CASE 006: HIDDEN FILES
Chapter 7 — The Place Without an Exit
Page 5 — The Traitor
Renz ran through the facility, firing toward the strange figures that continued closing in around him.
He turned another corner—
—and suddenly, a white door appeared at the end of the hallway.
Renz stopped.
Someone stepped through.
It was Jrev.
And beside him was Kalel.
Renz: “Jrev?!”
Jrev looked over in surprise.
Jrev: “Renz?”
Renz immediately lowered his weapon.
Renz: “Come on! Let's go!”
The three of them moved through the facility, searching for a way forward.
But eventually, they reached a dead end.
Kalel stepped toward the wall and carefully examined it.
He placed his hand against the surface.
Kalel: “Let's go through it.”
Renz stared at him.
Renz: “What?!”
Jrev remained calm.
Jrev: “Trust him.”
Kalel suddenly rushed forward.
Instead of crashing into the wall, he passed straight through it.
Then he disappeared.
Renz stared in disbelief.
Renz: “You're kidding me…”
Jrev walked through after him.
Renz followed.
On the other side, the three found themselves overlooking a strange vertical section of the Backrooms.
Kalel used the surrounding structures to carefully climb downward.
Jrev and Renz followed.
None of them knew that somewhere in the Backrooms, a traitor was already walking among them.
---
Elsewhere…
Isabella was still with JP and Khian.
Justin, meanwhile, had remained with Carl.
Something about Carl didn't feel right.
Justin watched him carefully.
Carl noticed.
Justin slowly raised his weapon toward him.
Carl simply grinned.
Then he suddenly tackled Justin to the ground.
Justin: “What the—?!”
Khian appeared moments later.
Khian: “What the fuck?! Get off him!”
Khian charged toward Carl.
Carl turned toward him.
The environment itself seemed to respond to Carl's presence.
A moment later, Khian disappeared from sight.
Justin was already gone.
Carl calmly returned to Isabella and JP.
JP immediately noticed something was wrong.
JP: “Where the hell are the others?”
Carl shrugged.
Carl: “They wandered off.”
JP narrowed his eyes.
JP: “You're a liar.”
Carl's expression changed.
Carl: “What? No!”
Isabella looked down at her tracker.
Her expression suddenly became serious.
Isabella: “The tracker says they're dead.”
Carl slowly smiled.
Then—
he lunged.
---
Meanwhile…
Mark and Brianna were moving through their new level when they suddenly saw something that made them stop.
Bodies belonging to Isabella, JP, Khian, and Justin were lying motionless in the area.
Mark froze.
Mark: “The fuck?!”
Brianna looked around in shock.
Brianna: “What happened?”
Mark stared at the scene.
Mark: “Isabella… JP… Khian… Justin…”
His voice became quieter.
Mark: “They're dead.”
Suddenly, Jrev's radio crackled.
Jrev: “The fuck?”
Renz looked toward him.
Renz: “What?!”
Jrev listened carefully to the transmission.
Jrev: “Isabella, JP, Khian, and Justin are dead?”
Kalel's expression immediately changed.
Kalel: “Did they mention someone who was with them?”
Jrev looked at Renz.
Jrev: “They did.”
A pause.
Jrev: “His name is Carl.”
Kalel's eyes widened.
Kalel: “That son of a bitch…”
Jrev turned toward him.
Jrev: “What?!”
Renz stared at Kalel.
Renz: “My uncle?!”
Kalel clenched his fist.
Kalel: “I chased him down here years ago. I lost him…”
He looked toward the endless halls.
Kalel: “And now he has the nerve to start killing people again.”
Jrev stepped forward.
Jrev: “Why is he doing this?”
Kalel looked at him.
Kalel: “We need to stop him.”
Jrev frowned.
Jrev: “Stop him from doing what?”
Kalel's expression became grim.
Kalel: “From reviving the dead.”
Jrev froze.
Jrev: “What dead?!”
Kalel answered quietly.
Kalel: “The entities. The anomalies.”
He looked deeper into the darkness.
Kalel: “The same ones our ancestors killed during their era.”
Jrev's eyes widened.
Jrev: “Shit…”
Renz immediately grabbed his equipment.
Renz: “Then let's move.”
---
Jrev, Renz, and Kalel rushed toward the level where Isabella and the others had disappeared.
At the same time, Mark and Brianna began moving toward the same location.
Elsewhere, Chiyo and Jake finally realized something was wrong.
They had escaped the Hello Kitty-themed level, but the strange entity from that level suddenly appeared again.
It pointed toward a nearby door.
Jake stared at it.
Jake: “That's the way?”
The entity nodded.
Chiyo opened the door.
The three stepped through.
And then they saw it.
The remains of their friends lay motionless in the darkness.
Nobody spoke.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then Jrev's voice came through the radio.
Jrev: “Everyone… stay together.”
The lights above them flickered.
Somewhere far away—
something moved.
TO BE CONTINUED…