THE STAIRCASE CODE: Through theMirror Darkly

I ran forward regardless.

When did the hallway get so long?

The stairway that I could have gotten to in a minute, now I couldn't get there in almost ten minutes.

I accelerated my steps forward, my forehead covered in a fine cold sweat.

Just at this time, I heard a 「creak」.

The door on the side beside me opened.

The door number 1407 was on the door.

A middle-aged man lived in 1407.

I remembered that he had lived here since I was a child.

I had escaped when my father violently beat me while my brother was away.

I subconsciously turned to my neighbor for help, frantically banging on the door of 1407, begging him to save me and open the door to let me in.

He did open the door.

But he didn't let me in.

Instead, he stood behind the door with a smile on his face and watched me being dragged away by my father.

It wasn't until he passed away last year.

This nightmare was not completely removed from my memories.

My heart was beating extremely fast.

Reason tells me I need to get out of here now.

But my feet became extraordinarily stiff.

The door of 1407 was pitch black.

Dark, like a black hole.

A dry, white hand reached out from the darkness and rested on the doorway.

The hand was covered with brown spots.

This hand is very familiar to me.

But that man had clearly died last year.

He died of gas poisoning.

I saw the man's body when it was brought out.

I'll never forget his blue face and bulging eyes.

「Lucy, run!」

I screamed desperately in my heart.

But it was as if my feet were frozen in place.

Fear prevented me from moving.

In the darkness, a face slowly peeked out.

I trembled uncontrollably.

It was the ironic face that belonged to someone who was already dead, and the bulging eyeballs.

The man grinned a smile at me.

As he had that afternoon, he opened the door and smiled as he watched me being dragged away by my father.

The scream clogged the back of my throat.

The man made a hoarse, eerie sound

「Now, do you still want to come in?」

I shook my head desperately.

That's when I heard the sound of the door opening from behind me.

「Lucy, little bitch!」

My father's raspy voice rang out from behind me.

My heart sank hard.

All that rule said was that they couldn't come out for a while.

But now, he could come out.

「Lucy, you've been very disobedient, daddy is going to punish you.」

Father's voice carried a strange excitement.

「Now, you can come in.」

And the man standing behind the door gave me an exaggeratedly stiff smile.

It was as if everything had gone back to that afternoon when I was thirteen.

That fear of being dragged wrapped itself around my entire body once again.

Tears flowed involuntarily down my face.

At that moment, I heard my brother's voice.

「Lucy, move forward.」

The voice was like a beam of light breaking through the darkness.

I felt my feet could move.