Chapter 4: The Room Behind the Wardrobe

As I tumbled in, I was already composing my will in my head. But instead of hitting the back wall, I broke right through—it was paper-thin, leading to a hidden chamber.

A secret passage. For a split second, I forgot to be scared. Then the fear came roaring back.

Savannah clutched her cross, quickly stuffing it in her pocket. Ha—she was scared too, but still mocked me.

I caught her sneaking glances over her shoulder, making sure nothing was following us.

I got up, and Savannah joined me in the cramped space. Inside, I saw a pile of backpacks and ropes—clearly belonging to backpackers. My legs gave out, and I slid to the floor, clutching the doorframe.

The air was stale, thick with dust and something else I couldn’t place. The pile of belongings looked untouched for years.

“Th-these are the backpackers’ things. That rumor… could it be…”

My voice was barely a whisper. My mind raced through every scary story I’d ever heard.

Savannah’s face paled too. She’d obviously heard the story. Despite being so against me before, she now held my hand tight, pulling me up.

Her grip was strong, but her hands were ice cold. I squeezed back, grateful for the contact.

“It’s just for show,” she said, but she didn’t sound confident. She’d probably read the rumors too.

She tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. I didn’t blame her.

With the main door locked and the other two guys elsewhere, we had to save ourselves. But before I could examine the stuff, all the candles in the outer room went out at once, plunging us into darkness.

My heart leapt into my throat. The darkness was absolute, pressing in from all sides.

“Can I scream?” I asked, voice trembling.

I was half-joking, half-serious. Sometimes a good scream is all you can do.

Savannah, near tears herself, snapped, “Hold it in.”

She sounded tough, but I could hear the waver in her voice.

But she sighed, “Fine, go ahead.”

So I screamed my lungs out. It felt cathartic. Still scared, but at least I could open my eyes now—though I couldn’t see a thing.

I let it all out in one long, echoing wail. When I finally stopped, the silence felt almost peaceful.

“We’ll have to wait for Carter and Blake. There’s no light at all,” Savannah said, slumping against the wall, looking ready to give up.

She slid down the wall, rubbing her temples. I could tell she was reaching her limit.

That wouldn’t do. If my only hope gave up, who knew how long this nightmare would last?

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. Giving up wasn’t an option.

No light? Easy fix. I whipped out a handful of glow sticks from my pocket and handed them to Savannah.

She stared at me like I’d pulled a rabbit out of my hat. I grinned, feeling a tiny spark of pride.

“Lila, why’d you bring glow sticks to a show?”

I shrugged. “Never hurts to be prepared.”

I didn’t answer, just snapped them. The room filled with a faint yellow glow. I quickly snapped the rest, lighting up the tiny space.

The soft light made everything look a little less terrifying. For the first time, I felt like maybe we’d make it out of here.

The chat exploded:

“Weren’t they banned from bringing anything that glows?”

“I knew I saw her pocket a bunch of candy earlier—turns out it was glow sticks!”

“Don’t know if she’s faking or just careful, but a whole bag of glow sticks—does that break the rules?”

“I think it’s genius, honestly…”

I smiled to myself. Maybe being a weirdo had its perks after all.

Savannah hadn’t expected that, but she took a few glow sticks and tried to find a way out. Before we could, Carter and Blake burst in, the door slamming open. I collapsed to my knees again. They saw me half-kneeling, and Savannah covered her face, unable to watch.

I could feel my cheeks burning. At this rate, I’d need knee pads by the end of the night.

Guess I’ll just take a bow while I’m down here. At least it was dark, so I could pretend nothing happened.

If I had a dollar for every time I’d hit the floor tonight, I could pay off that penalty in no time.

The chat wouldn’t let it go:

“How many times has Lila collapsed tonight?”

“I counted—at least once per room, thirteen in total.”

“I feel bad for her knees. That sounded painful.”

“Happy New Year, hahaha…”

Anyway, we’d completed the door-opening task. As for the backpacker stuff, that was for someone else to explain.

I was happy to let the producers handle that mystery. My job was just to survive.