Chapter Text
Her eye glitched. He swore had seen it. There was no way he was imaging it. That smirk on her face was not a coincidence. It reminded him of a snake, exposing its fangs before swallowing its prey whole; the prey being his relief of finally being home.
He let out a squeak before subconsciously stepping backwards into the safety of his teammates. He bumped into Mira, and she turned to give him an amused smile. He returned it with a shaky one. She gave him a questioning look, but she quickly brushed it off to turn her attention back to the adoring crowd.
Neither Adam nor Mira seemed alarmed. Mira was jumping up and down, whooping with delight. She hugged both boys. Adam, on the other hand, showed his excitement more subtly. He was smiling and waving at the crowd.
With the trophy in their hands, they didn’t need any more proof. His emotions were conflicted between excitement and horror. It was easier to believe that they had won and they were finally home. No more scary monsters jumping out to take them captive. No more portals that made him dizzy. No more confusion of where the hell they were.
Right. He could remember now. He had signed up for the Hollow months ago. Ever since the first episode premiered, it had been his dream to participate in it. The action, the adventure, and even the romance pulled him in. The game hadn’t seemed hard then, with him safely at home, throwing popcorn at the stupid contestants who failed to figure out an oh-so-obvious puzzle. He had sworn that if he was in the game he would be victorious no doubt. He so had that natural leader vibe.
They had to be out. He had watched The Hollow hundreds of times before, and just like the contestants he had cheered on, he was standing on the stage with the trophy by his side, completely done with the game. There was no tricks or puzzles now. Whatever he saw was just post-game paranoia or an eye strain. Being in a video game for hours does that sort of thing to people.
He made up his mind to relish in their victory as a burly man came out forward from the audience below and asked to take some pictures. He grinned and leaned closer towards Mira, taking advantage of being in close proximity of the babe, for the shot. With each blinding flash of the camera, he was pushing his concerns further and further away.
After having a thousand pictures were taken ——which he had complained incessantly towards the end—— he dashed off stage to find a restroom. His mother had been right: drinking an extra large, mega gulp slushy before being trapped in a five-hour video game was beyond stupid. With the pressure of his bladder threatening to explode, he was sure regretting that decision.
A stage crew member had told him to go right and turn left on the third available turn. Not complicated directions. Somehow he had found himself going in circles, and if he wasn’t, then he was going mad.
The Hollow studio’s design, a tour guide told him earlier that day, was built to look like its own mini-city ——something about it being inspiring for the game creators—— which would have been really cool to Kai a few hours ago if he didn’t have to pee so badly.
He stopped and leaned against a cubicle wall. He was stuck in the game developer portion of the studio. Rows and rows of empty cubicles surrounded him, but not a single worker was in sight. There was something eerie about being in a place that should have been crowded, and yet, was empty. The buzzing of overheated computers was freaking him out.
He was contemplating ripping down the “hang in there” kitten poster next to him when he heard the sound of metal clashing from across the room. He jumped in alarm, and let out a squeak. He carefully peeked around the cubicles into the aisle. He couldn’t see what made the noise, but he crept toward the cursing sailor.
After only being out of the game for so short of time, he was still wary of strangers. He felt it was a bit silly of him but better safe than sorry. Was he even allowed in here? He took a deep breath before calling out to the unknown friend or threat.
“H-hello?” A sound of rattling wheels was coming towards him.
“Quién está aquí?” An old man popped out of nowhere from Kai’s left side. The teen yelped at the stranger’s sudden appearance. The old janitor raised his hands in an effort to appear harmless. His peppered eyebrow was pushed up in amusement, “estás buscando problemas, verdad?”
The janitor had a warmness to him. His old tattered jumpsuit, although covered in various colorful stains, gave him a humble appearance. The wrinkles hanging from his face showed he was one to smile often. So he was a friend.
“What? I don’t understand what you are saying? I’m looking for the restroom.”
“Estás hablando demasiado rápido.”
“Bathroom!”
“No entiendo, chico.”
“I’ve gotta go pee!”
“You want to go?”
“Yes! I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.”
The janitor’s eyes lit up with excitement. He gestured for Kai to follow, as he quickly grabbed his cart and started heading out the double doors behind him. Kai rushed to keep up. Well, as much as he could with a full bladder. At the point, he could barely stand up straight from the pressure building inside him. He waddled after the old man.
It had been smooth sailing for the past few minutes. They took a couple turns and were going straight for a while. The janitor, whose name Kai thought might have been Raymond, had slowed down his pace for the teen.
It would have been nice to talk to someone who was finally real, but the language barrier was making things difficult. Kai had been trying to explain that he was one of the teens from the show when Raymond stopped walking. They were just around the bend of an opening into a branching off hallway. He said something Kai couldn’t understand and pointed towards the corridor.
Kai couldn’t place the expression on Raymond’s face. His subconscious wouldn’t let him dare think there was danger. He had had enough drama and angst for one day, so he shrugged off the funny look, and waved goodbye to him.
“Mooey greasy ass, Raymond!” He said as the man scuttled off, far away from the dark hallway.
He turned his attention back to the hallway. He was beginning to doubt the janitor’s assistance. This hadn’t even been on the tour. He would have remembered the lights flickering eerily above him if it had. Unlike the rest of the building, this section had a sterile feel to it. The walls were a dull grey, and the floor wasn’t a fuzzy orange carpet, but white tile. Metal doors lined both sides of the hallway. He couldn’t see past their tinted, rectangular window into the rooms, but wondering what could be in them made the hair on the back of his neck raise.
There was something nagging at the back of his mind as he began to walk down the hallway. It was as if he was getting some sort of déjà vu. Not the hospital-esque feel of the hall, but something else. It was strange how different this section of the building was compared to the rest. It stuck out like a sore thumb as if he were entering a new realm.
Just like in the game.
He slowly walked down the narrow hall. Narrow, yes it was narrowing now, sucking him deeper towards the end. The farther down he walked the weaker the lights were getting, giving up to the darkness. Vanessa’s smirk resurfaced in his mind, swallowing him whole.
He was in the pitch black now. For whatever reason, he couldn’t stop himself from continuing further down until he reached the end of the corridor.
Bang!
His nose rammed right into the wall. The impact let out a loud, metallic ring. Vibrations traveled past him, echoing up the corridor. The noise was deafening.
The air around him here was different. It felt frigid and cold. His breath ghosted out and turned into condensation. His skin was crawling.
He wanted to groan from the agonizing pain, but his fear strangled it into a whimper.
He slowly stepped back, and he hesitantly touched the wall in front of him. It was like ice, smooth and freezing to the touch. His fingertips brush against the wall, searching for an indication of a dead end. To his right, the wall collided with another, so this was a corner.
What about the left? He brushed against the wall and found it stretched farther in that direction. Much farther than his arm’s length. It must have been another hallway branching off. He didn’t dare venture any closer, afraid that he’d get lost. He was already being consumed by the darkness.
At first, he had barely heard it. A quiet creak. Rusted metal opening a door somewhere down the hall. You aren’t out yet flashed through his mind, and just as suddenly as it appeared, he turned and ran. The sound of pounding footsteps ricocheted off the walls. Bam! Bam! Bam! It was getting louder with each passing second. He wasn’t sure if it was his wet labored breathing or whatever was chasing him. He didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t think about the creature chasing him. He had to focus on the light up ahead. The lights that were flickering, flickering faster and faster like they knew this was life and death. His legs felt like noodles as he passed what felt like a thousand metal doors, which were housing whatever demons inside as well. Almost there. Almost there! The safe, plush carpet was underneath his feet. He turned the corner and kept going. He couldn’t look back. He wouldn’t look back even though the sound of his pursuer was gone.
He had to find Mira and Adam. This wasn’t safe. This wasn’t over. This wasn’t—
He collided with a tall, muscular figure. His head smacked against the floor. This time a groan was able to escape his throat soon followed by a coughed sobbed. His heart was still pounding in his chest.
“Geez, kid! You almost ran me— what the hell happened? ” It was Weirdy. The show’s host was looking down at him with a mixture of pity and annoyance.
“I— There was— am I still trapped? Is this is a video game?!” He cried angrily at the man.
“This is why we should never let these kids walk out by themselves.” Weirdy mutter to himself. He shook his head, and he bent down to Kai. With his hands on his knees, he spoke softly, “hey. Hey. Hey, kid. It’s alright. There’s nothing out to get you, and you aren’t in a video game anymore. Show’s over!” He lent out a hand to help him up.
“But—”
“It’s just some post-game jitters. Kids like you get it all the time, ya know? The Hollow’s an intense game. Leaves the... sensitive ones shaken up, but, hey, you’ll be fine.”
Kai didn’t have the energy to let his anger flare, so he stared at the hand offered to him. From the moment he met the guy, there was something creepy about him. How could he be trusted? He had to be in on it, mocking his breakdown, all the while knowing he was right. He wasn’t imagining things! But Weirdy, or Chris Patton if his memory was real, was staring at him with such a gentleness he wanted to believe the host. He grabbed onto the man’s wrist, and he allowed him to pull him up. He gave him a shaky smile.
“Yeah, you’re alright now.” A Cheshire grin bloomed the older man’s face. Just as quickly as he has been comfortingly somber, he was back to eccentrically delighted. It was hard to decide if Chris was a fake or a crazy when he did that. “Let’s getcha outta here.”
“Wait! Where's Mira and Adam?" He shrugged off the older man's offending hand on his shoulder, and he crossed his arms.
"I've already told you: the game's over. They went home." He looked at him with an exasperated expression before continuing, "you're ride is probably still waiting for you outside."
"Who's waiting for me?"
"Kid, I don't know. Your mom or something? You did make arrangements for yourself, didn't you?" The question seemed to jog his memory. Yeah, he had a mother. She was suppose to pick him up. Exactly. With this new knowledge in his head, his agitation faded. He uncrossed his arms, and he allowed the host to lead him to the entrance of the building.
Chris promised the bathroom was on the way to the entrance, and so, they made through the winding halls way back towards the front of the building. It only took a few twists and turns. And an awkward one-sided conversation. The game host was going on about the episode's rating. Apparently, the game he starred in had the best ratings yet. Over 30 million people had tuned in. Team Adamirakai was a hit with the fans. Normally, Kai would have relished in the attention. He took any chance to boast about himself, especially about the idea of having fans, but one to two word responses were all Chris Patton was getting. Ever since they had won the game, he had felt off.
Just as the man promised, the reception area had a restroom. It was a single bathroom tucked away in the corner. He was only suppose to be in and out, take a piss and leave. Once inside the calm, sea themed room, he felt safe to break down again. His thoughts were free to run a mile a minute in here. He didn’t know what to trust anymore. The game had felt so real. He couldn’t tell the difference between virtual reality and actual reality. How could he know for sure that this was all over? What if this was not the actual end of the game, but the next level? Was he on another map now? That didn’t make much sense though. He remembered entering the game show. The morning’s events were there in his mind.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Oh god, he couldn’t handle this! The worst part was that he was mad that he couldn’t. He thought back to how Chris The Weirdy had looked down at him, calling him sensitive. Yeah, he was right. He was a mother fucking mess, a crybaby prone to getting emotional. He choked on his own breath for a few minutes before stumbling to get up.
“I’m being stupid,” he mumbled before harshly turning on the faucet. With cupped hands, he took the water and splashed his face. He rubbed his face then he rubbed it harder and harder. He didn’t stop not until he was done scolding himself for being so emotional, so weak.
He looked up at the person in the mirror. He took a long. He searched that face, desperately trying to find the confident hero. All he found was his old, disappointing self. The bags under his heavy like as well, and the new red and white splotches covering his face accentuated his paleness. He couldn’t help but feel like a disaster. Water not only soaked his fringe, but the top half of his shirt looked like it had taken a dunk in the toilet.
Chris escorted him to the parking lot even though the bathroom was behind the receptionist’s desk, a few yards away. The man had placed his hand on his shoulder and steered him out the doors rather fast. It made Kai uncomfortable, but he hadn’t the time to protest. The weirdo told him his mother was waiting for him then vanished back into the building. He turned his attention from the building to out at the parking lot. Before he could think about the absence of cars in the parking lot, a honk pulled his thoughts away.
Sure enough, there was his mother pulling in her beat up Camry. She was still wearing her scrubs. Her auburn hair was pulled up in its go-to messy bun. One stubborn, loose strand framed her sunken in face. He often wondered if he would inherit the frown lines on her forehead. She always looked so miserable and tired. People used to tell him he looked a lot like her. It upset him.
“I thought you said the game would be over at 8? It’s half past 9 now. I was starting to get worried, sweetie.”
“I got lost. Why didn’t you come in and find me?”
“Did you win?”
He was taken back by her abrupt change in subject, but he didn’t want to fight it. His gut feeling was telling him that something was off, but the lady before him was his mom. He remembered that. He wanted to believe they had won the game, so he buckled his seat belt and told her yes.
He turned on the radio as they pulled out of the parking lot. He was too tired to think, too tired to hold a conversation.
He was awakened by the sound of his mother talking. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay, sweetie. Į̴͟͜t’̢̨̛s̨̕͝͞ ̧̨͘͡o҉̸̧͡҉k̡̕͝a̵̷y͏̧͞͞͞,̷͢͝ ͜͟͡͝s̶͘w̷͏e҉͠e̴͝t̸͞i͘͞e̸͢.̧̛͘͘” Although they were meant to be comforting words, it was more like she was screaming Error! Error! Each time the broken record spoke, her voice was getting slower, deeper, and more robotic. The woman’s body jerked around like a broken animatronic.
They were swerving left and right, back and forth. Burnt rubber assaulted his nose, and the screeching of tires was ear-splitting. He gripped onto his seat, holding on for dear life. He closed his eyes tighter with each sudden jerk, believing it would snap his neck. He was beginning to feel light headed. Like stomach acid, fear choked him as it made its way up his esophagus.
“Mommy?!”
The car suddenly halted, sending him knocking against the dashboard. He laid against the dash, groaning in agony for a moment. She flung her head in his direction, the air around her whipping. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his stiff neck towards her. Her body posture was frigid, her shoulders jutting up into her jaw. Small twitches in her face made her skin look a loose layer falling off a mold, and her eyes wouldn’t stop dilating. One moment her pupils were dinner plates, the next specs of dust.
He sucked in a breath, as he attempted to sit up again. A surge of pain seared through his head. He clenched his teeth, as he slowly moved to go unbuckle his seat belt, but his anxious fumbling hands couldn’t manage to push the button. A blinding white light flashed throughout the surrounding area as the burning sensation in his mind overtakes his consciousness.
His last thought was that he only remembered what his mother looked like in the first place.