[IC] Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

[Xandrya]

That made sense, and simultaneously, it didn't. She wasn't alone...but it sure looked like it. Michelle pondered on what that meant for a moment before getting back to what she was doing. And there it was. She nodded, annoyed with herself that she got even a tiny bit hopeful with her attempt to reach someone when the obvious was a little bit too obvious. Hanging up, Michelle went through he motions at that point to take another crack at it. She pulled out her cellphone, but she noticed it didn't have any service. Of course it didn't...why would it? So she could find a way out of there and be able to embrace her daughter once more? That'd be lovely, though unfortunately, not likely at that very moment.

Exiting the booth, she noticed the bear to be gone, but a new, colorful toy had appeared in the room. A worm ...was it Wormy? Speechless for a moment, she took a few steps closer to it. "You're a dangerous one, aren't ya?" Michelle looked over the surface of the desk. Nothing seemed out of place, not in a manner that indicated the worm got on there on its own. Of course not, it's a stuffed animal! Regardless, a toy appearing out of thin air wasn't the weirdest thing to have occurred just yet.

Just from underneath the worm, Michelle was able to make out the corner of a note. It wasn't as big as the standard sheet of paper, maybe just one of those Post-its, but the content maybe held some level of importance given this particular worm, "dangerous" as it was, appeared to be intentionally blocking the message written on it. This was a tough decision now... Should she risk upsetting the worm in order to see what the note read? She certainly thought the risk was worth the reward, as ridiculous of a premise as it was.

And with that, Michelle used her phone to gently push the plushie off the note until the text was visible. She braced for whatever the worm's reaction was going to be, whether that was jump at her baring its teeth or do nothing at all.

[Estylwen]

P.G.101

@Xandrya

---

Whether or not the worm reacted remained to be seen. The good news, however, was that Michelle could easily see the note from where she stood. It was a yellow post-it note. Written in cryptic sharpie was below:

What the Note Read

What was also nice was that all the inhabitants of the room, even ones in separate dimensions, could also now read the note.

And, armed with this newfound code, this secret, this key to unlock something great, Michelle was now ready to input a number sequence into the phone booth's keypad.

What the outcome would be, however, remained to be seen.

[Squirrel98]

Amanda Lewis
@Estylwen@Lexisheeps

---

Amanda was surprised to see what the papers on the desk contained. It was information about her. Bills that weren't paid. But she always paid her bills. It seemed as if she hadn't been present for a whole year. Had it been that long since she entered this building? Since she got lost in here? Since she last saw her son? It couldn't have been that long. If it had been, then the chances of her actually finding her son would be close to... zero? She wasn't prepared to accept that hypothesis as the truth. She wasn't even ready to think about something like that. The moment she was trying to shake away that thought, she realised that someone was moving the paper underneath the worm. It was something Amanda had thought of, but didn't dare to actually do. She was quite happy to be in a room with someone courageous enough to go through with it. And it seemed to be a useful move as some kind of code was written on the paper. What did the code say? 891? 894? 8914? It must have had something to do with the phone booth, because she couldn't see anything else in the room that asked for a number. That's why Amanda entered the phone booth, picked up the phone and pressed the code 894. Hopefully she read the paper right. And hopefully something useful would appear.

[Ocelot79]

The eye that had popped from the wall was the final straw; Lucas began losing his composure and could not think straight anymore. He stumbled on the floor, then slowly distanced himself from the terrifying sight. He shielded himself, waiting for the monstrosity to jump at him, but nothing would happen. The eye and the walls were morphing in front of him but, thanfully, weren't moving towards him.

A few moments passed before Lucas could move again. He didn't want to examine the eye anymore than he wanted to leave; fearing of whatever else may be waiting for him nearby. His hunger had gone from manageable to debilitating very quickly for some reason. He reached his pocket for the sandwich he found earlier and ate it quickly.

While the rest of the facade indicated that he was trapped by some evil overseer who had kidnapped his child (and presumably the children of others), it didn't explain why he was seeing paranormal things. Realizing that the eye hadn't made physical contact with him, he brushed it off as a visual hallucination that would pass, and got up again. He shouldn't have been in this place after going down a second time. Either he overlooked something while going down the slide, or he was starting to lose it. He assumed the former.

The polaroid camera wasn't there before, and it was conveniently placed in front of the Morse code. This also looked like a setup. The architect of this place wanted him to pick up and the camera and use it. This also meant that there was someone else in the vicinity, following and watching him while carefully setting up each room. For a moment, Lucas wondered if he would catch the perpetrator by backtracking to the room with the pool, but he was too afraid of what he would find back there. The idea of getting jumped and thrown at the pool by the owner of this place made him hesitate.

He picked up the camera and snapped a photo at the Morse code. In a self-doubting move, he turned around and snapped a photo of the eye as well. If the eye was real, it would be imprinted on the paper. He then looked at the photos.

[Estylwen]

P.G.101 -> C.G.115

@Squirrel98

---

The code was correct.

As Amanda punched the keypad, it would appear as if nothing happened. Then, there was a click on the other end of the line as Jackpot music played.

Then, the floor within the phonebooth gave way, and Amanda was plunged into darkness. She would be in a freefall state for a few seconds before her feet would glide against the smooth plastic of a slide. The slide would slowly catch Amanda, softening her fall and taking her into several twists and turns in the darkness.

Until, there was a faint light at the end of the slide that grew and grew, and Amanda came out of the horizontal, long end of the slide, her momentum ground to a minimum. She was now in a curious room indeed.

For as far as she could see, there were rows of pools with their ladders, separated by a tiled lane with discreet drains. If she were to look to the left, the tiled lanes would extend about fifty feet, before they began to curl upward at a 90 degree angle. It was impossible physics that was hard to wrap her mind around, but if she were to walk along the lane, she would feel gravity shift with her, and she would be able to reach the staircases at the end.

The staircase was well lit, with one ascending into light, the other descending into light. There were two options, without a discernible way to differentiate between the two. It was these choices that were presented to her as a way to move forward.

Echoing through the poolroom was an old radio situated along one of the pool lanes. It buzzed with static, before it cut into a broadcast.

”As she wandered the haunted house, searching for the exit, she found a room filled with spices.

‘Seasoning for Humans’

That's what was written along the top of the spice cabinet. She screamed in horror, seeing jars filled with horrifying objects: blood, eyeballs, teeth.

As she fled the room she had to wonder, ‘Who seasons humans with teeth?’

…And thank you for tuning into our 32nd episode of ‘Hidden in the Haunted House.’ We hope you enjoyed this riveting tale. Stay safe, stay out of the dark!”

---

P.G.101

@Xandrya

---

Michelle would hear the floor give out in the phonebooth with a sudden thud. The phone itself would dangle by its cord, waving slowly back and forth at the edge of the yawning darkness below. The faint sound of Jackpot music could still be heard coming from the receiver.

It would appear the puzzle in this room was complete, and the way forward, into the darkness, had presented itself. If Michelle would jump down, she would end up in room C.G.115 as well.

---

P.G.107, Kids Backroom -> F.Y.119

@Ocelot79

---

The moment Lucas devoured the sandwich, it was if a large sigh escaped the room. His maddening hunger stopped. His vision began to slowly return to normal, the eye fading out in certain spots.

As he snapped photos of the Morse code, the Polaroid popped out of the bottom. A few seconds of waving, and a picture began to appear.

It showed the same wall that he saw with his own eyes. But instead of morse code, the polaroid showed a translation…

What the Polaroid Deciphered

ONE LONG KNOCK, TWO SHORT KNOCKS OPEN THE DOOR.

And as he snapped photos of the eye, a curious thing would occur. As he waved the polaroid in the air, the image that appeared was a plain wall. Decorated, painted, yes. But no eye, no paranormal occurrences.

And as he would raise his eyes to the eye of the wall, he would also noticed that, due to his normal hunger levels, the eye had disappeared.

Lucas still had the candy bracelet, which could be used to stave away hunger later.

If Lucas were to input the knocking code into the door, the door would swing open, revealing a small room with a single brown slide. Sliding down this singular slide, its twists and turns, would eventually allow Lucas to comfortably slide into a new room.

It was a long tunnel, white tile along the sides and roof, broken up by the occasional yellow-ish light. A single ladder descended into black water, where light couldn't penetrative. It was cold. The ladder descended a meter or so, before it disappeared into the darkness. Trying to touch the bottom, on tip toes, or even dipping under the water for extra length, would prove useless; it was impossible to see, touch, or even hear the bottom. Attempting to swim down to the bottom of the pool would only result in encroaching darkness, increasing pressure, and the burning need of oxygen.

Regardless, it was possible to assume this water was deep. How deep, though, one could only guess.

The tunnel went on until the horizon, blending in with the tile. There was no clear end, but it was the only way forward.

[Squirrel98]

Amanda Lewis
@Estylwen@Lexisheeps

---

The music surprised Amanda, but what surprised her even more was the sudden fall into a deep and seemingly endless darkness. Her body was shaking the whole way down. Once she opened her eyes again, she noticed that in front of her was a pool. The physics didn't make sense to her, but she had seen weirder stuff inside this building, so this wasn't so shocking anymore. Her knees bended and her hand slowly went inside the water. Seeing a pool so close made her remember her uncle. This was probably just water, not alcohol or something, so this shouldn't have reminded her of him, but it did. Her body started shaking again as tears rolled down her cheeks. Come on, Amanda. Be strong. Be strong for Nigel. He is waiting for you somewhere. He needs you.

After the image of her son showed up inside her head, she was quickly able to forget all the bad memories. She could focus on the task in front of her again. There were two exits from this place: one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. Should she simply pick randomly? Then she started focusing on the radio. Wait? Was that a warning? A warning as to what would happen if she picked the wrong place? So she shouldn't pick randomly then? Her decision should be based on something, but on what? There seemed to be no hint or clue as to what decision was the right one. Maybe she was thinking too hard. Maybe she was reading too much into what the radio host was saying.

The water in the pool made her think of what happened in the first room. The room was filling itself with water. After that, she chose the door downstairs and that lead her into the office room. Underneath the office room was this pool. Does that mean that going up would lead her back into the cafetaria? Back towards the unicorn that once tried to poison her? Maybe she should go downstairs again then. Or was there still something to do inside this room? Would the water be drinkable? Or was it regular pool water? No, she should focus on getting to that door downstairs.

[Xandrya]

She stared at the note for a while, far too long as a matter of fact. Michelle was caught up in her own thoughts, but she came to when there was a sudden sound. The flood underneath the phone had given out. Looking back at the note and then at the phone, she put the pieces together as to what she believed had occurred. The other person must have taken the plunge. The question that remained now was simple...what would she do?

Carefully nearing the edge, she tried to make out whatever was in the space below. Not that she was expecting to see a person, but given the overwhelming darkness, it was practically impossible to get a sense of what could be waiting for her down there.

“Hello?”

It was foolish of her to even utter the word when she hadn’t communicated with anyone else there. The only voices she’d heard thus far had done nothing more than mock her. But this is what it took, apparently, and so she sat on the edge, her legs below her knees dangling as a million thoughts raced in her head. Her own fears prevented her from taking that one simple step. There was nothing good down there, how could there be? Falling to her death seemed to be the most realistic expectation... And so it didn’t take long for her to decide against it. Michelle went ahead and began to get to her feet, but a foolish mistake was all it took for her to lose her balance and fall over the edge. She screamed as she went down, seemingly forever, before realizing she was sliding over something solid. She hadn’t opened her eyes just yet, but when she eventually did, she was in another room. Though that wasn’t obvious right away. Tears flooded her eyes as her chest heaved up and down. She was a mess on the floor for a few minutes. In fact, she had completely missed the message on the loudspeakers.

Michelle eventually was able to collect herself. Wiping her face with her hand, she took a good look at her surroundings. And it wasn’t anything she expected to see. Another impossible scenario, terrifying for its own reasons. Michelle stayed as far from the water as she could, her feet slowly her taking her forward. Once the surface began to bend upwards, she set a foot out and she experienced quite an odd sensation. So she took the next step, as a normal person would taking a walk in the park. Gravity would keep her grounded despite the impractically of it all. And so she walked on with a sigh, the lanes of water on either side of her a grave reminder to not even think about approaching the edge.

At the end, Michelle was left to make another decision. She thought on it for a moment, and then she began going up the steps. No use in going further down if she could help it.

[Estylwen]

C.G.115 -> E.Y.122, The Endless Store

@Squirrel98

---

As Amanda descended down the steps, the air changed from warm and humid, to cool and air conditioned. As she opened the door at the bottom of the steps, she walked into a dimly lit store. Packaged food on shelves, as far as the eye could see. There was no end to the aisles, or the overall darkness.

As Amanda took a few steps forward, the door behind her swung shut. It wouldn't open again. At least, not now.

Amanda had a few options. She could walk to the left, where she could see jams and spreads, or walk to the right, where she could see chips and popcorn. Lastly, she could walk straight ahead, past the aisle, where she could see check out counters. Beyond the counters was natural light shining through automatic doors, but they wouldn't open. On the floor surrounding the doors was a pool of dried blood.

Angelica's distinct voice could be heard over the intercom.

“You're not alone here, my dear. I would keep your wits about you, and keep your eyes open…”

---

C.G.115 -> P.G.116, The Red Button

@Xandrya

---

Michelle's carefulness brought her to the upper staircases, and a door, which she opened to reveal a yellow-ish room. The musty smell of this room was a deep contrast to the humid pool smell of the room behind her.

She would notice the big red button in the center of this room with its vaulted ceiling. Tantalizing. Alluring. Begging to be pressed.

The cracks and crevices in this button told a different story, though. Regents of dried blood on it, beholden of a time where previous strangers had pressed the button, and suffered the consequences.

Beyond the button, the far wall was curved inward. Written in large black paint was the text ‘Spin Here’.

What exactly would happen when and if she hit that foreboding button, though, was any guess.

Zuzu the Ponycorn and the eggbutts sat, appearing lifeless at the foot of the button. Zuzu appeared almost sad, ”Won't you hold me, fragile human?” The eggbutts, likewise, appeared mute, save for a stray giggle here and there.

There was a door to her far left, with an exit sign over it. It was an option if she didn't want to take her chances with the button.

[Squirrel98]

Amanda Lewis
@Estylwen

---

It was quite a relief to see that the next room contained food as Amanda was starting to feel hungry again. It did scare her that the last time she ate within this building she almost got poisoned, but she had to try and eat something if she didn't want to die from hunger. Maybe, if the food turned out to be safe, she could stuff some of it in her bag and take it with her to a possible next room. Amanda took a deep breath as she looked around her. The door was closed. Again, she felt quite alone and the sight of blood in the distance almost made her vomit. However, she needed to remind herself every time that she had to stay strong. She forced herself to look away from the blood, but behind it was a door what might be an exit. If she were to escape this room, then she had to face the blood on the floor. Luckily, it wasn't time for that yet. First, she needed to regain her strength and stock up.

The voice warning her that she wasn't alone surprised her. The room seemed to be pretty empty. How was she not alone in here? Maybe the worm was in here as well. It had already followed her from the school to the office, so it might be hidden inside this store as well. It did seem to like hiding from her. In that case, she needed to watch her every step as she moved around in this room. And so she did. She chose to go right towards the chips. That seemed the easiest food to eat quickly and to stuff in her bag. Hastily, she opened up one bag and spread out every chip to make sure that there wouldn't be anything threatening inside the bag. The chips that looked safe to eat she ate, all of them. She opened up a second bag and did it again. Two other bags of chips were stuffed inside her bag. With this, she should be fine for a little while. Maybe she should put more inside her bag, but Amanda knew that nothing would seem like enough for the journey that seemed to go on for an eternity. She walked up to the exit, making sure with every move that she didn't step on the worm, and tried to open the door while suppressing her need to gag from the blood on the floor. Sadly, the door was locked.

[Vertigo]

__________________________________________________

One of the voices returned, though it was impossible to pinpoints its exact source. Abel's best guess was a hidden intercom. It wasn't exactly a surprise that he was being watched, all things considered. He wasn't sure how much of what he heard was worth being paid attention to, much less believed; he would've expected kidnappers to be a little clearer on their intentions and demands. Alas.

Abel couldn't help but fixate on the fact that he wasn't alone, however. If the voice was to be believed, there were three other victims besides him, and he couldn't decide whether that made things better or worse. More victims meant a chance for a united front. But it also meant more premeditation on the kidnappers' part. Better organization. More perpetrators. More danger, even if it apparently came with a ridiculous name like Mr. Wormy Squiggles.

Isabella...

Just as Abel's thoughts shifted back to his daughter, her familiar voice rung out from the ball pit, clear as day. Abel reacted reflexively and without much thought, throwing himself into the pit in search for his daughter, even if it was physically impossible for her to be there. He knew that, but logic had no place in the mind of a desperate father. So he dug and dug, until his hands finally brushed against something other than smooth plastic.

As expected, he did not find his daughter. Instead, he found himself holding one of three weird, colourful platypus toys. The pink one, to be precise. Isabella would've loved the pink one.

Realizing his efforts had been in vain, Abel was struck by anger and shame both. They must've recorded Isabella's voice. Which meant they did have her. And they'd made her call out to him...

Cursing under his breath, Abel grabbed the pink platypus with both hands and started trying to rip it apart. He fully expected a small speaker to fall out along with the stuffing, and it was that very thing he wanted to destroy. It existing felt like an insult to his daughter, and a taunt to him. Would it improve his situation in any way? No, but he wasn't thinking that far. He was hardly thinking at all.

[Xandrya]

No, she thought to herself, "I don't think I will." The plushies, unnerving as they were, did definitely irk her. It took some restraining on her part to not forcibly kick them against the wall. The options before her were pretty clear; no doubt the hard part–yet again–was making that choice. But it wasn't only a matter of picking "A" over "B". With no other information, it was simply sheer luck that would dictate whether she would make the right decision. And if she didn't, then that was probably it for her. But that wasn't what scared her the most; it was the thought that if she were to take a wrong turn, then she'd find herself outside of whatever type of facility this was with no other way in and no way of finding her daughter. Because if she were to go to the police and tell them everything that had occurred in here, then at the very least, they'd surely send her to get evaluated.

We're not there yet... Michelle looked around the entire room once more, the only upside being she wasn't at that weird pool anymore. God knows how deep that water went. However, even with nothing but solid ground underneath her feet, this room didn't feel quite right. None of them had, thus far. She slowly walked over to the door on her left, completely ignoring the plushies as if they didn't exist. There was no sound coming from the other side of the door, nor any sign of life on that side either. Likewise, it seemed she was the only one present in the room at the moment. No rhythmic breathing other than her own, and no objects moving freely on their own as if she were in a room full of ghosts, which at that point, it wasn't that far-fetched of an idea. Michelle then placed her hand on the doorknob, telling herself it was better than touching the blood-stained button, without a doubt for more reasons than one. And if she did get it right, then maybe she was one step closer to finally being able to see her princess.

[Ocelot79]

Not much time had passed between Lucas reclaiming his sanity and falling down to what seemed to be a scene out of a nightmare.

Being afraid of the sea, Lucas was terrified. He knew he couldn't go back up; climbing the slippery slide all the way to the previous room was practically impossible. Going forward was a risky endeavor as no exit could be seen. Unwilling to move, Lucas began observing the room carefully.

Upon a first inspection, the room appeared to be some sort of an underground corridor that was nearly completely flooded. The tunnel stretched towards infinity, with no indication as to where it could lead. In front of him was a robust, metallic staircase that seemed to connect the platform he was on with the tunnel's floor. Except no floor could be seen. The tunnel's roof was right above his head, adding to the claustrophobic feeling.

Similarly to the previous rooms, this one seemed normal but had certain qualities in it that didn't make sense. A maintenance tunnel that was abandoned and flooded still had electricity, all lights were functioning and the tiles appeared to be well maintained and relatively clean. The platform he was on seemed to be a dozen meters above the rest of the tunnel if not more, considering the depth of the water. The staircase was a relatively new construction, one could confidently grab to it to descend. The length and general size of the tunnel itself was nonsensical.

The humidity was getting unbearable, and there was no option option but to go forward. Lucas removed his shoes to make swimming easier and slowly immersed himself in the pool of water. This was a death trap and a nightmare come alive, and Lucas didn't even want to imagine where his daughter could be held hostage. He wanted to find her and get out of that place as soon as possible, even if it meant confronting his worst nightmares in the process.

[Estylwen]

E.Y.122, The Endless Store

@Squirrel98

---

Mr. Squiggles was nowhere to be seen. The atmosphere was tense, soaking with wet anticipation. Ah, yes. When Amanda took in the blood, and when she touched the door, attempting to open it, something bad happened.

The click of a switch, and the overhead lights shut off, plunging the endless store into murky darkness. The only source of light was the liminal light seeping through the locked automatic door.

To make matters worse, a quiet howling sounded from far away in the store. Shuffling. Smashing as itclawed away at aisles, knocking aside cans of food. Unsettling as it searched and seeked, shrieking and heaving.

The noises, the scrambling across the glossed tiles, edges closer, closer, at an alarming rate.

What would Amanda do?

---

C.G.106, The Princess Palace

@Vertigo

---

There was only the tearing of fabric, the spitting of seams, the cottonfall of stuffing, bleeding out as Abel took out his righteous fury on Hazard, the stuffed entity that had thought it'd be a fun game to imitate his daughter.

Well, it wasn't fun now. No, no not at all.

Hazard hung there limply, hanging by threads. No voice box nor recorder was found. Only the betrayed black eyes of a stuffed animal. Hazard continued to stare, in and through Abel, until it spoke. Without moving its mouth.

It's voice was distorted, cold, cruel.

”You'll regret that.”

And the lights went out, drowning the Princess Palace into perpetual, heavy darkness. If Abel tried to wave a hand in front of his face, he may as well have been blind: He couldn't see it. He couldn't see a damn thing.

Except for the little lights moving in the edge of the room, around the corner of the plastic castle. Two eyes, and a haphazard smile. The lights were high, trailing near the ceiling. Breathing. Giggling.

”Where are you? Oh, where are you?”

It hadn't seen, hadn't heard Abel yet. But it was only a matter of time.

---

P.G.116, The Red Button -> B.?.117

@Xandrya

---

Michelle opened the door and left the blood-stained button alone. Travellings down a short, dark hallway, it opened up to an impossibly high ceiling room. The walls were plain concrete, and the floor was the same, save for the impact like a crater in the center.

Staring over the lip of the crater would reveal a slightly illuminated, clear well filled with water about twenty feet below. Its depth was impossible to tell, but appeared to be deep, despite being unnaturally lit. Out of the water was a staircase, circling the lip and ascending further into the never-ending height of the room.

The staircase seemed like the obvious way out of the room, but the water… The more one looked at it, the more it seemed to want to draw a person in. Its very aura was… unsettling.

Of course, Michelle still had the option to backtrack, and take her chances with the button in the other room.

---

F.Y.119

@Ocelot79

---

Lap, lap, lap…

Drip, drip, drip…

The water was welcoming to its newest victim, stirring against Lucas as he entered the water. It was cold, and buoyancy seemed harder to maintain. It was as if the water itself was gently, subtly sucking Lucas down into its inky depths with each movement he made.

The only sounds was water splishing and splashing as Lucas allowed his body to enter the pool. It was his first mistake. His warmth was leeched by the water, his scent colored with candy wafted through the water, sinking deeper, attracting unwanted attention…

As his feet kicked to maintain buoyancy, to tread the water, something slippery, something cold, slid along his ankle, before it slunk deeper into the water.

As a strike of salvation, the endlessness of the tunnel warped. Slowly, a door above the water level came into view, as if coming closer to Lucas, though still being impossibly far away to swim to, taunting him…

[Xandrya]

As she was staring at the water below, Michelle placed a hand over her stomach. It was growling again, which was odd given the biscuits should have filled her up for a longer period of time. But that thought soon disappeared. Just below the surface of the water, a body lay perfectly still, almost as if it was floating in place. The light from down below casted an almost unnatural glow around it. That, plus the distortion caused by the water made it hard to make out the face, and so Michelle walked over to the steps to start her descent. As she went down, step by step, she began to recognize some features, though the face was still unfamiliar.

Halfway down, Michelle missed a step when her vision blurred for a few moments. She lost her balance, but managed to stay upright as her shoulder hit the wall, though a bit too painfully at that. She uttered a string of curse words and found it best to take a moment to stop, sitting back on one of the steps. She hurriedly open the backpack then as her stomach growled more violently than before, though that turned into a mission as her hands started to tremble. She didn’t have to rummage for the snack bar as she knew exactly where it was, and Michelle only hoped that it would do the trick.

The first bite was heavenly, satisfying to the point where she could have been confused with someone who hadn’t eaten in days. Michelle scarfed down what was left in a matter of just a few bites. She wasn’t sure for how long it would hold, but for the time being, it didn’t feel as if she were dying anymore. It was then she looked over the side only to notice the body was gone. Even more carefully now, she continued to travel further down the steps until she reached the end. Once there, Michelle crouched and placed part of her hand in the water. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t freezing cold. The light was glowing just as bright as before, though that wasn’t of any help in her determining how deep the water went, or even worse, what was waiting for her underneath. She looked up from within the well but there was nothing on the surrounding walls. This situation was only getting more frustrating for her.

It was then she had an idea. Michelle reached within the bag to pull out a small bottle of hand sanitizer which was nearly empty. She then tossed it toward the center of the water, waiting to see what would occur.

[Lexisheeps]

Mr. Warpath Wormath

@Xandrya @Squirrel98 @Ocelot79 @Vertigo @Estylwen

Hissed growling can be heard in each room. A familiar fruity sent might seem more potent than usual. Be warned, the worm is out for blood. Aw, how cute- an extra pissy rainbow stuffie! Angered little guy is extra aggressive and actively stalking Michelle. Any other humans in the same room she's in, will also be attacked, regardless of dimension.

Keep your wits about you and watch your step! Perhaps he just needs a hug.

---

Hell To Pay

@Xandrya @Squirrel98 @Ocelot79 @Vertigo @Estylwen

Just like Wormy's skyrocketed aggressiveness, Hazard is more than a bit pissed too. Sounds of a single voice can be heard giggling in each room. But don't the eggbutts normally travel as a trio? Yes. Careful, or you might fall victim to one of these hidden little fluff balls.

Keep your wits about you and your eyes up above! But when and where would they strike?

---

B.?.117

@Xandrya

As always, the water was fun! Splashing, swimming, and just general good times! Water was nice against his fluffy body. It made him feel weightless, and Wormy rather enjoyed his bath time. While splashy and splashing about underneath the water, there was only one thing Wormy felt was missing.

A floaty toy.

Wormy probably wouldn't have cared much about Michelle's presence in the water...

As the hand sanitizer came into the worm's poor and heavily distorted vision, "Toy! Mine!"

Despite the wet fur, Wormy was completely capable of a decent leap out of the water. Caught the tiny bottle of hand sanitizer before it even had the chance to touch the water. His fluffy body happily wrapped around the bottle, excited to squeeze on a new floaty toy ball.

A giggled, "Whee!" escaped him as he plunged back into the water. He was happy, so excited to have a toy to play with now. But once he was back under the water, something was wrong.

Incredibly wrong.

The bottle's lid had popped opened from the pressure of the worm's grasp. The toxic cleaning agents mixed quickly with the water. It had hit his eyes. He twitched a little, scared at the burning sensation he felt. But the twitch caused the bottle to be squeezed. The clear substance managed to burn it's way into his mouth.

With a painfully panicked whimper, Wormy quickly squiggled trying to get away from the bottle. But the thrashed squiggling only seemed to make his situation worse. Fur started to burn in places along his back, ears. Even lower half started to feel a little tingly.

The little fluff ball struggled against the toxic water for a moment, before finally going limp. At first, wormy floated up, but as he soaked in more water, started to slowly move down. Bubbles escaping from his mouth as he sank. The last thing Wormy thought about before going unconscious, was about how much he hated humans, but the only sounds that escaped him was another waterlogged whimper, "Mommy?!"

---

F.Y.119

@Ocelot79

As Lucas maneuvered through the water, Wormy didn't manage to brush up against the father's ankle. The man's movement was too swift for the injured worm, so a full bite against his flesh didn't happen. He was a bit jealous that the other monster had managed to reach the man before he did. Oh well, maybe next time...

Zuzu was also near by.

The pony would have been super excited to have a swim friend, but after rumors about what happened to Wormy spread, she stayed silent next to the tunnel door. Too afraid to move, to afraid of the burning liquid water. The ponycorn loved the water as much as wormy did, but was too afraid to get in. Was it safe? After a minute of listening to the splashing getting closer, did call out anxiously, "Daddy?"

---

C.G.106

@Vertigo

The first time it'd been said, it'd been cold and cruel. The second time however, "You'll regret-." Hazard was unable to finish before going silent. Was Hazard dead?

Fortunately unfortunately, no.

But dimensional rejuvenation is a tricky thing to explain. Angelica had watched silently at the attack. Trying to figure out how to explain to the father that his actions were in vain. Slightly in horror at his lapse of good judgement, yet slightly mystified with a strange sense of awe. The teddy bear was almost jealous that it wasn't the one getting Abel's undivided attention.

Despite being a rather talkative thing, Angelica stayed silent. Couldn't help but smile softly at the room's taunting of, Where are you? But then finally, Angelica did speak out, "Perhaps," A slight pause as words were chosen, "It's time for you to die, Mr. Wyatt."

---

E.Y.122

@Squirrel98

The worm, in fact, was in the grocery store. But a sugary food coma had taken over his tiny fluff body. If Amanda had gone towards the pastry section, she would have found the little guy curled inside an empty Grandma's Apple Pie pan. When the lights flickered off, he was grateful with a yawn. Still recovering from the hand sanitizer, meant Wormy was perfectly angry, but still recovering.

The other entity was on the move?

Now that Wormy was aware of Amanda's presence in the store, he slowly started to slide out of the pie pan, if only to bury himself within the sweet treats. Safely out of view. Hissing sounds had picked up. A childish voice would shout- I'm gonna get you, Mommy. if Amanda did manage to stumble into the bakery section. Followed by the squeaking of his wiggled movements as he'd slowly inch towards her.

But Wormy isn't Amanda's biggest threat in the store right now, just an angered one.

[Squirrel98]

Amanda Lewis
@Estylwen@Lexisheeps

---

The lights went off as soon as Amanda tried to open the door. While her hands were shaking, she tried opening the doors a couple more times, but the lock wouldn't click. The door wouldn't open. There was no way for her to go. The sounds the stuffed animals were making, didn't help either. What did she need to do? What could she even do? Amanda wondered what the stuffed animals were angry about. Was it the lights being off that bothered them? In that case, she could try using her cards or her keys to bend the little light coming from the closed door in order to make it shine on herself. However, maybe it would make it easier for them to find her, which would make that a horrible idea. They may end her life soon, but that didn't mean that she should make it easy for them. Her glance moved towards the dried blood on the floor. Tears filled her eyes and again she suppressed the need to gag. Did the blood attract the stuffed animals?

No, the blood was already there from the beginning and the cry and hissing sounds were only heard after the lights went off. Would the blood maybe safe her? It did have a strong smell to her. Maybe the smell could hide her presence from them. Maybe they wouldn't be able to find her if she hid in the smell of the blood. If she used the water and handkerchief in her bag, she might even be able to rub some of the blood off and rub it on her to really make herself smell like someone or something else. The thought of that made a gagging sound come from her throat, but nothing would come out. She hadn't eat or drink enough for her stomach to actually empty itself right then and there. Was there really no other way? No other method to keep them from ending her life? The tears started to roll down her cheeks when she realised more and more with each second that her only idea was to go closer towards the blood. Once, she had been such a strong woman, a strong mother for her child, someone who could protect her flesh and blood. These circumstances had broken her enough to cry and shake out of fear. That disgusted her. She took a couple of deep breaths, walked up towards the dried blood and sat in the center with her legs bended in the lotus position. Amanda took the water bottle and the handkerchief out of the bag while trying to ignore the loud and scary sounds of the stuffed animals.

[Xandrya]

A quick toss into the depths below. She'd not foreseen what was to come, but how could she? Michelle took a step back when the worm leaped out of the water to catch the sanitizer. An odd choice of a plaything for a stuffed animal, but that wasn't the strangest thing she'd seen there yet. What happened next was also unexpected. The worm began writhing aggressively, which was somewhat shocking and slightly amusing all at once. Then when it went limp, the word that was uttered making her feel as if she had a lump in her throat.

There was nothing in her immediate vicinity with which to attempt to save the worm. The other obvious choice was to go in the water, but that definitely easier said than done. Her lack of action didn't stop it from sinking and drowning though, and so as silly of a premise as it was, Michelle went down a step to attempt to save it. She stood on the edge and carefully leaned towards the center to attempt to get a good reach, but her efforts fell short, her finger tips only grazing the fur. "Come on..." she whispered. Stretching herself to the limit, she pinched some of its fur and pulled herself back, dragging the worm out of the water. Michelle then quickly ascended the stairs to place the worm on the ground. It didn't move, not even so much as flinch. Michelle sighed, then did what she would do if she had an unconscious person in front of her that had just been pulled out of the water. No signs of breathing, that much she could tell. With the worm laying belly side up, Michelle used her middle and pointer fingers to administer chest compressions, or whatever the equivalent was in this case. As ridiculous of a scene as it appeared, she needed to communicate with the worm because whatever entity it was, it may be nice enough to giver her a clue as to where exactly her daughter was. At that point, she didn't even care for her other questions, even though in the back of her head, the thought of what exactly this otherworldly realm was continued to bug her.

[Lexisheeps]

E.Y.122

@Squirrel98

Interdimensional spacetime travel is a difficult thing to explain, but as something shifted for Wormy in another part of the paralleled backrooms, his anger seemed to subside. The inching closer sounds of his hissing, the squiggles akin to a walk, would stop. The little worm was still injured enough to not want to go on a full attack spree just for the fun it. So, with a bit of a huff of relief, stopped his squiggling towards Amanda and headed back to the bakery.

A thought crossed his mind...

"Does mommy want pie?" The sweetly asked question wasn't a trick, Wormy knew Amanda hadn't eaten in awhile. Then, the little bundle of playful aggression added, "I share my pie with mommy!"

But Wormy realized that Amanda would need to act fast if she was to avoid the more aggressive entity in the room. There would be no fighting against the bigger beastie to save the human, but at least the mother only had one monster to worry about right now.

---

B.?.117

@Xandrya

All was not well. No response would be received with Michelle's first two attempts. Then finally, with enough pressure on his body, water escaped him. The sensation was dizzying to say the least, being on his back the way he currently was.

Poor eyesight didn't keep him from looking directly up and recognizing Michelle's face. The pain started to subside now that he was drying off. Realized just how thankful he was and wanted to return the favor. There was another mother he'd been inching towards, but stopped.

Michelle's kindness to Wormy, paid it's way forward.

A fruity scent surrounded the worm again, once his breathing stabilized. The worm was alive, and would be alright in due time. "...Mommy...." Came a tiny sigh of relief.

For now, perhaps Michelle was safe...

[Vertigo]

__________________________________________________

The catharsis Abel experienced as he tore apart the toy was short lived. In no time at all, the platypus had been reduced to a bundle of stuffing and threads, and in the silence that followed, Abel found nothing but shame. His violent outburst had brought him no closer to saving his daughter.

Abel's eyes met the dark beads of the platypus just as the latter spoke. He'd yet to internalize that impossible fact, when the whole room was plunged into darkness.

Whatever remained of the toy slipped from Abel's hands as he stood up in alarm. It was only then that he saw them; eyes, illuminating a disturbing smile. Something was moving up in the ceiling, and it was calling out to him.

There was a hissing growl, a giggle. And then, "Perhaps, it's time for you to die, Mr. Wyatt."

Who the fuck? The words rose up to Abel's throat, nearly spilling out, but he bit them back desperately. He didn't know what was going on exactly, but survival instinct alone warned him not to make a sound when someone — something — was so clearly out for his blood.

He couldn't see a damn thing, and while his lighter could remedy that, it'd also pinpoint his exact location in an instant. He had to get out of the room without being noticed. But... how? The slides he'd seen felt like an eternity away — but the pole he'd spotted a moment before did not. It went from floor to ceiling; if he could just find it and climb up, then—

Wordlessly, Abel exited the pit as silently as he could, heading in the direction he remembered the pole to be in. As he did, he slipped a hand into the back pocket of his jeans, near his keys. If it seemed like the monster lurking above was about to spot him, all he had to do was toss it as far as he could in the other direction and hope it served to distract it.

He could not fall prey to whatever fucked thing they had stalking this room. He had to save Isabella.

[Ocelot79]

Moving through what seemed to be the bowels of this underground installation, Lucas tried to ignore the fact that he was in the middle of a tight flooded tunnel with no end in sight, and concentrated his thoughts on what he'd do once he could find his daughter. He was drenched in water, tired and confused, yet he knew the worst could yet to come as he kept moving towards the unknown. He had to stay strong and suppress his fears, no matter what could come next.

Moving swiftly through the tunnel, Lucas could finally see the exit. The corridor seemed less hostile now that most of the distance was covered, and Lucas was happy that he would soon overcome another obstacle. In his mind, the only way forward was up and any challenge could be overcome as well.

Alas, the moment he felt some relief, he heard the stuffed doll call out for him with the voice of his daughter. Lucas momentarily froze. For a while, nothing could be heard, as if time had stopped. Lucas couldn't easily discern where the voice came from, and it didn't help that he was in such an uncomfortable position. He slowly moved towards the exit, while carefully observing his surroundings. He couldn't spot any speakers or cameras at the ceiling that would explain the voice.

Soon enough, he realized that a stuffed doll was positioned near the door, a clear misfit in such a place and the apparent source of the voice. Emerging from the body of water, Lucas was tired and impatient with the whole charade. Losing his patience, he moved towards the doll to kick it.