The Room of Terror

My little brother Barry and I spent every day of summer playing in the fields. It’s not like I wanted to play baby games with my eight year old brother. I’d rather go out into the city and spend the day with my friends. Well, if I had friends. I would have some if Mama let me explore for once. The world isn’t as bad as she makes it out to be. 

“Found you!” Barry shouted at my face after he spotted me hiding behind a tree. 

“You’re really bad at this.” He continued. But I wasn’t even trying. He didn’t need to know that though. 

“Let’s play a different game.” I sighed while faking a smile. 

“Ok, you’re it!” My brother said, running away as fast as he could after tapping me on the arm. His youthful face lit up when he glanced back at me, knowing he got a head start. 

“Come on Quinn, you know you won’t be able to catch me.” 

“Alright,” I sighed, charging towards Barry. I obviously caught up to him, I’m four years older than him. 

“Not so slow am I” I showed off to Barry. I was easily dodging him. I just ran, it didn't matter where I was going. It just felt good for a split second. The mild summer wind raked through my blond hair, making a calm breeze that slightly lifted up my free-flowing dress. I couldn’t help but grin as I ran through the tulips and smelt the lavender as I ran past them. I was entering new exciting territory. The woods.

“Quinn!” Barry shouted. I genuinely forgot we were playing chase. 

“Mama told us we’re not allowed to go into the woods” He panted, trying to catch his breath.

“It’s fine Barry. The woods won’t kill us.” I said, rolling my eyes. “Don’t be a scaredy cat,” I teased. 

“I’m not a scaredy cat!” Barry belted, clenching his fists. He then proceeds to lead the way into the woods. 

In near-silence, Barry and I ventured into the unknown. 

The trees made me feel tiny. When I looked up I couldn’t see the tops of them. Overgrown bushes, sticks and twigs covered the soil. A crow suddenly rattled which made Barry jump. 

“I wanna go home” He said. I wish I could’ve gone out into the woods by myself without Barry to just complain and be such a killjoy.

“Don’t be such a baby.” I said, as I looked out into the woods. 

“You’re always so mean,” Barry stated. “Why can’t…” 

“Wait.” I interrupted, shooting my index finger to his lips. “Look at this.” I pointed at a peculiar hut that appeared abandoned. 

I ran toward the lopsided hut and noticed a window that was broken in the corner. It strangely felt familiar. 

“Let’s see what’s inside,” I suggested.

“I’m not sure. What if there's spiders?” Barry tried to input. But he might as well have been talking to a wall. I was already looking for a rock to further break the window in order to make an entrance.  

I came across a lump of rocks that were suitable, and started throwing them at the window. 

“Quinn, you can’t do this!” Barry yelled. But I continued to ignore him. “I don’t want to get hurt.” He said.

“Stop moaning, we’ll be fine.” I assured him. “In order to grow and experience life, we have to explore.” I felt like a wise old man giving wisdom to the youth. I giggled to myself. 

“Here goes nothing.” I said as I carefully made my way through the shattered window. Barry reluctantly followed. I successfully pressured him into joining me. 

The first thing I noticed was the smell. Much like a strong fishy odor, mixed in with rotten eggs. It seeped through my nose and made me reluctant to take in air. But Barry had noticed something different. 

“Quinn?” He almost whispered. “Where’s the window?” I looked back to where the window was supposed to be. Instead of a shattered window, I found old dusty crimson bricks that were overdue for a repaint. 

“Quinn?” my brother suddenly called out again. This time, the shake in his voice made me slightly quiver. I first looked at him, and despite the disgusting smell he was panting heavily and the sound of his large breaths filled the room. I turned around and my eyes grew wide. What I saw was not only confusing but chilling. The shock of it all made my left eye twitch, which I didn’t know it could do. 

An extravagant velvet loveseat was positioned in the centre of the room, much like the old loveseat Mama liked to keep in the do not touch room. Where she liked to keep precious items she didn’t want our hands on. Next to it there was a dirty yellow baby blanket that had purple stars on them. It must have been a coincidence that my baby blanket resembled it.

A broken dining chair stood against the wall while an umbrella leaned against it. The Mexican rug I’d loved playing on as a child, or at least a singular one, spread across the majority of the room. It’s detailed lines, shapes and patterns were hard to miss. 

But regardless of those things, the person that decorated this place could just be into the same stuff as Mama. What made things strange though, was the family photo.

Mama, Papa, Barry and I. Organised together to make the perfect photo. Now nothing was adding up. The only copy of that photograph was hanging in our living room back at home. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Barry projected. I looked at him, and my lips were trembling. He could probably see my shoulders hunch, and my hands begin to shake. 

“There’s nothing to worry about.” I told him unconvincingly. “Don’t be a wimp.” I continued. “There must be some reasonable explanation for this.” 

Suddenly we heard something like footsteps. My heart skipped a beat. All of a sudden, the room became extremely hot and my hands were sweaty. I made a run for it, to find an area of the room that I'd be less noticeable. Barry followed close behind me but not for long. He managed to slip over some liquid and bang his head. “Owwwwww!” He exclaimed. 

“Get in here!” I whisper-shouted, annoyed that Barry probably made it obvious that intruders were in the stranger’s odd home. 

We hid in a small enclosed area, where we could still see the rest of the room because one of its walls was made out of glass. Once we entered, I frantically, but still gently closed the door. But then another noise arose. The sound of liquid dripping. It roared in my eardrums. I looked down, and noticed that the liquid was filling up the enclosed box. It was some kind of foul water. 

“Quinn?” Barry said, his voice uneasy and on edge. 

The footsteps we heard before had stopped, so I tried to open the door of the enclosed box. But it wouldn’t budge. I banged on it harder, desperate for it to open. The water was filling up the box quicker now. My hands were clampy and my heart was pounding. What if we die? I thought to myself. I never get to grow old. I’ll never have the chance to make friends. I’m too young to

die. I don’t want to die. I'll never find love. There’s so much I have to do before I die. What if nobody finds our dead bodies? What if..

“Quinn!” Barry stuttered, interrupting my thoughts. At this point, the floor of water was nearly as tall as Barry himself. I had to find a way to make it stop. I didn't like my brother, but I didn’t want him to die. But witnessing him on the verge of death, gasping for the basic human need of air did something to me. 

“Quinn!” Barry exclaimed. I could see the panic in his widening eyes. I scrambled around the box. My eyes darted around wildly. 

“Quinn” Barry gasped. 

“I got you Barry. Just hang in there.” I tried to comfort him. But my words meant nothing. They didn’t help. They were meaningless. I was meaningless. The source just had to be near. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I found the pipe, and rushed towards it. I tried to block it with a handkerchief. But the water continued to flow out rapidly. I tried using my soaked dress. It didn’t make a difference. 

“Quinn.” My brother faintly blurted out. The water was overpowering him. My head rushed around the box, looking for an escape. Something that’ll save us.

Anything.

The water had reached my height now. I was running out of breath. My eyes landed on the side of the box that was glass. It was my only option. I proceeded to bang against the glass. The odds were stacked against me, but I had to try. At that point I had nothing to lose. 

I really don’t know what happened in those few moments. I was trying to break free, using all the strength I could muster. 

As panic turned into numbness, and my lungs burned with their desperation for air, it’s like time stopped. I could no longer hear the sound of the water swishing, or my brother gasping for air. All I could hear was someone crying. 

The next thing I knew, glass was in shatters, and the broken glass and water combined made a dramatic clash. I fell to the floor due to the curse of gravity. I thought of Barry, how I basically bullied him into venturing this room. 

Barry. I’m sorry Barry. I’ll get you back I heard, over and over again. I wasn't me. Barry. I’m sorry Barry. I’ll get you back. It was a piercing chant. I got up and covered my ears, hoping the noise would go away. But I was no use, it just got louder. 

“Please stop!” I cried. I hadn’t even noticed that I wasn’t soaking wet anymore. But I noticed Barry. Paler now, his eyes lifeless, and were forever going to remain open. It had been too late for him. I looked down at the very thing that suffocated him. If only I had listened to Mama, nothing of this would have happened. It was all my fault. 

I sniffed quietly, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. Tears welled from deep inside and flowed down my face like a river. My mind was tangled, and my body was stiff.

What felt like hours later, I wiped my tears and I saw something in the room I hadn’t noticed before. A full length mirror.

I walked up to it and in my reflection was an old hag. A homeless looking scruffy woman that at first glance had no resemblance to me. But as I stared at her, and she stared at me, I noticed her large deep and colourless eyes that looked just like mine. She didn’t blink.

She was me. As I realized that, another mantra arose. Never go into the woods. Never go into the woods. Each time it got louder and louder and I couldn't hear myself think. It then started to sound like multiple people were chanting it. They started to overlap and I couldn’t keep up.

Never go into the woods. Never go into the woods. The voices chorused like a choir with poor timing. I couldn’t handle it. I let out an uncontrollable sob. I wanted the voices to go away. “Leave me alone!” I screamed at them. But they continued. I knew they were right. I should have never come here. I should have never entered this room through that window.  

If only I had listened to Mama. She was right all along.

My stare was glassed and my mind was numb. I whimpered and was suddenly extremely light-headed. 

It was at that moment that I began to bleed. I was limp and soaked red all over my body, which stained my clothes. In those last moments of my depressing life, I just heard those voices repeat five words, over and over again. Never go into the woods.