This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/UnderdonetoastHorror on 2023-09-20 23:34:27.

My phone had died at this point. To preserve fuel, I allowed the flame to illuminate for only a moment at a time as I walked. The darkness was absolute and seemed to press on me from all sides in between each flicker as if it would smother me if I let it linger too long. It looked felt as if it was darker than anywhere I had ever been before. It reminds me of when I was a kid, going to bed late at night and trying to see my hands in front of my face before my eyes adjust. I can’t see anything in this place. Wait, that sounded familiar. I was talking to Megan about that earlier today.

As far as I could tell, there was nothing around me. No walls, no objects, just dirt ground with the occasional rock. It was also deafly quiet with only the taps of my footsteps to fill the void. A very distant red light briefly lit in the distance and then vanished. With each hesitant step, the void seemed to stretch infinitely ahead. I began to wonder if the path had an end or if I was trapped in some endless loop of darkness. I thought of all of the floors above this one, and wondered if where I walked was untouched by time and space. I tried to shake off the thought, but it clung to me as tenaciously as the enveloping dark.

As I continued onward, I perceived a slight change in the air, a tingling sensation on my skin. Then, in the distance, I saw it. Suddenly, the sky, or what I believed to be the sky, cracked open. A magnificent bolt of red lightning tore through dark clouds, momentarily banishing the darkness. The electric brilliance revealed a vast landscape, unlike any I had ever seen. Jagged peaks on a rocky terrain, vast chasms, and an eerie red glow permeating everything.

No thunder followed. I just stood there for a while, hoping for another flash to give me another glimpse at where I was, but it never came. I could feel my courage begin wearing off as my heart started pounding against the rest of my chest. My breaths were getting shorter, my heart racing. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to get a hold of myself. But I couldn’t.

"I need to turn back," I muttered to myself, eyes wide open now, trying to pierce the impenetrable darkness. "I need to find the elevator."

I started retracing my steps, or at least I thought I was. Every direction felt identical, every step just as uncertain as the last. I was trying to just walk in nothing but a straight line but I knew it would be a miracle if I was slightly off I would pass right by the elevator. Desperation began to creep in. How could I have wandered so far? What was I thinking?

My pace quickened as panic bubbled inside me. My breathing echoed loudly in the suffocating silence, and my fingers wrapped tighter around the bug spray can, which I was now almost continuously spraying.

I found that my speed walking had accelerated into lightly jogging, my eyes darting around for something to latch onto. That's why I almost ran into it. The minotaur. It was just standing there, making no noise, staring at me. Its sudden appearance forced a scream from my lungs, sending me crashing to the ground, my lighter scattering away. Panic surged. I could hear it grunt as its hooves began walking towards me. I scrambled backwards, fumbling for the pepper spray, firing it and the bug spray both wildly in front of me.

I must’ve been fortunate enough to hit the monster because it let out a piercing roar and I took that chance to quickly stand back up. I brushed my hands all over the floor in front of me and felt the lighter, picked it up, and began to run as fast as I could in the other direction. Springing up, I bolted, juggling my makeshift weapons as I ran. Another red flash painted the dark, revealing a massive boulder to my right.

I had no idea if the beast could see in the dark or if my pepper spray had rendered it blind, but I wasn't about to find out. I dashed behind the boulder and prayed that it would shield me. At first, the monster was still wailing uncontrollably, as if I had just caused it incredible pain. But then the whispering began once again. It sounded different this time, more fast paced and in an angered hush. It was pissed, and it was coming for me. A massive string of blood lightning poured across the sky, so I seized the opportunity to quickly take a glance. For that split second, I thought I spotted it walking, searching for me. I again focused on my breathing and tried to keep it as silent as possible.

I tried to draw back on the only meditation practice I knew; I began counting slowly backwards from 10. 10... 9... 8... 7... Another red flash illuminated my surroundings. 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... I then stopped and listened. I could still hear the whispering, but it seemed farther now. I rubbed my eyes and whispered “God, or Zeus, whatever or whoever is listening, please get me out of this.” My eyes were somewhat adjusting at least... I could see just barely. I decided to stare into the dark so I could see where it was during the next strike of lightning, so I placed my hand onto the boulder and peeked around it. Suddenly, where I had placed my hand, a small rock fell off of the boulder and fell to the ground. You wouldn’t think that a single rock would make a loud sound. But with how silent it was, it traveled far, and I knew it.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud

It was running towards me now. I sprinted through the darkness, bracing myself to run into another large boulder at any moment. Running through the pitch black was terrifying, but anything was better than getting caught and devoured.

*Thud, thud, thud, THUD, THUD

It was gaining on me. It’s almost directly behind me now. This is it; this is how I die. No... worse. I’d take death over this in an instant. Little did I know that my thought was about to be put to the test. A bright red flash illuminated the area, revealing an enormous gorge just in front of me. I halted and used my makeshift flamethrower to confirm that I was mere feet from having just run off what looked like an endless drop into the abyss.

*THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD

I contemplated whether to jump, but my body resisted. As much as my mind was screaming to just dive into the darkness the rest of my body was running on instinct and forbade me from acting on the decision. I continued to point the flame at the darkness where the running hooves were coming from. The minotaur, grotesque and towering, stepped into the firelight, its once brown fur now stained black by pepper spray. Its hollow eyes stared back at me, bloodshot and enraged. I then realized that the agonizing scream it had wailed earlier was not from me blinding it, but instead that the spray had seeped into the numerous open wounds across its body.

I hardly had time to react to a sudden swing from the creature's steel weapon, only missing me by inches as I dodged to the left. Juggling the lighter, the bug spray and the pepper spray, I attempted to light the minotaur on fire but it was just out of reach. A second swing came at me and landed its mark as I shot pepper spray relentlessly at the creature. The hit knocked me onto the ground and pain intensely consumed me. I could feel the warmth of blood start to pour out of my side, but the adrenaline surging through my body kept me moving.

I quickly stood up and saw the creature shaking and twitching in agony from the additional spray I covered it with. Another red flash. Seizing my opportunity, I unleashed a torrent of fire upon the beast. Screeching, it fell to the ground. During its fiery torment, its massive hairy hand stretched out, grabbing my ankle and yanking me off balance. My head slammed against the stone with a sickening thud, the world around me blurring into a hazy whirl of colors and sounds.

I couldn’t see, I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t think. My entire body felt numb, and I lost sense of the passage of time. I could feel something on my leg, pulling me, but I wasn’t able to react. It was a twin set of red lightning that bolted overhead that shook me back into reality. It gave me a glimpse at the minotaur just at my feet, its mouth open wider than anything I’ve ever seen, like a hippopotamus on steroids. Voices were screaming at me from inside of its mouth.

***“ANOTHER... PLEASE SAVE US... WE’RE CHAINED... FIRE... INAUDIBLE ... RUN BOY... CURSE THE GODS... INTO THE CHASM.”**

Realizing what was happening, panic surged anew, driving me into action. I ignored the fact that I was about to scorch myself and shot an array of flames into the beast's mouth. The voices inside of it all screamed in pain as the minotaur spasmed and let go of my leg. A small reflection of light shimmered from a few feet away in the firelight. The spear. Now on fire, the monster started to stand back up, so I moved for the weapon and swung it hard at the beast's head. It staggered but before it could recover, I hit it again, and again, and again. It fell to the ground, and I took the spear and shoved it straight into the skull of the minotaur.

Desperate to kill the creature, I then I engulfed the creature in flames once more. Its convulsions slowed to twitching, then stopped altogether. Gasping for breath, I watched as the flames sputtered and died, the bug spray can empty.

For a while I just stood there and stared at it, expecting it ...

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