Weightlessness, a feeling I had experienced only on amusement park rides, washed over my body like the crimson waves below me. An electrical current enveloped me, sending sparks along my skin. Every hair on my body stood on edge as the sea below me became nothing more than a red sliver.  

The scent of rust lingered in my nostrils. The taste remaining on my tongue like an unwanted guest for the holidays. My limbs felt immobilized by the drying blood, forming a mold of my body—clothing and all.

How long have I been floating? How long have I been in this house? What the hell is this place?

As if my thoughts were the wrong password, the electricity around me fizzled out like the carbonation of a soda can. My ascent reached a crescendo before the pressure of gravity found me. My heart left my body as I plummeted.

Thud.

I wasn't dead. Something soft had lessened the blow. Peeking one eye open, I found myself staring up at a black ceiling. To the left stood a tall, grey wall—to the right, the same. Peering downwards, I found the object I had landed on. An old, stained mattress with springs sticking out of it lay on a black box spring. A foul smell came from the bed. I upturned my nose in disgust. The rancid scent of vomit seemed to radiate from the seams. I darted from the bed, not wanting to smell the nauseating scent any longer. A brown imprint of where my body had been, joined the multitude of stains.

Looking around the room, I found nothing but monotonous walls. No doors or windows to offer me an escape from this torment. Freedom was a song I was yet to hear. A sweet, forbidden melody I could no longer experience.

"Hello?" I called out. My voice bounced off the wall and floor, making it sound like the room was full of people. "I believe now! Is that what you want to hear? Please, just let me go! My wife is probably worried sick!"

The sound of nails on a chalkboard turned my blood to ice. The walls around me converged, creeping inward towards my location. I turned around, praying that the back wall was still in place. Just like the others, it moved inward. The bed that I had landed on had vanished.

The ground beneath me rumbled, leading me to lose my balance. I fell hard on the shaking floor. Glancing upwards, the ceiling seemed to be coming closer.

"What do you want from me?" I didn't recognize the voice that passed my lips. The echo sounding like a wail of an injured animal.

No answer replied. My instructional blue ghost seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, leaving me alone to fend for myself.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

The walls inched closer.

My heart seemed to match the scraping of the metal against the flooring. One continuous rhythm of rapid beats. My breath quickened in pace as a heavy pressure settled on my chest.  My breath became gasps for air as the pressure compressed my lungs.

The walls were now at an arm's length. The sleek metal feeling cool against my skin.

I always thought I would die with Allison by my side. I did not picture my death alone and trapped in a steel grave.

Breath eluded me. My head felt light, and the room around me spun. Bile bubbled in my throat, threatening to erupt like a volcano at any given second.

The ceiling neared my head. In seconds, I would look nothing more than a pile of blood and bone. 

I closed my eyes. There was no way out. I'd be dead in seconds.

The weight of the walls started out as a pressure on my arms and scalp, but quickly turned into a painful feeling.

I'm so sorry Allison. I failed you.

The solid ground underneath my feet gave out, sending me spiraling into the void below. 

I landed hard, but painlessly, onto metal. The cold metal bending and popping underneath my weight. Looking up, the same metal was now above me and beside me.

I was in an air vent. A tight one.

I barely had enough room to crawl. My arms pressed together as I wiggled forward.

"You aren't alone in here. Get to the door without being seen. Death awaits those who glance upon the beast."

My guide was back. How pleasant.

Metal met my back, so forward I crawled. A paranoia seeped in through my pores. I longed to stretch my limbs. I had never had a panic attack before, but as darkness lingered at the edge of my vision and air eluded me, I believed I was in the process of having one. My gasps echoed.

A sound compared to that of a choir of cicadas on a warm summers evening filled the vent.  Movement ahead of my lead me to freeze in me tracks. A serpentine body slithered across my view. Grey scales reflected the faint light, looking like small daggers. The beast snaked its way past the juncture, heading left.

Naturally, I went right.

"Turn around, Trevor."

"Stay with us."

"Join us."

"You'll never make it."

Whispers nipped at my heels, but I still pressed forward. I would not give up. I would see Allison again.

I rounded a bend, expecting the same layout. Instead, my gaze fell upon a sight that made my heart stop. A small section of the hallway had spikes extending and retracting on a timer. At the end of the hallway lay a white door.

I paused for a second, watching the spikes.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Chink.

One. Two. Three.

The three sets followed the same pattern. Four seconds to extend, three seconds to retract. One after the other. I would have to time this just right, or I would be skewered.

I can't hesitate. One wrong move and I'm a goner.

I crept forward, stopping right before the spikes. I laid there, studying them for another moment. Bravery was not my finest ailment.

"It's coming."

"You're a goner now."

The whispers cackled behind me.

The sound of cicadas sounded once again. This time it came from behind me. I didn't have time to hesitate any longer.

Once the first spike extended, I braced myself. The spikes began retracting and I found myself crawling forward.

Chink.

The next set of spikes extended. I was halfway through the first set when I heard the gears clicking in the first set readying up once more.  I had two seconds left before they would extend again. The second set started retracting, and I pushed through with every ounce of strength I had.

Chink.

The first and third set extended. Somehow, I had made it safely to the second. Wasting no time, I pressed on. The gears groaned as the metal withdrew in front of me.

"Give in, Trevor."

Chink.

"No!" I screamed, wiggling my way forward. I made it to the third set just as the second re-extended. My shoe barley missing a spike.

With no time to spare, I hit solid metal. A breath of relief washed over me.

"Don't leave usssssss." The voice hissed. "Look at me, Trevor."

"Trevor?"

Allison? That voice sounded just like hers.

"Trevor, don't leave me all alone down here. I'm scared."

She couldn't be here. That wasn't possible.

"You aren't Allison!" I shouted. I would not look back. It was just this damn house messing with me.

Ignoring the further pleas, I crawled to the white door, wondering what horror awaited me next.

Total word count: 5,439