Too Late

I stretch my arm out from under my sheets as I reach to turn off my alarm clock.

Normally, I would be pressing the snooze button, but today I spring out of bed with a smile on my face. I have been looking forward to today for months, and it is finally here. It’s the first day of spring break, and I couldn’t be more excited.

For most people, spring break means a week full of parties, beaches, and memories, but that’s not what I am excited about. Today marks my first day of spring cleaning! I moved into this apartment four months ago, and I was so excited to clean everything out and redecorate to really make it my own space. Unfortunately, when I was moving in, I got wrapped up in school and work, so I was never able to truly transform my very first apartment into what I really wanted. That is why I have been so excited for this spring break! A whole week of cleaning, organizing, and decorating. Plus, since I have been so busy ever since moving in, I still feel like I haven’t really been able to explore every nook and cranny of this place like I would have wished to. But that all changes today.

I race down the hall and start to brew my first cup of coffee along with putting a piece of bread in the toaster. As I am waiting for my toast to pop, I cannot stop thinking about which room I am going to start with.

As I eat my breakfast, I watch some home improvement videos on YouTube to get inspired. Finally, it is time to get started.

I walk over to the hall closet and decide this is where I will start. When I first moved in, this was the room that I threw all my extra stuff in just to get it out of the way, and I feel like it is

 definitely the spot that will take the most time. As I open the doors and see the stacks and stacks of boxes and unnecessary knick-knacks that I probably should have gotten rid of, I let out a breath of excitement.

“Let’s get started!” I exclaim, even though I know I am the only one who can hear myself. I start by emptying out the closet completely so I can then start to put things back in an organized way.

As I pull out the last box, I feel a sense of accomplishment that is quickly followed by immense curiosity. I see that in the back, left corner of the closet, there seems to be a tiny door. I crawl back to get a closer look, and see that there is something engraved into the wooden passage. I do not have my glasses on, so I begin to squint, and can make out the shape of a cloud etched into the tiny door that is roughly the size of a microwave.

I figure it is just an entrance to the pipes and insulation of the house, but out of curiosity, I give the door a good push anyways. At the slightest touch, the door is yanked away and disappears into what looks like a pit of pure darkness.

I run to the kitchen to grab a flashlight, and when I return, the cloud door is back in place where I originally found it. I push the door again, and once more it falls into the deep, dark pit. I shine my flashlight in the hole, and see nothing. In fact, the darkness is so pitch-black that the light from the flashlight is just immediately absorbed.

I decide to stick my head in to see if I can get a better look, but as soon as I am slightly inside the passage, my whole body is pulled in and I get the sensation of falling while being consumed in complete darkness.

 Suddenly I feel a cold, hard surface beneath me, and I open my eyes to be greeted by the same imminent darkness I had just fallen into.

“Hello!” I scream at the top of my lungs, hoping someone can hear me and help me. Suddenly, the darkness around begins to brighten. I rub my eyes, and when I open them, I am back in my apartment.

However, everything is different. The walls are painted black, my couch has been replaced with a sofa made of stones, and the windows that used to bring in so much sunlight are boarded up with wood and nails.

I try to yell again, but just hear echoes of my own voice replaying throughout the apartment. As I start to slip into a deep panic, I see someone walk down the hall towards my bedroom. I start running after them in hopes that it is someone who can explain to me exactly what is happening.

I bust through my bedroom door, which is now made of splintering, rotting wood, and find the man I saw in the hall standing over my bed.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I say with a panic in my voice I have never felt before.

The man slowly turns around, and I see that his face is blank. He looks like a normal human, except his facial features simply are not there. Despite his lack of mouth, he begins to talk.

“You have found something you were not supposed to. Run.” he said.

“What are you talking about? Where am I?” I ask with an aggressive shake to my voice. The man starts to step away from bed, revealing a body lying on it. I take a closer look

and realize that is not just anybody lying on my bed. It is me.

 I start to stumble backwards in shock. The man just pointed to my limp body on the bed again, and simply mouthed the word, “run”.

I still have no idea what is happening or where I am supposed to run or why am here or how I got here and I feel myself begin to spiral and slowly lose control. All I can think to do is to run back to the door that brought me here and see if I can get back to my own world.

I race to the hall closet and search for the door in the back left corner.

It’s gone. The door is not there. It’s just a wall. I begin to panic again and push and kick against the wall where the door was, but nothing. I punch and slam and scream, but still nothing.

I begin to give up and I drop the ground and cry. As the tears begin to flow, I hear footsteps coming towards me. I look up and he is standing right above me. Even though his face has no features, it looks as if he is smiling at me. Not a happy smile, but a sinister one. I begin to scream again and all I hear is him whisper, “Too late,” before the blackness consumes me once again.