Raviel's feet hammered against the stairs, as he continued to move in upward direction, whilst the railing rattled after each of his step. His body was now weighing down by the piled up injuries.
"Don't stop keep moving"
The staircase spiraled upward forever. The darkness was so much that whenever he tried to look up— the void seemed to swallow his eyes from staring too much. Only the scarce light of the ceiling bulbs were illuminating the staircase—so much that even searching for his feet felt like a challenge.
Thump...*huff* *huff*
Thump....
Thump....*huff*
Thump..
By the time he felt like he was going up forever. Suddenly just as he was going to turn around the spiral section, one of the entrance door lit up and from the corner of his vision Raviel saw something that made him glance back.
The light flickered once—then steady, as it illuminated the number 287 shining on the concrete above the broken doors frame.
And his stomach dropped.
They weren't rushing upward.
Tha faceless figures that he ran from on the 275th floor had flooded the 287th floor as if they never really were on that floor.
The figures stood motionless, as all of them stared at Raviel their eyes gleaming as they saw his twisted expression. And in the next second all of them in one motion dropped their weapons.
CLLAAAAAAAAANNNNGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!
The metallic noise reverberated across the staircase.
Raviel froze, his chest heaved, a cold sweat dripping down his temple: Why.....why? aren't they comming.
Then in perfect unision. Their hands rose to their blank faces, Long, pale and slender fingers dug into the skin where mouths should have been.
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip
Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.Rip.....
A sound— like thousands of papers tearing itself echoed in Raviel's ear drums.
Their flesh tore like wet paper. Strings of muscles and blank skin peeled away as each one created a grotesque opening which resembled more of a mouth.
And when the tearing stopped—smiles stared back at him. Too wide. Too wrong as fresh blood dripped from the opening and their flesh fell down as they...smiled.
The lights buzzed, flickered—and died.
Again for two seconds. Complete darkness.
Then faint noises of chewing came from the room as the darkness shrouded it whole.
The lights flickered back.
They were still below but this time. One of the creature planted his bloodied fingers against his eyeball and squashed it, while it was still in the socket—as if it wanted Raviel to see it.
Almost as if it was deliberately doing it.
But he didn't.
As he turned upward and started running like a madman while gasping for breath, his imagination went wild—"What if they are waiting for me above? What if they never really froze in darkness but observed me as their lab-rat".
The stairwell twisted on and on—till it was blocked by a huge steel wall. Making it look like the stairs did not exist after this.
His eyes caught the the faded no.299 painted across the wall.
And then.....silence.
He standed on one end of the corridor, staring and panting as he patted his knees.
This floor wasn't ruined.
No bloodstains. No broken walls. The fluorescent ceiling lights glowed steady and bright, humming softly like they had been maintained just yesterday. The marble on the floor gleamed on it's golden veins. The walls were spotless, decorated with abstract paintings framed in glass with polished wooden frames. Even the air smelled different—clean, like polished wood and faint perfume.
Not just untouched. But the lights worked so brightly that Raviel could count the number of rooms in this floor from where he entered to the other end of the corridor which was again blocked by a metallic wall.
Quickly scanning the area for any signs danger. He found a elevator in the middle section of the corridor as it glowed faintly with two triangles gleaming in yellow light this time.
His trembling fingers pressed the elevator call button. It lit up—functioning.
"No way, another of this fucking thing works after a horror speed run. And how many of these damn things are installed here..."
Raviel stood before the elevator before it came from up and opened its golden cage like doors with a audible. Shhhkk.
Inside the walls were painted in chrome and the place where the mirror should have been stood a potrait that looked familiar to the painting of Mona Lisa, if not for the women smiling madly as she rolled out her tongue and held out a bloodied pocket knife in her hand while she gazed at a rabbit on the ground with a slit throat and drops of it's red blood painting her white garments red.
"Great just great..... just stack up every creepy thing you can imagine to fuck me. And why the hell is this fucked up painting drawn in HD quality"
As he saw the lift pannel he frowned.
There were no floors below the 299th floor.
Just empty space where the rest of the sequence should have been—only the sequence from 299 to 348 remained.
"....You got to be kidding me,"
His thumb hovered above the 348th floor button and then tapped it with no mercy.
The button pulsed and the doors shut itself.
"Another floor—another speed run" Raviel muttered as he saw the floors passing on the pannel.
302...311....328...
The elevator dinged.
348.
The doors opened with a soft exhale, releasing a faint breeze that smelled of cold metal and rot. Beyond it stretched a hallway lit by pale white light. Impossibly long. With many of the room's opened doors waiting for him.
Raviel's pulse now whispered in his ears.
He stepped out slowly, muttering, "Alright… show me what's next."
The doors closed behind him with a final clink.