Chapter 14: Your Vision Hinders You, Trust Your Instincts

Getting to the bottom of the stairs, it was getting darker. The lights had grown dimmer and dimmer, gaining a slightly red hue. It was ominous, to say the least, and it was spiking my anxiety. With the red exit sign and the dimming of the normally consistent stairs, it only signified danger in my mind.

Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs, it was clear to me something was off. There was a door, and the door was held shut by a small lock. On the lock were three wheels that held the numbers one to nine on them. Was I going to be kept out of this floor by a lock?

I held the silvery metal lock in my hand and inspected it. It was hard to see in the dim red light, but I could make out some fairly noticeable indents on the back of the lock. The indents were separated by large engraved lines.

One indent on its own, two vertical, and two horizontal. The rotating wheels on the front of the lock seemed very precise, almost clicking into place every time I rotated it to a number slot. The numbers on the face were also clearly engraved in a way to make it so I could feel what number it was quite easily.

Not knowing what to expect if I got this lock open, I got familiar with the feel of the numbers on the lock with my eyes closed. If the signs of danger and the dimming of the lights were anything to go buy, I was going to be dealing with limited light on the floor.

After I felt I had a good understanding of what each number felt like, even with my eyes closed, I now had to find the combination. I figured it had to do with the indents on the back of the lock, but I had no idea what the deal with it was.

They were all different numbers as far as I could tell, but I was going to try the most simple answer. One, two, three. The lock clicked and opened when I pulled on it. So, one was one, two was two vertical, and three was two horizontal. Good, good.

I carefully opened the now unlocked door, and saw that just past the doorway was unnaturally dark. None of the light from the stairway was making it into the room. I was also getting a feeling of something being not quite right. A general feeling of wrongness that I had never felt before.

I thought about my options here for a bit. I could easily just rush it, but that was going to be a bad idea, and even I knew that. Should I rest a bit before I go in? No, that wouldn't really make a difference at this point. I was rested enough after the rest I took at the top of the stairs after finishing the previous floor.

I secured my bag well to my body in case I had to run. I took one final breath before I walked into the dark room. I wasn't going to be able to see anything, so I was going to have to be extra careful to make sure that I was focusing on the sense I did have.

I took the first step into the room, and heard the door close behind me as my vision went completely dark. I first tried the door, only to find that it had locked behind me, there was no escape. I couldn't see anything, despite my eyes being fully open. Another thing that was a major concern was that I could feel something.

I could tell exactly how far away from me it was, it was getting closer, but it was incredibly slow. I decided to walk straight forwards from my current position, while the monster was approaching from directly behind me.

It was weird, I had just come from the stairway, but whatever I could feel was even further than that, as if it was outside any livable space. I wonder if I could dig through the walls if I would find stone or just nothingness.

I rubbed my eyes, like I normally would when it was dark, but I couldn't see them at all. I stepped forwards with my arms outstretched hoping they would reach a wall or something long before my face or toes did.

It didn't take long for me to find something that felt like wood. I felt around with my hands and found that it was a door, the same exact style of door that blocked the entrance to this floor, lock included. I knew it, I had to solve these locks in order to get through this floor.

The back of the lock was covered in indents and I noted them down mentally; two indents with one in the top left and one in the bottom right, four dots in a square, and two dots with one in the top right and one in the bottom left.

Uh oh. There wasn't a chance this one would be as easy as the first. Brute forcing isn't an option, with whatever I could sense in the distance constantly approaching and the door closed and locked behind me, I had nowhere to run.

I was going to try numbers that I hadn't used yet. I already knew one, two, and three, so I only had six other numbers to work with. Four, five, six yielded no results, so I kept trying. I had no frame of reference to work with here. I was actually working blind. I felt the dots on the back again to make sure I had their order right.

Five six nine, nothing. Six Seven nine, nothing. I was getting nervous as whatever I could sense had already closed a quarter of the total distance. I was running on the clock, and if it stopped, my life was over. Panic had begun to set in, but I steeled my mind. Now was not the time, I had to focus.

Four six eight, nothing. Five seven nine, it opened! Thank goodness. I undo the lock and throw open the door, almost jogging through it. I had to crouch down while working on the lock due to its position, so I was easily able to push forwards from a crouch into a run.

I walked straight forwards again and found another wooden door with a lock. I think there was going to be a pattern to this floor, and I didn't like it one bit, but I would soon have every number and it was only a matter of feeling the indents on the back to open the lock.

As I reached for the lock, the thing chasing me sped up slightly. So that's the trick, isn't it. You think you're so funny, huh, floor. Well let me show you what a full time nerd can really do when a puzzle is set in front of him.

I felt the back of the lock; two horizontal dots, four dots in a square, two vertical. I started moving the wheels and felt that this one had started in a different position than the previous ones that had all started with ones.

So it was going to punish the people that didn't take the time to learn the numbers at the start of the floor. Boy am I glad I had trust issues now. With the combination of three, five, seven, the lock opened quickly and I was now in the next room. The thing chasing me had closed half of the original distance now. But I had added some with the doors opening.

I was honestly worried about what would happen when it reached me. I pushed it out of my mind as I focused on walking in a straight line from one door to what I assume will be the next. I guessed correctly as I grabbed the next lock.

The rooms were all exactly the same size, at least in length. Without exploring, I couldn't tell their width, but I never touched either wall with my arms, so it at least isn't a hallway… I hoped so at least. If these were large rooms, I might be able to run away from the thing chasing me, but I wasn't hopeful.

One dot, dot in the top right and bottom left, and a new combination of indents; two wide on the top and one in the bottom left. What number had I not seen yet. One five four, nothing. One five six, bingo. The lock opened and the thing chasing me was getting even closer, it had sped up again.

I ran to the next door, knowing roughly how far away it was. My hands touched the lock and it sped up again. Another awful creature in an awful place, I was starting to be less and less surprised as my finger ran over the indents.

Two, three and nine. An easy combination that opened the door. Another door down, who knows how many more to go, but this floor was actually pretty easy so far. I just had to keep in mind where the thing following me was.

I made it through two more easy doors with numbers I already knew, when I encountered an issue. The thing following me was now catching up faster than I could get through the doors, and as I grabbed on to the seventh door, it was slightly faster than my walking speed.

Six, seven and one. The door opened, but the thing following me was only one room away. I swallowed nervously as my hands shook. I ran to the next door as fast as I could, but when I touched the lock on it, the thing sped up to about my jogging speed.

I had no choice, I had to try and lead it away. I moved to the side of the room away from the door, the creature stopped moving towards me as it turned to face me. It stopped moving when turning! I could do this. This is possible now.

I then did something fairly risky. I let it get into the same room as me. I almost froze when I could feel it outstretch its arms to try and grab me. I could sense its arms reach for me, its hands in a claw-like grip, ready to grab me. I ran before fear could take me.

The creature stopped moving as I circled around it to go for the previous door. Every door but the one at the floor had stayed open behind me. I could at least get it to go all the way back to the start. That is what I did. I led it all the way back to the first room.

I used the time it took to get from the eighth room from the first to catch my breath. It was a decent amount of time, but I knew I would only have this luxury for so long. I grabbed an easily accessible water, chugged what I could and just tossed the rest to the side. I didn't have time to put it back.

The creature was back in the first room, and right before it grabbed me, I moved to the side and it stopped. I used the chance to run as fast as I could through the rooms. Using the little brush of air from passing through a door to tell me how far I was from my destination.

I slid on my knees into the eighth wooden door and felt the back of the lock quickly, but accurately. One, five, and another five. The lock opened and I still had time for the next as long as there weren't any new numbers.

There weren't, three, five and nine. The lock easily opened and I rushed through with just enough time to make the monster turn. I grabbed for the tenth lock just to see how fast the creature would get, and it was slightly faster than my running speed. If I went all out, I would still be faster, but this wasn't good. If this thing got any faster, I was going to die.

I maneuvered around the monster and led it back to the first room with it directly behind me almost the entire time. I was already getting tired of running at nearly full speed, but I didn't have time for a break.

I sprinted back to the door and slid into it. The door was actually metal this time, not wood like all the previous doors. Was this to prevent cheating by breaking down the doors? I didn't even bother trying that, as destruction was rarely the answer down in the floors.

Two horizontal dots with one in the bottom right, repeated again and two horizontal dots in the bottom row with one in the top left. The creature was already on top of me before I could try the first combination and I had to lead it back to the first room. I led it back to the first room.

I kept it in the center of the room and walked in a circle around it. It turned fairly quickly, but it was enough for at least a small break. I was breathing heavily, and my heart wasn't slowing down, it didn't have a chance to.

I mentally kept track of my position in the room and as soon as my heart rate dropped enough, I sprinted to the door again and tried the two numbers I still had left. Four, four, eight. It opened, and I made it to the eleventh door.

It didn't speed up again, and the door was once again metal. I knew every number at this point, so I just had to deal with this awful creature. I led it back to the first room yet again, and I could feel my body wanting to fail.

Fuck it. I dropped my bag on the ground while circling the monster in the first room.

The bag was so heavy, I felt like a whole new man once it was off my shoulders. I caught my breath a lot easier. I knew I wouldn't really be able to get my bag back, but it is what it is. If I can survive this floor, I'll get more resources on the next floor.

I was a lot faster without my bag and it gave me plenty of time to do the eleventh lock. Another circle and the twelfth was done. Circling was easier and easier every time. The tenth lock was definitely the hardest, due to it being the last one with new numbers.

Thirteen and fourteen were almost a joke. I was breathing heavily. Recovering in the first room no longer did anything for me, and my bag was no longer where I had dropped it. I was down all those resources, but I didn't have the choice. I felt the fifteenth door, and it was a glass door, or what felt like glass.

I was still going to do the lock on it, as who knows what was after that. The final lock in my hands, I put in the combination. One, one, one. The combination was excruciatingly simple. I rushed through the door and light assaulted my eyes as my lungs burned.

I blinked my eyes repeatedly until they adjusted to the light. A shockingly familiar staircase, and behind me was a dark void, blocked by a now closed glass door. I made it.

I made it!

My lungs felt heavy. I was breathing so hard from all of the full speed running, it probably put Olympic athletes to shame. However, where they could probably keep going, I felt the corners of my vision darken as everything went black. I collapsed at the top of the stairs, managing to stop myself from rolling down as my consciousness quickly faded soon after.