MINOTAUR by J.M. Fickling

Author:J.M. Fickling [Fickling, J.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

Act III: The Big Room

Ricky exited the hallway and immediately fell to his knees in awe.

Incredible…

He was looking at a truly massive room, one unlike any other he’d seen before. It was the size of a small town, and the ceiling was well over 100 feet high; aside from this it was identical to the rest of the backrooms.

Told you it was real.

Yeah… I suppose you did…

Ricky stood in a catatonic state for two days, shocked at the sight of the big room and overcome with madness. The scrap, however, grew impatient.

Walk to the center.

He held up the smoke detector.

Should I walk to the center?

The smoke detector was fed up with Ricky’s constant inability to grasp the finer points of self governance, and so it refused to blink. He shook it and tapped it’s plastic frame, yet the light remained steadfast in its belligerence.

I don’t think it likes you.

Nothing here likes me.

Correct; I think it’s liberating.

Why? Because nothing likes you?

Because nothing likes you.

I should never have taken you off the wall.

Thief.

Okay, okay… I’ll walk to the center, why not?

Do it.

Ricky started walking off towards what felt like the center of the room; realizing that the hum of the fluorescents was different here, and it thrilled him. He walked and walked until he came upon yet another glorious novelty.

What is that?

The center.

He was looking at an elevated square which rose from the floor, a platform measuring fifty paces across and one foot tall. The entirety of the surface was seamlessly covered with the same moist, beige carpet as the rest of the backrooms.

Surprise.

Ricky stared in wonder.

I will stay here.

Put me in the corner.

Nah, not yet.

I will torment you until you do.

How many exits to this room are there?

No exits in the backrooms.

How many openings to the smaller rooms from here?

Three to the rooms, one to the hallway.

Ricky studied the elevated, carpeted dais in front of him.

I have an idea.

Foolish.

Shut up.

. . . . . . .

Ricky pulled a handful of fake cash from the duffel bag and used the bills to create an arrow on the carpet, pointing back in the direction he had come.

That goes to the hallway, so the other three walls each have one access to the rooms…

He paused.

…Or one wall has all four openings and the others are dead ends.

Find a corner first and put me there.

Why?

Minotaur.

What would a Minotaur want with a scrap..?

The air had grown uncomfortably warm within the backrooms, and Ricky began to fan himself with a handful of fake cash.

Different question; why do the backrooms keep getting warmer?

Minotaur.

Minotaur what?

Rooms get warmer as it gets closer.

A chill went up Ricky’s spine.

How long until it reaches the big room?

No time in the backrooms.

…It’s been getting closer the whole time, from the beginning.

Yes.

How is it tracking me? Is it watching me?

Minotaur can’t watch.

Ricky shook his head and focused on stepping up and down, on and off to the raised dais in the center of the big room. Moving vertically was a novel experience, as he had moved only horizontally throughout his time in the rooms.

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