—==hallway==—

four kids walk down a hallway. worried looks distort their faces as they pass by dozens of doors with various markings painted on them. some have the letter X, some have L’s, and still others have glaring red skulls slathered across them.

(SPOILER): this place is so BIG. i don’t think we’ll ever find them.

(SPOILER): we got a chance. as long as we keep our searchin organized, Ben and Callie’s turn up eventually.

(SPOILER): in situations such as this, the missing persons usually turn up dead.

(SPOILER): i hate how right you are.

(SPOILER): stayin optimistic is the best way to get shit done, so we gotta ignore those thoughts.

(SPOILER): correct. they are alive until proven otherwise.

(SPOILER): when’s this bullshit gonna end?

the kids enter an unmarked door to encounter two other kids sitting on a couch.

—==lost==—

two kids sleep on a couch in a dark room. all the doors to the room are locked. these locks probably won’t hold, and the kids probably know that. it’s stupid of them to fall asleep, but surviving in an apocalyptically evil house for several days can be draining on a person.

we hear a sound. the two kids wake up and look around, terrified looks on their faces.

tense seconds pass, the door doesn’t open, and nothing comes in. the nonexistent thing doesn’t run over and kill them, and the two kids don’t die painful, screaming deaths.

there’s always next time, however.

(SPOILER): we’re going to die here.

(SPOILER): we should be positive about this.

(SPOILER): there’s nothing to be positive about. the asshole shoved us through the pinhole and put us here and now we’re going to fucking die.

(SPOILER): boy, please. we have a chance. a small lil’ slice of a chance, but a chance.

(SPOILER): a chance of what, dying painlessly? i agree. if we’re lucky we’ll get murdered in our sleep, or get knocked out before the room eats us alive.

(SPOILER): fucking hate (SPOILER). i thought we were cool, but i guess i was a fucking fool for thinking that.

(SPOILER): y’know, we were all kinda fools. the Old Man warned us all. we didn’t listen.

(SPOILER): pretty soon the others will get shoved here, too. by then we’ll be dead.

the other kid takes a shuddering breath.

(SPOILER): i don’t wanna die without knowing who i am.

(SPOILER): i know my name, and that’s it.

(SPOILER): i don’t know my family, i don’t know where i live, i don’t know my friends… i… don’t…

she trails off into silent sobbing. the other kid takes a few shaky breaths before succumbing to tears as well.

—==—

—==—

they cry silently for a while, before one says,

(SPOILER): let’s say…

(SPOILER): let’s say we never had friends.

(SPOILER): we never had family.

(SPOILER): we never existed anywhere but here.

the words seem to push both of them further down the hill of dismay, but the kid powers on, talking through his own sobs.

(SPOILER): … so we’ll be friends. we’ll be family. this is where we live.

(SPOILER): nothing else matters.

—==—

—==—

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

—==—

—==—

no one speaks for a while. the two kids slump on the couch, crying, until we hear a CLICK and a door opens.

—==violated==—

let’s get back to Duff and Bree. their brains may have just been violated, but they’re still people who deserve a voice.

You mean, [Characters] in need of development.

no, you FUCKING puppet master. people with a voice.

That expletive was unnecessary.

no it FUCKING wasn’t. i’m FUCKING angry and i can say whatever the FUCK i want.

You’re adding an element of trashiness to the work, one which degrades its value and meaning.

that’s nice.

Bree: i’m sorry for trying to turn you into a bug. says Bree.

Duff: what did you just say?

Bree: that’s my superpower!

Duff: that is messed up. extremely so.

Bree: i like bugs.

Duff: i do not. not in the slightest.

Bree: but spiders are cute!

Duff: no, they are not. they are disgusting, vile creatures.

Duff: why would someone have such a twisted ability? you would need a wretched, deviant mind to even conceive of such a power.

Bree: i’m hungry.

—==—

a bit of silence passes.

Duff: okay. i am as well.

Bree: let’s go get some food!

Bree hops off the couch and runs to the nearest door. Duff follows, and they open the door to find two huddled figures sitting on a couch.

….

this next part is way to actiony. i’ll leave it to [Uppercase].

Chapter Eight: Loose Ends

Two figures sat on a fraying couch in a dark room. Duff stared at them in confusion. He wasn’t really sure why he was confused. He just met a random little girl, one whose name he still didn’t know.

He would have asked the girl’s name, but there was something about the silence of the room that seemed to forbid speaking. He also hadn’t quite settled on a suitable arrangement of words for such a question, either. His mind was still churning up an internal dialogue about spiders and other vile, disgusting creatures.

There was a lot of good content in the dialogue, he thought. This didn’t really strike him as a good moment to voice it so he stowed it away for another time. He would have to write the lines down later, if he could find paper anywhere.

see, i think it’s WAY better when you don’t describe the person’s thoughts up front. let the reader figure out how he thinks, or let them hear it through his own words.

Developing such a portrait would require a lot of [banter], which would drown out the [Essential] dialogue. Stop damaging the reader’s immersion.

Duff’s self-indulgent train of thought was interrupted when he noticed that someone was crying. He glances over at Bree next to him. The girl stands there silently and confusedly.

One of the figures are shaking softly… no. Both of them are. Heads in hands, quiet sobs emanate from them, sad and… strangely unnerving. The cries become slightly louder, slightly more hysterical, and Duff realizes that they are not crying. they are laughing. Duff’s heard begins to race. athe figures snap their heads up from their hands, and whip them around to stare at the two kids.

Two kids sit on a couch in a dark room, ruminating. They know they are both essentially dead. This House that they are trapped in is practically a death sentence. They both learned a while ago that there is more than one House. House A is dangerous, but surviveable; House B is inhospitable; and House C is essentially a sanctuary. All three Houses are one and the same; they are at the same time fundamentally separate.

Somehow, a person they thought was their friend had trapped them in House B, and although it is possible to find doorways between the Houses, none of such doorways have been found.

So here they waited, having fully given up. They were scared; they were tired; they were lost. They awaited their gruesome deaths, quietly and dejectedly. And suddenly, it arrived.

There was a resounding CLICK, and a locked door opened.

Something long and slick slithered into the room, making a strange gurgling sound. Its many dark legs clattered on the hardwood floor as it approached the couch. It circled the couch with its long body and reared its sinister head directly in front of them. The two kids looked up at it, shaking.

They saw a canine snout with thirteen eyes and several sets of insect mandibles protruding from it, from the top and bottom, left and right. A long, snakelike body that was completely coated with insectile legs. More legs that would be necessary for walking. They twitching limbs protruded from the scaled mass in all directions.

The thing made a sound somewhere between a growl and a hiss. It opened its hideous mouth… and with wild eyes, it struck.

Duff backed up slowly as the figures started to laugh harder and harder. They wore hoodies that obscured their faces, and a black fog ejected from where their mouths would be with each Evil guffaw.

The figures jerked to their feet. Duff and Bree jumped back and slammed into the wall where the door used to be. The figures’ laughing grew louder and louder, and suddenly they surged towards the two kids.

The monster Conveinienty missed and bit down on the couch. The two kids had decided that they would actually rather not die today. they scrambled off of the couch and made a break for it in opposite directions. The thing ripped its snout out of the couch, taking a chunk of cushioning with it, which it promptly spat to the floor.

The boy tripped over part of the creature’s girth, Conveniently landing in a pile of cushions and also bringing the creature’s attention toward him. This allowed the girl, who had a power of no use in this situation, to run to the nearest door. She struggled to unlock it, calling for the boy to get over to her. The monster reared its head again and struck at the boy, Conveniently missing once again and managing to bite itself.

It let out an agonized shriek, which the boy took as a signal to run over to the girl, where they both escaped.

With a flash the color of sickness, the girl Bree fired a blast from her finger that struck one of the hooded figures. The thing began to shrink. Duff dove out of the way of the other one before it reached him, but it grabbed his leg in midair and he went thumping painfully to the ground. It started to drag him to a door across the room as he struggled furiously to kick the arm away with his other leg.

Bree extended her finger, but nothing came out. She was already panting from exertion, and she watched in terror as the teen boy she had just met was dragged away into the darkness at the end of the room, screaming.

Suddenly, there were several powerful SNAPS. The remaining figure’s arm snapped in half as if it weren’t made of flesh and bone. The thing shreiked and disintegrated.

Duff’s power of delayed and empowered attacks had paid off. He had thought that the Old Man had been lying when he told Duff about his power.

The two kids became silent, shaken. They stayed, frozen in shock for a few seconds, until Duff asked:

“Do you have a name?”