The room itself had a confusing design, and Rudy had no idea in which direction he was going, but he kept walking in one straight direction because he saw a door there.
Just like how the front door had disappeared as soon as Rudy entered the house, the door from the bathroom had also vanished when Rudy fell into that room.
“What’s with this house? Is this some abandoned haunted house or something? If yes, then what did I do to deserve this?” Rudy asked, even though he knew that he wouldn’t get an answer.
Rudy remembered what happened today in the school and how seven bullies bullied him in the washroom.
“What did I do to deserve any of that? I don’t think bad of someone. I don’t date anyone, nor have I ever hurt anyone. I never curse at people. I don’t act rudely to anyone! I respect the elders, love the kids, and acknowledge someone with my age,” Rudy uttered to himself in frustration.
“I never blamed anyone for being born into a poor family, and I am happy with what I have. I never demanded anything or wished for a better life for myself. I just want my mother to have a better life! What’s wrong with being kind? Is it wrong to be naive? It’s not like me being kind or naive will affect someone!”
“I am not stupid! What’s wrong with being weak? And what’s so great about being strong? Power corrupts people, and history is proof of it. Even a saint can turn into a devil if they give in to the temptation.”
“What’s wrong with being humble? That would actually make people like them even more! What’s wrong with having less confidence? It’s not always about confidence, and overconfidence makes people arrogant! There are always two sides to everything! The good and the evil.”
“If something happens for good, then something happens for worse too. No one in this world is ever truly satisfied and happy with something. Some have nothing, yet they are still smiling despite not being satisfied because they are happy. And there are some who have everything, but they are not happy nor satisfied.”
“What to do with that kind of life? I would rather not have anything and be happy than having everything and not be happy!”
Rudy didn’t realize that he had already reached the door as he kept taking out all his pent-up frustration while trying to walk forward,
He slowly moved his hand to the doorknob, but before he could touch it, it started moving on its own as though someone was trying to open the door from the outside.
Usually, Rudy would have been scared and run away from there, but he was annoyed after taking out all the pain he was enduring, so instead of running away or hiding in the corner as he normally would, he grabbed the knob and unlocked the door.
As soon as the door creaked open, Rudy kicked the door and slammed it open. However, there was no one on the other side of the door. The effect on the room had also stopped and Rudy no longer had to think opposite to do something.
‘Since the knob was moving, I assumed someone was there, but…’ Rudy looked at the tennis ball in his hand and threw it in the hall.
The ball bounced a couple of times and started rolling, but it eventually stopped after moving for a while.
Rudy stared at the ball with a serious look on his face and didn’t blink for a minute straight.
SIGH!
Just as he sighed in relief, the ball automatically started moving to the other side of the hallway. Then, Rudy heard the sound of a footstep from that direction.
He immediately dashed through the hallway and entered the room where he heard the sound, but it was empty, and the ball was rolling in a circle.
“…”
It was the living room, but it was empty with only one vintage chair in the middle, around which the tennis ball was circulating.
The back of the chair was facing Rudy as he couldn’t see if someone was sitting in the chair or not. He slowly walked to the chair, his heart punting with every step.
He could clearly hear his heartbeat since the room was filled with silence, and the rolling sound of the ball was getting louder as he walked closer to the chair.
After a few more steps, Rudy was standing in front of the chair, but when he tried to take one step forward, the ball started moving at high speed.
Rudy stepped backward, and the ball returned to its normal speed. He took one step forward, and it once again started rolling at high speed.
Rudy only wanted to check whether someone was sitting in the chair or not, and there were many ways to know it. The easiest way was to approach the chair, but the ball wasn’t letting Rudy get close to it.
However, Rudy had no need to get close to it. He could also see from afar if he just walked to the other side of the room.
And that’s what he did. He walked to the other side of the room and saw the chair was empty.
“…”
One part of Rudy was relieved that there was no one, but another part of him was disappointed for the same reason.
Rudy noticed that the ball had stopped moving, seemingly it was to stop Rudy from getting near the chair, but Rudy outsmarted whoever had done that— although it didn’t really seem smart to Rudy as it was an obvious thing to do.
Now, Rudy was back to square one, and he had no idea what to do. He still couldn’t find the exit, nor could he progress in finding any clue about the house.
In all that, Rudy forgot why he was in the house in the first place.
However, that didn’t last long as the ball started moving again and rolled out of the living room. And Rudy soon followed it.
