The Five Rooms of Thoughts

by Lee Diamond D. Perez

An enchanted and based on a true story that came from a young man's mind. The imagination was so vivid; he lived both in reality and fantasy. Each room depicts each side of his personality and events, but he was not alone in the fantasy world.

CHAPTER 1
The Long Trip

On December 13, 2018, I woke up in my bed around 7:30am. I got up, took my breakfast, took a bath and packed my things then went to my mother's car. The trip wasn't really that long and it just took like 2-3 minutes. My mother then dropped me into the Blessed Trinity School of Las Piñas then said her goodbyes and kisses to me. I entered the school and went inside my classroom. There were my classmates getting ready for the retreat. We had a meeting about the retreat with Miss Abbey. As time passed by, the van finally arrived to take us to the retreat house in Batangas. We took a long trip with a prayer to preclude us from accidents. Then we took some stops and toilet breaks.

After a long trip, we finally arrived to our destination and went inside the retreat house. We took our lunch then proceeded to the session which was hosted by Brother Christian Moog Hortal. Hours have passed the skies were getting dark. Brother Christian gave us an activity that is called: "Desert Place". We students roam around in our desired place strictly alone. I am a type of creative person; so I made my imagination vivid as possible.

I was walking to the exit of the retreat building; I imagined the place slowly turning into a desert. I was actually walking while imagining. While taking a few steps to the desert, I saw a dark mansion appeared. The facade of the mansion looks abandoned and old. There was an old man with wings possibly an angel wielding a staff in front of the mansion's entrance.

The old man said, "Young man, you must enter all of the five rooms into this mansion. Do not hesitate your journey. Make it quick as possible before they get you!".

I uttered, "Who will get me and who are they?... what are they?... can you tell me something about it?". The old man did not respond. He immediately opened the entrance.

"Go!"

Without hesitating, I entered the first room.

CHAPTER 2
Wait, Where am I?

As I came by, the first room was surrounded by people who were in tables eating and celebrating something. This room looks like a fancy and wooden medieval restaurant having big chandeliers hanging at the ceiling. I heard boisterous laughing, talking, and cheering. I watched people gambling in a big table playing backgammon. Then I switched watching to a waitress serving a food, then to two townsmen chatting, and much more. Everything was busy. I explored around the room then saw a man who was a lumberjack. He was carving and cutting some wood. I watched him for a couple of minutes. He turned to me and he grumpily asked:

"What!?" We had a short pause as he glared into my eyes.
"Oh!... n-nothing sir.. I am sorry" I mumbled.

Suddenly the old man called me:

"You better hurry up young boy do not mind him! You do not know what he will do to you! He might cut you if you kept disturbing him! You must enter your next room!"

I quickly ran to the door but I stopped for a while and watched the man who was carving in a distance. He was carving something beautiful but it was not finished. I cannot hesitate any longer since the old man was forcing me to come to the next room.

I entered the second room.

The room looks like a hospital specifically, I'm at the morgue. The room was deserted and the lights were a little dim. There were cracks, damages, and the room seemed to be messy. There were white beds; most of them are empty except for one. At my glance, I saw a person in one of the bed so I came closer. I came close enough to realize that person was my late cousin. Her face was like nothing happened after her agony from sickness. She looks like she was just sleeping. She suddenly opened her eyes and stretched herself as she was like from a long deep sleep. After a short pause she stared at me. Her facial expression was like wondering or questioning why I was there. She squinted at me for a period of time then suddenly the old man shouted:

"Come! Come! Faster! There is no much time!"

I didn't move a muscle yet because I was also wondering why my late cousin looked at me like that. After that, she slowly looked away and got out of her bed and came to the door where I am supposed to enter.

"Hey, wait! I'm coming with you!"

It was too late and she already entered the third room. I quickly followed her and I went to the third room but in surprise, she was gone.

The third room was one of the most eerie room I had entered. It was a dark night and not a star was seen in the sky. I can barely see the grass and land. It was a forest surrounded by dead trees. A fog appeared; it had a moderate-light opacity. The only source of light was the moon. I slowly wandered around and I cannot see anything but the bare sight of the dead trees and land. Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from behind. I looked at my back but saw nothing. The footsteps getting louder and louder then there was a girl that held my right hand; she walked with me at the same speed. I cannot see her face yet and her body was like white as porcelain. She has a long black hair and she wore a lolita dress. Her hand was so cold it gave me the creeps. We wandered upon the forest and took few steps together then I kept wondering why was she holding my hand. It was quiet and all I can hear were our footsteps and the gusts of the wind. I finally broke the silence and said:

"Who are you? (Short pause) is it you? Are you my true love? Tell me why are we together!" then, She creepily turned her face very slowly into me.

CHAPTER 3
Who Are You!?

As she looked at me, she has no eyes, no mouth, no nose. She doesn't seemed to have a face at all. All I saw was a plain white face. Then I suddenly heard a Godly voice from above that said:

"No mere mortal shall know what is in within their future. Not the angels, nor the archangels, nor the son, but only the Father himself" -Mark 13:32

After I heard the message from above heaven, I heard a faint echoing voice. The voice I heard shouting was from the old man. He was calling me and ordering me to enter the fourth room immediately. When we were close to the door, me and the girl slowly let our hands separate from each other.

"Goodbye, my love..." I said to her

Seconds later, I went to the fourth room.
The fourth room was a toy room. Everyone was having fun. It was noisy with all those laughter and there were lots of happy children. Every structure was toy themed. There were flying robot planes, wooden round tables, ABC blocks, balls, board games, etc. (Imagine the room as a giant version of a preschool's classroom). I took a few steps wandering at the fun land then I saw a running children in front of me playing tag.

"Tag you're it!" Said the child, "come here!" "Can't catch me.. can't catch me!" Teased by another child.

I smiled and told myself: I used to be like this since my childhood. But as time passed by, it is inevitable from changing. While I was wandering, I saw another group of children playing board games. I simply walked into the chess station since I'm a chess player. I spectated their match and the other child seemed to be losing.

"Hah! Checkmate!" Shouted by the child.

"No fair! You cheated!"

I was smiling from their arguments because it was undeniably adorable. They had a baby fight out of that game. I continued finding the door as I walk by the candy path. The path was made from chocolate and the structures surrounding the path were candy canes. There were cotton candy bushes with peppermints and the walls appeared to be made out of wafer. I saw the pretzel gate and behind it, there was the old man waiting for me to enter the final room. I opened the gate but there were guards.

"Halt!" Cried by the bread soldiers.
"Who dares enter the room of paradise?"
"It is I! I need to exit this fantasy world so I can go back into the reality!"
"The door is locked! Even I am not able to open it myself!" Said the old man
"In order for you to unlock and enter the room of paradise, you must find all these materials to unlock the final room and proceed entering again in the reality."
"What shall I do?" I said

"Find all these four things:

The Axe of Decision: To be used to carve your own path of life. Whatever you have done to your own sculpture, you have no choice but to live into it.
The Book of Memories: When the wielder unfurls the book, he or she shall see his or her past and lessons from life.
The Ring of Passion and Loyalty:Is only given to those who are bonded with true love on themselves and their neighbors.
The King Chess Piece of Courage: For those who are weak, they shall acquire strength from their trials. It glows brightly to those who cannot see in the dark."

"There is no time.. you must- (grunts)" suddenly the room starts trembling and every person inside was panicking.

"Go and find them as fast as you can!"

CHAPTER 4
The Catastrophe Has Begun!

The trembling got worst and the structures were starting to crack. I just noticed these materials mentioned by the bread soldier had a meaning and a pattern hinting me where could they be. I first started to look for the king chess piece; I am hinted for the word "chess piece" since I am currently in the toy room. I remembered the children argued over the game. I quickly ran, but I kept on losing my balance since the chocolate path was cracking. People are running near the bread soldiers and near the locked door where the old man was struggling to open it. I went to the chess station and found the chess pieces. The other king chess pieces seemed to be futile. I kept on bending down in each of the tables to find the right chess piece as the pieces were falling down the table from the trembling. I felt a material fell down right on top of my head; the piece was glowing brightly. It was the king chess piece of courage.

"There you are! (Takes the piece) now I need a bag!" Then I looked around and took a taffy candy bag from the cotton candy tree.

I rushed and came back to the third room. It was all wobbling intensely and the gust of the wind sent me flying and bumping in one of the trees. I woke up into the reality since I did bumped into a real tree.

"No I am not finished with my adventure! I must go back!"

Several seconds later, I find it hard to come back into the imaginary world until someone instantly pulled me back into the fantasy and everything went dark again. Someone pulled me back into the imaginary world. The temperature of the hands that grabbed me seemed familiar. The hands were cold and I'm thinking of the faceless girl. When I came back to fantasy, out of surprise it was really the faceless girl I saw before. She pointed something far away. I squinted and I saw it was a slowly expanding pitch dark zone in the sky. I heard creepy whispers near the darkness saying: "come (come) with (with) (with) us and you (you) shall not li (li) (live) any lo (longer) longer". I had a severe goosebumps when I heard them. Me and the mystery girl ran together to the second room.

"Wait... this isn't the..."

I was bewildered. The second room have changed. It was a funeral room with lots of red roses. There were people staring at me stoic. Then the girl nudged me and told me to look who is inside the coffin. She never said a word but only signs. I peeked into the coffin and it was my late cousin. My late cousin was holding a large book while resting in peace. I looked at the mystery girl because she was trying to open the casket. The casket opened and she quickly took the book that my late cousin was holding and gave it to me forcefully. As she cannot talk, it was hinted that she ways trying to say, "take it, take it!"

"Wait what is... aaaggh! Okay okay give me that!"

I glanced at the book and found out it was the material I needed to unlock the room of paradise, it was the Book of Memories! I put the book inside my taffy bag. The girl looked worried and terrified. She was hinting me that "we should go!". I looked at the guests of the funeral and their eyes turned completely turned white and they were glaring at me. I was petrified with fear and the girl pulled me to the first room.

The townspeople were running and screaming like there was something terrorizing the place. Me and the girl stopped to look around the damage it has caused. A chandelier fell down causing a large part of the room to be demolished. The candles from the broken chandelier started a fire and it was expanding because of the cloth of the tables. Fissure cracks were starting to form around the room and the mystery girl ran and went to an injured person.

"Wait for me-"

While I was shouting, the stairs of the room shattered and blocked the door where we entered the room.

"Oh no!"

"Help me!" A familiar voice I heard.

"That voice..." I followed the mystery girl and came close to the injured man she was aiding.

I saw the injured man and it was the lumberjack from the first room!

"Help... (sniffs) me..."

There was a huge piece of concrete that pierced his body.

"(Crying) t... the axe!... t... take it... use this axe and carve anything what you want. A horse, a cat, a family, a house... anything!... ANYTHING! P-...please... also... do not forget to carve me... and my f...face..." His last words from his dying breath.

"N... now... go!... GOOO! Leave me!"

I took his axe despondently, and proceeded to jump at the fissures carefully. The girl later then followed me and I panicked that the door was blocked by concretes. She took my axe and started clobbering the obstacles. Each hit broke some parts of the concrete. She was hitting it as hard as she could. After several hits she can't do it herself anymore; I took the axe.

"Let me handle this! (Grunts)"

I viciously cut and destroyed the blocking obstacles with full effort. The first room was raging with catastrophe and we hurriedly opened and entered the door, the destruction almost got us. The second room changed again; It got surprisingly larger. The room was eerily quiet. Only few lights were present. We were in the center and I can hear my heartbeat throbbing and the footsteps we were making. I was in front of the mystery girl protecting her from any harm. She was at my back holding my left arm as she was hinting me that she was scared. I remembered I had the king chess piece of courage which grants bright light. When I was about to reach the bright glowing piece into the air, she stopped my hand as she was telling me a warning. I saw tons of bloody skeletons near the darkness. I also heard growling sounds at the darkness possibly demons or supernaturals. The door from us was far away, we quietly walked to the door as I grabbed my axe as my weapon. We took several steps and one horrific creature came to our path. I quietly gasped out of extreme fear and the mysterious girl held my arm tightly. It was directly facing us. The face was really ugly and horrific, and so as the body. Its mouth was covered in dripping blood. I was sweating heavily as my hands want to swing the axe against the monster's head. I realized the monster was almost blind because it was not doing anything even that its face was directly to us. We instead go around the monster, slowly hoping that it would not detect us as it has a very poor eyesight. I accidentally stepped on a broken glass and all the monsters were startled and starting to growl. We quickly tip-toed into a nearby office table large enough for us to fit and hid there.

CHAPTER 5
The Truth

I whispered to her: "There are too many of them! How can we escape this horror?"

She put her hand to my taffy bag and handed me the Book of Memories. I complained that there was no light and I couldn't read it. I carefully took the glowing chess piece out to read the book but there was a monster nearby. She grabbed a blanket from the hospital bed and covered us. Then I took the glowing chess piece and again, I saw her plain porcelain white faceless face.

"Why you do not have a face?" I asked,

She points her finger through the Book of Memories as the book automagically started to contain letters. She held and used the book as communication:

"You cannot know who I am. You cannot know my face and my identity."

I whispered: "why?"

"Because I represent your future love. Nobody knows their future and that explains why I am faceless. I am also here to help you with your journey"

"Wait so you are my future?"

"Yes your future.."

"My.. future?.."

"Yes... your future"

"My future?"

"Okay stop... I refused to repeat that sentence again" her body shown some signs of frustration and annoyance.

"Can I call you Mysteria?"

The book via her replied: "it is your decision"

I asked the book itself what does these materials mean and what does the different rooms mean. Then the letters of the book magically appeared saying:

"This book represents your memories, trials, lessons, wisdom and knowledge. Ask anything and you shall have an answer"

"The axe represents your choices for your life. The universe might control your choices just because the universe might suggest you a better choice. Do not use this axe for evil or else the axe will give you wounds and scars. You might die from bleeding."

"That chess piece you are holding represents your strength and courage to defeat your problems. Without it, you are hopeless."

"Well how about the rooms? What does these rooms represent?"

"The first room indicates your surroundings, relaxations, what is happening around you, a lumberjack who is minding his own business, and a time for yourself. He is building his sculptures (present life) and he treasures his creations (outcome or future).
The second room indicates your beloved loss of a family. It also indicates sadness and sorrowful memories. It also indicates your deep fears similarly to the third room
The third room indicates love, anxiety, fear, hopelessness and darkness. There is one loving person who is willing to support you to your journey and it is nobody but her. You must never forget what she have done to help you through this journey. Without her, you will be stuck in this fantasy and you will find it difficult going back to the reality."

I looked at Mysteria smiling softly and held her left hand while she was reading what the book was saying. Her hand was cold as if I were holding a hand of a corpse!

"The fourth room indicates joy, games, creativity, competitions, and teammates. The nicest room of all!"

I asked: "how about the fifth room, The Room of Paradise?"

The book said: "It is yet to be discovered"

"Okay, so how can we get pass these monsters? There are too many of them to fight!"

The words of the book spelled:

"A-U-D-A-C-I-T-Y"

"No way..."

"Face them, do not run away from them" said the book.

"No!.."

The girl held my hand as she used the book again:

"We can do it, we will do it together even if it means risking"

I looked at her hopelessly as it seemed impossible to defeat all these monsters.
The book said:
"Use the bright glowing piece and shine it up in the air. The light is bright enough to dazzle the eyes of the creatures."

"I think we should have done this before, Mysteria"

"I stand corrected. Not all expectations are met with the reality" said the book via the mystery girl.

"Lets go!"

CHAPTER 6
The Other Side

(Meanwhile in the fourth room)

"There is no time.. you must- (grunts)" suddenly the room starts trembling and every person inside was panicking.

"Go and find them as fast as you can!" Cried the bread soldier

The bread soldiers along with the gum knights protected the residents of the toy room as the young man went to find the materials required to open the door. The old man joined to protect the citizens and used magic to barricade them from the falling pieces. The chocolate road was cracking, the candy cane posts were falling, the toy robot planes were starting to collide through the falling objects from high buildings. The trembling lasted for several minutes and it stopped. People from the toy room came and helped the trapped and injured citizens. The gum knights along with the bread soldiers helped a trapped of children stuck in the wafer house by moving out some obstacles. There was a few minor fissures that affected the room. Some of the houses were swallowed by the deep fissures and miraculously, everyone survived. The food soldiers ordered some citizens and their fellow comrades to help each other. Few minutes later, the old man was worried for the young boy.

He worriedly said: "The young man... where is he? He is taking too long!"

He decided to look for the young man and called volunteers to join him.

"Soldiers, come and follow me! We need to know what happened to the young boy!"

The soldiers the old man, and several of the citizens have volunteered to enter to the previous rooms in search for the young boy. The bread soldiers were armed with steel candy spears, the gum knights were armed with halberds along with their candy horses, and few citizens armed with pinch forks, torches, bow and arrows, and clubs. The old man lead the way and shined his bright staff to the third room. As the room were surrounded by demonic creatures. As the light dazzled the eyes of the monsters, they were forced to ambushed them blindly. The crowd fought against the demons. They burned, slashed, crushed, pierced, shot each and every demons surrounding them.

"Pierce their heart with the lights from the heaven!" The old man said while he cast an array of light burning and piercing the creatures in a row.

One group are cornered by the demons. But the food soldiers came and defeated the enemies to rescue them.

"Sire! Behind you!" A bread soldier threw his spear to the demon that was ambushing the old man.

"Thanks!" As the old man continued to cast beams smiting the demons.

The crowd and the soldiers were fighting for their lives against the demons. But there were too many of them. Some of the citizens were wounded and they were outnumbered, hence they have no choice but to retreat to the second room.

(Present)

"Lets go!"

I bravely left the hide carrying my axe. Mysteria followed me and raised her right hand up in the air holding the Book of Memories at her left hand. The piece shined bright enough to dazzle the surrounding monsters. We ran, as I violently swung my axe to any creature that is attempting to block our way. While I was halfway through the room, the door suddenly opened emitting a bright light. I wasn't expecting this, but it was the old man that was navigating me through my adventures! And he even brought allies to help me!

"Over here! Hurry!" Then he shoots a beam of light to the monsters that is coming close to him.

"We're coming, we're coming!" I said as we swiftly ran.

The soldiers ran to me and Mysteria as they were willing to assist. While we ran, Mysteria tripped over dropping the King Chess Piece of Courage and The Book of Memories.

"MYSTERIA!" I shouted as the demons were coming close to her

She reached for her left hand to me depicting her final actions hinting me as she was saying goodbye. Will this be the end of her life?

CHAPTER 7
Not Today!

"(Bellowing) GRRAAAAAGHHH!" The old man bellowed while sprinting. He pointed his staff near Mysteria from the surrounding demons, dazzling them as they try to consumed Mysteria. Mysteria was also dazzled as she faced away and she covered her face with her left arm. A bread soldier took the book and the piece then I carried Mysteria like a spouse. A gum soldier offered me and Mysteria to ride with his horse. I get on the horse first then I assisted Mysteria. While the horse was starting to sprint, Mysteria hugged me so she won't loose her balance. The old man was flying backwards as he was protecting the bread soldier that got the materials and us. Few citizens followed as they also assist us from the demons that are trying to flank our path. Each and everyone of us succeeded re-entering the third room. The third room became more enormous compared to the previous third room. It became brighter and the moon grew bigger. I saw the dead trees in a distance, the ground, and some mountains.

"Does everything has to get bigger to slow us down!?" I said it in a muddled and irked manner.

It trembled again and we almost lost our balance. There were giant spikes emerging from the ground. It looked like a giant monolith tower. "This way!" The old man lead our way and went around the emerging monoliths. We rushed our way into the fourth room while the demons and creatures were chasing us. Everyone was running, the stomps of the candy horses were blaring. The gum knights were numerous enough to carry other citizens who were only running. A death storm started to form up in the sky. Demons and creatures came into the expanding black spot up in the sky as it went larger the more demons are joining. Thunders and lightning started to appear. Lightnings almost struck us while we were on our way to the toy land. Tornadoes started to appear and blew several trees both flying to us and to the demons. Loud roars were coming from the death storm while we were all sprinting for the fourth room. After few minutes of this audacious challenge, we successfully re-entered the fourth room.

CHAPTER 8
Something's Missing

We all immediately came to the locked door. The door looked like a giant safe with runic gemstone designs. I asked the book on how do I unlock it using these materials. The book said:

"Press the button at the center of the door and put all the materials at the table"

I pressed the button and four small round tables appeared in front. I first put the King Chess Piece of Courage then next was the Axe of Decision and finally the Book of Memories. I feel like there was something's missing. I was facing through the door and Mysteria touched my left shoulder with her right hand. She pointed at the Book of Memories hinting me to get it. I opened the book and I saw what was written.

"You have proven yourself worthy" she used the book again to communicate.

"Here take my ring..." She removed her ring from her right hand and gave it to me. And that ring was the Ring of Passion and Loyalty, the last material I needed.

"Mysteria..." I closed the book, joyfully smiled and hugged her.

"Continue your adventure and don't forget me. Don't forget us! And most importantly, don't forget yourself for who you are! Do not worry about me, because there is a time that you will see me again in your future stories or even in your real life! I cannot exit in this fantasy world because I am just one of your thoughts. I hope we meet again someday, I will always love you... forever"

"I love you too" I said with a teary eye.

She stepped back as I put the final material on the fourth table. The door magically opened and the old man instantly entered the Fifth Room.

"Hurry hurry! Young man! We only got a few minutes left!"

I took all the materials again as a remembrance from this adventure. I turned my back to the people then they were waving their hands. I waved back to them goodbye, especially for Mysteria. Seconds after, they all went blurry and disappeared in my sight. I turned my face and looked around the paradise room. The view was incredibly sublime. There were natures, butterflies, rainbows, waterfalls and peaceful animals. I looked around astonished. I opened and placed my left hand through the falling waters. Suddenly the old man screamed:

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He terrifically shouted

The Book of Memories I was holding glowed in a bright red light. I was shocked because the book had never done this before. When I opened the book, the pages went all black and one word written in fresh blood spelled:

"R-U-N"

I quickly dropped the book since it was now possessed with black magic.

CHAPTER 9
This Isn't a Paradise!

I was horrified and ran very fast towards the old man as he was opening the portal back to the reality. The plants were dying, the skies were getting pitch dark and the darkness was almost near me then I heard a horrifying whisper:

"YOU MAY NOT LEAVE THIS MANSION ALIVE..." I was almost fainting and getting blinded in reality because of fear but I am still in the fantasy world. When I was about to exit into this imaginations, the voices in the dark whispered:

"YOU FORGOT GOD'S BLESSINGS" Then I exit into the reality and my vision was restored.

I was near the entrance of the retreat house and went inside from the fear I have just experienced. The session resumed but I cannot focus on what Brother Christian was saying. Then we had our dinner in the cafeteria. I was so hungry, I gobbled my food and demanding that I want more out of my hunger. I really can't think of anything right now but my satisfaction and fear. Few minutes have passed my fellow classmates and schoolmates were scaring each other with ghost stories. It enhanced my fear and I occassionally get goosebumps. Then Brother Christian started the final session which we came close and kneel to Jesus' cross. Then he turned off the lights and played a music from his laptop to feel the presence of the Lord even more. One student immediately kneel down near the cross. My fear, hunger, and timidness were holding me back. Then I finally have the guts to came close and kneel down to say a prayer. The time my knees hit the floor, I felt an immense force.

CHAPTER 10
The Power of a Prayer

I felt an immense force as I feel like I was the most powerful person in the world. With this feeling, I feel like I can smite every demons that have existed in hell. While I was praying and having this powerful feeling, it got stronger and stronger. My fear was completely gone, my hunger was gone and all of my scary imaginations vanished. With God's presence in me, I was so very thankful that I was able to survived from the horror I have experienced. And to that night it gave me a lesson and an inspiration to write me this whole story, and this story was called The Five Room of Thoughts

THE END