He wasn't sure how long he had been in this place, nor what the place even was. He still had no memory of how he got here or why or even who he was before getting stuck. However, Tommy knew exactly one thing at the very least.
He had to keep moving.
He'd counted it out on his fingers a few times when he absolutely needed to rest. He could get about five, maybe ten minutes if he was lucky, before the Silence started to creep in on him. Five to ten minutes to sit and catch his breath.
It was odd, because although he'd barely had a real 'rest' in ages he…didn't seem to be suffering for it. At least, not like how he thought he should be. His legs and feet ached of course, but the short bursts seemed to…be enough almost.
He had only needed a sip or two from his water bottle ages ago when the…smile thing, had happened. It had been the longest break he'd gotten, tucked into that corner out of sight. But, that was so long ago. Surely he should need more to drink by now but….he didn't.
Or, at least he didn't feel like he did.
He wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth though as it meant he wouldn't die of thirst or starvation in this place at least. He wouldn't call it a 'blessing' but it wasn't a curse…he hoped.
Still, being on the move for so long without much in the way of 'self-care' was concerning.
Which was certainly a light way to put it.
He came to a stop in a large open area. It looked like so many before it with its branching paths and endless hallways, occasional doors and walls and walls of patterns that mixed and rolled in his mind.
Sometimes there was only walls, standing alone and unattached to anything. They were more unnerving than the endless halls and Tommy had no idea why.
Perhaps it was the lack of potential hiding places.
Regardless Tommy learned to avoid areas that looked to have too many of them. Not that the eternal corridors were much better, but at least there were corners to tuck into once in a while. There was the rare blemish upon them too at times, but they were so few and far between Tommy stopped taking them as a sign of change.
Nothing here ever really changed.
For instance, the hum of the lights above. They droned ever on and served as his warning marker for danger just as much as it acted as a crushing weight of stress in its own right. It rolled in and out of focus from time to time, but it was always, always there, screaming at him from above.
Since the first incident Tommy hadn't seen another of the smiling faces from the shadows. He'd kept himself solely in the light, avoiding anything that looked even remotely dim. It was the only time he had a direction in mind in a place that seemed to be directionless and eternal.
He hadn't heard nor seen another thing in the place as he wandered and he wasn't sure if that was a comfort or not. He knew he was scared, of course he was. But he wasn't sure he was desperate enough yet in his loneliness to want to see anything this place had to offer.
Enough so that since the smiling thing, he hadn't dared to utter a single word. He'd tried humming to himself a few times to try to battle against the lights, but, it was those times that the Silence had crept in all the faster.
The quieter he was the harder it was for the Silence to find him.
A dreadful sort of irony he took no pride in noticing.
Clutching at his chest Tommy grimaced as a particularly achy feeling came over him. He was tired, but not 'tired'. This place wouldn't let him be 'tired'.
Not really.
Not enough.
But he could still feel in his muscles, in his bones, that he should be absolutely alight with pain right now for all the walking and running since his arrival.
His fingers traced over familiar patterns, but they weren't his. He knew them well, blindly even, but they weren't his. A part of him, but not him.
Looking down he scanned over the letters, his mind putting them to right as best he could recall them fully.
Hello Sadness
The red lettering was faded terribly, as if it had been traced into oblivion. The words written in white below were less hazy, but still as worn as the words above. The center image almost entirely gone save for an idea of hands around a light.
It was something special, even if it wasn't part of himself. As his finger brushed over the top lettering he felt a faint sense of familiar calm as well as a stabbing ache of grief. It always came hand in hand and he always had to cover his mouth before the whine that lingered in his throat came out.
He knew enough now, even without the memories attached to it, that he was mourning. A deep mourning that felt both fresh and long suffered.
It was the same feeling he got when he had looked over the damage to his jacket. Another item that was a part of him, but not him. Another stabbing loss paired with the despair of having tarnished it.
The large bulky coat was a worn down white and blue with a some kind of diamond shape on the left breast pocket. It was a faded patch, but looked like it might once have been green. It looked like some kind of sports team coat but Tommy wasn't sure. All he knew was that seeing the rips and tears in it made his heart ache with guilt atop all else.
His fingers traced over the largest rip, the one that almost had the sleeve coming off as a tear rolled down his face. His chest heaved in a sharp hiccup as he wiped his face furiously trying to stop from crying fully.
The second hiccup was more painful as he tried to swallow it down, a whine crawling out of him against his will.
It should have crawled out of him.
He felt it but-
With a sharp choked gasp Tommy lurched to his feet. No sound was heard from him, nor from the lights, nor from his feet as he stumbled backwards.
It hadn't even been three minutes yet, had it? How did it find him so quickly? He was being so careful. Had he been crying louder than he thought?
That didn't matter now. The Silence was here and whatever came with it wasn't far. That icy unease ebbed into his blood and made him shiver as he glanced around for a way to run.
Too many options.
Too many options and no idea which way was right.
If there was a right.
Something flickered in Tommy's peripheral and before he could note what it was he was off again. He chose the hall with too many doors. He was fairly sure the Silence didn't care about doors, but it had made him feel safer being able to close something behind him as he ran.
The Silence he left behind seemed to pull at him, but he didn't stop. He didn't chance a glance behind him. He just barreled on and lurched himself through the first door he came upon.
X-
The chase this time was longer than any other. Tommy waited and prayed and begged for it to fade off like usual. But it seemed like no matter what distance he traveled it was right on his heels. Just at his back and creeping ever closer-
Ghostly fingers seemed to brush over the nape of his neck as he dodge into a narrow crevice between the shops he was darting behind.
He wasn't going to make it to the street lights ahead from the alley, but he could maybe make it from here.
The thing felt larger than him so surely he'd be able to escape it here.
Being underweight had its perks in cases like this, even if short lived.
He just needed to reach the street.
Reach people.
Reach anything that wasn't just the two of them-
Bursting through another door Tommy wheezed harshly as he fell back against it. There was sound now, but it was so muted.
It wasn't far behind.
His legs were going to give out soon though. He needed to hide or it was going to get him. Outrunning this time didn't seem like an option.
With a feeble whine Tommy pushed himself from the door. The room opened into a fresh set of endless halls ahead and he needed to get a move on. He needed to find anywhere the thing might over look…however it was it 'looked'.
Lungs aching for relief Tommy barely made it two rooms down before dropping to the floor in a heap just inside. Despite the calls from his brain to keep going, his body just couldn't keep up. He was light headed from having pushed as hard as he did and he feared what would happen if he allowed himself to pass out.
He hadn't slept in any sense after arriving in this place and he had no desire to change that. Certainly not now.
Pressing himself against the wall as much as he could manage Tommy tried to force his breathing to slow. He had both hands pressed to his mouth to help with this and, if he was honest, he was probably pressing hard enough to suffocate himself at this point.
Better to risk that than getting caught.
Once more Tommy waited second after second for a sign that the Silence was catching up to him. That it was going to find him. The sound of his breathing remained muted, but it didn't seem to be getting closer.
Closing his eyes Tommy let out a long breath of relief. He could make use of 'close' far better than 'on his ass'. He just…needed a second.
Once Tommy was at least sure he wasn't going to burst a lung he opened his eyes to get a look at where he ended up. It was a room like all the others of course, but it…it seemed to lead into a place that…didn't bend right.
There were shadows ahead that Tommy instantly wanted to get away from, but his body still wasn't fully listening to him. That and something…something about the curving walls ahead and the tiles that weren't fitting quiet right made Tommy feel…different about the space. Nothing seemed uniform, even the dead lights on the ceiling seemed off pattern and warped.
It was something new…but it was covered in shadows and Tommy didn't think he'd ever be brave enough to step into one again.
Not in this place.
Pushing himself back up the wall Tommy adjusted his bag carefully on his back. He just…needed to step away slowly and hope one of those face things didn't show up. If he ran he'd draw attention to himself, but…if he walked he might actually make it out of this spot. Away from the shadows and away from the Silence.
Taking a deep but silent breath Tommy nodded to himself slowly as he dipped out of the room walking backwards. He didn't want to risk it showing up behind him after all.
Once fully out in the hallway he turned, breath held, and waited.
It was…clear. It was all clear.
Thank the stars, if they even still existed.
Now…a way out.
Or at least 'away'.
Taking another breath Tommy started down the hallway in the opposite direction he'd come from. It was long and appeared lit well enough. It was…duller than he was used to for this place, but nothing considered a 'shadow' was fully formed so he supposed it was good enough.
Coming to another opening the hall Tommy poked his head around the corner. Surprisingly it didn't open into a fresh set of halls. It was…it was a room. There was a door at the other side of it but…something told Tommy it was…different.
He had no idea why, but it felt…smaller than the other doors he'd run through since being here. It made him curious enough to exit the hall and approach.
What if this was a way out?
Nothing else in this place had a 'feeling' to it other than…empty. Open. Almost boundless in a sense despite the dizzying walls keeping him within its frame.
His hand hovered over the handle as he swallowed, unsure of what he would see.
But he had to know.
With a swift motion Tommy grabbed the handle and turned it, pushing the door open with care. On the other side was…yellowed wall paper and carpeted flooring in a singular square room. There was only one light working in said room. Dead center above a small standing cabinet.
It was an unremarkable thing. A simple brownish color of flat wood without tarnish or baring marks of any kind. It had a single drawer with a small knob handle. There was nothing about it that was either enticing or threatening and yet…
It was the first piece of furniture Tommy had seen in this place.
For all that it lacked it still made Tommy's heart beat fast in his chest. Something like hope or relief prickled through him as he approached the thing. He bushed his fingers over the top as if he feared it would vanish at his touch.
When it remained Tommy let out a breath and knelt before it. Resting his head against the edge of the furnishing Tommy carefully ran his fingers down to the drawer handle. He pulled softly, trying to keep quiet as well as savoring the moment of something…different. Something that wasn't just him wondering the endless yellow abyss.
His eyes were closed as he took in the sound of the smooth rubbing of wood against wood as the drawer came further out. Even when it was fully opened he took an extra moment before turning and peering into the revealed space itself.
Inside was a bottle of milkish looking liquid with a label too torn to read. Pushing it slightly he could hear the distinct sound of sloshing against the glass.
He opted not to pick it up.
Aside from that there was an old pencil and a scrap of paper as well. Picking them up Tommy was hit with a small pinch of recognition. The handwriting as well as the jagged edge the page seemed to be torn at. It was just a bare flick of paper really, partial page at best. Still as Tommy ran his eyes over it he felt the fringes of his barely formed calm start to fray once more
EYES UP
The words were written fast and large and almost etched into the paper enough to tear it. Just like that Tommy was alert again, eyes wide as he pulled away from the cabinet. Looking up and around himself a familiar dreaded terror shuddered through him.
The room was dark.
All around him was cast in shadow, the only light source being above him.
He'd been so caught up in having found the damn thing he'd just….walked right into the room. The dark room. The room where he couldn't see the walls but could feel were there.
He jumped as a ceiling light to the right flickered. He had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep from calling out his alarm as he stared directly ahead.
The light blinked in a pattern almost, struggling to come on. The longer flashes were just barely enough for Tommy to see the wall beneath it, the yellowed surface marred with a scrawling black smear of panicked writing. He couldn't tell what it was written in, but the nearly deranged looking words still jumped out at him.
DON'T LET IT SEE YOU
Tommy swallowed hard as he backed up a step. The crooked and rushed words were paired with an equally haphazard 'drawing' of something. It looked like jumbled mass aside from a singular defined eye among the tangle and exaggerated limbs. What he assumed to be limbs.
What was more unnerving though, was that the eye itself, unlike the rest of the inky image, was etched down in a stain of off red.
Tommy backed away from the image as his breath stuttered in his chest. He felt the back of his leg hit the cabinet releasing a short creaked scraping barely dulled by the carpeted surface it moved over. He froze at the sound, straining his ears for any alteration to the humming from the lights above.
The flickering light blinked, its humming the only intermittent sound around him. It blinked again and almost fizzled out. On the third stammer Tommy's breath stilled in its entirety.
It was red.
The off tinged haze of light seemed to be trying to bleed as it grew a darker and more vibrant red. The light over Tommy's head shifted as well into the unsettling shade and he shuddered, mentally screaming at his legs to move. To get out of the room, back into the hall.
He needed to run.
It was the light above him startling to flicker itself that finally got Tommy moving again. He lurched for the door as if it were going to disappear. Who was to say it wouldn't have?
He didn't bother closing it as he burst through with enough force to slam himself into the opposing wall. A panicked grunt escaped him at the impact which swiftly melted into a whimper as he realized the hall lights above him were all tinted red and painting the hall a dingy and threatening scarlet.
Within a breath of a second his eyes were snapped down as a bone chilling screeched echoed from down the hall ahead of him. The lights ahead were either blown out or casting off the ruddish haze that cast over the hall like a bad horror flick.
Only this was very real.
It was real and from the end of the hall came a lumbering mass of howling terror. Its limbs were unnaturally long and bent and moved so wrong it hurt to look at.
With a pounding in his skull and a painful cry of fear tearing from his lips Tommy burst into a fresh sprint in the opposite direction. His pulse deafened him but he could still hear the warped shrieking from the form behind him.
The sound was so inhuman it crawled through every part of him as if by sound alone it was trying to break him down. His lungs shuddered as they burned, his bone practically vibrated as he forced himself to keep moving.
There was a second screeching that echoed in the halls around him and only by the pain in his throat did he realize it was coming from him. Lit with fear and with death all but breathing down his back he let out every once of terror he felt as he fled down the unnatural passageway.
He wasn't taking into account what was a shadow and what light anymore. He ran and twisted and turned, stumbling into walls bursting though doors without hesitation. The sound of the thing would fade out from time to time but Tommy didn't dare to slow.
He didn't want to know if it was from gaining distance or from the Silence catching up to him in turn.
With a wheezed cry Tommy hurled himself down yet another hallway, this one covered in shadows so thick he almost had nothing to see with in order to continue. But he did. He pushed on towards the thin sliver of light at the end of that dark passage, limping as his legs once more cried out in fatigue and pain.
Just a little further.
Just a bit.
He could almost reach it.
Tommy pushed himself through the gap of the buildings and into the mustard like light of the street lamp.
A cry of relief only just starting to pass through his lips as he felt his foot snag on something.
He felt himself begin to fall and tried to catch himself, his knee slamming into the unforgiving pavement as-
The next set of rooms Tommy fled into had him almost stumbling to at stop. It was so painfully bright compared to the corridor before it that it startled him. With a whimper of pain he tried to keep going, keep forwards.
He couldn't hear the thing behind him anymore, but his heart was pounding and his hair was on end as ice seemed to fill his veins. As tired and achy as his body was no part of him even so much as whispered to stop, so he didn't.
He pressed on through the rooms, which now were nothing more than a series of directly identical rooms, as if someone pressed them against a mirror and made it real.
Tommy was't processing this though. He was to busy bobbing and weaving between walls, looking for an out. For an exit.
There was a shaking of the floor behind him and before he could stop himself Tommy instinctively glanced backwards.
The creature was almost on top of him. A long disjointed tendril like thing was stretched out towards him, over him. He couldn't hear it, but his head was thick with both sound and silence at once that he swore mix of it was going to cause his skull to crack.
He opened his mouth to scream.
The room seemed to flicker, the creature lurching sharply in another direction and then...he was falling.
Tommy only just barely registered his foot coming down upon nothing, his momentum carrying him forwards until he slammed painfully into some kind of wall, and then he was falling.
He opened his mouth to scream once more, and then there was darkness.
