Tʜᴇ Pᴀᴛʜ Tᴏ Hɪɢʜɢᴀᴛᴇs

Oɴᴄᴇ Uᴘᴏɴ A Tɪᴍᴇ

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 53

'That's really what they used?'

You thought to yourself as you stared at the pyramid of toilet paper concealing the hole in the wall. It was uneven, leaning to one side and someone had taken the top one. It was a pathetic miracle that no one had discovered the hole yet. 

It was ironic really, the one thing you put no effort into hiding was the one thing that hadn't yet been discovered.

You carefully unstacked them all, leaving them on either side of you, unveiling the hole, and the shut door just behind it.

You stared for a moment.

It was strange to think that before, when you were here with company, it wasn't all that frightening. You had been so excited to have actually found something to really care until you wandered off alone. Back then it felt nice, like a little adventure was about to start— of course, later you had ruined that, but after a moment, it all came back together.

Now you sat alone on the dirtied tiled floor.

Staring at the hole in the wall that you created.

Back then you had done it for Reich. Now you would be doing the same. Whether he knew it or not. You wanted to fix the hole you created— by means of exploring the hole that was already there. 

You dropped down further and pushed against the rotting wood. It groaned just as last time, spewing and coughing against your palm. You winced every time it made a noise. Although you knew no one would come, you had locked the bathroom from the inside, it still worried you nonetheless.

You rubbed your grimy palms against each other, a scowl on your face as wood chippings and mould stuck to your sweaty skin.

You lowered yourself further, down to your stomach— pulling your arms through the hole you grasped the wall on the other side, using it as leverage to pull yourself through.

You groaned and pushed, the insulation gripping your sides as your feet kicked. Your head pressed down by the uneven surface above you.

You kicked once more, then shoved your upper body off the ground, walking out with your hand until you could shuffle your feet through. Standing up with a wobble, brushing all the dust and filth from your body.

You huffed and looked around. Unsurprisingly, everything was the same. Just as neglected as before.

Rotting walls coursing with black mould, hanging paintings pulling down on themselves, dying wooden cabinets bleeding with fungus. The smell musty and eroded, fresh air coming in from the bathroom behind you, saving you a headache.

But now begs the question— are you to go right, or left?

Before you had chosen the latter, that's where you had seen him first. But the chances of seeing him again, in the same place seemed unlikely. And besides, you were as curious as a cat to find out what Reich had seen, where he had found that teddy bear.

'Right it is then.' You assured yourself— your only comfort in anxiety being your own mind. It was amazing just how much more hesitant you found yourself to be now you were alone. You hadn't skipped a beat going left before. But now you found yourself dragging your heels, trying in vain to diminish the tattletale sounds of your footsteps screaming above the anguished wood.

You had to constantly remind yourself who you were doing this for— and why.

You needed to make Reich happy again. Before it was too late. Before you ruined him for good, and there was no going back.