DSMP Backrooms AU

Prologue And Chapter 1

Prologue

Karl smiled softly at his friend before looking down at his phone for a moment, checking the time. "I really should be going. I have stuff to do tomorrow." He sighed. "Oh alright. See you later.". He slowly walked off; back in the direction of his home. On his venture he found something new. Something he had never seen before. Curiosity burned his veins and he quickly went over to it. He pulled out his phone and started recording. "I found a weird staircase in the woods." He turned the camera in a messy half circle, showing his surroundings. The trees and grass around him were dead.

"I've never seen this before and I've been around here hundreds of times." He said, walking up the cracked stone. Everything in his body told him to get down as he sat at the top. "It's strange. It looks like it's been here for decades; maybe centuries." He pointed out, running a finger along a deep-seated crack in the stone. "I feel like I shouldn't be up here.". A soft sigh escaped him as he got up. He felt like his head started spinning, his balance being thrown off.

Karl's step staggered closer to the edge and he soon tripped. He'd expected to feel the pain of hitting the forest floor but as it slipped over his head, a deep feeling of weightlessness and static washed over him and he soon hit the ground. Not the ground he was expecting as he felt damp carpet under his body. His phone had fallen a few feet away from him. Karl quickly pulled himself to his feet and grabbed the device. "Where the h-hell am I?" He stammered slightly, flipping around rapidly. The walls were a hideous mono-yellow. He stopped the recording and shoved his phone into his pocket.

Chapter 1

Level 0: The Lobby

Karl brought his hand to the wallpaper. "What is this?" his gaze flicked around. He quickly pushed himself away. His eyes were wide as tears rolled down his cheeks. 'No... no... no...' Karl put a hand to his mouth, dropping to the ground and pushing his back against the wall behind him, struggling to relax his panicked mind, racing heart, and staggered breathing. His body trembled as he tried to calm down. It had taken him around 40 minutes or so but once he had; he got up, and moved. He walked down the maze-like halls.

His shoes made quiet yet disturbing squishing sounds against the carpet. The buzzing of the light fixtures overpowered most other sounds. Karl flicked his fluffy brown hair to the side slightly so it wasn't in his eyes. His hands were in the pockets of his khaki pants as he made his way around, humming softly all the while.

Quiet footsteps seemed to follow him but every time he turned; there was no one. He got increasingly more and more terrified. But at some point there was something and it was like nothing Karl had ever seen before. The thing was dark and on all fours. It was close to humanoid but so far from it at the same time. Karl turned and moved as quickly away as he could, trying not to disturb this thing. Karl heard a low growling and the entity started to follow him. Karl forced himself to keep going, running down the hall. He ran and ran and fucking ran.

He struggled to keep his footing as his lungs started to tighten. He had absolutely no idea how far or how long he'd been running for. He hit the ground, expecting to feel the creature rip into the soft tissue and muscle of his body. But the creature stopped running after him and walked up to him. Out of nowhere a man dressed in a forest green cloak ran up, machete in hand. Karl fully expected the man to kill him right then and there. But the man plunged the metal blade into the creature, pulling it out and hacking at the thing's now lifeless body. Karl wanted to yell at the man. Ask him 'What the fuck are you doing?' but the man had just saved his life from this thing.

The man turned to Karl, wiping the blood from the machete onto the damp carpet. "Are you okay?" Another man spoke. Karl whipped his head around from the green cloaked man to the other. The one that had spoken was leaning against a wall, a white long sleeved crop top with the sleeves rolled up. Underneath was a black hoodie. A pure white bandana wrapped around his forehead. The right side of his face had a distinct burn, the eye a much lighter shade of blue than the other. The man's right eye was foggy, the pupil covered by that haze. "I th-think so." Karl coughed out. The man pushed himself from the wall and helped Karl up. "I'm Sapnap. That's Dream." Sapnap pointed at the other man who pulled his hood down. Dream turned and waved.

"I'm Karl." Karl introduced himself. He still felt like his chest was wrapped tightly with something. He felt his mind wandering. "Karl, do you have any almond water on you?" Dream asked. Karl turned, his mind foggy. "What water?" Karl huffed.

"Almond water. D'you have any? You seem to be losing your sanity." Dream classified. "No? What is almond water?" Karl asked, trying to mentally grasp his mind's fading. "Sap, we need to get Karl to Ant or Bad. Karl's losing it." Dream ordered. "Karl, follow us!" Sapnap looked at the brunet before grabbing his hand. "You need some almond water. You must not have been here long if a hound can do that to you." the raven commented, urgency stinging his voice.

"A hound?" Karl had so many questions. What was this place? What is almond water? What is a hound? Who were these people who had just saved him? But none of his questions would get answered at this moment. He reasoned that his questions could wait until he had almond water, whatever that was. The three of them walked for what felt like days. At this point in their trek, the mono-yellow wallpaper gave way into stone and exposed rebar. Dimmer lights, and fog. Soft dripping sounds echoed through the warehouse-like place.

Dream and Sapnap kept going, not even stopping for a moment. Karl struggled to keep going. If it weren't for the two men, keeping him going, he'd have collapsed long ago and gave in to the TV static that filled his head. Karl faintly noticed being sat down and a brunet in a cat hoodie trying to get his attention.