Fading Out

Chapter 4

Nick’s POV

I have never been one to wish for a do-over. No matter how bad things have been, I have always faced them head-on instead of wishing for a do-over. But this time was different. I found myself wishing for a thousand instances where I could use a do-over.

I could have one with asking Millie Johnson out for coffee, because ultimately it started all this trouble. I could have used one when I stubbornly refused the out Shawn had given me before entering the house. I could have used one when I lied to Daisy. I could have most definitely used one when I kept the necklace in my pocket.

No use in dwelling in the past. My mind screams at me. Get a move on. We need to get out before things worsen. Although I didn’t want things to worsen, I couldn’t come up with a single scenario that was worse than my present situation. At least Shawn was out. Lucky bastard! With a sigh, I prepared myself to face all sorts of horror.

The first thing I realized was the utter darkness. A snort escaped at the clichéd situation. I was stuck in a dark attic. A part of me wondered if this was a sign of me going crazy. Perhaps this craziness would help pass the time if I failed and was stuck here with Daisy. Don’t be a pessimist. My mind rebuked me.

I take a step forward and crash into a wooden wall in front of me. “Ow!” Just my luck, I haven’t even started and I am crashing into walls. It is then I realize, I have no idea how, that I am standing the wrong way. I turn around and search for even a sliver of light to shine in this dark. Guess this is the first puzzle. The dark attic. Oh, well. No need to give up. There was more than enough time to make it through this place.

I take a step in what I hope is the forward direction but immediately freeze as a large creaking noise beneath my shoe echoes in the attic. Guess this means the wood would collapse in unexpected places. I was never a religious person but in this moment, I prayed more than even a fanatic. It helped though. The first time I did step on rotten floorboard, there was a small moment of suspension where everything was unstable. That small moment passed very quickly and I yelped as one leg of mine fell through. The pain that flared up in my leg was quite a lot and I barely managed to control it as the surrounding wood chips scratched through my jeans. This is not normal. I shouldn’t be hurt. What’s going on? The answer came soon enough when I felt the floor begin to reseal around my leg and I pulled it out again, despite the pain that flared. This is her work. After this, I decided to try to avoid any more such hurt.

It was a foolish decision, I realize moments later as I stumble onto my eighth such rotten floorboard on my exactly fifteenth step.  No decision to be smart enough is good when you have already been stupid enough to make a ghost angry. I kept stumbling into them as my mind kept counting how much valuable time I lost in this very first room. Both of my legs were filled with wounds, wood chips and blood trails. To let my mind calm down from all the worries, I decided to become reckless and take my time, even if it took fifty years.

It was as if the choice was the key to exit. It still took a long time, that felt like hours, to find the exit but I didn’t fall into any ghostly pits, though I did fell into a number of actual pits. How did I know? They didn’t begin to close-in around me. And, fine I admit it, these holes actually helped as some light seeped in and helped me beat this dark puzzle at the end. I was glad at this sudden cheat at the game. Finally I found the door, which frustratingly enough, was right next to my starting point. As soon as I touched the door, three things happened.

First, her voice screamed “Cheater!” in the attic. The sound really echoed and left me momentarily deaf. Second was the sudden lighting up of the lamps of the attic and I was blinded as well. But it was really the third that disheartened me the most. I was lifted in the air and was shaken like a soda bottle before getting down again. Confused, I tried to reach for the door again. I should have been more attentive. I grasped only air. For several minutes I flailed my hands around, hoping that what I feared wasn’t true, that I was just turned in some other direction. But even my mind didn’t accept this. I cheated. So she reset me. I have to start the puzzle from the start again.