原帖信息 r/nosleep · 转贴者 u/frankyb89 · 发帖于 2011-06-06 · 得分 120 · 28 条评论(该帖是此故事在 Reddit 传播的最早源头,原帖开头即注明「Not my story. I found this on CreepyPasta」——原作者为 Brian Russell,2011 年首发于 creepypasta 站点)
原帖链接 https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/ht19a/noend_house/
备注 这是网络的完整长版(后世的精简版删去了 Peter Terry 的引子和部分房间),被大量改编为短片、播客与叙述类视频。Reddit 原帖正文现已被删除,本文英文全文经 Web Archive 2011-06-12 快照(发帖仅 6 天后)逐字恢复,含原版错别字,未做任何改写。
英文原版(全文)
Not my story. I found this on CreepyPasta
Let me start off by saying that Peter Terry was addicted to heroin.
We were friends in college and continued to be after I graduated. Notice that I said “I”. He dropped out after 2 years of barely cutting it. After I moved out of the dorms and into a small apartment, I didn’t see Peter as much. We would talk online every now and them (AIM was king in pre-facebook years). There was a period where he wasn’t online for about five weeks straight. I wasn’t worried. He was a pretty notorious flake and drug addict, so I assumed he just stopped caring. But then one night I saw him come on. Before I could initiate a conversation, he sent me a message.
“David, man, we need to talk.”
That was when he told me about the NoEnd House. It got that name because no one had ever reached the final exit. The rules were pretty simple and cliche: reach the final room of the building and you win $500, nine rooms in all. The house was located outside the city, roughly four miles from my house. Apparently he had tried and failed. He was a heroin and who knows what the fuck addict, so I figured the drugs got the best of him and he wigged out at a paper ghost or something. He told me it would be too much for anyone. That it was unnatural. I didn’t believe him. Why would I? I told him I would check it out the next night, and no matter how hard he tried to convince me otherwise, $500 sounded too good to be true, I had to. I set out the following night. This is what happened.
When I arrived, I immediately noticed something strange about the building. Have you ever seen or read something that shouldn’t be scary, but for some reason a chill crawls up your spine? I walked toward the building and the feeling of uneasiness only intensified as I opened the front door.
My heart slowed and I let a relieved sigh leave me as I entered. The room looked like a normal hotel lobby decorated for Halloween. A sign was posted in place of a worker. It read “Room 1 this way. Eight more follow. Reach the end and you win!” I chuckled and made my way to the first door.
The first area was almost laughable. The decor resembled the Halloween aisle of a K-Mart, complete with sheet ghosts and animatronic zombies that gave a static growl when you passed by. At the far end was an exit, the only door besides the one I entered through. I brushed through the fake spider webs and headed for the second room.
I was greeted by fog as I opened the door to room 2. The room definitely upped the ante in terms of technology. Not only was there a fog machine, but a bat hung from the ceiling and flew in a circle. Scary. They seemed to have a Halloween soundtrack that one would find in a 99 cent store on loop somewhere in the room. I didn’t see a stereo, but I guessed they must have used a PA system. I stepped over a few toy rats that wheeled around and walked with a puffed chest across to the next area. I reached for the doorknob and my heart sank to my knees. I did not want to open that door. A feeling of dread hit me so hard I could barely even think. Logic overtook me after a few terrified moments, and I shook it off and entered the next room.
Room 3 is when things began to change.
On the surface, it looked like a normal room. There was a chair in the middle of the wood paneled floor. A single lamp in the corner did a poor job of lighting the area, and it cast a few shadows across the floor and walls. That was the problem. Shadows. Plural. With the exception of the chair’s, there were others. I had barely walked in the door and I was already terrified. It was at that moment that I knew something wasn’t right. I didn’t even think as I automatically tried to open the door I came through. It was locked from the other side.
That set me off. Was someone locking it as I progressed? There was no way. I would have heard them. Was it a mechanical lock that set automatically? Maybe. But I was too scared to really think. I turned back to the room and the shadows were gone. The chair’s shadow remained, but the others were gone. I slowly began to walk.I used to hallucinate when I was a kid, so I wrote off the shadows as a figment of my imagination. I began to feel better as I made it to the halfway point of the room. I looked down as I took my steps, and that’s when I saw it. Or didn’t see it. My shadow wasn’t there. I didn’t have time to scream. I ran as fast as I could to the other door and flung myself without thinking into the room beyond.
The fourth room was possibly the most disturbing. As I closed the door, all light seemed to be sucked out and put back into the previous room. I stood there, surrounded by darkness, and couldn’t move. I’m not afraid of the dark, and never have been, but I was absolutely terrified. All sight had left me. I held my hand in front of my face and if I didn’t know I was doing so I would never have been able to tell. Darkness doesn’t describe it. I couldn’t hear anything. It was dead silence. When you’re in a sound-proof room, you can still hear yourself breathing. You can hear yourself being alive. I couldn’t. I began to stumble forward after a few moments, my rapidly beating heart the only thing I could feel. There was no door in sight. Wasn’t even sure there was one this time. The silence was then broken by a low hum.
I felt something behind me. I spun around wildly but could barely even see my nose. I knew it was there though. Regardless of how dark it was, I knew something was there. The hum grew louder, closer. It seemed to surround me, but I knew whatever was causing the noise was in front of me, inching closer. I took a step back, I had never felt that kind of fear. I can’t really describe true fear. I wasn’t even scared I was going to die, I was scared of what the alternative was. I was afraid of what this thing had in store for me. Then the lights flashed for less than a second and I saw it. Nothing. I saw nothing and I know I saw nothing there. The room was again plunged into darkness, and the hum was now a wild screech. I screamed in protest, I couldn’t hear this goddamn sound for another minute. I ran backwards away from the noise and fumbled for the door handle. I turned, and fell into room 5.
Before I describe room 5 you have to understand something. I am not a drug addict. I have had no history of drug abuse or any sort of psychosis short of the childhood hallucinations I mentioned earlier, and those were only when I was really tired or just waking up. I entered the NoEnd House with a clear head.
After falling in from the previous room, my view of room 5 was from my back, looking up at the ceiling. What I saw didn’t scare me, it simply surprised me. Trees had grown into the room and towered above my head. The ceilings in this room were taller than the others, which made me think I was in the center of the house. I got up off the flow, dusted myself off, and took a look around. It was definitely the biggest room of them all. I couldn’t even see the door from where I was, various brush and trees must have blocked my line of sight with the exit. Up to this point I figured the rooms were going to get scarier, but this was a paradise compared to the last room. I also assumed that whatever was back in room 4 stayed back there. I was incredibly wrong.
As I made my way deeper into the room I began to hear what one would hear if they were in a forest, chirping bugs and the occasional flap of birds seemed to be my only company in this room. That was the thing that bothered me the most. I heard the bugs and other animals, but I didn’t see any of them. I began to wonder how big this house was. From the outside when I first walked up to it, it looked like a regular house. It was definitely on the bigger side, but this was almost a full forest in here. The canopy covered my view of the ceiling, but I assumed it was still there, however high it was. I couldn’t see any walls though. The only way I knew I was still inside was the floor matched the other rooms, the standard dark wood paneling. I kept walking, hoping that the next tree I passed would reveal the door. After a few moments of walking, I felt a mosquito fly onto my arm. I shook it off and kept going. A second later, I felt about ten more land on my skin at different places. I felt them crawl up and down my arms and legs, and a few made their way across my face. I flailed wildly to get them all off but they just kept crawling. I looked down and let out a muffled scream, more of a whimper to be honest. I didn’t see a single bug. Not one bug was on me, but I could feel them crawl. I heard them fly by my face and sting my skin, but I couldn’t see a single one. I dropped to the ground and began to roll wildly. I was desperate. I hated bugs, especially ones I couldn’t see or touch. But these bugs could touch me, and they were everywhere.
I began to crawl. I had no idea where I was going, the entrance was nowhere in sight, and I still hadn’t even seen the exit. So I just crawled, my skin wriggling with the presence of those phantom bugs. After what seemed like hours I found the door. I grabbed the nearest tree and propped myself up, mindlessly slapping my arms and legs to no avail. I tried to run but I couldn’t, my body was exhausted from crawling and dealing with whatever it was that was on me. I took a few shaky steps to the door, grabbing each tree on the way for support. It was only a few feet away when I heard it. The low hum from before. It was coming from the next room, and it was deeper. I could almost feel it inside my body, like when you stand next to an amp at a concert. The feeling of the bugs on me lessened as the hum grew louder. As I placed my hand on the doorknob, the bugs were completely gone, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn the knob. I knew that if I let go, the bug would return, and there was no way I would make it back to room 4. I just stood there, my head pressed against the door marked 6 and my hand shakily grasping the knob. The hum was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself pretend to think. There was nothing I could do but move on. Room 6 was next, and room 6 was hell.
I closed the door behind me, my eyes held shut and my ears ringing. The hum was surrounding me. As the door clicked into place the hum was gone. I opened my eyes in surprise, and the door I had shut was gone. It was just a wall now. I looked around in shock. The room was identical to room 3, the same chair and lamp but with the correct amount of shadows this time. The only real difference was that there was no exit door, and the one I came in through was now gone. As I said before, I had no previous issues in terms of mental instability, but at that moment I fell into what I now know was insanity. I didn’t scream. I didn’t make a sound. At first I scratched softly. The wall was tough, but I knew the door was there somewhere. I just knew it was. I scratched at where the doorknob was. I clawed at the wall frantically with both hands, my nails being filed down to the skin against the wood. I fell silently to my knees, the only sound in the room was the incessant scratching against the wall. I knew it was there. The door was there I knew it was just there I knew if I could just get past this wall-
“Are you alright?”
I jumped off the ground and spun in one motion. I leaned against the wall behind me and I saw what it was that spoke to me, and to this day I regret ever turning around.
The little girl was wearing a soft white dress that went down to her ankles. She had long blonde hair to the middle of her back and white skin and blue eyes. She was the most frightening thing I had ever seen, and I know that nothing in my life will ever be as unnerving as what I saw in her. While looking at her, I saw the young girl, but I also saw something else. Where she stood I saw what looked like a man’s body only larger than normal and covered in hair. He was naked from head to toe, but his head was not human, and his toes were hooves. It wasn’t the devil, but at that moment it might as well have been. The form had the head of a ram and the snout of a wolf. It was horrifying, and it was synonymous with the little girl in front of me. They were the same form. I can’t really describe it, but I saw them at the same time. They shared the same spot in that room, but it was like looking at two separate dimensions. When I saw the girl I saw the form, and when I saw the form I saw the girl. I couldn’t speak. I could barely even see. My mind was revolting against what it was attempting to process. I had been scared before in my life, and I had never been more scared than when I was trapped in the fourth room, but that was before room 6. I just stood there, staring at whatever it was that spoke to me. There was no exit. I was trapped here with it. And then it spoke again.
“David, you should have listened.”
When it spoke, I heard the words of the little girl, but the other form spoke through my mind in a voice I won’t attempt to describe. There was no other sound. The voice just kept repeating that sentence over and over into my mind, and I agreed. I didn’t know what to do. I was slipping into madness yet couldn’t take my eyes off what was in front of me. I dropped to the floor. I thought I had passed out, but the room wouldn’t let me. I just wanted it to end. I was on my side, my eyes wide open and the form staring down at me. Scurrying across the floor in front of me was one of the battery-powered rats from the second room. The house was toying with me. But for some reason, seeing that rat pulled my mind back from whatever depths it was headed, and I looked around the room. I was getting out of there. I was determined to get out of that house and live and never think about this place again. I knew this room was hell, and I wasn’t ready to take up a residency. At first it was just my eyes that moved. I searched the walls for any kind of opening. The room wasn’t that big, so it didn’t take long to soak up the entire layout. The demon still taunted me, the voice growing louder as the form stayed rooted where it stood. I placed my hand on the floor and lifted myself up to all fours, and I turned to scan the wall behind me. And then I saw something I couldn’t believe. The form was now right at my back, whispering into my ming how I shouldn’t have come. I felt it’s breath on the back of my neck but I refused to turn around. A large rectangle was scratched into the wood, with a small dent shipped away in the center of it. And right in front of my eyes I saw the large 7 I had mindlessly etched into the wall. I knew what it was. Room 7 was just beyond that wall where room 5 was moments ago.
I don’t know how I had done it, and maybe it was just my state of mind at the time, but I had created the door. I knew I had. In my madness I had scratched into the wall what I needed the most, an exit to the next room. Room 7 was close. I knew the demon was wight behind me, but for some reason it couldn’t touch me. I closed my eyes and placed moth hands on the large 7 in front of me. And I pushed. I pushed as hard as I could. The demon was now screaming in my ear. It told me I was never leaving. It told me that this was the end but that I wasn’t going to die, I was going to live there in room 6 with it. I wasn’t. I pushed and screamed at the top of my lungs. I knew I was going to push through the wall eventually. I clenched my eyes shut and screamed, and the demon was gone. I was left in silence. I turned around slowly and was greeted by the room as it was when I entered, just a chair and a lamp. I couldn’t believe it, but I didn’t have time to dwell. I turned back to the 7 and jumped back slightly. What I saw was a door. Not one that I had scratched in, but a regular door with a large 7 on it. My whole body was shaking. It took me a while to turn the knob. I just stood there for a while, staring at the door. I couldn’t stay in room 6, I couldn’t. But if this was only room 6, I couldn’t imagine what 7 had in store. I must have stood there for an hour, just staring at the 7. Finally, with a deep breath, I twisted the knob and opened the door to room 7.
I stumbled through the door mentally exhausted and physically weak. The door behind me closed, and I realized where I was. I was outside. Not outside like room 5, but I was actually outside. My eyes stung. I wanted to cry. I fell to my knees and tried but I couldn’t. I was finally out of that hell. I didn’t even care about the prize that was promised. I turned and saw that the door I just went through was the entrance. I walked to my car and drove home, thinking of how nice a shower sounded.
As I pulled up to my house I felt uneasy. The joy of leaving NoEnd House had faded, and dread was slowly building in my stomach. I shook it off as residual from the house and made my way to the front door. I entered and immediately went up to my room. I entered and there on my bed was my cat Baskerville. He was the first living thing I had seen all night, and I reached to pet him. He hissed and swiped at my hand. I recoiled in shock, as he had never acted like that. I thought “Whatever, he’s an old cat”. I jumped in the shower and got ready for what I was expecting to be a sleepless night.
After my shower, I went to my kitchen to make some food. I descended the stairs and turned into the family room, and what I saw would be forever burned into my mind. My parents were lying on the ground, naked and covered in blood. They were mutilated to near unidentifiable states. Their limbs were removed and placed next to their bodies, and their heads were placed on their chests facing me. The most unsettling part was their expressions. They were smiling, as though they were happy to see me. I vomited and sobbed there in the family room. I didn’t know what had happened, they didn’t even live with me at the time. I was a mess. And then I saw it. A door that was never there before. A door with a large 8 scrawled on it in blood.
I was still in the House. I was standing in my family room but I was in room 7. The faces of my parents smiled wider as I realized this. They weren’t my parents, they couldn’t be. But they looked exactly like them. The door marked 8 was across the room, behind the mutilated bodies in front of me. I knew I had to move on, but at that moment I gave up. The smiling faces tore into my mind, they grounded me where I stood. I vomited again and nearly collapsed. Then the hum returned. It was louder than ever, and it filled the house and shook the walls. The hum compelled me to walk. I began to walk slowly, making my way closer to the door, and the bodies. I could barely stand let alone walk, and the closer I got to my parents the closer I came to suicide. The walls were now shaking so hard it seemed as though they were going to crumble, but still the faces smiled at me. As I inched closer, their eyes followed me. I was now between the two bodies, a few feet away from the door. The dismembered hands clawed their way across the carpet towards me, all the while the faces continued to stare. New terror washed over me and I walked faster. I didn’t want to hear them speak. I didn’t want the voices to match those of my parents. They began to open their mouths, and the hands were now inches from my feet. In a dash of desperation I lunged toward the door, threw it open, and slammed it behind me. Room 8.
I was done. After what I had just experienced I knew there wasn’t anything else this fucking house could throw at me that I couldn’t live through. There was nothing short of the fires of hell that I wasn’t ready for. Unfortunately, I underestimated the abilities of NoEnd House. Unfortunately, things got more disturbing, more terrifying, and more unspeakable in Room 8.
I still have trouble believing what I saw in room 8. Again, the room was a carbon copy of rooms 4 and 6, but sitting in the usually empty chair was a man. After a few seconds of disbelief, my mind finally accepted the fact that the man sitting in the chair was me. Not someone who looked like me, it was David Williams. I walked closer. I had to get a better look even though I was sure of it. He looked up at me and I noticed tears in his eyes.
“Please… please, don’t do it. Please, don’t hurt me.”
“What?” I said. “Who are you? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Yes you are…” he was sobbing now. “You’re going to hurt me and I don’t want you to.” He sat in the chair with his legs up and began rocking back and forth. It was actually really pathetic looking, especially since he was me, identical in every way.
“Listen, who are you?” I was now only a few feet from my doppelganger. It was the weirdest experience yet, standing there talking to myself. I wasn’t scared, but I would be soon. “Why are you-?”
“You’re going to hurt me you’re going to hurt me if you want to leave you’re going to hurt me.”
“Why are you saying this? Just calm down, alright? Let’s try and figure this-“ And then I saw it. The David sitting down was wearing the same clothes as me, except for a small red patch on his shirt embroidered with the number 9.
“You’re going to hurt me you’re going to hurt me don’t please you’re going to hurt me…”
My eyes didn’t leave that small number on his chest. I knew exactly what it was. The first few door were plain and simple, but after a while they got a little more ambiguous. 7 was scratched into the wall, but by my own hands. 8 was marked in blood above the bodies of my parents. But 9 – this number was on a person, a living person. And worse still, it was on a person that looked exactly like me.
“David?” I had to ask.
“Yes… you’re going to hurt me you’re going to hurt me…” He continued to sob and rock. He answered to David. He was me, right down to the voice. But that 9. I paced around for a few minutes while he sobbed in his chair. The room had no door, and similarly to room 6, the door I came through was gone. For some reason I assumed that scratching would get me no where this time. I studied the walls and floor around the chair, sticking my head underneath and seeing if anything was below. Unfortunately, there was. Below the chair there was a knife. Attached was a tag that read: To David – From Management.
The feeling in my stomach as I read that tag was something sinister. I wanted to throw up, and the last thing I wanted to do was remove that knife from under that chair. The other David was still sobbing uncontrollably. My mind was spinning into an attic of unanswerable questions. Who put this here and how did they get my name? Not to mention the fact that as I knelt on the cold wood floor I also sat in that chair, sobbing in protest of being hurt by myself. It was all too much to process. The house and the management had been playing with me this whole time. My thoughts for some reason turned to Peter, and whether or not he got this far. And if he did, if he met a Peter Terry sobbing in this very chair, rocking back and forth. I shook those thoughts out of my head, they didn’t matter. I took the knife from under the chair, and immediately the other David went quiet.
“David,” he said in my voice, “what do you think you’re going to do?”
I lifted myself from the ground and clenched the knife in my hand.
“I’m going to get out of here.”
David was still sitting in the chair, though he was very calm now. He looked up at me with a slight grin. I couldn’t tell if he was going to laugh or strangle me. Slowly he got up from the chair and stood facing me. It was uncanny. His height and even the way he stood matched mine. I felt the rubber hilt of the knife in my hand and gripped it tighter. I didn’t know what I was planning on doing with it, but I had a feeling I was going to need it.
“Now,” his voice was slightly deeper than my own. “I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to hurt you and I’m going to keep you here.” I didn’t respond. I just lunged and tackled him to the ground. I had mounted him and looked down, knife poised and ready. He looked up at me terrified. It was like I was looking in a mirror. Then the hum returned, low and distant, though I still feel it deep in my body. David looked up at me as I looked down at myself. The hum was getting louder, and I felt something inside me snap. With one motion I slammed the knife into the patch on his chest and ripped down. Blackness fell on the room, and I was falling.
The darkness around me was like nothing I had experienced up to that point. Room 3 was dark, but it didn’t come close to what was completely engulfing me. I wasn’t even sure if I was falling after a while. I felt weightless, covered in dark. And then a deep sadness came over me. I felt lost, depressed, and suicidal. The sight of my parents entered my mind. I knew it wasn’t real, but I had seen it, and the mind has trouble differentiating between what is real and what isn’t. The sadness only deepened. I was in room 9 for what seemed like days. The final room. And that’s exactly what it was, the end. NoEnd House had an end, and I had reached it. At that moment I gave up. I knew I would be in that in between state forever, accompanied by nothing but darkness. Not even the hum was there to keep me sane. I had lost all senses. I couldn’t feel myself. I couldn’t hear anything, sight was useless here, and I searched for taste in my mouth and found nothing. I felt disembodied and completely lost. I knew where I was. This was hell. Room 9 was hell. And then it happened. A light. One of those stereotypical lights at the end of the tunnel. Then I felt ground come up from below me, and I was standing. After a moment or two of gathering my thoughts and senses, I slowly walked toward that light.
As I approached the light, it took form. It was a vertical slit down the side of a door, this time unmarked. I slowly walked through the door and found myself back where I started, the lobby of NoEnd House. It was exactly how I left it. Still empty, still decorated with childish Halloween decorations. After everything that had happened that night, I was still wary of where I was. After a few moments of normalcy, I looked around the place trying to find anything different. On the desk was a plain white envelope with my name handwritten on it. Immensely curious, yet still cautious, I mustered up the courage to open the envelope. Inside was a letter, again handwritten.
David Williams,
Congratulations! You have made it to the end of NoEnd House! Please accept this prize as a token of your great achievement.
Yours forever,
Management
With the letter was five $100 bills.
I couldn’t stop laughing. I laughed for what seemed like hours. I laughed as I walked out to my car and la1.
ughed as I drove home. I laughed as I pulled into my driveway, and laughed as I opened my front door to my house and laughed as I saw the small 10 etched into the wood.
中文译文(全文)
开头先说一句:Peter Terry 吸海洛因成瘾。
我们大学时是朋友,我毕业后也一直保持着交情。注意,我说的是「我」。他勉强撑了两年就退学了。我从宿舍搬进小公寓之后,见到 Peter 的机会就不多了。我们偶尔在网上聊聊(AIM 当道的年代,还没有 Facebook)。有一阵子,他连续五个星期没有上线。我不担心。他是有名的放鸽子和瘾君子,我只当他不在乎了。可是有天夜里,我看见他上线了。还没等我发起对话,他先发来一条消息:
「David,兄弟,我们得谈谈。」
就是在那时,他跟我讲起了「无尽之屋」(NoEnd House)。它得这个名字,是因为从来没有人走到过最后的出口。规则简单到老套:走到这栋楼的最后一个房间,你赢五百美元,一共九个房间。房子在城外,离我家大约四英里。显然他试过,而且失败了。他吸海洛因,还吸天知道什么玩意,所以我猜是毒品把他搞垮了,让他对着一只纸糊的鬼就崩了弦。他对我说,那地方对任何人都太过了,说它不自然。我不信。我凭什么信?我告诉他我明晚就去看看。不管他怎么劝,五百美元听着就假得可爱,我必须去。第二天晚上我出发了。以下就是发生的事。
到地方的时候,我立刻察觉到这栋楼有什么地方不对劲。你有没有过那种经历——看见或读到一样根本不该可怕的东西,却莫名其妙地有一股寒意爬上脊椎?我朝那栋楼走去,不安感越来越强,一直积到我推开前门的那一刻。
进了门,心跳反而缓了下来,我如释重负地叹了口气。这个房间像个普通的旅馆大堂,只是装饰了万圣节的东西。没有工作人员,只立着一块牌子:「1 号房这边。后面还有八个。走到头你就赢了!」我轻笑一声,朝第一扇门走去。
第一个区域简直好笑。布置像是 K-Mart(凯马特超市)的万圣节货架区,有床单做的幽灵,还有电动僵尸,你路过时它就发出一声干巴巴的低吼。尽头有个出口,是除入口之外唯一的一扇门。我拨开假蜘蛛网,朝二号房走去。
推开二号房的门,扑面一阵雾气。这个房间在技术上明显加码了:不仅有造雾机,天花板上还吊着一只蝙蝠,绕圈飞。真吓人。房间里不知哪儿还循环放着那种九毛九小店就能买到的万圣节音效带。我没看见音箱,猜他们用的是广播系统。我从几只乱转的玩具老鼠身上跨过去,挺着胸脯走向下一个区域。我伸手去抓门把手——心一下子沉到了膝盖。我不想开那扇门。一股大难临头的感觉狠狠砸下来,砸得我几乎无法思考。惊恐了好几秒之后,理智总算是回来了,我甩甩头,走进了下一个房间。
三号房,是事情开始变化的地方。
表面上,这是个普通的房间。木质地板正中摆着一把椅子,角落里一盏孤灯勉力照明,在地板和墙上投下几道影子。问题就出在这儿。影子——复数。除了椅子的影子,还有别的。我几乎是刚跨进门就已经吓坏了。就在那一刻,我知道有什么不对劲了。我下意识地去拧来时的那扇门,想都没想。它从另一侧被锁上了。
这一下把我点着了。是有人在我前进时随手锁门?不可能,我会听见。是某种自动上锁的机械锁?也许吧。但我已经怕得没法认真思考。我转回身,那些影子不见了。椅子的影子还在,其他的没了。我慢慢开始往前走。我小时候有过幻觉,所以我把那些影子归结为想象。走到房间一半,我感觉好些了。我低着头走路,就在那时我看见了它。或者说,没看见它。我的影子不见了。我没来得及尖叫。我用尽全力冲向另一头的门,想都没想就把自己甩进了里面的房间。
四号房,可能是最令人不适的。我关上门,所有的光像是被抽走、还给了上一个房间。我站在那里,被黑暗包裹,动弹不得。我不怕黑,从来不怕,但那一刻我吓得要死。视觉彻底离开了。我把手举在脸前——若不是我知道自己在这么做,我根本不可能知道。用「黑暗」形容它都不够。我什么也听不见。死寂。在隔音室里,你至少还能听见自己的呼吸,听见自己活着。我听不见。过了好一会儿,我开始跌跌撞撞地向前挪,急促的心跳是我唯一能感觉到的东西。视野里没有门。我甚至不确定这次到底有没有门。然后,寂静被一声低沉的嗡鸣打破了。
我感觉到背后有什么。我疯狂地转身,却连自己的鼻子都看不清。但我知道它在。无论多黑,我知道那里有东西。嗡鸣越来越响,越来越近。它像是要把我包住,但我清楚,发声的那个东西在我正前方,一寸寸逼近。我退了一步——我从来没有感受过那样的恐惧。真正的恐惧我没法形容。我甚至不是怕死,我是怕死之外的另一个选项。我怕这东西为我准备了什么。然后灯光闪了一下,不到一秒,我看见了它。什么都没有。我什么都没看见,而且我知道那里什么都没有。房间重新陷入黑暗,嗡鸣变成了疯狂的尖啸。我放声尖叫着抗议,这该死的声音我一秒也受不了了。我背对着噪音倒退着跑,胡乱摸门把手。一拧,我摔进了五号房。
在讲五号房之前,你必须先了解一件事:我不吸毒。我没有药物滥用的历史,也没有任何精神疾病——除了前面提过的童年幻觉,而且那只在极度疲惫或刚睡醒的时候出现。我进入无尽之屋时,头脑是清醒的。
从上一个房间摔进来之后,我对五号房的第一视角是仰面朝天,望着天花板。我看到的景象没吓到我,只是让我吃了一惊。树长进了这个房间里,在我头顶高高耸立。这个房间的天花板比其他房间都高,这让我以为自己正处在这栋房子的中心。我从地上爬起来,拍拍身上的土,环顾四周。这无疑是所有房间里最大的一个。我甚至看不见门——大概是各种灌木和树木挡住了我和出口之间的视线。到这一步为止,我以为房间只会一间比一间吓人,但比起上一个房间,这里简直是天堂。我还以为,四号房里的那个东西会留在四号房。我错得离谱。
随着我往房间深处走,我开始听见一个人身处森林时会听见的声音——鸣叫的虫子,偶尔扑翅的鸟,似乎是这个房间里唯一的陪伴。而这恰恰是最让我不安的地方。我听得见虫子和别的动物,却看不见它们中的任何一只。我开始琢磨这栋房子到底有多大。当初从外面走近时,它看起来就是一栋普通的房子,确实偏大,但这里面几乎是整整一座森林。树冠遮住了我对天花板的视线,但我假定它还在那里,不管有多高。可我看不到任何墙壁。唯一能让我确定自己还在室内的,是脚下——和其他房间一模一样的深色木地板。我不停地走,盼着下一棵树后面就能露出那扇门。走了一会儿,我觉得有一只蚊子落在了我的手臂上。我把它抖掉,继续走。一秒之后,我感觉又有十几只落在了我皮肤的不同地方。我感觉到它们在我的手臂和大腿上爬上爬下,有几只爬过了我的脸。我发疯似的挥舞四肢想把它们全部赶走,可它们只是不停地爬。我低头看去,发出一声闷闷的尖叫——老实说,更像一声呜咽。我一只虫子都没看见。没有一只虫子在我身上,但我能感觉到它们在爬。我听见它们从我脸旁飞过、蜇刺我的皮肤,但我看不见任何一只。我瘫倒在地,开始疯狂打滚。我绝望了。我恨虫子,尤其是那些看不见、摸不着的虫子。而这些虫子摸得到我,而且无处不在。
我开始爬。我不知道自己在往哪儿去,入口早已不见踪影,出口也始终没看到。所以我只是爬,皮肤上满是那些幻影虫子爬行的感觉。爬了仿佛好几个小时,我终于找到了那扇门。我抓住最近的一棵树撑起身子,机械地拍打着手臂和腿,毫无用处。我想跑,跑不动——爬行加上对付身上那些玩意儿,已经耗尽了我的力气。我打着晃朝门挪去,一路抓着每棵树借力。离门只有几步远的时候,我听见了它。之前那种低沉的嗡鸣。它从下一个房间传来,而且更低沉了。我几乎能感觉到它在我的身体里震,就像演唱会时站在音箱旁边的感受。嗡鸣越来越响,我身上虫子的感觉越来越淡。当我把手放上门把手时,虫子感彻底消失了——可我怎么也没法拧动那个把手。我知道,只要一松手,虫子就会回来,而我绝不可能再活着爬一遍四号房。我就那么站着,额头抵在写着 6 的门上,手抖着攥住把手。嗡鸣响到我已经听不见自己假装思考的声音。除了前进,别无选择。下一个是六号房,而六号房,是地狱。
我关上身后的门,眼睛紧闭,耳朵嗡嗡作响。嗡鸣包围着我。门咔哒归位的一瞬间,嗡鸣消失了。我惊讶地睁开眼——我刚关上的那扇门不见了。那里现在只是一面墙。我震惊地环顾四周。这个房间和三号房一模一样:同样的椅子,同样的孤灯,只是这次,影子的数量是对的。唯一真正的区别是:没有出口的门,而且我进来的那扇也消失了。我之前说过,我没有过任何精神方面的问题。但在那一刻,我坠入了我如今知道叫作「疯狂」的东西。我没有尖叫,没有出声。起初,我只是轻轻地抓。墙面很硬,但我知道门就在那里的某个地方。我就是知道。我在门把手该在的位置抓挠。我用双手发疯般地抠着墙,指甲被木头皮一路磨到见肉。我无声地跪倒在地,房间里唯一的声响,是指甲刮擦墙壁的沙沙声。我知道它就在那儿。门就在那儿,我知道它就在那儿,只要我能穿过这面墙——
「你还好吗?」
我一跃而起,一个动作转身,后背抵上身后的墙。我看清了那个跟我说话的东西——直到今天,我都后悔自己为什么要回头看。
那是个小女孩,穿着一条柔软的白色连衣裙,裙摆垂到脚踝,金色的长发披到后背中段,白皮肤,蓝眼睛。她是我这辈子见过的最可怕的东西,而且我知道,余生不会再有任何东西,比她在那一刻更让我毛骨悚然。看着她的时候,我看见了那个小女孩,但同时我还看见了别的东西。她站着的地方,我看见一副男人的躯体,比常人高大,覆盖着毛发。他从头到脚一丝不挂,但那颗头不是人的头,脚趾是蹄子。那不是魔鬼,但在那一刻,是魔鬼又有什么分别。那个形体长着公羊的头、狼的口鼻。它骇人至极——而它,与眼前的小女孩,是同一个东西。我没法描述,但我是同时看见它们的。它们共享着那个房间里的同一个位置,就像在注视两个不同的维度。我看见女孩就看见形体,看见形体就看见女孩。我说不出话,几乎看不清东西。我的大脑在反抗它正试图处理的一切。我这辈子怕过,但从没有比被困在四号房时更怕——可那是在六号房之前。我只是站在那里,盯着那个跟我说话的东西。没有出口。我被困在这里,和它在一起。然后,它又开口了。
「David,你该听话的。」
它说话的时候,我听到的是小女孩的嗓音,但另一个形体透过我的脑海,用一种我不想尝试去描述的声音说话。没有别的声响。那句话在我脑子里一遍又一遍地重复,而我表示同意。我不知道该怎么办。我正在滑向疯狂,却无法把视线从眼前的东西上挪开。我瘫倒在地。我以为自己昏了过去,但这个房间不让我昏。我只想让这一切结束。我侧躺着,眼睛睁得老大,那个形体低头盯着我。一只二号房里的电池玩具老鼠,正从我面前的地板上窜过。这栋房子在耍我。但不知为什么,看见那只老鼠,把我即将坠入的深渊边上拉了回来。我环顾这个房间。我要出去。我下定决心要活着走出这栋房子,好好活着,从此再也不想这个地方。我知道这个房间是地狱,而我没打算在这儿常住。最先动的是眼睛。我在墙上搜寻任何开口。房间不大,没花多久就把整个格局尽收眼底。恶魔还在嘲弄我,形体原地不动,声音却越来越响。我手撑地面,用四肢撑起身体,转身去扫视身后的墙。然后我看见了不敢相信的东西。那个形体此刻就在我背后,往我脑子里低语着「你不该来」。我感觉到了它喷在我后颈的呼吸,但我拒绝回头。木墙上,刻着一道大大的长方形凹痕,中央还有一个小小的缺口。就在我眼前,刻着我方才神志不清时抠出来的一个大大的数字 7。我明白了它是什么。七号房就在这堵墙后面——一秒之前,这里还是五号房。
我不知道自己是怎么做到的。也许只是当时的精神状态。但我造出了那扇门。我知道是我造的。在疯狂之中,我在墙上刻出了我最需要的东西——一扇通往下一个房间的出口。七号房就在眼前。我知道恶魔就直挺挺地立在我背后,但不知为何,它碰不到我。我闭上眼,双手按上眼前那个大大的 7。然后我推。我用尽全力地推。恶魔此刻在我耳边嘶吼。它说我永远也出不去。它说这就是终点,但我不会死——我会永远住在六号房,和它在一起。我不干。我嘶吼着拼命推。我知道自己早晚会推穿这面墙。我紧闭双眼,放声尖叫——然后,恶魔不见了。四周一片寂静。我缓缓转过身,迎接我的是我刚进来时的那个房间:一把椅子,一盏孤灯。难以置信,但我没时间细想。我回过头再看那个 7,不由得向后一缩。我看见的是一扇门。不是我抠出来的那种,而是一扇普普通通的门,上面写着大大的数字 7。我浑身发抖。过了好一会儿,我才拧动把手。我在原地站了很久,只是盯着那扇门。我不能留在六号房,不能。可如果这才只是六号房,我无法想象七号房为我准备了什么。我大概在那儿站了一个小时,只是盯着那个 7。最后,深吸一口气,我拧动把手,打开了七号房的门。
我从门里跌跌撞撞地出来,精神上精疲力竭,身体上虚弱不堪。身后的门关上了,我意识到自己在哪儿。我在室外。不是五号房那种「室外」——我是真的出来了。眼睛刺痛。我想哭。我跪倒在地,努力尝试,却哭不出来。我终于逃出了那个地狱。我甚至不在乎那笔悬赏了。我回头看见,我刚走出来的那扇门就是入口。我走向我的车,开车回家,想着洗个澡该有多舒服。
车停到我家门口时,我感到一阵不安。逃离无尽之屋的喜悦已经褪去,恐惧在胃里缓缓堆积。我把它当成房子的后遗症甩到一边,走向前门。进了门,我径直上楼回房间。一进去,床上趴着我的猫巴斯克维尔。他是我一整晚见到的第一个活物,我伸手去摸他。他哈气,一爪子挠向我的手。我惊得缩回手——他从来没这样过。我想「算了,老猫都这样」。我冲了个澡,准备迎接一个注定无眠的夜。
洗完澡,我下楼去厨房弄点吃的。我下了楼梯,拐进客厅——然后我看到的景象,永远地烙在了我的记忆里。我的父母躺在地上,赤身裸体,浑身是血。他们被肢解到几乎无法辨认的程度。四肢被卸下,摆在躯体旁边;头颅被放在胸口上,面朝着我。最令人毛骨悚然的,是他们的表情。他们在微笑,仿佛见到我回来很高兴。我在客厅里呕吐、恸哭。我不知道发生了什么——他们那阵子甚至不和我住在一起。我整个人垮了。然后,我看见了它。一扇以前从来不在那里的门。一扇用血潦草地写着 8 的门。
我还在那栋房子里。我明明站在自家客厅里,但我还在七号房。意识到这一点的瞬间,我父母的脸笑得更开了。他们不是我父母,不可能是。但他们看上去和他们一模一样。写着 8 的门在房间另一头,就在我被肢解的双亲尸体后面。我知道我必须继续前进,但在那一刻,我放弃了。那些微笑的脸撕扯着我的神智,把我钉在原地。我又吐了,几乎瘫倒。然后,嗡鸣回来了。比以往任何时候都响,灌满了整栋房子,震得墙壁发颤。嗡鸣驱使我走。我开始慢慢地走,朝那扇门、朝那些尸体挪近。我几乎站不稳,更别说走了,而离父母越近,我就离自杀的念头越近。墙壁颤得像随时要崩塌,可那些脸还在冲我微笑。我一寸寸靠近,他们的眼珠跟着我转动。此刻我在两具尸体之间,离门只有几步。那些被卸下的手,在地毯上朝我抓爬过来,而那些脸始终盯着我。新的恐惧将我吞没,我加快了脚步。我不想听他们开口。我不想那些声音和我父母的声音重合。他们的嘴开始张开,那些手离我的脚只有几寸了。拼着最后一股绝望的劲,我朝那扇门扑过去,拉开门,重重摔在身后。
八号房。
我受够了。经历了一切之后,我确信这栋该死的房子已经没有什么砸向我的东西是我扛不过去的了。除了地狱之火,我什么都做好了准备。不幸的是,我低估了无尽之屋的本事。不幸的是,八号房里的一切,变得更扭曲、更恐怖、更难以启齿。
我至今难以相信自己在大号房里看见的东西。这个房间又是四号房和六号房的复制品,但那把一贯空着的椅子上,坐着一个男人。难以置信了几秒之后,我的大脑终于接受了这个事实:坐在椅子上的男人,是我。不是一个长得像我的人——那就是 David Williams。我走近。我必须看得更清楚,尽管我已经很确定。他抬起头看我,眼里含着泪水。
「求你……求你,别这么做。求你,别伤害我。」
「什么?」我说。「你是谁?我不会伤害你。」
「不,你会的……」他哭了起来。「你会伤害我,而我不想你这么做。」他抱着腿蜷在椅子上,开始前后摇晃。那样子确实可怜——尤其可怜的是,他就是我,每一个细节都分毫不差。
「听着,你到底是谁?」我离我的二重身只有几步远了。这是迄今最诡异的经历:站在那里,和自己说话。我还不害怕。但很快就会了。「你为什么——?」
「你会伤害我的你会伤害我的如果你想出去你就会伤害我的。」
「你为什么这么说?冷静点,行吗?我们试着弄清楚——」然后我看见了。坐着的 David 穿着和我一样的衣服,只有衬衫上多了一小块红色补丁,上面绣着数字 9。
「你会伤害我的你会伤害我的别求你我不要……」
我的视线离不开他胸口那个小小的数字。我完全知道它是什么。最开始的几扇门直白明了,但越往后越隐晦。7,是刻在墙上的,出自我自己之手。8,是用血写在我父母尸块上方的。而 9——这个数字,长在一个人身上,一个活人。更糟的是,他和我长得一模一样。
「David?」我不得不问。
「嗯……你会伤害我的,你会伤害我的……」他继续抽泣、摇晃。他应「David」这个名字。他是我,连声音都是。但那个 9。我来回踱了几分钟,他在椅子里啜泣。这个房间没有门,和六号房一样,我进来那扇也消失了。不知为什么,我猜想这次抓墙是不会管用了。我仔细检查椅子周围的墙壁和地板,把头探进椅子底下看有没有东西。不巧,真有。椅子底下,有一把刀。上面挂着一张标签:致 David——管理层敬上。
读到那张标签时,胃里翻上来的感觉阴暗得不像话。我想吐,而我最不想做的事,就是把那把刀从椅子底下拿出来。另一个 David 还在无法自控地啜泣。我的脑子在一堆无解的问题里打转:谁放在这儿的?他们怎么知道我的名字?更别提那个事实——当我跪在这冰冷的地板上时,「我」也正坐在那把椅子里,哭喊着抗议被我伤害。这一切超出了承受。这栋房子和「管理层」,从头到尾都在耍我。不知为何,我想到了 Peter,想到他有没有走到这一步。如果走到了,他是不是也遇见了一个 Peter Terry,坐在这把椅子里,前后摇晃着啜泣。我甩掉这些念头,它们不重要。我把刀从椅子底下抽了出来——另一个 David 立刻安静了。
「David,」他用我的声音说,「你觉得自己要干什么?」
我从地上站起来,攥紧了手里的刀。
「我要出去。」
David 还坐在椅子上,只是他已经非常平静了。他抬起头,嘴角挂着一丝笑。我分不清他是要笑出声还是要掐死我。他缓缓从椅子上起身,面对面站着。诡异至极。他的身高,连他站立的姿势,都和我的分毫不差。我感觉到刀上橡胶握柄的手感,攥得更紧了。我不知道自己打算拿它干什么,但我有一种预感:我会需要它。
「现在,」他的声音比我的稍微低一点。「我要伤害你。我要伤害你,还要把你永远留在这儿。」我没有回答。我直接扑上去把他撂倒在地。我骑在他身上,低头看他,刀锋举定。他惊恐地仰望着我。就像照着一面镜子。然后,嗡鸣回来了,低沉、遥远——但我至今仍能在身体深处感觉到它。David 仰望着我,我低头看着自己。嗡鸣越来越响,我感觉身体里有什么东西「啪」地断了。一个动作,我把刀扎进他胸口的补丁,向下一撕。黑暗吞没了房间,我开始坠落。
包裹着我的黑暗,是此前从未体验过的东西。三号房是黑的,但和彻底将我吞没的这团黑相比不值一提。过了一阵,我甚至不确定自己是否还在坠落。我感到失重,被黑暗覆盖。然后,一股深沉的悲伤涌了上来。我感到迷茫、抑郁、想自杀。父母的画面闯进脑海。我知道那不是真的,但我看见了它,而大脑很难分辨真实与虚幻。悲伤越陷越深。我在九号房里待了仿佛好几天。最后一个房间。它也确实就是——终点。无尽之屋有一个尽头,而我走到了。在那一刻,我放弃了。我知道自己将永远困在那个「之间」的状态里,除了黑暗,没有任何陪伴。连嗡鸣都不在了,连让我维持神智的东西都没有。我失去了所有感官。我感觉不到自己。听不见任何声音,视觉在这里毫无用处,我在嘴里搜寻味道,什么都没有。我感到自己脱离了躯体,彻底迷失。我知道自己在哪儿。这是地狱。九号房是地狱。然后,它出现了。一道光。那种俗套的、隧道尽头的光。接着我感觉地面从下方升起,我站了起来。用了一两分钟收拢思绪和感官之后,我慢慢朝那道光走去。
走近了,光有了形状。那是一扇门侧面的一道竖缝——这一次,门上没有任何标记。我缓缓穿过那扇门,发现自己回到了起点:无尽之屋的大堂。一切和我离开时一模一样。依旧空无一人,依旧挂着幼稚的万圣节装饰。经历了那一夜的一切,我对自己的处境依然满腹狐疑。确认了几分钟的正常之后,我环顾四周,想找出任何不同的东西。柜台上放着一个素白的信封,上面手写着我的名字。好奇心再强,警惕也没放下,我鼓起勇气拆开了信封。里面是一封信,同样是手写的:
David Williams:
恭喜你!你已经走到了无尽之屋的尽头!请收下这份奖品,聊表对你伟大成就的敬意。
你永远的,
管理层
信里附着五张一百美元的钞票。
我停不住地大笑。我笑了仿佛几个小时。我笑着朝我的车走去,笑了出来。
我笑着开车回家,笑着拐进我家的车道,笑着打开我家前门——然后笑着,看见了刻在木头上的那个小小的数字。
10。
(原帖正文到此为止。原文结尾 “la1. / ughed” 处有一处排版断裂,是当年 Reddit 渲染器折行留下的痕迹,译文已按语义合并。)
译注
- 中文圈流传的版本多是「九个房间逐个递进 + 回家看见 10 号房」的精简梗概,删掉了 Peter Terry 的引子、五号房的幻影虫群、六号房的羊头恶魔、八号房的自相残杀等段落。完整原版的核心诡计其实是:房子从七号房就开始伪造出口——「逃出去」本身是关卡的一部分。
- 2011 年原帖评论区的一个著名观察:有人发现文中的低级错别字(如 “every now and them“、”ming”、”wight”、”moth hands”)随着故事推进越来越多,怀疑是「房子正在通过叙述者的手打字」。这成了此后十几年 NoEnd House 二创的核心母题。
- 八号房的设计与《黑镜》式的「自我惩罚」结构高度相似:刀就放在椅子底下,标签写明了「管理层」的意图——走不出去的门,从来都不在墙上。
英文原文经 Web Archive 2011-06-12 快照逐字恢复(Reddit 原帖正文现已删除);中文译文为对照译本,原版错别字(如 “every now and them”、”la1.ughed”)一律保留于英文部分。