Truth

"The next one…" says John, and he takes down the fourth picture that appeared on the staircase.

At least the last two have appeared on the wall, not on the people...

Because Patrick freaked out when he found a picture in his pocket with a figure on it and the text 'Don't look, or it takes you'.

"Again, this figure and a text that says 'Follows' this time," says Ana and rubs her arms, probably feeling uneasy about all of this.

With the third one, which had a head with crossed-out eyes and the text that says, 'Always watches, no eyes,' it seems to be a warning of some sorts.

The figures on the pictures are likely the Staff because they have no eyes and follow you at night. However, they don't seem to react when you look at them.

It also doesn't make sense to receive the warnings so late in the game...

"Strange… the farther we go up, the more I start to sense emotions from these pictures, like pain and fear," Patrick says as he grabs the picture.

"Because these pictures are probably created out of these emotions. This darkness is like a sea of soul fragments that are here for some reason, probably trying to warn us or tell a story," I say, while sharing what I could sense around me.

"Soul fragments? Is that even possible? I've never met a half-ghost or something like that before."

I shrug and answer, "No idea. Maybe these are the leftovers or echoes from the people who died here. In any case, this is not the doing of living beings; I can sense the difference."

"Soul fragments... sensing... this is a bit out of my league," says Anna, dumbfounded after listening to us.

"Don't worry about it. It wouldn't change our situation anyway. Let's go up and see what these things are trying to tell us." I say to her understanding her confusion.

She nods, and we all walk further up while the darkness becomes thicker and thicker.

"John, grab Ana, and Ana, grab Patrick's backpack. Patrick, grab mine. I don't want to get separated here…"

They didn't answer, but I could feel Patrick grabbing my backpack, so we continued to climb the stairs until we arrived at the next note lying on the stairs this time.

I pick it up, and Ana asks, "What is it this time?"

"Only a text that says, 'Can't run'..."

*Shhhs*

Suddenly, we hear a static noise, and when we look up, there is suddenly a glowing white door at the end of this staircase section with another paper hanging on it.

"Well, it seems we've reached the end..." I drop the note, and we walk to the door. Then I rip the sixth paper from the door and turn it around to show it to them.

"Help, Me... let's see who needs our help!" says John, annoyed, then slams open the door, only for another door to appear a few feet behind it...

"You've got to be kidding me." He rips off the note, crumples it, and throws it behind him, then hits the door. While I catch the note and look at it, it's probably one of the most disturbing ones until now.

In the middle stands a Staff being, but in a suit, and around it, there are a lot of 'No' written.

*Crash* John kicks in the door, and white light engulfs us immediately, even blinding me for a second.

When the light disappears, we are no longer on the staircase but in a well-lit office with a skeleton sitting at a table in front of us.

It's sitting upright, wearing Ikea staff clothes, and holding another glowing note in its bony hands. While a large door, seemingly clad in darkness and heavily locked with chains and locks, is right behind it.

"No one moves or touches anything here... this place is filled with a chaotic aura that could be dangerous," I say, sensing a thick aura that swirls aimlessly around the room.

The source of this aura is clear; it's not the skeleton or the note, but whatever is locked behind the door...

So, I walk forward, past the skeleton, to look at the door.

Even when the aura hits me, I'm pretty sure it would not be capable of doing something to me, since even Cthulhu's presence has no effect on me.

But when I reached it, I suddenly heard behind me…

"Patrick, no!" Ana screams towards the psychic, who walks as if in a trance towards the note that the skeleton is holding.

Suddenly, I see the space around it distorting, so I use my telekinesis to push him away, but it simply has no effect on him at the moment.

Leaving me with no other choice but to dash toward him.

The disturbance in the space engulfs us, and I manage to grab him, but not before he grabs the note that says, 'Leave me alone.'

Then everything goes dark.

~~~ Years prior, in a different world ~~~

"Did you hear about the movie where a killer clown eats children? The director, Bill Denbrough, says it's a real story... isn't it crazy?"

Two people could be seen walking down the road towards their new workplace, while wearing their workwear and chatting happily.

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet; he only wants to hype up his movie, nothing more," says the female of the two.

"Nah, I did some research, and the town of Derry seems to be really evil..." responds the male while looking worried.

The woman sees this and places a hand on his shoulder, saying warmly, "Don't worry about that, Ryan; supernatural things don't exist, only people who are doing evil stuff, and in some cities it's worse than in others."

He places his own hand on hers and says with a smile, "You're probably right... let's concentrate on our new work. Do you think a Swedish store will accept people with names like Marissa and Ryan?"

Marissa rolls her eyes and says, "A Swedish store in America... of course they will accept us. Or do you think only people from Sweden work there and visit it? And now, shut up; we need to make a good first impression."

While talking, they had already arrived at the newly built Ikea, and after taking a deep breath, both entered it.

It was Sunday evening, and everyone should gather today for a final meeting before the grand opening tomorrow.

Unfortunately, another being noticed the gathering of people as well and used the tool his creator gave him to link the store with his own domain.

Most of the time, it would only go after a few people every year or so when they stumbled into its dimension by accident to satisfy its hunger while strengthening its maker at the same time.

But suddenly, it changed after it received the order to gather more souls because something was coming that could threaten their existence.

And since its hunger was limitless anyway, and the apes were easy prey, it obeyed and started to hunt for more of them while using its newly given tool to create entrances even in other worlds.

"Should the store be so dark?" asks Ryan after seeing that only a few lamps were lit in the store.

"No idea, but I'm pretty sure they all gathered in the staff room, so let's go there," says Marissa after tapping on the map that was placed at the entrance.

He nodded, and they started to walk forward, not noticing the beings that were standing in the shadows watching them.

The being always wished his creator would give him the power to teleport, but he never got it, so he needed to stalk his prey the old-fashioned way.

At least until he got his new toy…

Luckily, it could create copies of itself by ripping one of its tentacles from its back, making it seemingly appear in multiple places at the same time and luring its prey to its true self.

So, it started to follow them with its clones, only waiting for them to look at it before it snatched them, just as it had done with the other forty people who entered its new domain today.

—

As they walk for a while, Marissa grabs Ryan's arm while looking worriedly around.

"Is something wrong?" he asks after noticing the pain from her nails digging into his skin.

"I don't know... it kind of feels like someone is watching us."

"Don't be silly; the darkness is probably playing tricks on you. Plus, I'm here, so you'll be safe anyway," says Ryan cheekily.

They knew each other since high school and had been inseparable ever since, so she should have known that when he was with her, nothing would happen.

No matter how big the other guys were or how many of them there were, Ryan was always a fighter and could stand his ground.

He had proven this more than once since Marissa was always an eye-catcher and would cause him trouble, but it was worth it in the end...

They walked for a few more minutes through the labyrinth of the Ikea store and soon found themselves near the office where the staff room was also located.

Ryan lets go of Marissa to open the door for her, but when he turns to say something cheeky, he suddenly notices large figures standing not far behind them.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" she screams as he grabs her hand in a panic and drags her into the dimly lit hallway before slamming the door behind them.

Ryan looks around, only to see the door to the staff room and one that leads to the office. And decides that they would have a better chance of escaping through a window in the office than in the staff room.

Then walks forward, while still dragging his distressed girlfriend behind him.

"Ryan, what is happening?! You're hurting me!"

"We have no time to lose; we need to get out of here!" he responds, ignoring that he's grabbing her too strong, and slams open the door to the office before entering it.

But when they walk through, they suddenly find themselves back at the store's entrance…

However, now there are not only shelves in front of them but also trees mixed into the scenery, with a sky-high tower ominously shining in the distance.

Ryan turns to walk back to the door, but now there is suddenly a wall behind them, and they both freeze in place.

"Ryan, I'm afraid... What is suddenly happening here?"

"No idea, but if we can't run, then we'll fight! Come out of the darkness, you cowards!" Ryan screams into the distance.

As if reacting to this, the surrounding space distorts, and suddenly they are standing next to the tower, surrounded by faceless naked beings.

At first, it had intended to stalk them further and use their fear as seasoning, but this male ape really wanted to taunt it.

So, it changed its plans and aimed to break the 'brave' ape.

The beings make some space and form a path towards the tower, where a figure stands clad in a suit with the same faceless head as the others.

That is holding a cube-like metallic object with holes on each side and small round spheres on each edge.

—

*Step, step*

As it begins to move towards the pair, the darkness around it seems to be drawn towards it, forming tentacles that swirl behind its back.

Marissa, seeing this, nearly breaks down, saved only by her boyfriend who grabs her hand and places her protectively behind him, even though they are surrounded…

When the being in the suit steps in front of them, as if saying, "Here I am, what will you do now?" Ryan dashes forward and jumps up to punch it.

"Agh!"

But he is flung away easily by one of the tentacles, which also slashes across his chest.

He crashes to the ground, and his body refuses to obey him due to the pain from his wound. And now, he can only watch helplessly as the being walks toward the trembling Marissa…

Then, it sends out another tentacle, which grabs her by the neck, before walking back towards the tower while dragging her along.

"No! Ryan... help me!" she manages to scream before the tower's door closes.

Ryan's vision blurs, and the loss of blood makes him nearly faint, but he promised her that nothing would happen to her as long as he was here.

So, he summons his willpower to force his body to stand and moves towards the tower.

The beings see him move but don't stop him; they simply watch the bleeding man arrive at the tower's door.

"Wait for me... Marissa!" He opens the door and finds a large dark staircase in front of him.

And as he walks through, everything blurs, and he arrives suddenly in a dark room.

Looking around, he sees his girlfriend standing motionless next to the faceless being, which is still holding her by the neck while keeping her feet on the ground to not hang her.

The next moment, the monster lets go of her, and she weakly opens her eyes. Upon seeing Ryan, she runs towards him, while he attempts to do the same.

*Splash*

However, when they are just inches away from each other, a tentacle suddenly slashes down, cutting directly through Marissa as she runs.

The wounded man watches in horror as her body falls apart…

"No! No! No! No! Marissa! Please don't leave me alone!" Ryan screams as he kneels down, trying to piece her body back together.

But it doesn't work, and her body starts to dissolve, seemingly absorbed by the tower, while the darkness around him thickens.

Meanwhile, the faceless entity steps in front of him and watches the man in front of it break down. It has done well today, perhaps well enough to earn a reward...

Ryan cries for a while, then looks up, waiting for the creature to end his misery. The creature seems to oblige and readies its tentacle to strike down.

But when the tentacle slashes at him, Ryan evades it at the last moment, surprising the being that had thought he was already broken.

Ryan sees the only object that seems out of place in all this chaos and grabs it with his right hand before spinning and hitting the being in the chest with his elbow.

This makes it step back a few paces, while losing its grip on its gifted toy.

As an object meant to be used, it shows the dying man how to utilize it. And after gaining this information, Ryan stretches it out, screaming, "This place will also be a grave for you!"

"Aaaaggggghhh!"

The being screeches unnaturally as everything around it begins to blur, and walls begin closing in from all sides, to imprison it.

Afterwards, a door appears, adorned with countless locks and chains to symbolize that something is locked behind it.

Ryan, having expended his last energy on attacking and trapping the being, falls to his knees and takes his final breath, while thinking about how he failed Marissa, the love of his life, and their dreams of a future together.

They had big plans, perhaps even becoming managers at Ikea someday.

And now that he knows supernatural beings are real, he would transform the place into a safe haven for every person threatened by such monsters, while he and Marissa watch over them.

But now, it's all just a dream since she is gone, and he is dead…

What he didn't know is that the object in his hand still listened to him. It couldn't fulfill his wish to save Marissa, but it could create a safe haven for everyone in great danger even across the multiverse.

So, it began to reshape the dimension once more.

First, it created an office for the manager in the tower who oversees everything. Then, it transformed the faceless clones into his employees.

Afterwards, it opened the entrance for those in need.

However, the dodecahedron-shaped object couldn't foresee the leaking aura of the imprisoned being, which started giving it commands from time to time to corrupt this safe haven.