Run!

My lungs burn and it feels like my heart is going to pound out of my chest, but I keep running.

From what exactly, I can't tell, but there are footsteps behind me.

They're gaining. I decide to look back, and the moment I do, nothing is there. But then the footsteps start back up, from the opposite direction.

And yet, no matter how much I run, I always end up in the same spot.

I kick open the door to find the same bedroom, with a lamp and TV. The television itself is completely busted, as has been increasingly since the last few times I came here.

There's something moving in the dark corners of the room. I'm not taking my chances. I take off and run. To where, hell if I know, just not here. I run down the hallway, not looking back as to not reset my progress or anything.

There's a door at the end of the hallway. I burst in, and lo and behold, it's a bedroom that looks just like the other one. The lamp is now busted too, and the room is dark, but I can make out the increasingly tattered wallpaper.

There's a weird giggle from out of the corner of the room. A strange, Chisaki like form appears near the walls, and looks up at me.

"C-Chisaki?"

The form does not respond, but giggles again as it gradually approaches me. I step backwards. Then another step backwards. It almost seems to glide across the ground as it speeds up. I slam the door shut, and run the opposite direction again.

I fall over as the door closes, and find myself not on the wooden floor of the hallway, but of a metal floor of a subway now.

Progress? But I don't know how I did that.

I get up and look around. The train is dimly lit, and dark. The windows are boarded up, but I can see through them a little. It doesn't appear to be moving, but there's a dark hallway outside. There's some light shining through from the left, but based on what I can see, it's due to a fire outside, which happens to be the only light source coming from outside.

"Chisaki?"

Chisaki is sitting on a bench with earphones on, seemingly listening to music as if nothing in the world is wrong.

"Chisaki, hey..."

Despite this, she doesn't seem to be acting erratically or irrationally. I gently approach her.

"Hey! Chisaki, can you hear me?"

"You shouldn't shout so much Hinata." Chisaki says. "I can teleport, but you don't know what lurks in here, do you?"

I turn around to see the lights in the train car two cars behind me go dark. I can hear the crunching of metal as soon as it does.

"What...what do you mean?"

Just then, the announcement comes to life with the saddest, and honestly somewhat creepiest subway melody I've ever heard.

"Next station is....!" The announcement says, suddenly ringing to life. There's static as the station name is blurred out. "The exit is to the..." There's more static, and a strange garbled noise I can't make out.

The car just behind us also goes dark.

Chisaki hands me a flashlight.

"Avoid the dark. Trust me, you'll need to." Chisaki gives me a wink, and in the blink of an eye, she's gone.

The light in the cabin flickers. I take off running again.

***

I'm not quite sure how I got to a bar, but it doesn't matter. It's nothing special really - a closed bar, with a limited light source from the cabinets itself. Other than that, not much.

Oh, and the flashlight doesn't work. Thank you for that, Chisaki.

I don't have time to be mad about it now. The bar is recursive. Entering the bathroom - the only door out - sends me through the entrance.

I run from entrance to bathroom, from entrance to bathroom. Using the men's bathroom or the women's bathroom doesn't seem to make a difference, and the entrance is always locked if I try to go back.

I keep up this charade a few more times, and a part of me is now wishing Chisaki would come help me, yet again.

Just as I go through the door the...whatever-ith time (I lost count), I turn back to see a crouched over form of Chisaki at the bar, almost rigidly stuck in place with a blank expression. When I try to turn back, the door slides out of my hands and slams shut, but not before the stuck Chisaki looks at me.

That's not good, that's not a safe Chisaki. I look forward. No Chisaki at the bar spot on this 'instance', which is what I'm calling it. How many instances has this been?

I stop running and look to the bar itself. In my panic, I haven't actually looked at the bar selection itself.

There's a ton of beers, but all of them appear to be glued to the bottle trough. Or, I think these are beers. I don't man the bartender spot so I wouldn't know.

...there's a ticket on this one.

I yank the ticket out, and then realize that the bottle itself moves. Pocketing the ticket, I move the bottle. As I do, the lights begin flickering. Despite my terror at the loss of light, there's a surge of adrenaline as I realize this is progress. The wall of liquor moves aside as I see yet another hallway open up in front of me.

***

The brightly lit hallway isn't as terrifying as the dark hallway, subway, or even the bar. There are beautiful gothic windows letting in beams of light. Sure, there's nothing but whiteness outside, but that's got to be something.

...though, the more I think about it, a part of me wonders if it's just an illusion and that there can be horrors out there.

I shake such terrifying thoughts out of my head. If there are horrors, I'll either find out about it or I won't, and worrying won't help me prepare for it or anything.

In front, there is an automated ticket collector. Bingo. I take the ticket out, and insert it into the machine. It takes the ticket, and with a whirring sound, the door to the entrance opens up. As it does, it also drops a tiny battery.

For the flashlight! I put the battery in and test it. It works!

There's a small giggle from behind as I do, but as I turn around, there's nothing.

Whatever. There are no windows in the theater, but the place is still brightly lit, so I'm not that scared.

At least, I shouldn't be.

I check the rooms, and they all appear to be playing the same thing, based on the readings. As I approach one of the rooms, I start to think. Sure, all of these rooms MIGHT look identical, but do they really?

What if I have to choose a certain one? What if it's a trap?

"Or, maybe you should ask yourself if there even is a right one."

"Gah!" I jump back as the voice behind me speaks. "Ch-Chisaki?"

"Aww, your scared face is so cute! That's my name." Chisaki walks up to me, her usual flirty attitude on full display here. "Do you need help, Hinata? You can always come to me if you need help. I'll always be there for you, if you want." She pouts and twirls her hair, and I roll my eyes.

"On second though, I don't need your help. Fuck off." I immediately regret my words as they leave my mouth, but a part of me also feels good at having gotten my honest thoughts off of my chest.

"Hmm, if you want, then be that way." Chisaki's pout grows from mock cuteness to genuine anger, and she turns around. "Since I'm so kind though, I'll tell you one thing - beware the dangerous light."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

"Oh, wait! Didn't I tell you to avoid the dark? Whoops. Which should it be...?" Chisaki playfully gives me a wink before dissipating out in front of my very eyes.

Well fuck you too!

I enter a theater room at random. As I sit down, I realize that it's a display of my channel. I watch in silence as my videos play.

God, it's actually embarrassing to watch. There's a sinking feeling in my chest as I realize just how desperate I act on camera. 

Just then, there's an ad break.

In the middle of a movie? Are you sure this isn't just Metube?

The ad buffers for a while, before revealing itself to be from a CCTV. Specifically, a CCTV of me at work. There's a party going on, and someone bumps into me. I step into the vomit I was cleaning up.

Wait...

The recording continues and follows me around. Soon, I am outside, talking to Airi.

There's someone behind Airi. But there wasn't anyone there when I really talked to her-

The figure looks up at the camera. It's Chisaki. Her eyes are hollow, with pinpoint white pupils. A grin creeps up her face.

My blood runs cold as Chisaki's face fill up the screen. As the 'ad' ends, a humanoid figure - Chisaki - floats out of the screen, and locks her 'eyes' onto me.

Yeah, no.

I get up from my seat and take off, Chisaki's monstrous form now chasing me. The cinema isn't the brightly lit hallway anymore, it's dark and in an advanced state of disrepair. Lights are falling, and posters of incredibly disturbing pictures are half torn. The beautiful gothic windows still let in light, but the light is as red as blood.

I continue running away, turning my flashlight on when Chisaki's comment of dangerous light hits me.

I turn away, and continue running down the cinema hallway, and soon, I find myself in a dark yellow corridor. As the corridor ends, I find myself in a room, which gives way to another, and another, and another. Almost as if it's an infinite room, yet despite it's narrow width, it keeps corralling me into one direction. Only the flashlight lets me actually see the way forward in the windowless and lightless space.

I see a strange red area, amidst the sea of yellow. It might be a trap, but I'll choose to take it. Taking off faster with a grim determination, I charge for it, only to find the ground beneath my feet give way as I hit the red.

I fall down the long chute that apparently was beneath my feet, and make a splashdown into a weird sewer. The water is surprisingly clear, despite it apparently being a dumpster, but I'm not about to test it. The silence is just as terrifying as the unholy screeching noises, but if there's one thing I can say, it's that I still don't know what's out there.

It's also too dark. My flashlight got smashed during the run, so I can't see, but my eyesight is gradually adjusting. There are heaps of trash and not much else around, but at the end of the day, it's just a dumpster, and I have no idea where to go. I quite quickly realize I'm not in a very large room, at least area wise.

The ceiling is far too high up to reach, and so is the chute, which crackles and disappears in a poof of static. Well, on the bright side, nothing can come down from there and ambush me in this tight space anymore.

On the downside...

I can't get out either.

I simply wait for something to happen.

"Chisaki?" I yell out once more. She's my only lifeline, despite...all that.

No one comes.

The room is silent for a while. I crouch down and sit on my hands, hoping for a miracle. After what feels like hours, I speak once more.

"Chisaki, I'm trapped. Please, you're the only one that can help me."

"Hmm, calling for my help, huh?"

A small CRT TV turns on, and Chisaki shows up on the other side. She's sitting in some kind of monitor room as she sips a cup of...something

There's a banging noise coming from the opposite wall, from a door I didn't even know existed in the dump. I jump in surprise, and Chisaki laughs.

"If you beg for me real hard, I might get you out of there before that thing breaks in."

"What...what is that?"

"I'm not telling you!" Chisaki says, singingly. "Besides, I'm not entirely sure myself."

"Chisaki, please!" Chisaki simply snorts.

"That all you got?"

"Chisaki - " God fucking dammit. I kneel down and practically prostrate myself in front of her. "There, happy? I'll debase myself all you want if it just means you get me out of here!"

"Sigh. And after it was getting fun too." Chisaki smiles, bending over forward once more. "But since you're so desperate to get back into your world, maybe I'll let you go this once. After all, I know you'll come crawling back." Chisaki's smile now twists into an evil smirk. "Bye-bye, Hinata! I'll see you soon."

Chisaki presses the key on a keyboard, just as the banging on the doors ceases. I don't even look at the door as the entire thing breaks asunder. It doesn't matter. I'm out of here anyways. I already see myself dissolving, and my sight too is not far behind.

As my vision turns white, I feel as if I'm being sucked out of the world, somehow.

Like I'm exiting the game.

And lo and behold, when I come to my senses again, I find myself sprawled on the floor of my room, drenched in sweat.

I...I'm back.