Grace's Beginning
Grace has no idea where he is or how he got here.
One minute, he was on his bike heading home after getting groceries. The next minute, he was surrounded by seemingly endless yellow walls. The air was thick with the smell of wet, rotting carpet. The only sound was the buzz of the fluorescent lights overhead.
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Grace lay sprawled out on his stomach, the breath knocked out of his lungs from the sudden fall. The transition from where he was to where he is now felt like free-falling, the floor now solid beneath him. He pushed himself up slowly, the stale humid air hitting the back of his throat harshly, causing him to cough.
Grace forced his legs to stand. He stood, swaying slightly as he tried to gain his bearings. He blinked against the sudden headache, expecting to see the sidewalk he had just been riding down.
Instead, there was only yellow.
He turned in a slow circle. Monochrome yellow walls stretched out as far as he could see, only broken by random, empty doorways leading into more identical rooms. Overhead, soft-white fluorescent lights flickered, filling the area with a high-pitched buzz that vibrated through his head.
There were no windows, no signs, no furniture that he could see.
Grace stood frozen, thoughts racing. Where am I? Think Grace. His brain tried to find a logical explanation for this. Maybe he had hit a curb, fallen off his bike, and passed out. That has to be it. This is all just a concussion dream… or maybe a prank. Colt probably snuck in with his extra key, kidnapped me, and took me to…. An unfinished office building?
“Ha ha, you got me, Colt. You can come out now,” Grace called out into the maze, hearing a slight echo.
Realization set in after a couple of minutes. There was no construction equipment, no tools, exit signs, or wires hanging from the ceiling; the rooms weren’t unfinished, they were empty.
Okay, Grace, calm down. First, look for a door, window, or some other way out. Just because there’s none in the immediate vicinity doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
The never-ending hum of the lights pierced his skull, making his focus waver. I need that sound to stop. I can’t focus.
Anxiety, sharp and quick, filled his chest as he realized that there were no sounds other than the hum.
If I stay here, I’m going to go insane. I need to move. Just pick a direction and follow the wall until I hopefully find an exit.
With his thoughts finally organizing, Grace forced his shaking legs to take the first step.
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Welcome to the first bit of story for the Panic Rooms, my Bloodymary Backrooms au! To keep my motivation up, I'm going to be splitting a lot of the story bits into multiple smaller parts, starting with Grace's beginning. This is the first actual bit of story that I have, and I will hopefully have Simon's up before the end of the weekend.
I may make a tag list for anything PR realated that I post, so please let me know if you'd like to be added!