Continue into the room

Leanne decided to press on and hope Sid realised it was safe to go into the room. With any luck his desire to be with Leanne would outweigh whatever fear was holding him back. She turned back to the open door and with a deep breath stepped inside.

It was quiet as she looked around. Leanne had no idea what time it was but judging by the light coming through the small windows it was a lot later than when she was last here. Between everything that had happened she felt like she'd been there for hours. After a while she realised there were a few people sat around the room in the chairs. There was no noise coming from any of them, they could've all been asleep. Or worse!

"See, Sid. It's safe." She turned back to face the gigantic man but he wasn't there. The corridor wasn't there either. Even the door wasn't there. "No, no, no! Not again!"

Leanne ran to the wall where she'd just come through and began banging her fists against the cheap flowered wallpaper, but it was solid. There was no sign of an opening. The door she used seemingly vanished. Having only just recovered from her previous set back, the feeling of panic was quick to return. She spun back to face the room, slamming her back against the wall for support and avoid anything sneaking up on her. The room was still, no sound of movement from any of the residents.

With her breathing returning to normal, she decided to venture further into the sitting area. There should still be a way out of there, even if her way back had gone. Cautiously she stepped forwards, listening for any noise. But the only sounds she could hear were her own deep breaths and the creaking floorboards under her feet.

She reached the nearest occupied chair and hesitantly checked on the resting resident. It was a decision she instantly regretted and a loud shriek escaped her lips as she stumbled backwards into a nearby table. The table clattered over noisily and Leanne froze. She listened carefully with her hands over her mouth, her heart beating heavily in her chest. The was still no other noise except the rapid thumping of her heartbeat.

She stared at the old man sat in the chair. He hadn't moved despite the sudden racket. He wasn't dead, Leanne could see his chest rising up and down with every slow, laboured breath. That wasn't what had scared her so much initially anyway. It was his face, or rather what was on his face. The old man had been painted to look like a clown.

She knew it wasn't THE clown, but just the face staring back at her was terrifying. She looked closely at the other old people slumped around the room. There were another five or six residents sat in their chairs and every single one of them was painted with clown make-up.

"What the fuck...?!" whispered Leanne, her eyes wide with fear.

Suddenly she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. It could have just been the intensity of the situation but she was sure someone, or something, darted past her. She spun round, hoping not to see anything. Thankfully it was clear. Leanne's breathing returned to normal and she tried to get her thoughts together.

"Come on. I can get out from here. The entrance is just over there," she turned to where she'd first entered the sitting area a few hours ago. The hallway beyond was dark, even more so than usual. She couldn't make anything out in detail beyond a few steps in front of her, but standing in the doorway was a familiar silhouette. The crazy hair, the big shoes. The clown had found her.