Page 25 of Scaredy Cat
It’s allfake,after all.
The man takes a bit longer than I expect, checking his phone a few times with a frown. By the time he comes back over to unlatch the rope from its hook in front of me, I know it’s been a little longer than five minutes.
Maybe the group in front of me had to be escorted out.
They certainly seem like the type not to make it through the whole thing.
“Go on in.” The man moves the rope to the side, ushering me toward the dark entry to this part of the warehouse. “Just remember”—he crowds a little close, and reaches out to grab my arm, before hissing in my ear—“we tried to warn you.”
A shiver goes up my spine, but I only give him a stupid, reckless grin before heading into the blackness of the room ahead.
12
God,it really isdark.
The blackness swallows me even without a door closing me off from the line. The voices of the waiting patrons dwindle, and I fumble for the rope on the wall that I know will lead me down the pitch-black corridors in between rooms that are poorly lit and terrifying as hell for it. My eyes try their best to adjust, but the blackness only pushes on me, making it feel like someone has thrown a blanket over my face so I can’t quite tell if my eyes are open or closed.
There’s no noise ahead of me, which only solidifies my thoughts that the group who went in before me hadn’t been able to make it all the way through. I’m sure I’d hear them freaking out if they were still here, given that they weren’t exactly subtle even in line.
Footsteps catch my attention, and I round the corner into the first room. It’s set up like a prison, and I see two men dressed in tactical gear with riot masks over their faces.
“Go back,” one tells me, but the other shakes his head.
“No, it’s too late for her.Fartoo late.” He reaches out and grabs me, yanking me forward until I’m staring into one of thecells. There’s a person sprawled on the floor, made to look like they’re bleeding out and missing a lot of skin.
“That’ll be you soon,” the soldier snarls in my ear. “You should never have come here. Not when there’s somethingwrong.Can’t you feel it? Huh?” He lets go of me, but the other man crowds close, repeating the same words in low, rasping growls.
When they start fighting amongst each other, I continue walking and move into another barely lit room, this one with strobe lights. There’s only one soldier here, and he immediately lunges for me, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me deeper into the room.
“It’s in here. Can’t you feel it?” he rambles, panting behind the mask. “Y-you can feel it, right? It’s there, in the dark—” He gestures to the hallway where I’ll have to go, then breaks off with a shudder. “Something is in there,” he breathes. “Something bad. If you go in, you won’t come out the same.”
“The same?” I ask, playing into the words.
“You might not come out at all. Look at you—” He grabs my face, jerking it up to the meager light that flickers on one wall, blinding me a little. “Look at you. You’re going to die here. There’s no way you make it out. No.” He jerks back from me, shaking his head. “No, you’ll die here tonight. The Darkness will take you, too. It’ll take you…” He continues to mumble as he walks until he’s almost invisible in the shadows of the corner and completely silent now, though I can feel his gaze on me.
Creepy.
That’s my first thought, though it’s quickly followed up by silent praise for the scare actors here. There’s a reason I love this place, and the darkness that swallows me in the next hallway is only interrupted by flickering lights that barely illuminate grisly, gory walls and areas designed to look like a military base withareas that have been torn to shreds on the other side of thick, glass windows sprayed with blood.
The dark halls wind around, causing me to bump into walls as my hands grope for the rope that I know is on one side or the other. It’s always slower getting through here, and I grumble under my breath as yet again my face collides with the cold, stone wall of the military base style haunt.
More flickering lights finally light up the hall, leading me into a large, concrete room with multiple hallways branching off into darkness again. Before I can look around much, two actors suddenly grab my arms, pulling a surprised gasp from my throat.
“It’s this one,” one of them says assuredly from behind their mask. “The darkness wants this one.”
“Poor thing,” the other says, both of their voices muffled from behind the surprisingly realistic riot gear. She shakes her head pityingly at me. “It wants you,” she says again. “If we give you to the darkness, maybe it’ll spare the rest of us.”
My nervous smile probably makes me look deranged, and I nearly trip over my feet as they lead me down a dark hallway. Old bulbs sputter, hanging in little iron cages on the walls, and within seconds we’re in another smaller room lined with cells on one side.
“You’ll have to wait here until we figure out what to do with you,” the actor on my left tells me coldly.
“Wait?” I ask, a little surprised. “Like—” But I don’t get any further. My hands are gently yanked behind me, and to my surprise, cuffed at my lower back. A real twinge of uncertainty makes my stomach bunny hop right up to my throat, and I give a soft yelp as I’m pushed into a cell and the door closes in front of me.
The only light now comes from the flashlights hooked on their body armor, and I blink away from the sharp LEDs. “Youshould’ve stayed out of the darkness,” one of them scolds flatly, muffled behind the mask. “But it’s too late for you now.”
As I watch, the two of them just…leave. They walk out of the room, leaving me in total pitch black. My eyes once again feel like something is physically pressed against them as my brain tries to come to terms with the fact there really isnothingto see.
“Wait—” I break off with a huff, testing the cuffs and finding them surprisingly strong. Shifting my weight on the concrete under me, I…wait.
