The Backrooms

Akira Kenji sat alone in the M.E.G Archivist Office, the bright light of her computer screen the only light in the office. In the corner of her screen, she watched as the second hand slowly ticked up.

31/12/25 11:59:57pm

31/12/25 11:59:58pm

31/12/25 11:59:59pm

01/01/26 12:00:00am

Akira softly blew into a party horn, letting out a dull, almost defeated “toot” throughout the empty office.

Things weren’t the same now.

Not with Carrot gone.

This was her first New Year's without him, the wound of losing her husband still fresh in her heart.

Everything hurt: her mind, her body, her very soul. When Carrot died, consumed by that damn Christmas tree. Part of her went with him.

She had asked for her administrative leave to be cut short, to work through the holidays. It was better to throw herself into work, to try to ignore the pain. Mercifully, the M.E.G accepted her request.

Akira slowly moved her eyes back to the center of the screen, where a half-finished M.E.G database entry lay waiting for her. What was she writing about again? Right, the new reports of the entity in Level 88’s lake.

With sunken eyes, Akira looked down at her desk, blurry photos, some half-scribbled notes from the on-base doctor, and an interview transcription with the poor agent that encountered the beast lay scattered across her desk.

What did it matter anymore?

Who cared what lay at the bottom of 88’s lake? Who cared about the stupid M.E.G and their procedures?

Nothing mattered anymore.

Not without him.

Akira hadn’t even gotten to share the news with him that she was pregnant. She wanted to wait until Christmas. It would be a present to end all presents.

A family.

Their family.

Akira wasn’t just mourning the loss of her husband, but the loss of her child’s father. The child who would never grow up knowing his laugh, his smile, the feeling of a giant, muscular man barreling down the hallway to scoop you up into his arms to give you a hug. The taste of his warm, freshly baked bread, the sound of his laugh whenever something ridiculous would come on TV.

Akira closed her eyes, and just for a moment, she swore she could see him laughing.

Opening her eyes, Akira sighed and walked out of the room, down the halls, and to storage room A.

Back to where everything happened.

Akira didn’t know what exactly she was expecting to find there. Closure maybe?

The door to the room was sectioned off with yellow “DO NOT CROSS” tape, the stuff that the M.E.G used only when someone died, or some other major incident happened.

Akira stood there, staring at the tape for a moment, before ripping it down and quietly entering the room.

Akira looked around, and boxes of supplies all stood up in neat, organized rows. If it wasn’t for the tape and the memorial down in the break room, you could barely tell anything was amiss.

Until Akira turned the corner.

Standing there, bright and cherry, was a Christmas tree.

Akira’s heart skipped a beat.

Why… was it still here?

Akira turned to leave, get out well she still could. But an all too familiar voice stopped her.

“Where ya’ going, honey?” Carrot's voice echoed.

Akira froze, slowly her head turning back to face the tree.

To face Carrot.

Akira couldn’t help herself; like a moth to a flame, she slowly approached Carrot.

“Is that… really you?” Her voice echoed through the room.

“’Course it is, do you really think I’d die that easily?”

“There’s so much I wanted to tell you.” Akira cried, her vision growing blurry as she approached Carrot.

“Come here, hun, you’ll have all the time in the world.”

For a brief moment, Akira’s mind screamed at her to turn back, that this wasn’t Carrot. That the real Carrot was gone and never coming back.

But Akira could never, would never accept that.

Outstretching her arms, she ran towards Carrot for one final, leafy embrace.