𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕀 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖? Partygoer x Partypooper / backrooms

♦24♦

-You're going or not? -32 looked deadly into my eyes, waiting for my response. It was clear that he didn't want to hear any of my complaints.

-Fine? -I replied, hesitating a lot.

< ////// >

We left the house and started heading towards the cemetery. Or at least we hoped that we were heading in the right direction since the only way of navigation that we depended on was 32, who claimed that we passed by a cemetery while returning home after the festival. The kitty that we just adopted decided to follow us, happy to be our company.

-I was wondering... should we name it? - 32 asked while walking, firmly and swiftly.

-What, the cat? - I looked at him, a little flabbergasted by the question. I didn't expect 32 to care about the animal at all. He seemed too cold to care about any living being other than himself. Or at least that's the impression that he was giving me, an impression of a hard-hearted, violent and impulsive partygoer. Someone whose mind was entirely demented by their gruesome fate, someone who stopped trying to become a better person.

Somehow their question, even if it was silly; still threw me off the ground. Not only, because it contrasted with their callous personality. It felt weird to have a discussion about naming a frontrooms entity while not having a name to refer to myself.

-Does everything need to have a name? - I asked them, with mixed emotions crossing my mind.

-? -They went silent, expecting me to continue my sentence and explain further what I meant. I was hesitating, but after a while I decided that 32 wasn't that much of a danger to me anymore. He was still frightening to me, but as he mentioned before: if he wanted to kill me, he would already.

-I am sorry, that sounded way weirder when I said it out loud. - I apologised, but decided to continue. -After my memories became foggy, I forgot my old name which makes me currently nameless. And as foolish as that sounds, I don't feel bad about it. Actually... I feel like I am more myself than I was ever. As if not having a name opened a new path in my life, if you can call it that...So that brings me a question, does everything need a name? Why? -I explained anxiously, remembering who I was talking to.

-Fair enough. -He sighed. -You know, it's not like I don't understand. I do. I don't really have a name either, that stupid number was just thrown in my face. I had no other choice than to accept it after being turned into a partygoer. I don't feel like that number is really me. -He shrugged, carelessly.

-I don't think that any partygoer feels truly connected to their "name". -67 decided to join the conversation. -To be honest, I don't think that any partygoer feels connected to their new identity at all. I feel as if we are only pawns in this twisted world. A tool to enslave anyone who dares to lay their feet upon the backrooms. We are all victims, having no other choice than to continue this hell of infinity. It's all like a domino. And it's never going to end. -67 spoke their thoughts. Even if I couldn't entirely relate to their experience, their words really spoke to me. I didn't have to be a partygoer to understand what they meant.

-It is pretty unsettling... - I commented.

-Indeed. -32 murmured in response. -But I still think that picking a name for the cat is not that big of a deal. You're right that not everything needs a name, Blue Face... However, I feel as if naming something as silly as a cat brings us some of that human experience back. It heals my soul, ya know? -He decided to stick to his.

-...I didn't mean to make it seem as if naming a cat was "a big deal"... - I felt something burning inside of me. I didn't want it to look as if I was being dramatic.-You can name the cat, your question just flooded my mind with some thoughts.

-Brownie. - He firmly replied.

-What?

-We are naming the cat "Brownie".

-That doesn't sound too bad. - 67 carefully lifted the cat into their arms, trying not to scare it. -Hello, Brownie! - The cat meowed at them. -Now that the discussion about Brownie is over, are we getting any closer to the cemetery? -Their impatience was showing.

-Actually, yeah. -32 pointed with their claws at the area filled with hundreds of tombstones. The place looked as if it was a filming zone for some bloody horror movie. Most of the trees were dead, being nothing more than a piece of wood barely standing on its own, while slowly falling apart. The ground was wet, filled with mud and some orangish leaves that the wind brought there from across the street. Half of the gravestones were abandoned and forgotten, covered in dirt and cracked on every side. It looked truly depressing.

-Great! -67 beamed with their warm and fuzzy voice, truly excited about finally visiting the graveyard. They took my hand and began dragging me to the graveyard at their truly extraordinary speed.

-You ain't waiting for me? - 32 screeched, with annoyance in their unsteady utterance.