Endless

cHaPtEr SeVeN

They think they can do this to me...well I'll show them...I'll show them all!

...

Never before had I expected the very ground I walked on to almost dissappear entirely, or the fact that we were running away from it.

Me and the creature ran across the large hallways as the floor was collapsing behind us. Meanwhile, Alyssa continued taunting us from up above.

"You can't run forever, soon you'll grow tired and give up..."

"There is no hope. Only pain."

"Why haven't you fell yet? I'm very disappointed in you."

"You fool..."

"Just die already!"

As we both struggled to escape, I kept wondering where my family was. I tried calling out to them but they were nowhere to be found. What could Alyssa have done to them?

I quickly looked behind me as the floor was falling into what seemed like a bottomless pit. Not only were the floors gone, but the walls were too. It was like I was staring at complete darkness.

But I had no time to appreciate the scenery as that darkness was growing.

Then the worst possible thing happened. We reached a dead end, and the floor continued disappearing. So these hallways weren't endless after all...Alyssa cackled at our misfortune once again.

"What are you going to do now? You're finally trapped..."

The creature growled at her taunting, and broke one of the windows with it's axe. When it broke, it was as white as snow on the outside, in contrast to the darkness.

"W-what are you doing? Stop that at once!"

This time, I could tell that the creature's smirk was genuine and not forced onto his face. Whatever he was doing, Alyssa was definitely not pleased that his own creation was defying her like this.

"You...not...in...full control..."

"Yes I am!" Alyssa screamed. "You're in my world now, and here we play by my rules. Maybe I'll just need to make this game more fun..."

Once she said those words, the creature screamed in pain, as he was transforming into something large and grotesque against his will...

All I could do was watch in horror as he mutated. His entire body became black and hairy, and several appendages grew from it. The end result...was a spider that was three times my size.

The thing that disturbed my most was the fact that it had a human face. The creature's face, to be exact.

"P-please...stop...m-me..." It moaned loudly.

As much as I wanted to jump out of that window to freedom, I felt the responsibility to save this monster from itself. Without thinking, I grabbed the axe before it could react and started slashing at it's face.

As blood spilled out of the damaged creature's face, I felt a white hot pain coming from my own face. As I did, Alyssa's familiar laughter echoed across this dark hallway.

"So, you're giving up already? How sad..." she said with a mocking tone in her voice. "Didn't you forget, once you hit that pathetic creature, you'll feel any pain that you inflict on it...you might as well just give up and die now."

I tried getting up to confront that beast, but the pain from my face was unbearable. The window emitting that bright light was blocked by that gigantic spider, so I had no chance of survival. Even if I did kill the monster, I  myself would die...it was hopeless.

Maybe if I just tried to get the monster out of the way instead of trying to eliminate it.

I kept slashing at it's appendages hoping that it would fall off the wall and allow me to jump out the window. However, as I chopped one of it's legs off, I fell down as I felt the same pain that the spider did, causing me too fall down instantly.

I couldn't let that stop me, and I continued frantically slashing at it's legs until it fell down onto the floor, which made an opening to that window.

I limped as fast as I could to that window while the monster was struggling to get back up, but then I felt something slimy cover my body.

I looked behind me, and the spider was shooting some kind of black goo from mouth at me, halting my movements.

"P-please stop this..." I begged the creature, trying to make it return to it's senses.

It pulled my away from the window and closer to it's gaping mouth. I desperately tried to break myself free with the axe, and it worked, but as I broke free the black goo ate through my skin.

Screaming in agony, I finally reached the window, and as my hands touched the broken glass I felt even more pain. But maybe it would all be over soon...

I felt something cold touch my cheek, making me shiver uncontrollably as the black goo was still eating my flesh. Was this Alyssa? I didn't dare to look back and see her face, not like this.

"This time I'll let you go, but next time, I won't be so forgiving. It's been fun playing with you Owen, and we'll definitely do it again soon. After all...fun is endless..."

As those three final words became stuck in my brain, I went to the other side of the window, into the blinding light.

Once I did, all of the pain I was experiencing suddenly vanished. The black goo was also gone, and my skin was fully restored. At first glance there was nothing in this room. Everything was white, and I couldn't even see the floor I was standing on.

I looked behind me, and I saw the window I just climbed out of. All I could see from the other side was darkness, and I definitely wasn't going back there.

When I turned my head again, I found a door that looked identical to those at the mansion.
Was this one of Alyssa's devilish tricks? Or was this actually a way out?

When I opened the door, I was shocked by what was on the other side.

I found myself back in the mansion. There were no collapsing floors, no spiders...everything was how it should be. Like I escaped the nightmare, and now I've woken up. I looked behind me, and everything was normal in that room as well.

I panted heavily, and I was so close from bursting to tears after that terrifying experience. I was right all along, this place was haunted and dangerous.

Alyssa was real, and she was out to get me.

I then realised that Claudia was walking towards me, and she almost had a look of genuine concern on her face.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked. "You've been gone for hours, and I've been looking for you for ages."

She sighed, mumbling something about her time being wasted.

"You look so pale too...like you saw a ghost or something."