All you could see was grey all around you as you speed through room after room. After a rough day at work, you tried to drive home through the thrashing rain storm. But fate had a different idea.

You never made it home, instead crashing your car after a freakish fall. You and your car clipped through the road on your way home, and you awoke to find yourself in a bright yellow room. You wandered that space for a few days before finding what you thought was an exit, but you were unfortunately mistaken. The door only lead to some sort of garage, with a few cars in broken clusters and many small rooms.

But there was something sinister lurking in this liminal space. A large, skinny, black entity with a piece of paper covering its face. It had long legs and long arms, complete with fingers like snakes. Its ribs were on the outside of its body, wrapping around its chest like giant grey hands. The mask that hid its toothy grin showed a drawn-on smiley face, with two red slits for eyes and a curving red mouth. And you had the unfortunate luck of running into this entity.

Now you were running for your life, tired, hungry, searching for a power generator. Running through rooms, ducking under cars, frantically searching in order to open the garage door that would lead to your safety. You dove behind a wall as the Paper Mask lumbered by. You caught yourself staring at the hulking figure as it passed, and a different feeling mingled with your fear. Curiosity, yes, but something else too. You turned away and run into a different room, shaking your head to rid your exhausted brain of those thoughts.

"I've been alone for too long... I've gotta get out of here." You mumbled as you searched yet another room. But the creature heard you and shot back in your direction.

You screamed and bolted away. But days of no food were starting to catch up with you. Almond water might have been the reason for your survival, but it wasn't sustaining enough. You swayed as you ran, feeling light headed. You supported yourself against a wall and tried to catch your breath, but the Paper Mask was still advancing on you. You pushed off from the wall, still tired. As you ran into another room, you spotted a neon green glow to the left.

"The last generator!" You exclaimed, rushing over and almost crushing the button with both hands. You turned to leave the deadend room, but the massive entity stood still in the doorway.

Your heart dropped into your stomach and dread spread throughout your body. The Paper Mask slowly made its way into the room. You fell onto your back as you tried to scramble away and pushed yourself against the wall, hoping to clip through it like your car did a few nights ago. But it was no use. The creature crawled towards you now, stalking its helpless prey. You closed your eyes, knowing it was over, waiting for a hit to come. But it never did.

You opened your eyes to see the Paper Mask standing inches from your face, staring. Staring at the trembling figure it saw before it. It cocked its head slightly, almost seeming curious. It reached its hand out and you expected it to hurt you. But its fingers only lightly touched your terrified face. It was so close that you could see its glowing white eyes through the paper it wore. They stared into your soul, scaring you but mesmerizing you at the same time. Just then your stomach growled. The creature shifted its burning gaze to where the noise had come from, then back to your eyes. It could tell that you were exhausted. Normally, this meant an easy kill. But something about you fascinated the Paper Mask.

It backed up and stood on two legs again, however still hunching over from its bad posture. You quickly got to your feet but felt very dizzy again from the sudden movement. You swayed once more, but the entity reached out its long, twisted hand. You grabbed into it without thinking to stable yourself. After a minute, your head stopped swimming. You hesitantly looked up at the Paper Mask. He towered above you. You gulped, nervous at his massive size and apparent killer instincts. But he seemed gentle towards you. You didn't know why, but you were grateful nonetheless.

You let go of the creature and started off towards the garage door. It silently trailed behind you the whole way there. This made you uneasy, but you were also thankful for the company, even if it was a giant monster. Finally reaching the door, you turned back to look at the creature. Both of you stayed silent for a few moments.

"...Thank you. For, you know, not killing me." You told it. You couldn't tell if it understood you, but it moved forward and lowered its head.

You hesitated, then stretched out your arm and carefully caressed its masked face. It stood there, letting you touch it. It leaned into your hand ever so slightly, seeming to enjoy the attention. You slowly pulled away, then started off through the door.

The garage door opened up into a hallway with another door at the end of it. You guessed that this door lead to a new area too. Before going through, you turned back to look at the Paper Mask one more time. It slowly raised its hand, then moved it side to side. It waved at me, You thought. You waved back as a goodbye, then ventured into the unknown.