Devil's Gateway

Chapter Thirteen

I don't know how long I've been here. I've tried counting seconds, but the voices in my head won't stop overlapping. They talk all the time. I wish they would stop. Please stop.

It hurts to see. I've tried closing my eyes to get some relief, but the white has been burned into the back of my eyelids. As if someone dumped a bottle of bleach into my eyes, white is the only thing I see.

My head is always throbbing. There is no relief here.

Sometimes I sleep. I don't remember falling asleep half the time. I just find myself laying on the white ground, wondering how I got there.

My palm healed some, the large gash from my carousel encounter crusted over some time ago. However, the skin around it looks red and puffy. I no longer feel pain from the back of my head. I hope that isn't bad news. But the house won't let me die. It needs me.

Sometimes Allison visits me. She talks to me and keeps me company. It's nice. It keeps me sane.

White.

White.

White.

I hate the white.

Allison hates the white too.

Sometimes Allison says we should paint the white red. She scares me when she says that.

I feel weak today. Weaker than I normally do. Allison's visit wore me out last night. She had me walk around the whiteness with her. She told me I need to keep moving. I listened to her.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I still feel tired. Maybe I should just go to sleep. I wish I could sleep for longer because I never feel rested.

"Hello?" A voice called out.

It sounded like Allison, but it didn't look like her.

It looked like Kara. She was dead though. That's weird.

"Trevor? What's going on? I came looking for you. I went through all these rooms and the roller coaster... I almost fell off it. What is going on here? There was an evil clown and a sea of blood," Kara said panicked. She wrapped me in a hug, squeezing my weak body hard. Her hands snaked up to my face, gripping my cheeks.

"You are alive," I said in shock.

"Barely. That roller coaster almost got me." Her blonde hair looked exactly the way it did earlier. In a messy updo. Patches of dried blood stained her pale complexion. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too. I thought you were dead."

"The other room said that this was the last room. What do we do to get out of here?"

"Uh oh," I whispered. My eyes widened in terror as I remembered the rule.

"What? What's wrong?" Kara asked, confused. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she met my eyes. 

"Only one of us is allowed to leave." 

"Huh?" she asked.

"I have to go. The door will open for me now. I will bring help. I won't leave you."

I would come back for her. I would get her out of here. She would understand. Kara was nice.

"Trevor, wait!" She grabbed my arm. "What do you mean you have to leave? Trevor, you aren't making any sense!"

"Only one of us can leave. The other one stays. I have to go. But I will bring people to get you out of here. Don't worry." I gave her a reassuring smile.

She didn't look reassured though. Horror hid behind watery eyes and upturned lips.

"Trevor, no! What are you doing? I just found you! Don't leave me alone in here." Tears stung Kara's eyes.