《Callback Loop》


 Chapter One: Your first time?

    Rain pelts against you and thunder rumbles across the sky deafeningly, as you stand before the towering mansion. An enormous clock stands at 15 minutes until midnight above the arched doorway. As you look around, you don¡¯t remember how you got here, in fact you don¡¯t remember anything. Despite this, you feel a strong draw towards the mansion. In your pockets you feel nothing but a small golden ring with an inscription on it. Before you can read it, a man opens the door invitingly and bellows.


    ¡°Ah, hello! Quickly come in, the rain is dreadful!¡± As you follow him inside the stupendous mansion, he guides you to a room, and says ¡°After you acquaint yourself, come to the dining hall, it¡¯s just down the hall to the right.¡±


    You nod in affirmation, and walk into the room he has guided you to. The room is small and cramped. A small creaky bed sits against the wall and an ancient carpet rests upon the floor, once delicate and soft but now, trodden and slippery. The room has a single window, granting a view of a shadowed hill a few hundred feet away. Beside the bed is a dresser drawers, empty aside from a single butler''s tuxedo and a note reading ¡°Dress like it¡¯s your last day on earth, in style!¡±.


    As you put on the Butlers Tuxedo, you find it to be a bit oversized, but not excessively so. As you reach into your pocket, you find the ring again. It seems almost enchanting, but as you go to read the inscription a crack of lighting echoes out, illuminating the hill for a moment.


    Empty.


    As you make your way down the hall, you find a Banquet Hall. The room is echoing and large, a colossal ceiling shrouded in shadow, only illuminated by the occasional flash of thunder. The grand fireplace is at one end, and an apse with 3 towering windows grants a view of the shadowy hills outside. The room has many smaller tables, prepared if any guests may come, but empty at the moment. In the centre is a huge rectangular table spanning almost the entire length of the room, constructed with wood of the tallest trees. The scent of burning oil permeates the air, mixing distastefully with the food in preparation. Classical music echoes throughout the room from a phonograph just slightly out of tune. The space feels far too empty for its grand scale; it would be far more fit to hold dozens of people, something more akin to a ballroom. But it is not used for such things, or not right now at least.


    As maids walk into the room and place food upon the banquet hall sized table, lighting illuminates the room to its fullest, its radiant light a bellowing fracture in the sky. Your eyes are drawn outside from the loud crack of lightning, the hills outside the colossal mansion brighten for but a brief moment, just long enough to see a ¡®figure¡¯ standing upon it.


    The figure seems humanoid from the visible part of them, although they don¡¯t seem natural¡­As quickly as they were here, they are gone. The maids seem unbothered, or unaware of the figure briefly illuminated. As soon as the hills are unveiled once more, the figure is missing¡­


    The man who greeted you walks into the room, accompanied by his elegantly dressed wife and daughter.


    ¡°Hello there again, you look dressed to impress¡± He says with a wink, ¡°Do you have any questions before we begin?¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Your mind isn¡¯t fully there, still hung up on the figure standing upon the shadowed hills who somehow vanished into thin air.


    ¡°Who was that¡­¡± You mumble to yourself. The man tilts his head in confusion, asking you to inquire further


    ¡°Ah, so that''s your question? Well I cannot ask without knowing who you were referring to of course!¡± The man speaks dramatically and enthusiastically.


    ¡°There was a figure standing on the hill just a moment ago¡­ But they vanished. Who were they?¡± You ask, stammering over your answer.


    Your host¡¯s expression hardens into one of doubt and concern as he responds in a more hushed voice now,


    ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish, a person standing on the ¡®hill¡¯ outside? Ridiculous, the rain would¡¯ve killed them by now-!¡± Before the man can finish speaking, one of the windows of the apse flies open with a slam. Quickly the man barks an order at the maids


    ¡°Quickly! Close the window you buffoons!!¡±


    The maids hurriedly close the window, their skin searing in pain as the rain hits them. As the window closes your host turns back to you, attempting to regain his composure. Lighting echoes out, illuminating the ¡®hill¡¯ and the ceiling of the room.


    His daughter points at the ceiling after a moment and says ¡°Daddy, what''s that?¡±


    As all of you look up at the ceiling, a crack of thunder lightens it so it may be fit to see. The ceiling that was once empty now has, sprawling across it, an enormous centipede like body, constructed from scrap and organic matter, its eldritch form decayed and gory.


    At the head of it, is a humanoid form of the man who guided you thus far. As the lighting fades, a few drops of blood and oil drip onto your glasses and fear drowns you in an instant. With a whoosh of air the candles and chandeliers are extinguished and screams echo out. Your feet move before your mind, sending you into a flight response. Sprinting through the mansion, more screams pierce your ears and cause your skin to crawl. As you burst through a door you find yourself in your room. Dashing into the room, slamming the door loudly, you slip on the carpet and smash against the floor, oil dripping from your head as pain bites against your anxiety ridden form. Upon the floor, you see the ring from your pocket. As you look at it for a few moments, you manage to read the inscription on it finally. ¡°Don¡¯t Trust the man. Don¡¯t go to the hill.¡±


    Suddenly a crash echoes out as the thing begins to travel across the house, leaving you with the only option of escape being to clamber out of the window. Being forced to choose between that eldritch ¡®thing¡¯ and the acidic rain, the rain seemed somehow more survivable. As you burst out of the window, you begin to fall, a few feet, then a few dozen, then you land.


    Unharmed, you run away from the mansion with heart thumping haste, screams echoing out before all of a sudden, they stop.


    Not a single other scream can be heard, but what you can hear is a distinct thumping. As you run and run and run, you begin to feel pools of liquid at the base of the hill, then you feel metal and organic limbs, then you feel heads, then bodies. As you climb up the hill of organic and mechanical corpses, the thumping grows louder and louder, before finally you reach the top and when you look behind you, you see that ¡®thing¡¯ inches away from you. The stolen face of that horrifying being stands an inch from you, it¡¯s glowing orange eyes piercing into yours, blood splattered across it.


    ¡°Found you, butler!¡± It says.


    As you look at it in horror, the thing grabs your face in a blood splattered palm, gripping onto your face tighter and tighter, oil beginning to burst out, steel snapping, your memory begins to short circuit. The creature grows closer, extending more hands that begin to pull apart your body as it says


    ¡°Let me in butler!¡± As pain envelops your body your memory begins to fade away, experiences slipping away until all you have left with is this current moment.


    The clock rings out as it hits midnight.

 Chapter Two: Run Rabbit Run

    Rain crashes against you and thunder bellows across the sky deafeningly, as you stand before the towering mansion, an enormous clock stands 25 minutes until midnight above the arched doorway. As you look around, you don¡¯t remember how you got here, in fact you don¡¯t remember anything. Despite this, you feel a strong draw towards the mansion. In your pockets you feel nothing but a small golden ring with an inscription on it.


    As you read the inscription, it says ¡°Don¡¯t trust the man, Don¡¯t go to the hill, Don¡¯t wear the clothes¡±


    As you look back up at the mansion, a man opens the door and says invitingly,


    ¡°Ah! Welcome, welcome! Come in, the rain is dreadful!¡±


    The man begins to lead you through the house. Despite his friendly demeanour, an aura of instability and danger surrounds him. The man leads you to a room, it feels familiar. The room is small but not cramped. There is a dresser drawers next to a small creaky bed, with an old damaged carpet in the middle.


    ¡°Please, acquaint yourself and meet me in the dining hall, it¡¯s down the hall to the left.¡±


    The man begins to walk away but quickly he also adds, ¡°Oh I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet! I¡¯m Richard, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    After his introduction, the man walks away finally. As you begin to look around the room, you discover that in the dresser drawers, a set of butlers clothes and a note reading ¡°Dress like it¡¯s your last day on earth, in style!¡±


    As you''re about to replace your drenched clothes, you remember the ring, and decide against it. You look around the room, fiddling with the ring in your pocket as the inscription echoes within your mind. As you glance out the window to look at the hill, you see a figure standing on it for a moment, spotlighted by a cascade of thunder, until a moment later, it¡¯s gone.


    You stumble back a bit in fear, confused by what you just saw.


    You turn around and walk out of your room into the main corridor of the mansion, looking around when you see a short distance to your right is Richard standing in the doorway of the Banquet Hall.


    He turns to you and waves with an enthusiastic smile and calls out, ¡°Hello! Come over this way, are you low on fuel? We have plent-!¡±


    Before he can finish his sentence, a fleshy tentacle pierces through his chest causing a pained gurgle to escape him. A mechanical hand reaches around his neck, gripping tightly before dragging him out of sight, a pool of blood left in his wake.


    You begin to walk backwards, your eyes widening at the traumatising sight. Moments later, the screams of terror can be heard from maids in the Banquet hall and the crashing of dishes cast aside reverberates through the echoing halls. Before your mind can think you begin to run without any set destination. The screams of terror being silenced one by one, pierces your ears before suddenly, they stop.


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    As you run through the sprawling mansion, halls turn into rooms which turn into halls again, it¡¯s layout seeming to be a never ending maze. You turn a corner and see it.


    It¡¯s flesh is that of a young girl, far too young to have met such a fate, with 4 long fleshy tentacles protruding from the back, but it clearly isn¡¯t human, it¡¯s the farthest thing from it. It¡¯s body is a mix of robotics and flesh, with a pair of empty digital eyes sitting in once empty sockets. It paused mid-feast, bloodied lips parting into a jagged grin as its tentacles twitched, slowly curling around the half-devoured corpse as it says in a robotic yet disturbingly childlike voice,


    ¡°Look who came to join the fun! You''re planning to run right? Let¡¯s make it interesting. I¡¯ll give you a head start... Ten seconds. Think you can hide from me this time?¡± Its head twitches unnaturally as its grin widens,  ¡°10¡­¡±


    You begin to run as fast as you can away from it, your legs pumping underneath you faster than you¡¯ve ever run before. As you sprint, you slam against walls, moving too fast to properly turn, your mind spinning as you try to navigate this place.


    Suddenly, you hear it¡¯s voice call out ¡°Here I come!¡± An overwhelming sense of dread begins to drown you as all you can think about is escaping.


    You run, your heart pounding as your footsteps echo loudly. You can almost feel it behind you, but you''re too afraid to look. It¡¯s too close. A sickening giggle permeates the air, it¡¯s off-pitch voice piercing your ears painfully. You round a corner, slamming into the wall,  pain bursts through your side, but there''s no time to stop. The shadows seem to move tauntingly, the walls seem to wrap around you, each step heavy and each heartbeat painful.


    As you dart from hallway to hallway, you come upon a dead end. You turn around to look for a way of escape, but then on the other end of the hallway you see the creature. It¡¯s eyes lock onto you and it says in a robotic voice ¡°Get s-s-snuck up on! Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ll do this time¡­¡± It giggles sadistically as it begins to crawl towards you rapidly.


    It moves as if every joint is dislocated, yet it advances faster than you can run. The walls seem to close in on you as you desperately look around, your mind racing with any possibility of escape, any option, anywhere to run. The walls continue to tighten in, leaving you nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,  the creature just a moment away from you, a sinister smile made from borrowed flesh fixated on you hungrily.


    You look around one last time, your eyes being drawn to an emergency fire axe hanging on the wall. Quickly, you grab the fire axe, but then you feel it¡¯s hot breath on your neck as it pounces at you. ¡°Yummy yummy in my tumm-!¡±


    Before it can finish you swing the axe as fast and hard as you can in a last ditch attempt, cleaving through one of it¡¯s arms and carving into it¡¯s chest with a splatter of blood causing it to slam against the wall. It looks at you for a moment, it¡¯s expression a mix of confusion and surprise, before a twisted grin paints itself upon the creatures face, it¡¯s robotic voice filled with excitement


    ¡°Tee-Hee-Hee, t-t-that¡¯s a new one, s-s-s-so creative! I can¡¯t wait to kill you again¡± The sound of metal grating against itself and bones popping emanates from it as one of the tentacles wraps itself around the axe handle and begins to pull it from the creature''s chest.


    You sprint through the hallway, a brief moment of opportunity to escape it. The only sounds audible are the thumping of your feet on the floor and the giggling of the creature as it resumes the chase with renewed fervour. As you run through the halls, some familiar and some foreign, you run into a grand open room with corpses strewn around, one of which being Richards¡¯. Your heart beats rapidly and echoing in the halls behind you, the gut wrenching giggles of it grow closer, the feeling of its breath on your neck still lingering with you despite the distance made¡­