The NoEnd House Sequels

## NoEnd House 2 by Brian Russell

It had been three weeks since I heard any word from David. In the six months since we started dating, we had only gone three days without talking, and that was after a pretty intense fight. There was nothing out of the ordinary when I had talked to him last. He just mentioned that he was going to check something out that a friend told him about. But then I got a really weird text the night before last. It was from David, but it wasn't from his number. There were only five words in the message:

"no end. dont come. david"

Something was wrong. After I read the text, I felt nauseous, like I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to. I decided to reach out to his friend, Peter, but to be honest, I didn't expect much from him. He was a deadbeat, but I thought he might have some information on where David might be. I decided to log onto AIM with David's account. I figured it would be easier to get information from Peter if he thought I was David. When I logged on, he immediately messaged me.

"David?! Holy shit you had me worried. I thought you went to the House."

"What do you mean?"

"NoEnd House, man. That place I told you about."

"I couldve sworn you were gonna go."

NoEnd... He knew exactly where my boyfriend was.

"Yeah, I actually couldn't find it. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow."

"Where was it again?"

"No way, you already had me worried."

"Fuck that place ive been there you do not want to go there."

"Peter. This is Maggie."

"Wait what?"

"Where's David?"

"I don't know, I hadn't seen him in weeks."

"I thought you would know but apparently not."

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit SHIT SHITSHIT"

"What? Seriously Peter you need to tell me what's going on!"

"I think he went to NoEnd House. It's outside of town, roughly four miles down Terrence St. It's an unmarked road, you just turn right."

"Shit, man, he's gone."

"No, I don't think he is."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get him back."

I left the next night at around eight. There wasn't a single car the entire trip. As I turned onto the unmarked street, I saw a sign pointing down the road:

"NoEnd this way

Open 24hrs"

My breathing hadn't been steady since I left my own home, and seeing the House in the middle of nowhere didn't help. There weren't any other cars around, which made me think that it wasn't open. A light from the front stoop illuminated the surrounding area, and the windows showed that the lights inside were on. I parked my car, walked up to the front, and made my way in.

The front lobby was normal enough, but as I predicted, it was empty. All the lights were on, but no one was there. Besides the door I came through, there was only one other. Posted next to it was another sign:

"Room 1 this way. Eight more follow. Reach the end and you win!"

That wasn't what made my stomach sink. That wasn't what stopped my heart. There was more below, scrawled and handwritten in red:

"You won't save him."

I don't know how long I stood in the lobby. I was frozen. I didn't know how to go on. Should I go through the door? Should I call the police? I wasn't sure. After reading the sign, I realized that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. I'm average height for a girl, but pretty thin. I wasn't about to fight off some psycho that was holding David hostage.

I decided that calling the cops was the best thing to do, so I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. No service. The House must be blocking the signal, and it was basically in the middle of nowhere.

I walked over to the entrance, figuring I'd find service outside. I reached to the knob and twisted it. It was locked. I shook it harder. Nothing. It was locked from outside. I slammed my hands against the door and called out to anyone who could hear me. Then I realized that it was useless. No one was out here except me.

Then I felt a vibration in my pocket. I reached down and looked at my phone. One unread text. At first, I was really glad I had service, I thought I was saved. I thought the text was from David and that he was alright. It was from a different number; one I didn't have on my phone. I pressed open, and nearly dropped the phone.

"You can't save yourself either."

My entire body was shaking. I wanted to pass out. I was stuck there. A cell phone with no service in a room with no exit. I scanned the room and my eyes landed on the door across the room. A golden '1' was mounted on the front. It looked like a hotel room door. The ground felt like it was drifting further and further away as I walked closer to the door. In a few moments, I was within inches of it. I placed my head against the wood and listened. All I heard was distant Halloween music. Just a creepy instrumental that you might hear in any haunted house.

I got a little calmer. David was always known for his pranks. He would tell me about these elaborate setups he and his friends would make for the new players on their soccer team. Somehow, a smile found its way onto my face and I opened the door.

Entering the first room alleviated my fears even more. The room was a completely normal attempt at a haunted house, though rather lacking. In each corner was a scarecrow, but not even scary ones. They were the kind I used to see in grade school, with big smiling faces. Paper ghosts hung from the ceiling, and a fan in the corner added a cold breeze that made them spin. Next to one of the scarecrows was, again, the only other door in the room. Printed on the front, similar to the first door, was a large '2'. I laughed and left this lame room behind me.

When I opened the door to room 2, I couldn't see three feet in front of me. It was filled with a gray mist that smelled like rubber. I guessed there had to be some fog machine in there, and it must have been pumping the stuff for hours.

There were no windows in the last room, so the ventilation must've been terrible. I walked slowly forward and let out a small shriek. I bumped straight into a large, robotic Jason Voorhees. His eyes flashed red and the knife in his hand went up and down in a jerky stabbing motion. My heart was racing, and if anyone had been with me, I would have felt incredibly embarrassed.

I covered my mouth and made my way past RoboJason, the fog was getting a little too much. I was beginning to feel lightheaded as I found the door to room 3. I placed my hand to the knob, only to retreat it back in pain. The knob was extremely hot. I placed my hand on the door itself and it was warm too. I couldn't hear anything from the other side. I put my ear up to the warm wood expecting to hear the crackle of a fire, but I heard nothing. I assumed it was false warmth, like they were pumping heat into it, like the final room in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland.

I took the corner of my jacket and wrapped it around my hand, turning the doorknob as fast as I could, and flung myself into Room 3. There was no fire. Just darkness, and it was freezing cold. Room 3 wasn't like the other rooms at all.

At that moment, I knew that something wasn't right. I tried to make out anything in the room, but I couldn't even see my hands grasping for the doorknob... that now wasn't there. I was trapped.

I must've been turned around in the darkness, even though I didn't move once I entered. I must've been moved around in all this darkness.

At that moment, a light on the ceiling flashed on. A single spotlight pointing directly down, illuminating a small table, and on that table was a flashlight. Even though I couldn't really see where I was going, I moved forward, since the light on the ceiling was enough to make my way to the table. As I reached for the flashlight, I noticed a small tag attached to the handle:

"To Maggie - From Management"

The moment I finished reading, the light above me turned off, and I was again left in the dark. I fumbled with the flashlight for a second before I was able to switch it on. From what seemed like every direction, a low, rumbling hum surrounded me. My heart was pounding, and I started to spin in place, darting the beam of the flashlight all around me. There was nothing in the room, but after a while, I noticed something terrifying. It could've been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw a figure darting away at the last second wherever the beam of light hit.

I began to panic. I started backing away from the small table, unsure which direction I was going. The hum was getting louder, and I could feel the presence of whatever was dodging the light.

My hands shook wildly as I frantically pointed the light in every direction I could think of. It was always there, just barely escaping back into the darkness, but I could tell that it was getting closer. My eyes started to well up with tears. I was shaking so badly that thought I was going to drop the flashlight...until I saw it.

The light set directly on a small number '4'. It was written on a piece of paper and taped to a wooden door in the corner. I ran as fast as I could with the flashlight pointing directly in front of me. I could feel it behind me. The hum was getting louder, and I thought I felt its breath on my neck. I was sprinting at that point, only a few more feet to go.

In one motion, I grabbed the handle, twisted it, rushed through, and slammed it shut behind me. I was now in the fourth room.

I was outside. I wasn't in the House anymore. What greeted me after opening the door to room 4 was what looked like a cave. I looked down at the ground and I noticed something strange. The ground wasn't made of grass or rock or dirt, it was wood paneling. It was the exact same floor as in the previous rooms.

This was room 4. Somehow, I was still in that house. There were a few torches mounted to the side of the rock surrounding me, and the cave beyond was pitch black. The torches looked like they could be removed, so I walked over to the closest one and unsheathed it from its mounting piece.

My body was covered in sweat as I slowly made my way into the cave. The hum was gone, and I was met by no other noise inside the cave, but there was a slight breeze. The cave seemed to go on forever, and I walked for a while until I saw a faint blue light. I walked up to it cautiously, but at a decent pace. The light was an opening, the end of the tunnel.

I started walking a little faster. I always hated cramped spaces like caves and tunnels. In a few moments, the exit was within a few feet away, and before I knew it, I was at the end. And that's exactly where I was. The end.

At the exit of the cave, the ground dropped off to a cliff, and there was no other way to go. I looked back into the dark cave behind me. I knew there weren't any other directions, it was a straight tunnel. I turned and looked down over the edge. What I saw made my stomach turn worse than it ever did before.

It was an ocean with nothing else in sight. The drop must've been a hundred feet, with a small rock formation at the bottom. After a few seconds of looking at the rocks, they formed a number. It was a '5'.

I backed away from the edge. I hated heights and there was no way in hell that I would go there. As I backed away, I was stopped by a wall that shouldn't have been there. I turned around and was greeted by a terrifying sight. The cave was gone. I was face to face with a solid stone wall, the side of whatever mountain this was.

I knew that I was still in the NoEnd House and that I didn't actually leave. Clearly, it wasn't an actual mountain, but it felt so real. I turned back and looked over the cliff again. There was no other way. The House was pushing my limits.

I was outside for God's sake, but what it expected me to do at that moment was just too much. I knew what those rocks down there meant. The formation was the entrance to room 5. There were no stairs leading down, no other paths to use. I was trapped again. The House wanted me to jump.

I sank to the ground and curled into a ball. I just couldn't do it. There was no way I could jump off a cliff onto a jagged rock formation a hundred feet below. My mind was split in two. I knew that I was still inside, but my surroundings screamed the opposite in my mind.

I sat there on the wooden ground for so long that I had lost all concept of time. Eventually, I made my decision and stood up. I slowly made my way to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The giant '5' taunted me to jump.

I knew I couldn't do it, but the House wouldn't let me refuse. In an instant, the hum returned. The low, distant hum. It seemed to come from behind me, resonating within the mountain. I don't know what came over me, but after hearing that sound, something inside me lit up. I clenched my eyes shut and let myself fall.

The wind was rushing up as I fell, and a deep fear washed over me. I was going to die. I was going to smash into those rocks and die. They were going to tear me apart. There's no way anyone could survive that, so I didn't dare open my eyes, I just fell. Even with the loud wind rushing around me, the hum was now deafening.

I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted it to be over I just wanted to hit the rocks and I wanted it to end...

And it did. It stopped.

I wasn't falling anymore, but I never hit the rocks. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was standing on the familiar wood paneling of the House. The hum was gone and silence took its place. I had made it. I was in room 5. I still don't know how it happened, but I survived.

The feeling of dread was gone and I was just happy to be alive. After collecting myself, I looked around at the rest of the room.

The happiness left me as soon as it came. This room was empty. The walls matched the floor, and the ceiling matched the walls, and there were no doors or windows. I was in a large, sealed box. Then I realized that I still wasn't safe. I made it out of the fourth room, but only to enter room 5 and there was no way of leaving it.

For a moment, I wondered if David had been in that room. I wondered if he had jumped off that hundred-foot cliff and ended up stuck in the room. And if he did, that means he got out. He wasn't here, I was alone. He got out, and I would too. The thought of David escaping this room gave me hope. I was going to get out of this room, find David, and get us the hell out of there.

I walked around the perimeter of the wall and felt for any sort of inconsistencies, but there was nothing. The walls were flawless, with barely a scratch on them, let alone some secret exit. I started to knock at random places on the walls, but they were completely solid. The confidence started to leave me, and I ran out of ideas. And that's when she spoke to me.

"You shouldn't have come here, Maggie."

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was still facing the wall, and the voice had come from the middle of the room. It was the voice of a little girl... at least that's what it sounded like.

I turned around slowly and cast my eyes on who spoke to me. It was a little blonde girl, no more than ten years old with light blue eyes and a long white dress. She smiled at me and spoke again.

"But now that you're here, let's play a game."

There was something too horrifying about that little girl. She wasn't scary like those girls are in those Japanese horror movies. On the contrary, she looked completely normal. If I saw her walking down the street, I would've just walked right on by. But looking into her eyes, I felt complete terror. Jumping off a cliff was scary, but I would jump off twenty cliffs twice as high if it meant taking back every second of looking into her soulless eyes.

"What game? Who are you?" I mumbled after a moment of staring.

"If you lose, you die."

"And if I win?"

"He dies."

My heart sank somewhere below my feet. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I knew she was telling the truth.

"Which will it be?" she smiled.

"Neither."

I still don't know how I found the courage to talk back to this demon child, but I had come too far to just let David die. And if I died, all I went through would've been for nothing, so I chose neither. But then I saw it. The reason the little girl terrified me.

She was more than just a small child. Looking at her, I could see what appeared to be a large, hairy man, with the head of some kind of animal, like a ram. It was a horrible sight. I couldn't see one without seeing the other. The little girl stood in front of me, but I knew her true form. It was the worst sight I had ever seen.

"Too bad."

And with that said, she was gone. I was alone again, in an empty, silent room. Only this time, something was added. A small table appeared where the girl stood, as if it was there the whole time.

There was something on it, but I couldn't tell from where I was. I walked up to the table and looked at the small object. It was a small razor, like an Exacto knife. I reached out to pick it up, and I was sweating profusely in a matter of seconds.

When my hand came into view, I saw something that was never there before. It looked as though something was branded into my skin, a single number 6. I looked back to the razor and noticed the tag attached to it:

"To Maggie - From Management

Thought you might need this"

After reading the note, I started sobbing uncontrollably. Tears were rushing down my face harder than they ever have in my life.

I had never cried like that and I don't think I ever will again. I fell to the ground and sunk my head into the hard wooden floor.

I didn't even know why I was crying. It wasn't about David; it wasn't even about me being stuck there. There were still no doors in this room and I was trapped. But that's not why I was sad. I was in the deepest depression possible. Complete and emotionless depression. I felt empty and clawed my way up from the ground and steadied myself against the table.

My eyes fell on the razor, and I picked it up. I was going to kill myself. I couldn't handle it anymore. I had had it. David was probably dead. It was over.

I pressed the razor against my wrist, right above the 6 that had appeared on my skin. The tears came back, and I just stood there, crying with the razor pressed against my wrist. Nothing mattered anymore, and with one deep cut, I sliced down my wrist.

As soon as I did that, I was no longer in room 5. I didn't die, I knew that for sure. The depression was gone, but I was by no means happy. Tears were still finding their way down my face. The room I was in was similar to the previous one, and again, it had no doors. There weren't any lamps, but I was still able to see everything clearly. The room was completely empty, but before I had time to think of what to do next, it went dark. Then the hum from before returned. I covered my ears in protest, it was louder than ever. But it was over in a moment, and the lights returned, only this time, something was added to the room. And then I screamed.

There, in the middle of the room, strung up by chains and naked from the waist up, was David. It looked like he'd been tortured, with horrible wounds all over his chest and arms.

"DAVID!"

I ran up to him as fast as I could. He was conscious, I saw his chest move up and down, but he wasn't speaking. And that's when I noticed what was carved into his chest. I dropped to my knees as I saw it. The 7 stared at me as though it had eyes.

I heard David trying to speak. I got to my feet and got as close as I could to him.

"David! David, can you hear me?!"

"Maggie... what're you... what're you doing here?"

His voice was hoarse and quiet, but he was talking and I was thankful for that.

"David, I'm trying to save you. How do I get you down?"

There were large padlocks on the chains holding him in place. I looked around the room for any sort of key, but all I found was a small knife in one of the corners. The metal of the padlocks was way too thick for that knife to even dent it, so I disregarded it as useless.

I went back to David, it looked like he was on the verge of death, and then I felt my pocket vibrate. It startled me so badly, I took the phone out of my pocket. As I suspected, one unread text. I flipped open the phone.

"that isnt me"

I didn't know what to think. David was right there in front of me, but that text was from the first number that contacted me. It was the first text I received from David that mentioned the NoEnd House.

"Maggie..."

I heard his voice clearly with my ears and my mind. It seemed like his voice was coming from all sides.

"Maggie... You have to go on."

"What are you talking about? How?" I asked David, or whoever it was that was chained up there.

"That knife..." he made a slight movement of his head toward the corner. "Go get it."

I ran and I was immediately back with the knife clenched in hand within a few seconds.

"Look, I have no idea what's going on, but if it means saving you, I'll do anythi-"

"Now stab me in the chest."

"...what?" I was shocked. David hung there, staring directly into my eyes.

"You have to run that knife through the seven on my chest. It's the only way to save us both."

"What?! No!" I stumbled backward. "No, you're not making any sense."

"Maggie!" He was screaming now, his eyes looked frantic. The side of his mouth curled into a manic grin. "Maggie! Stab me now! It's the only way!"

I looked down at the knife in my hand. I felt as though I'd been hit in the head with a bat. I was at a complete loss. I clenched my eyes shut and felt the knife in my hand.

"MAGGIE!"

And with a scream, I plunged the knife into David's chest. I don't know what came over me, I just knew it was the only way. I opened my eyes and saw his face. I was terrified. Tears slid down his cheeks and David looked me in the eyes.

"Why... did you... do that...?"

He couldn't fool me. I knew that wasn't David. It couldn't have been, or else I wouldn't have been able to stab him. His eyes rolled back as life left him, but that's when it changed.

The seven on his body was gone, the blood dripped down onto the ground into a pool below me. The crimson liquid stretched out in every direction, the circle nearly filled the room, and I began to sink. I tried to run but I couldn't move. It was like quicksand. The blood was up to my knees. As much as I tried to struggle, I just sank deeper. Within moments, I was chest-deep. I clawed and scratched at the wood around me but it didn't do me any good. The lifeless body of David hung above, his head facing me, smiling. The blood reached my neck. I was beyond horrified, and before long, I was fully submerged and fell into darkness.

When I woke up, I was outside the House. I could feel the cold earth below me. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the night sky. The NoEnd House towered above me, complete with my car parked in the same spot.

I wasn't sure whether I should've laughed or cried.

"I'm out. I'm finally out!"

I got up and dusted myself off. My body was still shaking as I walked to my car, but something didn't feel right. There was no way I escaped. The House wouldn't just let me go like that. Something was off, I knew it. I knew I didn't kill David in the sixth room. I knew I didn't, but he was nowhere to be found.

I reached down into my pocket and took out my phone. No unread messages, but I finally had service. I flipped it open and I began a text to David.

"Where are you?" I wrote. Within a second of sending it, I got a reply. I quickly opened the message.

"room 10. your room 7"

"RUN"

And the deafening hum returned.

I bolted. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I wasn't outside; I was still in the House. The hum rattled everything around me. It shook the trees and the air itself. I just needed to find an 8. I needed to find the next room. That was my only chance. The first few rooms were obvious, but as I progressed, everything got less and less clear where the rooms started and ended. I had no idea what I was looking for, anything that had a number on it.

Unread text:

"your address"

I didn't know what the hell that meant. I slid the phone back into my pocket, the hum was growing louder and louder. And that's when it hit me.

"My address?! It can't be...!"

I ran to my car and flung the door open. The hum shook the metal of the car and seemed to follow me inside. I floored it and made my way back down the dirt road towards my apartment.

None of this was making sense. How was room 8 my apartment? Should I have trusted that text? I wasn't sure, but I swore it was from David, somehow I just knew it was, even though I had every reason not to trust it.

It took no time at all to drive to my complex, and honestly, I didn't even remember driving. It was like when you zone out for a minute and wake up farther down the road. I didn't even bother locking the car as I ran up to the door. My hands fumbled with the keys as I unlocked the bolt and made my way into the first hallway on the left.

My complex was huge, but my apartment was one of the first ones on the left. I ran as fast as I could, passed 4, passed 5. My head was spinning, this night was weighing down on me like a lead vest. Passed 6. The farther I made it down the hallway, the farther away the hum seemed to be. As I passed unit 7, I could barely hear it anymore. And when I stopped in front of my unit, I was in complete silence. I just stood there, standing in front of my apartment. The small golden '8' was at eye level with me.

I reached for the doorknob and slowly slid my key in, twisted, and when the door swung open, I was sucked in like a vacuum, then the door slammed behind me.

Room 8. I got up off the floor and looked around. It was identical to my apartment. If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed that I was home and all that just happened was a bad dream.

My mind went to David, and I wondered what room 8 was to him and what the House showed him. I walked around and studied the area. Everything was how I left it, right down to the half-eaten Chinese food next to the sink. I looked over at my computer desk in the living room. The monitor was still on, and AIM was still up and running.

I went over and sat in front of it, scrolling through my conversation with Peter. It was there, word for word. The House knew all of this. To be honest, I tried my hardest not to think about it. I figured I was better off not knowing.

I tried to click out of AIM, but it wouldn't let me. The computer froze. I clicked shut down. Nothing. I pressed ctrl-alt-del. Still nothing. I pressed the monitor's power button. Nothing happened. And then a pop-up appeared on the screen. It was a video chat. I looked at the list of people in it, and there were only two names. Maggie and Management. The video feed on my screen was live, but all it showed was a gray wall. Then a message from Management popped up.

"Hope everything is how you left it."

"Who are you?"

"Enjoy the show! :)"

And that's when the camera turned. The camera focused on a young man strapped to a surgical table. He was naked, and he was sobbing quietly to himself. The image wasn't that clear, but I thought I recognized the man lying there. He was tall, had short brown hair and a fairly pale complexion.

"This is what happens when people attempt to cheat."

That's when I realized who it was. Strapped to the surgical table was Peter Terry. And he wasn't alone.

I don't want to describe what I saw at that moment. The screams, the sounds that Peter made were unlike anything I ever heard out of a human. I couldn't look away. I wanted to, but I think it was the power of the room. Peter let out one final soul-curdling scream, but I didn't hear it through the computer speakers. It was coming from my room!

My heart sank as I spun around towards the hallway. I got up from my chair, and I could still hear the screams emanating as I walked toward the source. I reached my bedroom door, and the screams were now replaced by the hum. That hum.

It had haunted me the entire time. I slowly opened the door, and I saw what I had seen on my computer. There was the surgical table, with whatever was left of Peter Terry strewn across its top. No one else was there. The others in the room were gone, but a chill went up my spine.

The Management was there with me, only one room away. I walked closer to the table, and the stench was so horrific that it took everything in me to prevent myself from vomiting.

I knew I was nearing the end, I had to be. I looked around the room. Somewhere in here was the entrance to the next room. I knew it had to be. And it was. But it was simpler than I expected. Across the room, where my bathroom door should've been, was a simple wooden door, similar to the early ones in the House.

Something was stapled to the door, something long and bloody. It was the entrails of Peter Terry, and they formed a 9 on the door.

I felt bad for Peter, but I had gone through a literal hell that night. I walked right past the table, picked up a long surgical knife, and didn't give the body a second glance. The final door was there, and I walked right up to it. The night was about to end, I was planning on getting out of that room with David, and I was going to stop whoever it was from keeping him here.

The door opened easily, and as I stepped through, I saw what was waiting for me. It was the front lobby. The same front lobby that began this entire hell. Across the room on the opposite side from where I came in, stood another door. My heart sank when I read the label printed on the wood. It wasn't a number. It was a single word.

"MANAGEMENT"

I clenched the surgical knife in my hand.

"Alright. I'm fucking ending this."

They were on the other side of the door. I could feel it. The hum was louder than it had ever been. It was coming from inside me and I could feel it. As I got closer, it got louder, and as I placed my hand on the door, the room was filled with the sound.

I turned the knob, opened the door, and the hum vanished. The room contained something I didn't expect. It was a small room with large windows on the walls, and there was a single desk. Someone was behind it. My heart jumped out of my chest when I saw who it was.

"Hello, Maggie."

"Peter?" No, there was no way. "How the-? What?"

"Who were you expecting?" he smiled. "A ghost? Satan? Some creepy little blonde girl?"

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Come on, Maggie. Just use your brain for two seconds! Who first told David about this place?"

"You... You didn't..."

"Who told you where David went?"

"Goddammit, Peter! You were his friend!"

"I'm sorry, Maggie, but that's how we do business here."

"Where is he? WHERE IS HE?!"

"He's in here with us in the House, Maggie. He isn't going anywhere... and neither are you."

I don't know what took over me, but I lost it. I jumped over the desk and shoved Peter to the ground. I grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head to the floor multiple times. The surgical knife in my other hand pressed firmly against his neck. I wanted to kill him. I had to kill him. He killed David, but he wasn't going to kill me.

"Maggie, you can't! If it's not me, there's always gonna be someone to run the House!"

"No. I don't think there will be..."

With that said, I slid the knife across his throat and slammed his head further into the ground.

...

With his death, the room went dark. I could still feel the surgical knife, but I was no longer holding on to Peter's hair. I don't know for how long I was in the darkness, but it felt like ages. I stood and felt for the desk, balancing myself with one hand on the side of the surface. Then the lights came on.

I could see the windows of the room. It was still night out. I looked out and saw him. David was walking around outside, seemingly unharmed. I was so happy that I ran to the door and tried to open it. But it was stuck. I tried my hardest, but the door wouldn't budge.

I looked out the window and saw David as he began to walk down the dirt road. I felt defeated. I rested my head against the door and saw it. I felt like my heart had disappeared. There, pinned to my chest, was a nametag, with one word:

"MANAGEMENT".

## NoEnd House 3 by the same author

I slumped into my living room chair in a daze. The last couple of hours were a complete blur. Haunting images would sporadically cross over my mind, slowly reminding me of the hell that I left behind. I felt in my pocket for my phone and dialed 9-1-1. There was no way I could explain any of this, but for some reason, my first reaction was to call. Maybe the authorities could just go there and confirm that it was a normal house and nothing more. That could have at least put my mind at ease. I could stay at home, live a normal life with-

Then I remembered!

Maggie!

I bolted to my feet again. I ran all over my house, looking in every room, every direction. I grabbed the phone off the charger and dialed Maggie's number.

"Come on, pick up... Pick up!"

"Hey, this is Maggie! I'm sorry I missed your call. Leave me a message after the beep and--"

"SHIT!"

I flung the front door open, slammed the door to my car shut and tore back to the House.

Maggie was in there. As I drove, I checked my phone - looking for the old texts I knew I sent, but there was nothing. There were texts to Maggie and from Maggie, but all of them were blank. I cursed under my breath as I reached the House. I stumbled out of my car and fell to the dirt road. I picked myself up and slammed my body against the front door of the House.

I tried the knob, but it wouldn't open. I pounded on the door with both fists, screaming Maggie's name. Nothing. My fists were red and burning, and I slumped to my knees, palms dragging down the door as I went.

After a few moments, I felt my eyes sting. I left her in there. The woman I loved went in there to save me, and in doing so, she took my place. I had to find a way in. There had to be another way in. I rose to my feet with renewed energy, but before I could move, I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text. Looking at the name gave me relief.

It was from Peter. Maybe he could help.

"Hey, Dave. You alright? Haven't heard from you in a while."

"peter!"

"jesus"

"where are you?"

"I'm in the House. I went in to find you, man."

"I told you not to go."

"it's passed now whatever but peter i need to get back in"

"do you know how?"

"Go around back"

"There's an oak tree next to the House with a trap door at its base."

"Go through there. It's a service entrance."

"what? why the fuck would this place need a service entrance?"

"Just get to the tree, man. I'm trying to help you."

I didn't have time to ask any more questions. I took off running down the porch to the other end of the House, leaping over the side rail and landing awkwardly below. I could see the tree wasn't far, or maybe it was. The tree was so big that the depth perception was hard to figure out. And was that even there before?

Yeah, I had other shit on my mind earlier, and who really pays attention to trees? But this one was massive. I ran up to the side and there it was: a small, wooden door on the ground below it, like one of those old cellar doors that houses used to have that led into their basements.

I looked around and behind my back, and I wasn't even sure why I did. I just had one of those feelings. Shaking it off, I yanked on the handle. The rusted hinges groaned in protest, but after a few hard pulls, it gave way and revealed the darkness below. With a heavy sigh, I slowly made my way down.

Jesus, it was dark. But soon, I was hit with a smell that put the darkness to shame. It was like burnt hair covered in shit and mold. I could almost taste that fucking stench. I got my phone out and turned it to the highest brightness. It wasn't much, but I was at least able to see the surrounding walls.

Looking around in the dim light, I noticed something strange. I hadn't been in too many underground tunnels, to be fair, but I assumed the walls would be dirt, mud, or something like that. I couldn't quite see what it was, but it wasn't anything manmade; it wasn't dirt either.

Curiosity got the better of me, and with my phone outstretched, I went up to one of the side walls. I had to get close to see it, with the phone almost touching the wall. My eyes grew wide.

"No... It can't be..."

With my other hand, I prodded at the wall. It gave a bit, but it was solid. I was reminded of the smell, and now I knew its origin. It was flesh. The walls of the tunnel were covered in burnt skin.

I moved the phone a few inches and followed the light. I saw areas where different skins were sewn together with some rough metallic string, almost like copper wire. One section made my stomach turn over on itself. It was a face. A human face, stretched out and elongated, with the eyes and mouth sewn shut. The nose was removed, and the hole that was left behind was sutured as well. Maybe it was the smell or the sight of this, but I couldn't take it.

With a lurch, I turned to the side and vomited on the ground.

The tunnel went on for ages. What was most likely only seconds felt like minutes, but I had to get inside and save Maggie. Nothing else mattered. Peter was my old friend, but if it came down to it, Maggie would be the first to save. Peter could rot in there if need be. Then again, he was the one person that told me about this path.

My mental debate ceased after I felt something touch me from behind. With a start, I spun around, and I was face to face with nothing. Confused, I brought my phone up and reached out into the blackness.

Nothing. Nothing, except a wall. A wall that wasn't there two minutes ago, stinking and covered in flesh. I screamed and pounded on the wall in front of me, and it gave only slightly. That's when I realized that the hall was shrinking, trapping me in as I walked. It hit me like a train. I was in the service tunnel, but I was in the House.

It had me and there was no going back. The House was pulling me in, and it was glad to see me.

Earlier, this may have fazed me more than it did at that moment. But there, in that hell of a tunnel, I barely flinched. I had seen what this place was capable of, and I had witnessed some of the most sanity-testing experiences imaginable. I'd seen it all, or at least I thought.

As I walked, I could now hear the tunnel shrinking in from behind. The grinding, sloshing noise of flesh twisting on itself to seal me in made me feel sick again, but I only sped up my walking. After a moment, I heard something that made me stop dead in my tracks. It was a voice. A girl's voice, but it wasn't Maggie's.

"Why did you come back? Why did you come back?!"

I stood there frozen. The voice seemed to come from every direction.

"Why did you come back?! WHY?!"

The screaming was getting closer and I braced myself against the back wall. Soon I heard the thudding footsteps of someone running towards me. And then I saw her. A girl no older than thirteen ran up to me, yelling her constant question. I was too stunned to react, short of just standing there. The girl ran up to me and began to pound on my chest with her fists, hard at first, but then weakening; like a spoiled girl hitting the ground when she doesn't get her way.

"Why, David...? Why did you come back...?"

The girl slumped to her knees in front of me, with one final hit against my leg. I stood there in shock, hands slightly raised and tense. My fear began to ease out of me. She clearly wasn't a threat and didn't seem to be a ghost or anything.

"Hey," I began, "It's alright. Who are you?"

The girl jumped slightly at my words. Slowly she lifted her head to look at me. My heart sank as I saw her face. For sure, it wasn't Maggie. It wasn't anyone I knew.

"You came back to save us... didn't you?"

The girl stood up and brushed her hair out of her face. For some reason, even taking into consideration how terrifying she should have been to me, there was something oddly... normal about the girl. She had shoulder-length brown hair, she was skinny as a rail with a few specs of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Even her clothes could've been found in any store: black tank top and jeans tucked into black boots. She was older than I first thought as well. Probably closer to sixteen - if she even had an age. A hum from behind startled us both and dragged me back into my current situation.

"We have to go," she said. "Now!"

The girl grabbed my hand and took off. Surprised, I followed and nearly dropped my phone. I tried to hold it up as far as I could to light the way. The hum from behind was getting louder as we approached the first fork in the tunnel.

Without hesitation, the girl veered us over to the right. Clearly, she knew where she was going and I wasn't about to argue. After a moment, the humming stopped, and we stood in front of a ladder leading up into the darkness.

"Just up here!" And the girl began to climb the ladder before us. I snapped back into reality, and I was incredibly confused.

"Wait!"

The girl stopped mid-climb and looked over her shoulder.

"Look, I know this is weird-"

"No. No, I know what weird is. I've seen weird. Who are you?"

"I'll explain soon, okay? We just really need to get out of here. No one is supposed to be here and we... well, we are. So--" And with that, the girl returned to her climb.

I was about to retort, but the hum from behind grew louder. Survival outweighed understanding at that point, so I grabbed the ladder and followed the girl, leaving that tunnel for hopefully the last time.

The ladder led us to an empty room. It almost looked like a huge broom closet. A few scattered buckets and mops lined the walls, but for being a part of the House, it was very unassuming. The girl next to me shook herself off and extended her hand to me. Her mood swings were clearly something to be impressed with, so I reluctantly took her hand and shook it.

"You're probably wondering who I am, and how I know you." The girl didn't even wait for me to respond. "My name is Natalie, and this is sort of my house."

"What are you talking about? How is this your house? This fucking place is your house?"

"I know, I know, but you have to understand what happened. It wasn't always like this, it--"

"And what the hell was that thing down there? With the walls?"

"Yes, I know! This is all a part of it. It all relates, just let me explain." Natalie paused and looked at me. I closed my mouth and looked back at her, letting her know she was now free to talk without interruption.

"This is my house. I know it may seem like Hell right now, and you're right. It is. My family dealt in some weird stuff. We moved into this house about ten years ago, and it was nice; a small, quaint place... The problem is, my family, we... can do things. But some of us, like my brother, took it a bit too far. He started to mess with some dark shit. What my brother dealt with was far worse. My family would try and tell him to end it, but Peter was never one to listen to reason."

"Whoa, whoa...Peter Terry is your brother...?" What she said circled through my head, but I wasn't ready to accept it. Peter's been my friend for years... Or so I thought.

"What the fuck did he do?!"

"This one night, seven years ago, my brother took it too far. Nothing he had originally was enough for him anymore. He needed more. We asked him why he was so obsessed with all of this, and he would only respond by asking, 'Why not?' What happened over the next few nights... it's hard to talk about..."

Even in the darkened room, I could tell this memory was really painful for her. All of this--this hell--was because of her brother, my friend. I realized that this girl was just as much of a prisoner as I was.

"Alright," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Then let's get you out of here."

"No. This is my house. I need to get it back from Peter. I'm not leaving it."

I thought for a moment, then met eyes with Natalie again.

"Okay. If you can help me find Maggie, my girlfriend, and get us out of here, I'll help you get this house back."

I took a look at my surroundings. My heart jumped slightly as I glanced around. Aside from the hatch in the floor we just entered through, there was no other exit. Just smooth cement walls.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked her, hoping to God she had some idea.

"Yeah, of course," she said, with a bit too much hesitation for my liking. "It's my house, isn't it?"

And with that, she made her way over to one of the far walls. The surface of the wall was just smooth, brushed, gray cement. There was no way through; no door, nothing.

Natalie reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to be a small piece of artist's charcoal. She pressed it to the wall and began to draw a long, swooping line about three feet in length.

Line after line followed, and I watched in awe as Natalie stood back and admired her work. What she'd drawn was a crude and somehow accurate drawing of a door. In the direct middle was a single line. Natalie placed the charcoal back into her pocket and ran her fingers through her hair.

After a moment of silence, she raised her hand and placed her right palm against the symbol, resting two fingers against her temple with the other. At first, I thought she was speaking to me but then I realized that she was chanting in some kind of weird language.

Soon, the symbol began to vibrate, and I watched on as it began to steadily glow a deep purple. Natalie smiled to herself as she felt the wall shake before it split in two.

"I've always loved doing that."

## Return to NoEnd by Goldc01n and Barnabas Deimos

The wall slid closed behind me and Natalie. The wall was smooth. Perfectly smooth as if the doorway was never there before. Ahead of us was another room. It was empty, old, and dusty.

"Where are we?"

"Room one. I can't get us into the Management room directly and this is the fastest way through," Natalie responded.

She walked further into the room towards the door on the opposite side. She moved fearlessly ahead. I couldn't help but feel like she knew something that I didn't. It was a good feeling, though. Knowing that she wasn't afraid of the House helped me keep the fear under control.

"This can't be room one," I said. "Room one was filled with shitty Halloween decorations."

"Room one is always filled with decorations. It's how the House plays with you. It knows what you're not afraid of."

"But there's nothing here."

"This is MY room one," she said. "I've never had a Halloween."

I didn't say anything to her after that, but I definitely questioned how the fuck could no one have a Halloween. Maybe it's that family she talked about? Maybe they never celebrated. Either way, if she knew the House, what other option did I have but to follow? She placed her hand on the doorknob and walked through the door labeled '2'.

Room two was the same size as room one, but it was filled with playground equipment. Natalie's stride never broke. She continued deeper into the room while I followed at a steady pace. I couldn't help but look in awe at the slides and swings we passed along the way. This was so different from my room two. No paper ghosts or smoke machines; it was almost eerie. If I hadn't spent so much time in the House already, I would have been shocked.

At some point, I must have been lost in my thoughts for a while, staring at the golden 3 that was screwed into the brown wooden door in front of me. I had to catch myself from bashing my head into it and giving myself a bloody nose. I must have zoned out. I looked back at Natalie still coming through the room, looking at the swings as she went by. I could've sworn she was ahead of me a moment ago. Out of instinct, I reached for the knob.

"WAIT!"

In the last split second, I turned my head back to see as Natalie reached out to me before my hand touched the knob for room three.

Instantly, the room went black. My hand grasped nothing. I felt around in front of me frantically, trying to find the door that I knew I was standing in front of just a moment earlier. I found nothing. Just blackness and silence.

Goddammit! I was in the blackness again! That fucking blackness that was my room four must be Natalie's room three. I felt the panic rising in me again. All confidence from watching Natalie earlier was gone. I outstretched my arms in all directions trying to find a wall or a door.

"Natalie?! Where are you?" I called out into the darkness.

No response. She had to be in this room, just not around me.

"Natalie?"

Then I heard something... the hum.

That fucking hum was back. It was soft again and started to build. The panic returned. The House knew that this was the worst thing it could give me, and it was torturing me with it again. I started moving. If I kept going in one direction, I'd have to find a wall. Even if it's not the door, I could follow the wall until I found a way out. I must have been moving faster than I thought. I crashed into something hard. It shook and fell over. It startled me, but I knew that it couldn't've been a person. The last time I was in this room, I knew that I was alone, but this time I knew something had to be here.

Suddenly, a flash showed up, flooding the room with temporary light. It was a stool. And what rolled off of it was a flashlight. No, that couldn't be it. Why? Before I had a chance to look for the exit, the lights went out again and I was back in blackness. I dropped to my hands and knees, searching where the afterimage of the flashlight still was.

I remembered that I still had the phone. I prayed that the light hadn't broken when it fell. Thank God it still worked. The beam nearly illuminated the whole room with the light and directly ahead of me was a handwritten 4 in black sharpie on a glass door.

Thanks to the light, I noticed a tag on the flashlight.

"To David.

With love from Management."

The fucker was toying with me, wasn't he? But this time I'm with... I searched the room again. Natalie was nowhere to be found. All 4 walls, the door, and no Natalie... Reluctantly, I continued to the door. If Natalie was still in the House with me. I'd find her again. The glass door was so fogged up, I couldn't see through it, but whatever was on the other side radiated cold. I opened the door and stepped in.

Room four didn't require the flashlight. It was cold, that's for damn sure, but it wasn't dark.

It was a well-lit meat locker. Row after row of cow and pig carcasses hung in all directions. Whomever this was intended to feed, they must have had one hell of an appetite. The chill made it hard to stay still for long. I rubbed my hands over my exposed arms and moved one of the meat slabs to the side, looking beyond. More meat.

I continued deeper...and even more meat still. I moved further on in silence, passing by the carcasses of every noticeable animal the further that I went. I soon found that my hands and clothes were sticky and red with the blood of the hanging beasts of all different shapes and sizes. To make things even more confusing, I began to see animals I didn't recognize: creatures with more than 4 legs which didn't seem possible to me.

Finally, I came across one that I did recognize. I was expecting to see this from the moment I entered the meat locker, but that didn't save my stomach from turning at the sight.

A human body, skinned and decapitated, hung in my way.

I tried not to look and walked past. It was disgusting. More and more bodies hung from the ceiling closer together, and to make matters worse, the temperature was starting to rise. The nausea from seeing the bodies was suffocating enough, but the air became thick with the stench of wet rot. The bodies were squeezing me enough to almost raise me off the ground while pushing my way through. The frozen meat had become soft and squishy. Pulling off chunks as I pushed my way through, I coughed and held my hand over my face to keep myself from vomiting. Little help that did, I just ended up covering myself in more blood.

I couldn't go on. I couldn't move; I was going to die here, drowned in blood and bodies. I reached my arm deeper into the bodies and rested my head on a blood-soaked rib cage, suspended in the air drawing in breath as much as I could through my mouth to save myself from the smell. The coppery taste of blood on my tongue and the stench that filled my nose smothered me. I was starting to lose consciousness.

Something grabbed me. I was going to recoil my arm, but I couldn't. The hand had grabbed me tightly along my forearm. I was pulled back to the hand's origin, out of the bodies, and into Room 5.

I found Natalie looking down at me. I was sitting at the base of the door as a dark blue light illuminated Natalie's look of anger. I could breathe again. Natalie was back. Finally, my panic began to subside.

"Don't you ever touch a door without me!"

"You could've said something beforehand. This isn't my house! I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to get my girlfriend and get out of-"

I stopped when I heard a vibration from my pocket. I pulled out my phone to find another text from Peter.

"Don't trust her."

Natalie looked down at my phone and snatched it out of my hand. She angrily pointed the phone at me accusatively.

"Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?! You're talking with Peter?! Do you know what this is?! This is the House! Phones can't work here! You are talking to the House! You don't trust me?! I've told you everything about this house, I led you back and you don't trust me?!"

"He just sent that to me! Don't fucking accuse me of anything!"

I gruffly snatched my phone back from her hand and shoved it back into my pocket. I pushed her to the side and moved into the room. I hadn't been taken in the room until this point, but the blue lights finally made sense.

We were at an indoor pool, lit around the edges by submerged lights.

"What is this?"

"My room 5."

We walked over to the pool and looked in. I could see the bottom with a lit-up '6'. Next to the water's edge was a yellow scuba tank. Just one. I knelt beside it as she dipped her fingers into the water to test it. She didn't recoil or scream, so as far as I could tell, the water was safe enough.

I inspected the tank. As expected, there was another note.

"With love, From Management"

Fucking Management. Was it Peter that was giving me these things? If it was, why? Why help me? I ripped off the tag, placed it in my pocket, and picked up the tank. I handed it to Natalie.

"We're going to have to share."

"Can you trust me with it? I want my house back, David. I want to control this house... Can you trust me more than Peter?"

I did not look away from her. I had no idea why she would want this house, but I needed her. I shook my hand for her to take the tank from me. She did and fixed the rebreather into her mouth.

She entered the water.

I needed her. I didn't trust her.

I followed her, not far behind.

Two things became apparent when we entered the water. The lights on the 6 at the bottom of the pool were off as soon as we entered. The water was surprisingly warm. If I didn't feel like my life was in danger, I might've actually enjoyed the swim.

We dove down and it quickly became evident that the 6 at the bottom did not signify 6 feet. The bottom seemed to almost drop away. We swam down, taking a break every so often to breathe from Natalie's rebreather. The pressure grew stronger as we descended, and the lights began to fade.

After a few moments, it felt like I could've sworn I saw a fish swimming around. It became so dark. I searched my body and found the flashlight I was still holding from Room 3. It couldn't hurt to try, and a beam of light shot out into the darkness of the water. I took another hit of fresh air from Natalie's rebreather. I saw her looking at the light and back up at me. Her expression told me that we would be having another heated conversation about the flashlight when we got out of the water.

I pointed it downward. Still no bottom. We pressed on downward, and I felt a current of motion in the water above me. I turned the flashlight upward and searched the water. By that point, there was nothing around, the water was pitch-black in all directions and I couldn't even see the surface anymore.

I looked back towards Natalie who looked at me confused. I thought I was hallucinating for a moment, but I was still on high alert when we dove downward. The House was getting to me, and I was jumpy. The current changed again and this time, I could feel it closer. I swam close to Natalie to take another breath from the O2 tank and pointed the flashlight in all directions to check again. Still nothing but blackness.

Her hand rested on my wrist and she looked at me concerned. I tried to communicate with her, but it was impossible to talk underwater.

How do you say "I think there's a lake monster in here" without words?

Suddenly, her grip tightened, and her body thrashed about. The rebreather dropped from my mouth when I grabbed her hand. Her eyes were wide with panic as she looked down at her leg. Something was there. Like a monstrous deep-sea fish. I couldn't see it clearly and I couldn't point the light directly at it with all the thrashing. I couldn't let her go. I needed her. She needed to get me to the end of the House.

She opened her mouth to scream but only bubbles escaped in the pressure underwater. She needed the O2 tank or she'd drown, but there was too much going on to think how to fix it.

It happened so fast, I couldn't put it all together. Her grip loosened and she was gone in an instant into the black water. I pointed the flashlight in the direction she went in, but there was nothing.

She was gone, but the oxygen was gone as well, and the panic was setting in. My chest started to burn. Finally, I looked down... I was at the bottom, and below me was a large white 6 painted perfectly on a sheet of glass. It was right here, but that was impossible. With all the thrashing, I should have been ascending, not descending...but it was the bottom, nonetheless. I looked upward again, trying to find Natalie. I couldn't continue without her, but time was running out and the depth's pressure was pushing precious oxygen out of my lungs.

I turned back to the glass and bashed it with the flashlight. Nothing. Shit! I had to get through this! How was I supposed to when I was underwater?!

I bashed it again as hard I could with the water resistance holding me back. A crack. Thank God, a fucking crack! I wheeled back again, but my body betrayed me, and I took in a short inhale of water. I choked and held a hand over my nose and mouth. This can't be happening, there was nowhere else to go and I couldn't go back up. The crack grew below me. I kicked at it as hard as I could and I flooded into room 6. For some reason, I was completely dry, but I was coughing water out of my lungs and gasping for precious air.

I was on my hands and knees, crying and coughing. I fell to my side. I didn't want to continue. I'd already gone through this hell once, what the hell was I doing here again? What could be worse than this fucking torture?

"You've been cheating."

The first time I heard that voice, I nearly jumped out of my skin...but this time I remembered her. And just like last time, she wasn't going to let me pass out.

I caught my breath and I stood up to face her. Just like before, the girl and the beast consumed the same space. I couldn't keep looking at her for long, but I did what I could to not show how much my head throbbed from looking at them.

"You can't have a partner. That's cheating, you know."

"Is she alive?"

"Is who alive? Maggie doesn't like this new girl."

That struck a nerve. Maggie was here. She knew it. I was getting closer.

"How do you know Maggie? Is she here? Do you know where she is?!"

"...Who's Maggie?"

"STOP FUCKING WITH ME! Fuck this house, fuck Peter, and fuck whatever the hell you are!! Give me Maggie and get me the fuck out of here!"

"Fine."

This time she didn't sound like the little girl. This time she sounded like Maggie. That was the last straw.

"Oh, fuck you..."

I turned my back. I was about to move on. I ran my hands over the wall looking for the door. What did I have to do this time? I slammed my fist against the wall, searching for a hollow point with no result. It was solid. Did I need to scratch the 7 into the door again? I took my nail and started to trace the shape of the 7 into the paint.

"That's not going to work," she said in Maggie's voice.

I spun around to look the little girl in the face and tell her to shut her goddamn mouth, but I was nearly speechless to find Maggie standing before me. She couldn't be real. She couldn't be there. Nonetheless, I was fighting back happy tears and the urge to run to her and hold her in my arms again.

"Maggie...? Is this really you, or is this the House? I have to know."

"It's fine. I understand... You want Natalie back, right? Is she your new girlfriend, David?"

"No, it's not like that. She's helping me rescue you."

"Wasn't that your fault, though? Didn't YOU lead me to this house?"

"No, Maggie. I didn't want you to come here. I was just trying to make some quick cash!"

"No, I think you were fucking a girl behind my back! I think you TOLD Peter to bring me here! I think you wanted me out of the way." Maggie's hand slid from behind her back holding a surgical scalpel.

"Maggie this is crazy! Why would I kill you!? Calm down!"

"NO! I'm done with your lying and your bullshit! I'm done with you."

"Maggie. Stop... the House is fucking with us, okay? This isn't you. I swear to God, this isn't you and whatever you were seeing, it wasn't me!"

"No, David..."

She pointed the knife at herself and raised her hand into the air. The light from the one lightbulb shining above her gleamed off the blade. My hand came up from my side. This isn't real. I swear, this has to just be the House fucking with me. She wouldn't say this. She couldn't do this!

"THIS is real!"

I screamed louder than I've ever screamed as she plunged the knife into her chest. I watched it unfold in front of me like a horror movie. She stared me right in the eyes and covered her body in blood. She thrust the scalpel into her chest and throat; over and over again.

She fell to the floor in a heap. I still stood there, screaming. If this was real like she said, what had I done?! When my throat was finally hoarse from screaming, I dropped to her side and held her.

Tears were running down my face, and all I could say was "I'm sorry," continuously. As much as I wanted to believe that this was the House playing with me, I couldn't help it. She looked just like Maggie. I loved this girl. And now...

I looked over her wounds... Her cuts formed a 7 in her chest... If the House could laugh at me, I'm sure it would've. The tears stopped. My body shook. I wanted to scream and cry... and burn this goddamn house to the ground. I placed my hand on the scalpel that was still sticking out of the 7 in this Maggie's chest... and pulled.

I was outside. Room 7 is always outside.

I sat in front of the NoEnd House, but somehow, I knew I was still inside. I looked around as though I were a living dead. I was just holding my dead girlfriend. I was just there watching her yell at me, watching her break, and watching her commit suicide.

The House was going too far. It was too much. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't anymore. I wanted out.

I sensed a vibration in my pocket again. I was shocked that my phone was still working after swimming in that pool for so long, but then again, I ended up getting out of room 5 without a drop of water on me. It was from Peter.

"David, you have to go home."

"Peter! What the fuck is going on?!"

"I'm in the House and this girl said you're the one running it!"

"She's not wrong and she's not right."

"Go home, David."

"I can't. I'm back in the House already."

"No. You're outside."

"Go home."

"Fuck you!"

I put the phone back in my pocket and pulled out my keys. He's told me all I need to know. If I was outside, if I was REALLY outside, I would go to the police. I'd contact anyone that could help me. We'd tear the House down brick by brick if we had to get Maggie out.

I started up my car and backed away from the House. Finally, I didn't know if it was real or not, but it felt good to at least watch the House fade into the darkness behind my car as I traveled down the dirt road. Ten minutes later, I was finally back into town and parked my car next to the police station.

I turned off the car and rested my head on the steering wheel. A sigh escaped my lips.

"Please be real," I whispered to myself. And if it was, it felt like years since I had spoken to another human being who wasn't involved with this house. I prepped myself as much as I could and got out of the car.

A small stoop sat before the police station and I hopped up the steps quick, only to come to a sight that I dreaded to see. Across both of the doors of the police station, in black paint, was spray-painted a large 8. I shook my head in disbelief. I knew that I was still in the House, but it knew that I would come here.

That was insane! Peter just told me that I was outside! He WAS fucking with me! He WAS running things here! I pulled my phone from my pocket. No new text messages. I dialed 911 and placed the phone to my ear. If I couldn't go in, maybe I could call someone to come out. But someone else picked up.

"David... Go home and forget about the House."

I dropped my phone. That was Peter's voice. This was the House! This was the fucking House again! I ran back down the stairs and got back into my car.

I started it up and drove. I had no idea where I was going or where I COULD go to. I just drove. Every store, every home, every fucking mailbox I passed; 8!

8s were on everything and on every street. No matter where I looked, there was the door to the next room! I couldn't enjoy being out of the House. I couldn't get help, I was helplessly trapped in the NoEnd House.

I made it home. I don't know how or why I drove home. I didn't think I was driving home... but I was parked in my driveway again. The door of my car creaked open and I looked up at my door. There was no 8. Closer and closer I came to it, but not one 8 this time. My neighbors all had 8s, but my door... my door had a glowing green exit sign above it like one would see in the halls of a school.

The House had to be lying to me. This couldn't be a real exit... but if Peter was the Management, maybe he really wanted me out of the House. Maybe I was too close, and he knew that I was...

Freedom was right here...and all I had to do was walk out. My breathing was so heavy. How was I supposed to know what was the right thing to do here anymore? My hand moved to the doorknob of the exit. Why was I even there anymore? Why not risk the exit?

I was interrupted by another vibration. Another text.

"Maggie's dead. Forget about her and move on."

I looked at the illuminated screen... Maggie...

"Didn't I drop my phone at the police station?" I thought.

I took my hand away from the doorknob. The humming was back. The house was pushing me to leave. The Management wanted me to leave. That means... Maggie couldn't be dead. She was here and she needed me. We were going to get out of here together.

I took a step back away from my door and walked down the steps of my house. I ran up to my neighbor's door and opened it. I entered room 8.

I was in that room again. One chair, one light. The door behind me was gone again. I didn't have to turn to know that, but my eyes didn't leave what was in front of me. Peter sat on the chair before me. He looked like he always did. He just sat there in his T-shirt and jeans, looking me right in the eyes. He stood up and glared at me as if he was disappointed. I continued to look on at him. He did all of this to me. To us.

"Was it worth another five hundred dollars, David? Killing Natalie? Killing Maggie?"

"What? Me?"

Was this guy serious? Was he blaming me for all this? He got me involved! He was the one running this fucking house and he was blaming me for all my torture?

"Are you real, Peter?"

"Am I real... Was Natalie real? Or was it just the House pushing you further? Because you wanted to go through the service entrance, you wanted to cheat and make your way in and back out again easily."

"Stop it! I didn't do anything!"

"That's not how the NoEnd House works, David. You know that, right?"

"I'm doing the right thing here! I'm trying to get Maggie out!"

"All actions have consequences, David! This is your fault!"

"Peter, I don't care about what kind of shit you're wrapped up in, man! You and your family can be witches, vampires, werewolves, or whatever the fuck, I don't care! I want out! I just want Maggie and get out of here!"

"You killed them, David. Their blood is on your hands. You had your chance to get out and you didn't take it. And now the only way--"

BANG!

Chunks of Peter's brain splattered all over the floor, and there was a large hole through his left eye. He fell to the floor in front of me.

Two. I watched two of the closest people to me die today.

I had nothing to say. I just looked at his body as blood pooled around him on the floor from the gaping wound in his head. Natalie stood behind him with a smoking pistol in her hand. She was soaking wet and limped towards me. She was furious and exhausted.

The House was really playing tricks on my mind for the past few rooms, but whatever she had been through was far more physically taxing. Tears welled up.

I wanted to ask why we couldn't have let him live. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"HE was the door!" she said, reading my expression. I turned to the direction she was gesturing and there was the large, golden 9 screwed to an oak door.

"He's not the real Peter! The real Peter is the Management. He was probably going to talk you into killing yourself with this!"

She tossed the pistol toward me and I caught it. The barrel was still warm from the bullet she had fired. That Peter's body disappeared, as well as the blood and the brain matter. I carefully examined the gun only to find another note.

"Don't be afraid. With love, Management"

"'With love'? Want to explain something to me about your relationship with Peter?"

I swallowed hard. This wasn't like last time; Management was helping me. Something changed.

"No, I wouldn't. You want to explain where you went to?"

"You mean after you abandoned me?"

"Look, I just want Maggie and to get out of the House. Whatever happened to you, I thought you were dead."

She stared at me with anger in her eyes, and I stared right back without blinking. I didn't give a shit where she'd been. I was at room 9, and she had done what she needed to.

"...Just get me my fucking house back and get out!"

We walked into the lobby. On the table again was a letter that read "Congratulations", but we didn't take the exit. We walked right past the front desk and to the door to room '1', which now had a metal plaque that read "MANAGEMENT". The door opened with a click and we stepped into the room.

In the center of the room was a desk. The walls surrounding it had large windows showing the outside of the House. And sitting behind the desk... was Maggie. On her chest was pinned a nametag that said "MANAGEMENT".

"Is that her...? The real her?"

Natalie shook her head in disbelief. I ran to Maggie's side. I grabbed ahold of her shoulders and turned her towards me. She was in some kind of trance. She just stared straight ahead. I shook her a bit, trying to break her free.

"Maggie...? Maggie, are you alright? Please... Please be okay..."

I grabbed ahold of that accursed 'Management' pin and threw it carelessly on the floor. I wanted the House to be as far away from us as possible.

Finally, she regained focus. As she was coming to, I knelt next to her and looked into her eyes, brushing the hair out of her face so she could see me clearly.

"Maggie, it's alright, I've got you now. We can go home."

"No! Not real! NOT REAL!"

She was hysterical. She clawed and punched herself away from me. She cowered into the corner screaming.

"Maggie, it's me! I swear, it's me!"

I was confused. I looked back at Natalie... There was something wrong. Natalie bent down and picked up the pin that I had thrown. She turned it over in her hands, eying it like it was solid gold. She slowly turned to Maggie.

"You didn't... I don't believe it, you actually killed him? You're the new Management?"

I looked back to Maggie sobbing in the corner and looking towards the windows. My hand moved over the tag on the gun again. She was Management?

Maggie must've seen me leave the House. She saw me use the service entrance. How I entered room one. Diving into the pool. Driving to my house. How I waivered and came back for her. She watched the false Peter die. She watched me walk into the Management office. She saw me reach for her.

Maggie's tears ran down her face and she looked back towards me, screaming and scratching at my arm.

"You're not real! You're not real!"

I pulled my arm back before she could mess me up further.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She broke. The House wins. That's what always happens. The House wins. She was never ready to power the House. Peter couldn't either. Not like I could."

Natalie slowly pinned the badge to her chest and smiled.

"Peter was right. He was right all this time... the power in this House it's... intoxicating! This is my house!"

"You have your house back! You can fix her! You have what you want, now give me what I want! Let me and Maggie escape! I helped you, help me!"

"You want to get out? Okay."

Natalie raised her hand and pointed in Maggie's direction. Maggie screamed and clutched her head. She looked back up at me, and I was horrified to see the word "Exit" scratched into the skin of her forehead.

"No... You can't do that!"

"If you want out of the House, this is the only way. You know the rules. You face a trial to go through the door. This is your trial. Shoot her, David. Set her free and get out of my house!"

"I won't do that! This isn't fair!"

"When has this house been fair? If you want out, then open the door. Do you really want to leave with her like this? Erratic? Crazy? Suffering? She could never have a normal life again, David!"

I couldn't do that to her... Maggie was sobbing, and I was holding the pistol in my hand. The weight of the gun became greater with each second. My grip on the gun tightened and I aimed the barrel at Natalie.

"Let us out, or I'll kill you!"

Natalie smiled mockingly at me.

"And then you'll be Management! You aren't special, David. Not like me, not even like Peter. And then YOU will be trapped here forever, with her. The House will make you just as crazy as that little bitch of yours... Leave, David. How long do you think you've been in the House? I'm sure you want a way out as badly as she does, and she's practically begging you to kill her! There's nothing for you here. There's nothing for HER here. Kill her, David. End her suffering. She needs it."

Natalie can't be right. There must be another way out of here! I looked at the windows. They led to outside, didn't they? The doorway I came through must have been locked, but I could break the windows. I knew I could get out of here.

I moved my hand to point the gun at the windows, but I couldn't stop myself; the gun pointed directly at Maggie. I pulled my arm in the other direction...and my body betrayed me again. The gun was pointed at Natalie. The House had control over me... It was making me choose.

She was right. I only had one choice left... I lowered the gun to my side.

"I'm sorry, Maggie... I'm so sorry!"

"You're doing the right thing, David."

...

BANG!

...

I'm sorry Maggie... I'm so sorry... But now... now that I'm Management... we don't have to be apart anymore. We can be together... forever.