The Looping corridor and where it leads

I opened the door.

A short corridor separated me from the door.

It was a strange architectural quirk, but never having been on the western side of the mansion, it was possible I had never seen it. So, I opened the door. Another barren corridor. The same door I just passed in front of me. Turning around, only darkness filled the space, on the floor a black hole leading who knows where.

A dark liquid bubbled on its edges.

I go back to the door, traverse it and my body returns in the same exact place as it was a moment ago. On the wall there's a small writing in red, it just says "Keep going forward."

I do, not because the instruction deserves to be trusted, but it was preferrable than the hole. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door.

Each room identical and yet each step feels heavier.

. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door.

My feet hurt, air starts to become difficult to breathe.

So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door.

I gasp for air, my head hurts, just thinking becomes harder.

So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door.

At this point my legs decided to hit one another, making me stumble. Trying to get up, vertigo kicks in, can't keep the puke inside. Leaning against the wall, slowly I get up.

So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door. So, I open the door.

So, another shovel of dirt hits the tomb. Buried alive without knowing it. There was no reincarnation, no second chance, the truck hit me, it was too slow it seems, even with its tons of iron it couldn't break my body, it couldn't free me, my curse it still on, there was no way to free myself from destiny. And now I'm being buried alive.

So, I open the door.

So, another shovel of dirt hits the tomb.

Try to scream but nothing comes out, my mouth couldn't muster anything. Opening it hurts, moving hurts, living hurts, what else is there for me.

Another time I stumble.

There's no light, but the door is always there so I don't need to see it. Getting on my feet and reaching right in front of me is all that's needed to proceed forward. I'm in the mansion, I'm my tomb, what is real doesn't mean anything.

I turn around. The pit it's inviting, it doesn't matter what's happening. Falling in there would mean the end of all, my gut tells me that's the exit. I crawl, feeling my nails almost breaking out of my finger, but any pain is only temporary, as the hole is waiting. My hand reaches the edge, now it's only a matter of dragging the rest of my body.

No sound reaches my ears aside from the thumping of my heart.

Still, knowing this is the end, there's a part of me resisting. Is it a weak side, is it a strong side, not sure it matters at all. What's meaningful is that something makes me turn my head. Even on the ground, there's something written.

"Keep going forward"

I know that handwriting. It's the same on every shopping list I had to carry out since becoming a maid here.

"Yeah…I'm not in a tomb."

Tsuki was real, my new life was real, I couldn't throw it away like this. Coughing out all the air still in my lungs, I got up, turned around, and opened the door.

Then, I tripped and fell. My hearing was still busted, like myriads of echoes that couldn't be properly filtered by the eardrum.

"Ka….de"

Lying face down, all that I could see was the ground. As soon as my gaze rises, the door will probably be there. Shivers. To suddenly decide to have persistence is easy, carrying it out, not very much.

"…ede"

Something's calling out to me. It must be the darkness, the inviting hole to the depths tempting me into throwing away my life.

"Kaede!"

The thumping of my heart slowly diminishes; echo fades and hearing becomes possible again. The voice saying my name is in front of me, trying to gaze towards it there's my eyes fail me, all I see is a black halo and all that's inside is blurred.

"Kaede! What are you doing here?"

Slowly, my senses stabilize and before me stands a young knight with blond hair and a charming smile. Or at least, he would have a charming smile if he weren't showing terror.

“Did I manage to get out?”

"No, you're inside the mansion."

"Which room?"

"Dancing Hall."

"Then…I made it."

If it wasn't for the familiar handwriting, I would have fallen inside the darkness and who know what would have happened to me.

"I held on…"

"What happened to you?"

"Wish I could tell you. But, it was bad."

"The hallway from where you came…it was distorted too…"

"It went on forever…"

However, I was devastated. I had managed to get to the ballroom, but finding and saving Tsuki was definitely impossible now.

"Why? Why did you come here?"

"There's someone I need to bring to safety…"

"…please Kaede, can you do something for me?"

"No, my body doesn't move."

"It's something you can do without moving an inch."

"Then…sure."

"Please, close your eyes, never open them and stay still."

"What?"

"I beg you…"

His voice cracked asking this one favour, what kind of shitty human being wouldn't agree to do something as simple as closing their eyes. Well, me for one. Because without really thinking about it, I tried move my head to see what was beyond his head.

Lionheart was kind. Since the moment we met, he always tried to be as gentle as possible. One has to wonder why wasting kindness on a garbage human being like me. Maybe he was tricked by my new body, maybe he's just naïve.

Fact is, this time too,I disappoint him by not listening to his advice. It was good advice. It was the only sensible thing to ask to someone that still hadn't see in which state the ballroom laid. I should have listened, hence, I didn't.

My body trembles, I feel bile rising from my stomach, I writhe and vomit on the floor. At least Lionheart's armor was not hit…but puke was the last thing he probably had on his mind at that moment.

"Please…don't look anymore."

If the knight didn't confirm me that I ahad in fact reached the dancing hall, I wouldn't have been able to recognize it. Everything was red, fleshy, pulsating, like the belly of a beast. All guests were motionless, their nerves pierced their bodies, as if they were trying to ran away from their skin. It seemed like roots of a tree, connected to the fleshy pavement and all reaching for one place. On the middle of the room. A statue of a man with a giant lance.

Smell of blood and amniotic filled my lungs, but there was no more bile to puke, just the feeling of my stomach being compressed over and over again.

"What…what happened here?"

"Something bad, let me handle it and stay safe. I'm sorry, I couldn't spare you the trauma, but let me at least save the situation."

"H….how?"

"We can't rescue anyone, but I can make it so there's no more victims."

"W…wait, Tsuki…"

He gently put me down, stroked my head, and smiled at me. It seems his fear vanished after seeing me regain some consciousness. You idiot, worry about the nightmare you're in, not the life of some random woman.

"Everything's will be ok."

It was a lie; it was already too late for everything to end up ok. He turned, his armor shining, his hand on the sword he always had sheathed around his waist. The statue didn't seem to be alive, the only living thing about it were the nerves of its victims connected to its base.

Again, going against the knight's advice, I tried to understand exactly what I was facing. Perhaps to combat my fear. Understanding helps to overcome fear. I never learn; I should have kept my eyes closed. It's always the same. I try to do things my way and end up making the situation worse for me.

And that's because my eyes stop on a body. It had a beautiful purple dress. Unfortunately, the beautiful woman wearing it couldn't show her beauty as she lied there, suspended above her own nerves as they pierced her face's skin.