Under the Floorboards

Chapter 10: insanity

The rainbow swirls around like waves in the ocean during a storm. It makes me feel fuzzy, dizzy, causing me to see things unimaginable. Colors. Everywhere. Everything begins to spin. My heart races. I'm going insane!

An eerie laughter sounds out, it startles me. It is then that I realize that it's me laughing. I fall to the floor, rolling in a fit of laughter. I can't control myself.

The rainbows swirls still, spinning into a ball of blackness. Now, the rainbow is gone. I feel nauseous, my head aches with pain. In the blackness, I hold my hand to my head and concentrate on the thumping drum in my brain.

Moments flash by, I find my hands pinned to my chest, still seeing the black nothing. Something is holding me together, I am stuck. It's tied around me tightly, I hear the clinging of rusty chains. A swirl of color once more and my eyes are open again.

In a white, padded room I sit alone on the floor. I glance down at myself, seeing what is wrapped around me. I'm in a straight jacket. Chains are wrapped around me and hooked to either side of the room. I go to speak, but I can't open my mouth. Where are my friends?

I shut my eyes, trying to force a scream. I hear nothing come from my mouth. Once I open my eyes, a mirror is now sitting in front of me. My eyes bulge with fear when I see what is stopping me from talking. My mouth is sewn shut, each stitch is a dirty brown. Tears swell in my eyes, my mouth is frozen in place while I try to stay strong. This isn't real, I repeat in my head. It doesn't work. The insanity seems to swallow me, like the shadow of the moon swallows the Earth away from the sun on a solar eclipse.

I begin to shake and squirm, throwing myself in every direction as I try to escape the straight jacket's hold on me. After thrashing all over, the chains rattling across the floor, I finally scream. I feel the stitches tear from the flesh above my lip, the warm blood gushes into my mouth. I taste it's coppery flavor, laughing wildly with satisfaction. What is wrong with me? Why do I like it?

The colors swirl again, the blood looks as if it is a shade of purple as I spit at the floor. I feel my tongue drag across the remains of the stitches, my eyebrows flick with rejoice as I slump backwards in the jacket.

I'm forgetting everything, why am I even here to begin with? I belong here. No. Something hits me. My friends, they need me. I can't let the house win, I have to escape. I have to help them. But how? Where are they? I scan my surroundings calmly, my tears from the past few moments run down my cheeks. I shut my eyes and regain my senses.

I focus on my heart, not my head. The jacket seems to crumble around me. The chains fall limp as I break free. I sigh with relief, pushing myself to my feet. The soft, padded room sinks beneath my weight. I look in every direction, searching for a way to my friends. Where are they? My eyes land upon the answer. Of course. The mirror.

I rub the goosebumps on my arms, preparing myself to run. I know what to do, I have done it many times before. It is always the mirror, it is a door. I lower my eyebrows as I stare at the mirror intently. After a breath, my legs begin running.

I hear the glass shatter in my ears, tearing at my flesh. It doesn't hurt. I find myself being flung into the exact room I was in before, only Damon is in the center this time. Just as I had expected.

His stitches are torn, his cheeks puffy, his eyes shut calmly as the straight jacket melts away. Just as it had done for me. He stands up and opens his eyes, sighing with relief as he sees me. "Oh, thank god!" He cries out.

"Are you okay?" I hurry over to him.

"Yeah, it wasn't my fear," He dusts himself off.

"We have to run through the mirror, it's a door just like before," I nod to it, leading the way. We run through, flying into another room. We enter just as Cole helps Lazaro up from the dust and chains. They both must've already made it out.

"It wasn't either of your fears either?" Damon ask. with confusion.

"Nope, it wasn't ours. We are okay." Lazaro explains.

"Then we have to keep going, it's not either of yours," Cole nods to Damon and I.

"Agreed," I state, running at the mirror for another time.

The next room we enter is Mark's. His mouth is still stitched, he struggles to scream as the tears stream down his face like a waterfall. I run to him, gasping heavily.

"Mark, you are," I breathe, "you are okay! It's okay, I'm," another breath, "I'm here, calm down," I speak rapidly through my breaths. His eyelids fling open to the sound of my voice, the relief in his desperate pupils. "It's okay. Close your eyes, calm down. Just breath," I place my hands on his warm cheeks, Damon, Lazaro and Cole silently watch.

He closes his eyes, I feel his breath leave his nose as the stitches and jacket turn to ash and wash away into the air, the chains fall limp with a clatter. He wraps me in his arms suddenly, taking me by surprise. I hug back, sighing once more.

"We have to keep going," Lazaro reminds us quickly.

"You're right. Let's go," I agree, letting go of Mark. He nods as I let go, following us through the glass without any questions.

We are brought to Nina and Zane helping Alaska up. "You guys made it?" Alaska sighs with relief as she dusts off her jeans and grabba Nina's hand for help up.

"Yeah, it wasn't any of our fear," I explain for them.

"Wait, then who's was it?" Nina raises an eyebrow.

"Um..." Zane scans the room.

"What?" I ask quickly.

"Where's Hazel?" Zane realizes.

"Oh god!" I gasp, running into the glass. They follow behind.

As soon as I enter the room, I see I'm too late. Hazel had gotten out of her jacket, but she couldn't fight it off. I stare in horror at her lifeless body, the chain is tied around her neck and she dangles from the ceiling. Her corpse swings slowly from either direction. I sniffle, my heart slowing. It hurt, but this time I don't cry. As the rest of them enter, each of their faces sink with remorse.

"Oh," Nina bellows with pain as she sheds a tear. There is nothing more we can do.

Her body melts into the air, just as the jackets and stitches had done, the chains following along. The room changes back to the original room we were in, right before our eyes.

A few moments pass and everyone is still silent. "I don't see anything happening..." Nina trails off with annoyance.

"I hate the anticipation. Let's just get this shit over with," Damon snaps.

"Calm down," I notify him.

"Um guys... Is it just me or is the room getting smaller?" Alaska's voice shakes.