Forgotten Hallways

You know, I recall Chisaki mentioning something about being an up-close-and-personal fighter and man, she doesn't disappoint.

My heart is pounding out of my chest as I tear through the hallway. I look back. Chisaki's calmly walking towards me. By all logic, I SHOULD be way ahead of her. And yet, every time I look back, in the flickering and dimly lit hallway, she seems closer than before.

"There's no use trying to run. You already know how this ends." There's a teasing tone to her voice. It's almost mischievous, and sing-songy. 

"I uh, I think I'm good!" No matter how fast I try to run, her calm walk manages to keep pace with me. It's gotta be the game. It's got to be. 

I slip and fall as I try to turn a corner, and as I do, a knife tears past me, and into the wall. It's a good thing I slipped and fell, surprisingly enough, because I would have been skewered had I not been.

"Oops, looks like that was just a warning." I look back to see Chisaki smile. She's a bit further away now, as she leans forwards at me again, almost showing herself off. "You should listen to me, Hinata." Her smile fades into a scowl as she stands upright again. "Because whatever I'm about to do to you is a mercy." I look back at the knife as I stagger up, but it melts away, and appears back in her hand.

So she's good at ranged too. Well that's just fucking lovely. I decide to pick up the pace, despite knowing full well it's futile. I tear down the halls at breakneck speed, but no matter how much I seem to run, whenever I look back at Chisaki, she's just behind me, and closing.

"So desperate to get away, hmm? Well, maybe I can indulge you a little bit. After all, I still like you, you know? How about you stop running, and we'll forget about all this?" Only a few steps away. Dammit.

I see a potted plant. The small tree inside has missing textures, but I'm not really in the mood to question that. I take the thing and knock it over.

"You're so cute Hinata. Just like a cornered little rat. You know what? Maybe I will let you go. In exchange, how about you think about your choices again?" She says, in a purring tone. "Oh, I'm excited to see you reconsider. I know you will." As I face forwards and run, I can hear the crunching of the plant beneath her feet just behind me. 

Dead end.

Shit.

"Chisaki?"

Chisaki is gone. What was formerly a long hallway is now a wall. It's like the distance I ran here doesn't even exist anymore. The terror of being chased by an axe crazy psycho now turns to a different kind of fear. A dread of the unknown.

I turn around, and the dead end, which was a few paces in front of me, is now just in front of my face. I notice a disturbing painting on the wall, something I had ignored just before. I had seen it, but it hadn't registered just how...wrong it looked as I was focused on Chisaki.

It looks like the Mona Lisa, but her eyes are empty pits, and her mouth is a giant gaping maw open too wide. There are bloody tears coming out of her eyes. I'd call it a standard fare horror cliche, but that's not going to stop me from freaking the hell out over it.

I bump into the wall as I step back. I turn around. The walls are literally closing in on me whenever I'm not looking. A hand suddenly grabs my shoulder, and I fall over, for the second time as I yell out.

"You know Hinata, there are worse things than me out there. Don't tell me you haven't forgotten I saved you when we first met." Chisaki says as she stands in front of me.

"Damn you." I say, but secretly, I'm almost actually relieved, despite her chasing me down the hallway with a knife earlier.

"Well, maybe that's enough of a scare." Chisaki says, almost in an aggressively seductive tone. She chuckles, then turns to look at the painting. "I didn't draw this, in case you were wondering." She wrinkles her brow as she looks at the painting. "Well yeah, this is about what the underbelly of the game looks like. Good luck surviving without me, all by your lonesome!"

"I'm just trying to get out of the game." I weakly murmur, as Chisaki begins to walk away from me. The back wall seems to have inexplicably grown a door, which she enters.

"Then find an exit. We'll see how much better you fare in the real world. If you manage to survive the game architecture, of course." She says, slamming the door shut.

"Chisaki! Chisaki! Shit!" I grab the door and open it, but the moment I do, I see nothing but a small bedroom, not the staircase Chisaki descended down. "Chisaki?" With no real other option, I weakly enter the bedroom. It's a dimly lit, depressing bedroom, with an old fashioned lamp being the only real light source. There's a small red couch in front of an old CRT-TV, which is the only really consistent light source given the lamp is flickering pretty hard.

As I step into the room, the door slams shut. But I could swear I saw that painting move just before I did.

"Hey, Chisaki?" I call out. "I'm...I'm sorry. You know, I actually change my mind. Maybe I prefer being in your room." 

There is no response. 

"Chisaki, I'm sorry."

Look at you, Hinata. Begging the girl who deceived you then tried to kill you for mercy and to take you back. Given the circumstances, I suppose it's not actually a bad idea, but the sheer degree of degradation it makes me feel almost makes me want to smash my head against a wall. At least, if I wasn't so utterly terrified.

"Chisaki, please. I was wrong, I don't think I can make it through here. Chisaki, please?"

The TV turns on, and I'm almost jumpscared by the effect. On it is a pixelated 8-bit image of Chisaki. There's a warm vaporwave neon background that almost puts me at ease.

Almost.

The light flickers, and as much as I'd hate to admit, I really don't know what else to do other than check the TV out. If this is a game, maybe this is a progression point? Then again, progression implies forward to danger. Yet...I can't say I'm safe just standing here either.

I head over to the TV, and look over it. The TV is up against a wall, and the couch sits in the middle of the room. A line from that movie I saw with Chisaki echoes through my mind.
"Don't fight with your back out to the open."

Yeah, I don't like this. 

There are a pair of headphones - noise cancelling ones - to further reduce my situational awareness, because of course there are. It seems to be the only way to watch the TV however. I could yank the headphones out, but firstly, I don't know if the speakers work, and secondly, I don't know if I want to be noisy if there are things out there that can hear me.

I glance at the door. It's still closed. 

I swear, it better not open. 

"Hey there player!" The fake Chisaki cheerfully chirps from the TV, as I put the headphones near my head. "Want to play a game with me?"

Uh, no?

I put on the headphones, and take one more look at the doors. Still closed. The cheerful Chisaki visage smiles as I grab the controller, unbecoming of the situation.

"Awesome! Let's play a little quiz! The more questions you answer correctly, the better I can take care of you! How does that sound?"

Uh, awful. Fuck you?

"I'm glad you agree! Let's get this started!" The screen Chisaki says, completely ignoring my internal thoughts (which to her credit, I didn't verbalize, even if she could hear them). Almost like a game show, the Chisaki now pulls to the side. "If you can answer every question correctly, you get to leave! If not, you will undergo...special punishment. Does that sound like a good way to treat our contestant, dear viewers?"

The screen switches to an audience of grey NPCs, who all simultaneously laugh. 

This is fucking ridiculous. I'm screwed, aren't I?

"First question!" The screen-Chisaki says. "Who is the father of Saeki Hinata?"

I scroll down to the option that says 'Taro Saeki, Game Dev' and select it. A giant green circle appears over the answer.

I look back at the door. It's closed.

At least there's that.

"That's correct! Wonderful job, Hinata! Second question! Now, this is an interesting one." Chisaki says. "How many subscribers does Hinata currently have on MeTube?"

There aren't numbers, but the answers say 'millions', 'hundreds of thousands', and 'pretty much nothing.'

It's true. All those years, and this is what I have to show for it.

I select the last option, and a giant green circle appears over it again.

"Another correct answer! Well done player!" Chisaki says. "In fact, Hinata only has 827 subscribers, after 7 years of streaming and uploading! So please everyone, please do go drop him a subscribe, because he's really fun to watch if you give him the chance, okay?"

For a moment, Chisaki's face almost seems warm, and I can feel tears forming in the back of my eyes.

"Next question!" Chisaki chirps, completely ignoring my feelings. She nonchalantly talks, despite the crushing feeling in my heart. "Who, is the object of Hinata's affections, currently?"

I thought she didn't know this.

There's a list of a few of my coworkers on the list, and a pit forms in my stomach. I look back at the door.

It's closed.

I scroll down and click 'Airi.' I feel like I'm being exposed somehow. Like she's stripping me naked. Cracking my skull open for the world to see.

"That's correct!" Chisaki says as she pulls up a picture of Airi's social media pages, the ones I might have been using to keep up on her. "In fact, Hinata follows her on all socials, and stalks her on social media! How adorable, isn't it?"

"I do no such thing!" I audibly say, but then look around the room. The door is shut.

I've felt this room wasn't safe even with that door, but it provided a modicum of security. Now, it feels like there's no way out.

"Now, next question, please!" Chisaki says, a cheery and neutral tone in her voice. "Why exactly did Hinata's mother die?"

What?

I pause.

That's not fair.

You can't just ask me that.

I pick up the controller. I still remember that, you know.

How she thought it was all her fault my dad was in debt.

It wasn't, but she still blamed herself and walked out onto that road.

I scroll down and click 'car accident.' I guess that's technically not wrong. It's not 'died by too many bee stings' or 'ate too much candy.'

Yeah, real funny Chisaki.

"That's correct!" Chisaki says. "I've always felt bad for Hinata, honestly. Hearing about it just makes you want to pull him into your arms and tell him everything will be okay, you know? Ah well." She shakes her head. "Alright, this one is spicy folks!" Chisaki says, as she completely ignores my anger. "How much debt is Hinata in right now?"

This fucking bitch.

I scroll down and click 35 million yen, then bury my face in my hands.

Mom got swindled. It wasn't her fault. Dad just hung out with a scummy crowd towards the end of things.

Why the fuck he thought it was a good idea to get interested in those scammers is beyond me.

If I get my hands on Chisaki I'm going to kill her. If that's even possible in the game.

"Final question!" Chisaki says, a devious tone in her voice, "can you tell me the name of Airi's ex-boyfriend, and why they broke up?"

What?

I take the controller. Unlike the previous multiple choice questions, this one is a written response. I wait for a second. This is news to me.

 In the end, I just type in 'Bob, because he moved away.' The screen Chisaki, seeing this, roars with laughter as a giant X appears over the answer.

"That's hilarious player! You don't know at all, do you?"

The 8-bit Chisaki, who was formerly looking at me with a slight tilt to the side, now faces me outright.

"Uh oh, it seems like you don't know the answer! Well, I suppose that's bad news. Because that means, we have to undergo special punishment."

I look back. The door is ajar. My blood runs cold. In my rush to take the headphones off, I end up yanking them out of the TV, and Chisaki continues to talk over the speakers.

"The special punishment is...escape from the haunted video game! I can't help you Hinata, but I sure can watch! Don't you all think that will be fun?" There's laughter from the audience, but I don't care. I'm off. The open door may contain what unknown horrors, but it's also my only escape.

I have to get out of here.

"You better get out of here while you still can!" Chisaki says as I take one final glance at the TV. "After all, this is what you chose, is it not?"