NoEnd House • horror

four.

I stood up and backed away from the edge. 

I hated heights. I was stopped by a wall that shouldn't have been there. I turned around and was met with a terrifying sight. 

The cave was gone. 

I was face to face with a solid stone wall, the side of whatever mountain this was. I had to keep telling myself I was still in the NoEnd House. I didn't leave. Clearly this isn't an actual mountain. But it felt so real. 

I turned back and looked over the cliff again. There was no way. This house has been pretty messed up before now. I was outside for god's sake. But what it expected me to do now was just too much. 

I knew what those rocks down there meant. That was the entrance to room 5. There was no stairs leading down, no other paths to use. I was trapped, again. The house wanted me to jump. The house wanted me to jump. 

I sank to the ground and curled into a ball. I couldn't do it. There was no way I could jump off a cliff onto a jagged rock formation a hundred feet below. My mind was split in two. I knew that I was still inside, but my surroundings screamed in my ear the opposite. I stayed there on the wooden ground for a while, at that point I had lost all concept of time. 

After what seemed like weeks I finally stood up. Slowly I made my way to the edge of the cliff and looked down. 

The giant '5' taunted me to jump. It knew I couldn't do it and it taunted me. 

And then the hum returned, the low and distant hum. It seemed to come from behind me, resonating within the mountain. I don't know what came over me, but after hearing that sound, something inside me lit up. 

I clenched my eyes shut, and I jumped.

The wind was rushing up as I fell, and a deep fear washed over me. I was going to die. I was going to smash into those rocks and die. They were going to tear me apart and I was going to die. I didn't dare open my eyes, I just fell. Even with the loud wind around me, the hum was now deafening. I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted it to be over I just wanted to hit the rocks and I wanted it to be over-

And then I stopped. 

I wasn't falling anymore, but I never hit the rocks. 

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was standing on the familiar wood paneling of the house. The hum was gone, and silence took its place. I had made it. I was in room 5. I don't know how it happened, but I was in room 5. 

The feeling of dread was gone, I was just incredibly happy to be alive. After a few moments to collect myself I decided to look around at the rest of the room. 

My happiness left me fast. 

This room was empty. The walls matched the floor, and the ceiling matched the walls and the walls had no doors or windows. I was in a sealed box. Then I realized I didn't make it. I wasn't safe. I had made it out of the fourth room, but only to enter room 5, and there was no leaving it.

At that moment I wondered if David had been in this room. I wondered if he had jumped off that hundred-foot cliff and ended up stuck in the room. And if he did, that means he got out. He wasn't here, I was alone. He got out, and I would too. The thought of David escaping this room gave me new found confidence, and a second wind filled my spirit. I was going to get out of this room, find David, and get us the hell out of here. 

I walked around the perimeter of the wall and felt for any sort of inconsistencies. Nothing. The walls were flawless, barely a scratch on them let alone some secret exit. I started to knock at random places on the walls. They were completely solid. The confidence started to leave me. I was running out of ideas. 

And that's when she spoke to me.

"You shouldn't have come here, Maggie."