The Purge Door

One of the doors read Purge and the other Death, I guess I didn’t earn a place in whatever is better. 

I’m no genius but my best bet is that Death is no better than Purge so the choice is obvious. I put my hand on the doorknob with hesitance, I take one last look around the empty place, maybe there’s something far ahead that gives me more options. 

Yet I don’t think I deserve it so I highly doubt it. 

I turn the doorknob, once the door is open all I see inside is darkness, I peek out to see if the other door is still there but it’s gone so I walk in and shut the door. I hear a crisp sound and turn to see how the door is being marked letter by letter and each one shining bright, it looks like lava and melted gold. 

Your choice has no return. 

My stomach drops, I try to open the door but the moment I touch it I feel a strong sting and look down to see my hand is burnt, it’s completely red and the pain is there yet it feels more as when your foot falls asleep, small pinches or a needle being lightly tapped. It’s hard to explain. 

A loud thud is heard ahead along with screeches and screams, the feeling in my hand increases and I find myself holding back my screams as I look at my palm seeing how now I am being marked by letters, only this time they aren’t gold-ish if not red. 

Don’t keep them waiting. 

The thing ahead hears my muffles and begins crying out in a raging fit, I can hear heavy stomps. I do as told, scared that my hand won’t be the only thing they mark. 

The darkness in the room slowly starts to disappear, my surroundings are now rocky and everything sounds hollow which explains the echo of water drops, the floor is starting to become less harden I quickly realize I’m stepping on water and now along with an injured hand I have to deal with soggy socks if this is the Purge I can’t imagine how Death would be. 

It feels like I’ve been walking an eternity, like if no progress is being made, but if I stopped walking would that give them reasons to harm me again? I hear a scream coming from where I was, it sounded like a little girl’s, are they thinking of testing my morals? They are not tricking me that easily.

I keep walking and with every few steps another scream is heard, interestingly enough it’s only random screams but never words, or at least not that I can comprehend. The screams start becoming louder, for a moment I think they could be coming but it would be impossible for their steps to be quiet, causing echoes in this place is inevitable.

Things are starting to get alarming, I flinch at the sound of the thing up ahead that just now started stomping once more and the screams behind me aren’t helping, I don’t flinch but I am concerned about how accompanied I am. 

Until they both stop, only droplets are heard. 

And then footsteps, not mine. I look behind me and my eyes meet the small child’s and she giggles and runs towards me, steps away from me she falls onto her face and I can’t help chuckling. Although I probably shouldn’t have.

As she lifts herself up she no longer looks like this innocent child with doe eyes and still locks but instead, her gaze is dark black with a melt on her skin, like candle wax. She points to my feet and her laugh is no longer cheerful but raspy as if she had something stuck in her throat. I look down to see how the water has small bubbles, they start to accumulate becoming more and more. 

The water is no longer cool, it starts burning then boiling until I can’t take anymore and try climbing the edges of the wall but it has no effect, the girl stares at me with her creepily smile, my injured hand begins to burn but it’s no different to when it was marked. 

The girl begins to scream like before and now I flinch.

She launches herself onto me making half of my body submerged in the water, I can feel how my skin wants to peel and some of my clothing starts to destroy itself as she scratches me with her long nails all over my face. Each burns more than the last. 

Screw any morals I had left. 

I easily manage to get her off and place her body underwater, she’s nothing more than some demon child, my hands find their way to her throat restraining her, the water begins to burn my hands and I begin losing feelings in my fingertips and nails, the scratches are all over my arms now and her kicks aren’t that strong but they still leave a bruising. 

Eventually, the scratches are softer and less aggressive, until her arms fall to the sides, the kicks stop as well. 

I let go of her the second I know she’s dead and the water begins to calm, going back to its original temperature, doesn’t change how burnt the majority of my body is, I take out my hands to see them peeling and the one marked looks worse. 

My chest rises and falls rapidly as I try to calm myself, I can still only imagine what hell is supposed to look like. 

The thing growls crazily, and for once the stomps aren’t heard from a distance, they’re closer, the water shows tiny little waves coming my way. Around the corner the thing appears, I don’t get to see much of her but her hands are awfully deformed. 

Long fingers with very sharp nails, maybe more than the child’s, it has no hair, no eyes, no nose, it’s incredibly tall that it barely fits in the cavern, its lips are also deformed with no teeth but a long tongue. The thing screams at the sight of me and makes its way towards me, I’m not sure if this is the part where I run. 

The door and my hand told me to go towards them, then again that could be their way of hurting me. Whoever they are. 

It kneels, not out of respect but checking the child’s corpse, it yells over and over in agony. I can’t see how this child could have come from that thing when they look nothing alike. Can it really feel sadness? 

My question is immediately answered at the sight of it licking the child and decapitating it with just its hand. At this point, I don’t care what the marking says. I am not letting that thing touch me. 

I begin to run, I don’t know where but there are not many options. 

It runs after me and with every step the cavern begins to shake, the droplets fall rapidly sounding almost like a storm, I don’t look back for a moment, I keep running straight and the deeper I go the darker it gets. 

At the very end, I spot the door, I may not be able to turn the knob but if I have to kick it down then so be it. 

I was close until it grabbed me by my ankle and pulled me digging his nails in. My screams make it excited and I feel its wetness pass through my cheeks. I'm honestly relieved to know that it doesn’t burn and knowing it has no teeth makes me feel better that it won’t eat me alive. 

I feel its nails trace my forearms not digging in yet, I’m unsure of what it’s planning and I can’t even see the thing’s face anymore which makes this both alarming and calming. 

I can only anticipate what it’s about to do, the nails reach my shoulder and begin carving, it’s nerve-wracking. Does it have the ability to cut me off in one swing? 

I shut my eyes and find myself holding my breath, anxiety starts to overflow all over my body and the slight pain on my shoulder is bearable, my eyes start watering. I hear one last scream before it's quiet. 

Is death just quiet? 

“Hello?” My eyes pop open, I can’t see who it is but it sounds like a young woman. “Hello” I began looking around to catch a slight glimpse. But nothing, pitch black. 

I feel a breath by my neck, she chuckles “The fun has barely begun”.