Short Story: The Purple Door
Blood dripped down the staircase and made a pool on the carpeted floor.
My ears rang with faint buzzing, and I blinked to clear my blurred vision. My head felt like it was being weighed down by a brick.
“Natalia.”
I whirled around at the faint whisper.
“Hello? Is anybody here?”
Nothing.
I walked down the narrow hallway. Bloodied handprints stained the ivory walls.
“Natalia.”
I turned around again. My heart thudded so loud I was afraid it’d summersault right out of my chest.
I sucked in a breath and coughed at the dust that lingered in the air.
The buzzing sound grew louder as I walked towards the purple door.
“NATALIA!”
My eyes flew open, and I gasped in a lungful of air.
My gaze darted to my brother sitting beside my bed.
“What happened?”
Chase shrugged. “You were mumbling again.”
I growled under my breath. “You didn’t get any of it?”
Aaliyah grimaced and shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry. But do you remember anything this time?”
I huffed out a breath and slumped back down. “Slightly. I was in the hallway-“
“As always.” Chase cut in.
I exhaled. “Yes, as always. But this time I got so close to the purple door, it was within my reach. But then…”
“You woke up.” Aaliyah sighed. “This has happened so many times now. That thing keeps forcing you out.”
“I know.” I groaned. “Right. Again then.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Nat,” Chase said cautiously.
I fixed the needle in my arm. “I know that it’s not, bro. But I’ve run out of options. Look at what I did last time.
My brother shook his head and a frown formed between his brows. “You know I don’t blame you for what you did. I blame that-that thing.”
“Exactly. Which is why I need to go back in there. I need to find out about this thing and why it is targeting me. If delving into my subconscious or this dream world is going to help me figure this out then yeah, I’m going back in.” I claimed and turned to face Aaliyah. “Come on, Allie, back me up here.”
A look of confliction passed in her hazel eyes. Aaliyah sighed at my stubbornness and injected the anaesthetic into the IV pack again.
She shrugged a shoulder at Chase. “Sorry babe, I’m with Nat on this.”
My head fell back against the pillow, and a lazy smile played on my lips. “That’s what you get for dating my best friend.”
As my eyes grew heavy, I noticed Chase shake his head at me.
“Remember,” I warned and they both stared at me. “Don’t wake me up.”
I was in the hallway. Again. As always.
My eyes flickered over the blood on the floor, the handprints, the thin crack on the wall.
I made sure to side-step the creaky floorboard on my left as I made my way towards the purple door.
The familiar and hasty whispers engulfed me and made my ears ring. As I placed my hand on the door handle, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Goosebumps rose along my arms.
It is there. On the other side of this door.
The thing that terrorized me and made me do – things.
Terrible things.
My brother cowering away from me in fear and clutching his bloodied arm flashed in my mind. The caution and terror in Chase’s eyes never went away since then, and if I focused enough, I could feel the weight of the kitchen knife in my right hand.
I shook my head.
Now is not the time.
It is behind this damn purple door.
I pressed down on the door, handle and pushed.
My brows furrowed and I rattled the handle. It didn’t open.
My teeth clenched, and I rammed my shoulder against the door.
“Natalia.”
I jumped at the whispered voice.
My body stilled at the feeling of the cold breath, hitting my ear.
It is behind me.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t will myself to move. Fear gnawed in my stomach and spread throughout my body. My fingers trembled around the door handle.
No. No. I brought myself here. I am in control.
I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled a breath. When I opened my eyes again, my gaze lowered to my hand and the corner of my mouth lifted. A knife sat in my hand, waiting to be used.
I whirled around, knife raised, heart hammering, ready to face this horrendous being.
I faced nothing.
Just the same old staircase that led nowhere. Literally nowhere. The first time I arrived here, I went straight up. Right to the top of the steps where there was nothing. Merely a white void that I was definitely not stepping into.
The subtle click of a lock made me turn around. The purple door swung open soundlessly, inviting me in.
My right foot hovered over the threshold, and I swallowed a nervous lump of nothing.
I stepped inside, and the brightness of the room overwhelmed my eyes so much that I instinctively squeezed them shut.
“Natalia.”
My eyes snapped open, and I glanced around the room in search of the whispered voice. There was nothing here. Just like the void at the top of the staircase.
“Natalia.”
A piercing pain submerged my head, starting from my right temple and spreading all over. My hands clutched my head, and I frantically looked around. The brightness made my eyes water.
The same feeling of being watched, of being here in Its presence engulfed me. My knees shook, and I yanked on my hair.
“What do you want?” I yelled.
The hushed whispers grew louder, so loud that I flung my hands over my ears. I fell on my knees.
“YOU.” A voice hissed right in my ear.
A retched scream escaped my mouth as heat rushed to my ears, and I drew my hand back to see dark red drops on my palm. The blood dripping down my ears felt like flames of fire licking my skin.
My body swayed, and I collapsed on the floor. I screamed as my eyes squeezed shut.
“Natalia! NAT!”
My body convulsed, my shoulders shook, and my eyes were forced open.
Chase hovered over my face, and I blinked.
“Yikes, your ears are bleeding.”
I sat up slowly and peered down at my arm. The lack of needle brought a scowl to my lips. “You woke me up. I told you not to.”
Aaliyah glared at me. “You were bleeding out of your freakin’ ears and shaking so much. What the hell happened in there?”
“I finally got past the purple door.”
Aaliyah gasped. “Really? What was behind it?”
I shrugged. “Just a void. But that thing was so close to me. It told me that it wants me.”
“And now you’re planning on going back,” Chase stated in annoyance. “It made your ears bleed. It can hurt you in there. And what’s worse is now we know what happens to you in there happens to you here. You’re not going back.”
I wiped my tears, my head still pounding. “Yes, I am.”
Chase opened his mouth to protest, and I shot him a piercing glare. “This thing has been tormenting me for months; invading my dreams, possessing me. It made me hurt you. I finally have control over myself. I need to know why I am being targeted.”
Aaliyah set up the IV. As my eyes grew heavy, my mind blanked out.
I opened my eyes.
I was back in the hallway.
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