Hello, gamers! Sorry this is a little late; I've been so busy making sure I get something out for every day of Stickmintober 2024 that I accidentally keep forgetting about this story. Whoops! Anyway, enough gab; see you at the bottom of the page!

Pit (noun): a hole, shaft, or cavity in the ground that may or may not lead elsewhere

In the apartment that he shared with Johnny and Rupert, Dave's bedroom was the smallest one. It was really only big enough for a twin bed, a side table, and a set of drawers. Luckily, since those were the only pieces of furniture he had, Dave was happy to take it. The bed cover was a dark bluish-gray, a few books were kept on the nightstand and on top of the drawers, and his West Mesa uniform hung on a hanger on the back of the door so it wouldn't get wrinkled. All in all, a very basic room, but it was nice to have a space that was his.

He opened his eyes slowly, a hazy, blissfully sleepy feeling covering his body and mind like a weighted blanket. Distantly, he could hear the plinks and clatters of someone making lunch in the kitchen. His head was resting in someone's lap as they brushed their fingers through his hair. He could sense who it was without looking.

"This is nice," he murmured, gazing at the opposite wall with eyes half-lidded. "I wish we could do this forever."

Rupert ruffled his hair. "This is just a dream, Dave," he said.

Surprisingly, Dave found that he didn't mind this revelation at all. "I wish we could do this forever," he repeated, snuggling his head against Rupert's lap with a sleepy smile. "You're so amazing all the time. You're brave, and strong… you always make me feel safe. I feel so special when I'm with you."

"I'm not actually Rupert." He scratched Dave's head gently. "This isn't real. But it could be, if you just wake up."

Dave drew an arm around to cling to Rupert's leg, pressing his head further into his lap. There was no point in doing so, if this really was a dream, but he'd never felt so tired, so relaxed. He really did want this to last forever. He felt so heavy…

Rupert's fingers slowed. "You need to wake up, Dave."

Dave was so heavy. So tired. Like he could sink into Rupert's lap and his bed and never come out.

"Dave." Rupert brought his fingers to Dave's chin, gently tilting his face upwards. "Look at me, Dave."

A small smile grew on his lips, and Dave opened his eyes to meet Rupert's.

He stared into an infinite expanse of yellow hallways that blended into a solid, pulsing mass of shapes that filled his heart with cold terror. Something was still petting his hair, but there was a strength behind the motion now, something desperate and possessive. Dave was so heavy that he couldn't breathe.

"Dave!" Rupert shouted. "WAKE UP!"

(LINE BREAK)

Dave startled awake, scrambling to untangle himself from the plastic table cloth he'd been using as a blanket. Something huge was on top of him, heavy and slick with sweat and choking him with the overwhelming scent of plastic. Blinded by the heavy material, he flailed his limbs wildly, only just managing to crawl free through a gap before gulping down precious air. He flipped onto his back and crawled backwards, away from the bounce house he'd been sleeping in. It was completely deflated. If he hadn't woken up when he did, he would have suffocated to death.

He stumbled to his feet, swallowing thickly. All of the other inflatables were still erect, but there was an eeriness to it all now. A room with distractions that seemed never ending… He needed to find the exit.

Dave turned away from the deflated attraction and spotted the folding table from earlier. There was a new cake where the old one had been, a round one with white icing and pink bordering. A bitter, acidic taste crawled up his throat, and he hurried away.

He kept to one direction, hoping he'd eventually find a wall and from there, an exit. This resulted in the inflatables forming a sort of hallway. Something about them was different, too: the proportions of certain bits and the way some of them seemed to twist in on themselves was now uncanny, not fun. Dave put his hands to the side of his face, hoping to block out the distractions. It worked for a few minutes, but then he saw something different but equally unsettling.

It was another table, though this one was completely surrounded by chairs, each with a shiny gold balloon tied to the back. At the head of the table was another cake. It looked homemade, a little lumpy and misshapen with pink frosting and yellow roses on the edges. Written on the top were the words, "Congratulations, Martha! Graduate 2017."

Dave slowed his pace. 2017? That was years ago, wasn't it? Yet it looked like it had been baked this morning. Who was Martha?

He shook his head quickly and kept going. He couldn't get distracted. He needed to get out of here. "Exit," he muttered to himself. "Exit, exit, exit. Gotta find an exit."

More tables appeared along his path, each featuring its own cake at the head. Wedding cakes, birthday cakes, gender reveal cakes, even a "just because" cake or two, but none of these cakes had his name on them. It was as if entire table sets and party placements had been plucked from where they were meant to be and put here to distract him.

To try and keep him here.

Dave broke into a run, forcing himself to keep his eyes locked ahead of him so that he wouldn't slow down. "Exit," he kept repeating, "there's gotta be an exit. I need to go to an exit, any exit. I need to get out of here-"

He screeched to a sudden halt, flailing his arms wildly to keep his balance. There was a wall, just ahead of him, sky blue with fluffy white clouds painted on randomly. It was a cheap imitation of the real sky, but he was relieved to see it nonetheless. There was a ball pit in front of the wall, about the size of a small pool, but Dave could easily walk around it to put his hand on that fake sky and keep going until he reached the exit he was desperate for…

But in the brief moments he'd stopped, Dave had been completely surrounded by tables. There was no indication that they were alive or could move on their own; there were no rails or wheels for them to move along, and yet they were just… there.

Fearfully, he looked behind him to confirm what he was dreading: there were tables blocking the way he'd just come, appearing just as silently as every other table, and completely trapping him against the edge of the ball pit.

There weren't just cakes now, either. Each table had its own buffet spread, cakes and cookies, things he didn't know the name of; there was even a chocolate fountain or two. Dave did not feel hungry anymore- far from it. But there was no denying that it all looked amazing.

He glanced again at the ball pit, realizing that he had a choice to make now. He was certain the ball pit would take him somewhere else, somewhere that might be even more terrifying than this place had been. But he was also certain that if he took even one bite of the food around him, he wouldn't ever stop.

He imagined, for a moment, the feeling of familiar hands running through his hair, the bustling sounds of kitchen activity, of gentle touches that took his worries away.

Dave looked back and forth between the ball pit and the buffet once more, took a deep breath…

And jumped into the pit.

By the way, I'd been planning to call this chapter "Into the Pit" for a while, as a tribute to the Fazbear Frights book of the same name. It was by complete coincidence that Into the Pit: The Game was announced around that same time. Funny how things happen!

Johnny's in the kitchen! Or his ghost is, since he's very dead. Not that Dave knows that, since he was kidnapped by the Toppats on the same day Johnny died. That's gonna be fun to learn about if/when he gets out of the Backrooms.

I'm going to come clean: I don't actually know that much about the Backrooms lore aside from what I've seen on Kane Pixel's YouTube channel and Backrooms video game let's plays, so if you were expecting something that didn't happen, then... my bad. If things turned almost exactly the way you expected it, then ignore everything I just said.

Next week: Rupert's going places! What sort of places? That depends on what Gadget Gabe is actually capable of...

Leave a review if you liked this, and I'll see you next Monday (as long as I don't forget like I almost did today). Until then!