still surrounded me, the walls continued to close in on me.
I was lost for the longest time.

I shift my eyes back to the door, the words spoken by an unknown source pushed to the back of my mind.
"It's time to get out of here" I say, looking at the boxes, and with a light push they all fall down beside me, tumbling over each other.
The air shifts as the door is uncovered, my hand rests on the handle. The coldness of metal travels through my skin.
I look back at Hannah and Miles who are now on their feet, anticipating what's past the door.
My hand pushes on the handle, the door slowly moves with the sound of creaking metal and my eyes immediately squint against the blinding white light emerging from the door.
One hand shields my eyes from the light, and the other hand pulls back from the door handle.
My eyes glint, but not just from the light.
"Well this is our exit"