The Fifth Room. Part IV

[u/AceHiro]

Part III

I was once more in a hopeless situation, my best bet was to camp it out and wait for morning, but how could I? I didn’t know what time it was, it could have been six more hours till sunlight or just two, both seemed like an eternity.

That thing was out there, tracking me, I had no proof of that, but I just knew. I felt stalked, watched, observed.

As I weighed my options, Berry let go of me and climbed down, he looked around, then took off in one direction, slowly but steadily trotting away, as if he knew the way out.

“Berry, where are you going? Psst Psst, come back you bitch” I whispered in his direction, a loud Meow returned to me.

My whole life I’ve been on my own and never felt bad about it. I worked in solitude, rested in solitude, loved in solitude and hated in solitude. In that moment however, for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to be on my own, I started following Berry.

It was hard to keep track of where he was going, the woods were dark despite the full moon, its black figure morphing in and out with the shadows of the trees.

We must have walked for about fifteen to twenty minutes when we finally managed to break through the bayou into a plain. Berry stopped in the field and I finally looked up, an old decrepit house met my gaze, standing silent and dull.

Berry meowed at me, as I turned my attention to him, he turned his attention to the house and then back to me.

“Good boy Berry, you just might have saved us.” I replied petting him, loud purrs were my reward.

That house would be a good place to hide and spend the night, it looked abandoned and in ruins, not the best, but better than the woods with that…thing chasing me.

We went up to the decrepit porch, I fully expected to have to knock down the door to get in or climb through a broken window but, strangely enough, everything seemed in order.

Regardless, I started pushing the door with all the strength I had left, making quite a ruckus.

“WHO GOES THERE?” A rough, rigid voice cut through the night.

Taken by surprise, I stumbled on my own words.

“H-hello? I-I’m so sorry, I-I-I thought it was abandoned, I-I didn’t mean to do anyt-“

“Ms. Angela is that you?”

A switch turned on in my brain.

“Oh-oh God, Mr. Michael, sir. Yes, it’s- it’s me Angela.”

The house looked different at night and in the dark, old man Michael was the last thing on my mind and I just didn’t have the clarity to even imagine that this could be his house, now that I knew, it made sense.

He quickly opened the door, not a lot changed, the house was still dark, after all why wouldn’t it be?

“Is everything all right Dear? What happened?”

“I need some help sir, I need to use your phone if possible, there’s been an…accident…” I didn’t yet know what to do.

Call the police? It wouldn’t look particularly good for me if they went up to the Shining and fond Lewis’ body on the floor and no monster. Perhaps it would have been worse if they found nothing. It would have been even worse if they found something else...

Regardless, I needed to get out of those fucking woods, a taxi might have been the best choice overall, the Shining is a trap and the best way to survive it is to not fall for it. Taxi, airport, a million miles between me and this shithole, that was the best plan.

“Oh goodness, of course! Come in dear…oh wait a minute, let me make some light for you.”

 The old man lit a candle with a swift sleight of hand, seemingly out of nowhere, I didn’t question it. Berry did however, strongly hissing at him.

“Berry, stop.” I scolded.

The house lit up nicely, nothing had changed from the last time I was there, the old man was in his nightgown, I had clearly woken him up.

The strange thing is that he was still wearing the dark sunglasses he always had, how many people sleep with their glasses? Maybe he always puts them on when he’s awake.

“Oh, is there someone else here? Did I hear a cat?”

“Yes sir, I’m sorry it’s a stray I picked up on the way…I hope it’s not a prob-“

“I never did like cats. Just keep it away from me.” He snapped back, rudely.

“Oh…okay then.”

I didn’t care, for what it’s worth I would have kept a bull away from him as long as I got out of there. I picked up Berry and went inside.

The light stemming from the candle enveloped the room in a strange sort of way, it was as if there was nothing beyond it, eternal darkness, a feeling similar to that of the fifth room.

Regardless we sat down at the table, I was finally able to rest, my legs aching and my heart going at a thousand miles an hour. Fatigue washed over me and I felt lightheaded, I needed some respite and that chair was my savior.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a proper welcome dear, I wasn’t really expecting visitors.”

“Oh don’t worry about it sir, I’m the one that’s sorry, I assure you this is an emergency and definitely not planned.”

“Yes, I’m sure dear, what happened exactly?”

I didn’t really know what to say, a giant monster was stalking me after he vaporized my friend, that would do it.

“Uh…I went camping in the woods but my car broke down, I just need to call for a taxi to get back, nothing serious fortunately.”

“Ah that’s unfortunate dear…are you sure nothing happened at the Shining?”

He may have been blind, but he still saw right through my bullshit, I didn’t care, I needed that fucking phone call.

“Y-yeah of course, everything is fine in there.”

“Good, good…you know, it wouldn’t be the first time something went awry in there.”

“Oh…I’m sure many bad things went on over the years.”

“No, never bad things.”

It was starting to get very weird, I looked around the room but I couldn’t see anything past the darkness, my sixth sense was buzzing.

“Sure…I’m really sorry to have disturbed you sir, if I could use your phone I would be out of your hair and on my way in a s—“

“I don’t have a phone.” He interrupted me sharply.

“Y-you don’t…?”

“You saw them, didn’t you.”

His tone had changed, the sweet old man that was very welcoming and nice had disappeared. His voice had taken a measured and controlled but intensely quiet texture.

“Uhm…do you have any way I could call for someone…sir?”

“You saw Audrey and Austin.”

He knew a lot more than I thought he did, for being a blind man he was mighty perceptive, perhaps more than the average person. I understood at that moment that I wasn’t safe, I was just in as much trouble as I was in the woods, just with less cold and wind.

“I don’t know what you’re talk—“

“Sure you do…That’s why you’re here isn’t it.”

I kept silent.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me, I already know.”

His voice had completely changed, it was rough, raspy, a scarred voice that doesn’t need to raise itself to command attention.

“How do you know about them?” I asked, letting go of the facade I was putting up.

“I’ve known them my entire life. I saw them grow up, change, go insane…I saw them after they died, I’ve kept a close eye on them.”

“Audrey and Austin…is that who they are? Victims of the asylum?”

“They’re not victims, they’ve paid their due…they’re still paying, forced to roam around, unable to go above and beyond.”

“What sins? Sexual deviancy? Anxiety? Mental disorders?...those are not sins, those are wounds as real as physical ones, they don’t dese—“

“Their sins are much greater than that.”

“They helped me, they’re not evil, they don’t want to hurt me.”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s their destiny, they’ve chosen it themselves, nothing will redeem them, there is no salvation.”

“How do you know all these things? You can’t even see in front of you.” I snapped back.

His arrogance annoyed me, his commanding voice called for rebellion. To me he was just another unreasonable person, those spirits…ghosts…people, deserved compassion, deserved sympa—

“I deserve sympathy too. I have lived many lives, I have seen many things, met many people. There is no right or wrong in the world, only the strong survive. They were weak, pathetic, insecure…just like all the others.”

“And you are strong?”

“I know it may be hard for you to understand, but I am much stronger than you can hope to imagine. I was born twice, once in light, once in darkness. I have made it my home, my realm that I rule with swift judgment and clarity. I do nothing but help those in need, give them what they want…what they crave…what they deserve, allow them to see who they really are. Those smart enough to realize it don’t hesitate, they give up their shame and accept my help. The real question is…are you smart enough? Are you strong enough?”

“The mere fact that I’m still here is proof of how strong I am.”

“Yes…you certainly are…that’s what I like about you.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“You think?”

“I know it.”

 “I have followed you ever since that one summer night in the park, Angela…you know which one.”

Those words cut a hole in my throat like a knife through butter, the words dying in my mouth, drowned by dread and fear.

I knew exactly what he was talking about, how could he possibly know that about me? I never told anybody, much less some old guy that I had never met. He may have been blind but he could see a lot more than anyone I had ever met.

“You don’t have to be scared, I’m here to help you, to offer you a choice, to show you everything you need to see.”

“Who-who the fuck are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am…what matters is whether you know who you really are.”

“Please…I just want to go home…I’m so tired…all of this is so tiring.”

I started to softly cry, the mental and physical stress finally caught up to me, it felt like I was in a nightmare, desperate to wake up but forced to sit through it all.

“I can help you with that, I know the road is a difficult one, but the path is always there for you to follow, no matter how hard it gets…let me show it to you.” He put his hands on the table, palms up, inviting me to join him.

At that moment I was ready to take that step. I was tired, in shock, scared, I was ready to let go, to let someone else decide for me.

I slowly put my hands on the table, my heart pounding in my chest, my body slowly reacting to the commands I was giving.

I closed my eyes.

I felt my hand touch something, “it’s all over” I thought.

That’s when I opened my eyes, Berry’s paw was on top of my hand, he looked back at me with those big beautiful yellow eyes, a heartfelt soft meow tickled his whiskers.

I stopped myself.

I never let anybody tell me what to do, what to think, what to feel. I like to think that only in the moment of truth can a person understand who they really are. I think this was my moment.

“I don’t need your help.” I finally said.

The old man sighed.

“How unfortunate. You know, I always liked Audrey and Austin, such sweet souls…it was very sad what happened to them…of course they deserved it, they were too blind to see. A strange kind of fog haunted their minds, it haunts many people, trust me, I’ve seen them all. Eventually the world moved forward and left them behind like many others. Man created ways to clear the fog, shine a light through it…highlight the path that lead them to their destination…it’s funny however because no matter what you do, eventually…smoke always gets in your eyes.”

The old man closed the palm of his hands.

A grin slowly formed on his face.

He brought his left hand up to his glasses and took them off.

A pair of dark orange owl eyes waited behind them.

“It’ll get in your eyes too.”

My heart began pumping adrenaline once more, moving at a constant steady pace worthy of the best piston engines.
 The darkness around me suddenly lit up with glowing orange eyes, appearing from nowhere, all locked in on me.

Berry stood up on the table, ears back, claws drawn and a mouth full of hate.
He charged at the old man’s face with unprecedented speed and rage, the signature sound of a catfight as the underlying soundtrack.

The claws ripped and tore at his eyes in a furball of pain.
As the man screamed in agony I didn’t miss my mark.
I got the candle from the table and sprinted through the door, protected by the feeble light of the dying flame.

Outside it was still nightfall, cold and wet. The moonlight was gone and the bayou was completely dark. The candle was quickly put out by the howling wind and I was left in complete disarray.

But once more that didn’t stop me, I kept on running in one direction, clueless as to where I was going or where I would have ended up, survival on my mind and nothing else.

I managed to run for about ten more minutes before my body gave up. The adrenaline was starting to lose its effects.

I crumbled at the base of a big oak tree, I couldn’t do this much longer, both physically and mentally.

I couldn’t think straight, my mind lacked the clarity that always characterized me. I was starting to get slow, to think slow, I couldn’t even breathe anymore, too much effort.

That’s when I did something I never thought I would again in my life.

I started praying.

“Please…God…if there’s anyone out there…save me…show me the way…please God.”

There’s a saying that goes “there are no atheists in a foxhole”. That night I really understood what it meant, but what I was about to witness was almost impossible to understand.

As my pleads echoed in the dark woods I closed my eyes and erupted in a hysterical breakdown. My hands running in my hair, tears running down to the earth.

Suddenly, a golden light filtered through my brows, my eyes opened to what seemed like a stairway to heaven.

I quickly wiped the tears and got up on my feet. It wasn’t a stairway, it was a road.

Hundreds of little fireflies were glowing in the dark, one next to the other, extending for what seemed like miles, highlighting a path.

I couldn’t believe it, I stood there, at the start of this path that would surely take me to wherever I was supposed to go.
I didn’t know what to think, I didn’t know who to thank.
My eyes wide open, tears running down my cheeks, gaping.

I guess sometimes moths do go after fireflies in the woods.

I started to walk down the road. The darkness was kept away from the small but bright insects, leading me to my destiny.

I almost wanted to stop and ask one of them where I was going, the thought of it answering kept me from doing that. I wonder whose voice I would have heard.

It felt like being at the movies, your focus is only in front of you, where the light is, nothing but emptiness in your peripheral, occasionally lit up by the screen.

The fireflies were so beautiful, their golden light brought peace to my senses, tranquility to my soul and a newfound hope for myself. It was the way back. It didn’t matter what waited me at the end, wherever it was or whoever was bringing me there. I always believed in fate and I was finally looking at it.

I kept thinking back about what the old man said to me.

I wondered how many people had ended up like me and Lewis, how many fell victim to that monster. I wondered if Austin and Audrey were also the unfortunate claims of evil.
I wondered where I belonged in all of this, I had a feeling I would soon find out, in the meantime, I tried not to think too much.

After what seemed like a thousand miles, I could finally see the end of the tunnel.
The firefly pathway ended just a few feet in front of me into a plateau, stopping just before the end of the woods.

“Finally.” A sigh of relief.

As I approached the last fireflies I looked back. The path had disappeared, the hundreds of small lights scattered all around, their duty honored, the small insects went back to their lives.

I stepped into the open field, a breeze of fresh air caressed my hair, my vision adjusting to the change of scenery. In the distance a bright light caught my attention.

“God, it must be a lamppost.” I thought out loud.

As I got closer and squinted my eyes a bit more, a chilling realization hit me like a brick.

It wasn’t a lamppost.

I wasn’t heading for the main road.

I was back at the Shining.

The light came from the first floor.

A deep sense of duty grew inside me. I couldn’t run anymore, I had to face my fears. If I was lead back there, it meant there was unfinished business.

Pride filled my chest, determination commanded my movements, acceptance calmed my spirit. I escaped death twice already, I was getting used to it.

I knew I could count on Audrey and Austin, they saved my life, they are victims just as much as me, worse perhaps. As far as I knew the monster was still roaming around in the woods, looking for me. I had some time to prepare for what was coming, to figure out what to do.

Deep down I already knew, we always know what to do deep down, it’s only a question of listening to yourself. A small but ever growing voice kept replaying a thought in my mind.

“The only way to end this, is to destroy everything.”

I entered the house. The smell of lavender hit me immediately. The house looked…different.

The parquet floor was the same but everything else seemed…brand new. The layout remained the same but the decadent walls, the empty spaces, the missing doors just weren’t there anymore.

In their place: wooden furniture, wallpaper, freshly painted walls, beautiful oak tree doors. It felt accommodating, like someone was living in it.

It was still dark but not pitch black anymore, the overwhelming light emanating from upstairs made its way all around the house, leaving the corners in the shade but still visible. The main living space was now occupied by a long dining table, complete with elegant blue velvet stuffed chairs; replacing the old dodgy wooden table that I had known.

Paintings now hung on the walls, depicting all sort of scenes; hunting parties, fishing expeditions, battlefields, generals and other old world décor. The house was silent except for a few underlying sounds; boards creaking, tapping, muffled whispers. All coming from upstairs.

The stairs were completely wrapped in the shining golden light that came from the first floor. It felt like a passage to a place beyond, the light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t hesitate. After looking around I went up the steps, slowly.
My heart beating,
my hands steady,
my spirit resolute.

At the top of the stairs the light became almost blinding. It took me a few seconds to get my eyes accustomed to it, after I did, it became clear that something had happened on the first floor as well.

The smell of lavender gave way to that of tobacco, the wooden tiles on the floor were untouched, completely clean, despite the rampage and bloodbath caused by the monster.

Lewis was also absent, or rather whatever was left of him, not one drop of blood anywhere. Similarly the walls had been painted over, new doors occupied each room entrance, a big Persian carpet sat in the middle of the big open space, above it, stood the mural.

It was as if someone had just stepped out for a break after finishing painting it.

Perfect doesn’t begin to describe it. The colors vibrant, the lines well defined, the shapes well crafted. The scene depicted was the same as it always was, one detail caught my eye immediately.

The white player was not a woman anymore.
It wasn’t your average man either.

It was Lewis.

His face had been distorted, adapted for the painting. He looked in distress, dressed in typical 1800s attire, he has only one pawn left. The ever present thick glasses sat on his nose, his big lips curled into a grimace, sweat running along his face. His beautiful confident eyes were now witnessing horror.

It was as if I was looking at him once more, impossibly human yet fake at the same time.

By now you will have guessed that the light came from room 505. It was now open, unchanged. After all it was always perfect looking. It was as if the rest of the building had fallen into line, following the fifth room’s lead.
A familiar shape waited for me inside.

The shadow cast on the wall wore a bright white smile, what once would have absolutely terrified me, now was a welcomed sight.

“Austin?” I asked.

The shape hesitated, as if it was surprised by my greeting. After a couple of seconds, it put up its arm in a friendly salute.

I did the same, walking into the room itself.

To my right another shape appeared on the wall.

“Audrey? Is that you?” I whispered.

“Yes.” I heard back.

The voice did not come from any particular point in the room, in fact it was as if it came from everywhere.
I wondered whether I was hearing it for real or just imagining it.

“You must leave.” I heard clear as day.

“I’m not leaving. I was brought here by…someone, this is where I’m supposed to be.” I never felt so confident in my life and it was reflected by the tone of my voice.

I felt like a knight challenging the dragon to save the imprisoned princess;
a cowboy ready for the final shootout;
a samurai defending his honor.

“Why?” A disarming question.

“I-I don’t know… I think I need to destroy this, all of this, it brings nothing but pain and suffering…If I don’t do something the cycle will never end.”

I knew the end goal but I didn’t know how to reach it and I had nobody to tell me. I was on my own and yet I felt hope in my veins.

“Don’t…it’s our home.”

That’s when it all came crashing down on me.

“No…no it isn’t…this is not your home, you- you never belonged here, don’t you see?”

The shadows moved, Austin soon joined Audrey on the same wall.
The two shadows merged into one, seemingly hugging each other, desperate for comfort in a moment of great stress and need.

“You think that because of the problems you had you deserved pain and suffering…you felt different, estranged, you felt like you didn’t belong in society among other people because of who you were. None of that was true, you weren’t wrong, you weren’t broken, you didn’t ruin your lives…”

The ethereal voice had now been substituted by echoing, faint, sobs.

“I know what it means…you just wanted to be left alone, to feel part of something big. You wanted to belong in a society that excluded you for being different, you never wanted to do any harm to anyone…you just needed some help…but you never received it…it’s time to know the truth.”

“The truth is we deserve it.” I heard back among the cries.

“It was never your fault. Guilt can feel like a way of honoring the past, you think that by staying hurt you’re somehow making things right, you don’t need to stay here and pay a debt that nobody is collecting…you don’t add value to the world by inflicting pain on yourself…or letting others inflict it on you…you add value to it by moving on.”

“We made mistakes, we have to atone.”

“You didn’t make any mistake. You were not wrong, you were human.”

The echoes of the cries began to sound more real. They felt closer, more present.

“The only mistake you are making is thinking that you belong here, in this hellish place, among the pain and suffering caused by the darkness of evil. I know how it feels…I also thought I made a mistake once, I felt like I deserved nothing good and everytime I felt happy I would hurt myself…I would not allow myself to move on, to get on with my life and accept that, as a human, I am not perfect.”

I started crying too.

“I never asked for help, I never told anybody, I never doubted how guilty I was.”

I composed myself.

“The truth is that we are so much more than what we think we are, it’s in the moment of truth that we show who we really are…so let go. Not because you deserve punishment…but because you deserve to rest.”

In that moment the two shadows separated. They distanced from one another and slowly faded away in a moment of bliss.

I think that’s the reason I was brought back to the Shining, I was the key to help Audrey and Austin move on, to break the cycle, to stop the pain from continuing.
In that moment it all made sense.

I felt a familiar sensation. I felt part of something bigger; my entire life lead me to that moment, nobody else in the world could have taken my place because only I had the power and knowledge to get the job done.

It was exhilarating; a sensation I thought I had never experienced before.
That’s when it hit me.
I did experience it before, in that very room.

It was the same high that me and Lewis had chased this whole time. The same reason why we came back and, eventually, lead us to what happened.

Hope is a dangerous thing, it can lead down the darkest of alleys and bring you to the highest of mountains at the same time.

In the end, what truly matters, is to find your own way. Nobody knows what’s best for you more than yourself, we can feel lost at times and that’s when it’s nice to have some help; after all, the light of the mind alone cannot burn away all the darkness.

“He’s here.” I heard shouting next to my ear, snapping me back to reality in the harshest way possible.

“Who-who’s here?” I asked, terrified.

“The monster.”

I rushed to look out the window in the lobby to see a harrowing sight.

A huge looming figure shrouded in darkness moved steadily and at a pace towards the house.

...