Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“And she should be like-” With a wide smile on my face, I sloppily told my writing group about my newest story ideas.

“Spencer, slow down,” my teal haired friend says to me, but he gets cut off by my rambling.

“Okay, okay..” I said, taking a deep breath as I sink into my bean bag chair to calm down a little.

Hi. You may be wondering what the hell is going on, but don’t worry! This is all gonna be fine. I’ll start off with some basics.

My name is Spencer Seeker and I’m part of a writing group, Entities of the Doors. Each of us has a codename, and mine is fittingly Seek since we couldn’t come up with anything cooler. Plus, it matches my last name!

“Alright, start from the beginning?” Harlon says, leaning in with a notepad. A strand of their hair falls in front of their face as their bean bag makes an uncomfortable crunching noise.

That’s Harlon Layne, the backbone of the group who is a year older than me. They have dark teal hair with some blue streaks in it and stand a little shorter than me. Their codename is Halt, and they’ve gotten our first book published! It’s called Blood on the Dance Floor, and I’m glad that people outside of our friend group have loved it!

“..And try not to use too many visual effects?” Finn adds on, pleading a bit.

And Finn Giovanni. We share most of our classes but he doesn’t talk to anyone in there much. He has brownish red hair that covers his eyes, which doesn’t bother him because he’s blind. For some weird reason, he has a passion for theater and always plays the role of something or someone intimidating in the school plays. His codename is The Figure since he’s really tall. Like, I’m a good 5’11 and he still towers over me! It’s a shame that he’s not on the basketball team though.

“I mean, you could use the same amount of visuals, but you could try and add on more audible cues for Finn.” Gwen suggests with her eyes trailing off to the side as she shrugs

Last but not least, there’s Gwen Layne, Harlon’s younger sister. She has light blue hair that’s usually tied up or back and wears a pair of golden framed oval glasses. Usually, she goes with the flow, but is pretty good with problem solving. Her codename is Guiding Light since she’s the one with the most sanity. Harlon and Finn are still sane, but she has a healthy sleep schedule, unlike Harlon, and she hasn’t memorized most musicals like Finn.

Right now, we’re in the Layne family’s basement that we’ve turned into our own little base of operations. There’s a single dingy light bulb flickering on the ceiling, but most of the light is from the many LED lights strung in the room. There’s a bookcase filled with books, and a good chunk of the books are written in braille for Finn. Tucked in the back right corner is a whiteboard on the wall with bean bags surrounding it in a circle. Although I could’ve used the whiteboard to more clearly explain the story, Finn couldn’t see it, so I didn’t.

I started the story from the beginning.

“So it’s like this comedy book about a bunch of zombies who work at WalMart together and they’re all roommates, but…” I pause for suspense before patting my hands on my knees to make a drumroll effect. “They’re trying to keep their zombie-ness a secret from each other!”

Harlon seems to be jotting down notes while Gwen peers over his shoulder. Finn seems confused in general.

“Wouldn’t this work better as a mystery novel?” Finn asks.

“Yeah, maybe, but there is so much comedic potential in the idea too!” I eagerly say, almost yelling. “Get in the car guys, I’ll show you.” Getting up from my black bean bag chair, I dart up the stairs, grabbing Harlon’s car keys on the sprint to the car. Finn follows, and a few moments later, Harlon and Gwen show up.

We all head into the car with me driving. Harlon sits beside me with their sister sitting in the back with Finn. As I turn on the car, Finn sighs as Gwen connects her phone to the speakers. Her playlist starts playing as I drive into the sunset.

Is there cheese in the great beyond?
Rinds of parmesan
Wine to water, night to dawn
Life gets short, our teeth grow long.

The song lyrics were weird, but the beat was soothing. As I pull into a parking lot, Finn chirps.

“Where are we?”

“Costco.” We all say in unison. To be honest, this is normal for us, but I tend to find it hilarious. Especially when Harlon says the location in a monotone voice.

After I parked the car, I went and got a shopping cart.

“Guys, come! On top of the hill!” I shout, pushing the cart in the direction of the hill. After a few minutes, everyone was up there.

“Spencer, not gonna lie, this is a bit much.” Gwen blatantly states. I just roll my eyes at her before gently shaking the shopping cart.

“Finn, get in.”

Harlon cuts through my oh-so simple request with one of their own. “Finn, don’t. Spencer is probably gonna push you down the hi-”

They were cut off by the sound of rattling metal bars. I looked over at the shopping cart resting next to me and saw Finn, standing at 6’3, standing on the bottom shelf of the shopping cart. He was lifting one of his feet into the cart, and I smiled as he got in.

“Alright, here we go!” I cheerfully shouted as I stood on the pushing end of the shopping cart, kicking off and down the hill. Wind whooshed against my ears as it pushed my jet black hair behind my face. Finn started to shout with excitement and terror. He probably got the idea of the comedic potential now.

The further and further down we got, the more and more and more we accelerated, picking up momentum which fueled this experience. For a few moments, I swore that Finn passed out. His loss! This feeling, it was absolutely thrilling! Roller coasters? No thanks, we have shopping carts and hills! Sure, we might crash when we reach the bottom, but who cares? We were having the time of our lives!

Or maybe the last time of our life, because as I looked up, we were heading straight towards a thick tree.

There’s no way that I could stop it now. We were heading too fast, and if I jumped off, there’s still Finn. I had to think fast-

Crash.

Harlon pushed our cart to the side in the nick of time right as we were about to crash. I stumble backwards a bit from the shock and Finn rolls backwards a bit before getting up to dust his knees off.

“You’re a dumbass, Spencer, do you know that?” Harlon asks, partially scolding me and partially making a playful insult.

“Don’t worry. I already know.” I walk towards the tealnette and gently punch their arm as a way of joking around. In response, Harlon just facepalms.

“You know you could’ve died, right?” Gwen hurriedly asks me, shaking my shoulder.

“But I didn’t~” In a sing-song tone, I draw out the “u” in “but.” I sure as hell know how much danger that I put Finn and I in, but the past is the past.

Finn walks up behind me and speaks, catching me off guard.

“Isn’t it getting late? We should..” He spins his hands in a circular motion a few times, signifying for us to finish the statement with our thoughts, and I assumed that he meant for us to go home.

“Finn’s right. I’m pretty sure we have D&D club in the morning as well.” Gwen says, heading towards the car. Finn follows behind her with Harlon soon after. That just left me to chase after them.

Unfortunately, Harlon made it to the driver’s seat first. Gwen and Finn got there before them, but Gwen was 15 and Finn was blind, leaving Harlon to drive the car. When I got there, they were sitting there with their left hand out. I rummaged through my back pockets before pulling out the keys and handing it to them.

The ride home was peaceful. Usually, I’m not the kind of guy that likes that, but I was too tired to care at this point.

One night, one flung light through this place.
So I run for cover, over, under, left the rind out on the plate.
Little heart racing and praying, "Something, keep me safe"
I think it's on my face.

Chapter Text

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

Click.

God, I hate alarm clocks. Well, I don’t hate the concept of alarm clocks, it’s just the fact that I have to wake up early. Whenever I have to get up at 5:15 for a Dungeons and Dragons session, the repetitive beeping that’s blaring into my ears makes my head hurt.

I groggily get out of bed and put on some deodorant before heading into the kitchen. It’s still dark outside and my parents are still asleep. Opening the fridge, I pull out a bag of milk that Gwen smuggled here from school. Sure, the light shining in my face is a pain in the ass, but in the end it just helps me wake up. I reach into the cabinet above and get a ziploc bag full of cereal along with a larger ziploc bag as well and store everything that I’ve gathered into it, throwing in an ice pack to keep the milk cold too.

As quietly as I can, I head into my bedroom to snab my clothes and then go into the bathroom. I swish some mouthwash around in my mouth as I get changed. Most things in my wardrobe are similar, baggy, dark clothing that covers a majority of my tanned skin. I stare into the eyes of my mirror self to tie some of my black hair back into a ponytail in the back. Immediately after, I spit out my mouthwash and make a run for the door, grabbing my bag on the way.

Right in front of my house, there’s a jet black car that I immediately recognize by the common sound that I’ve learned to associate with this car. That sound was just like if you played some Hamilton song in front of a bunch of theater kids. Except the song isn’t from Hamilton. And don’t forget that instead of theater kids, there are just 3 high schoolers belting Bo Burnham at 5:30 IN THE MORNING.

“Two people died, a double homicide, their bodies found inside the wishing well!” The overall tune wasn’t too bad, and at least Harlon had the playlist this morning. It was the closest to my music taste, so I’m not complaining at all. I booked it to the car, which Harlon was also driving, as the sound of in-sync singing got louder with each step I took. After a few seconds that felt more like a few hours, I got to the car and hopped into the back seat.

Even though the sky was still dark, I couldn’t help but look out of the window. The voices of my friends slowly became background noise as I watched the buildings fly by as the car zoomed throughout town. However, this viewing session was cut short when I felt us slowing down and eventually parking in our school’s parking lot.

We already knew where the room was. It was the same like always, and waiting for us inside of the classroom was our dungeon master and one of Harlon’s closer friends-

“Reyes!” Harlon called out in a welcoming voice.

Reyes was the same age as Harlon and majored in chemistry. He had fluffy gray hair and usually wore some sort of black hat to go along with it. Despite them being older than most of us, they were just an inch short of being taller than Gwen. We’ve already talked about recruiting them for our writing group, and had even come up with a codename for them, which was Rush.

In fact, at one point in time which was probably when we first started writing together, we’ve considered recruiting everyone to join the Entities. Codenames were sorted out with Amos being Ambush, Sullivan being Screech- Wait, I shouldn’t ramble, should I?

Speaking of rambling, Harlon and Reyes were already talking about boring senior stuff like college with each other, and I tried to take my mind off of that for now. It seemed like I had spaced out because I couldn’t hear someone else enter as well.

“Psst!” I heard someone behind me.

Quickly, I whip my head around at the newcomer, a freshman named Sullivan. He was pretty pale and had shaggy black hair. His eyes were a pale blue, and he usually carried around two bags. One for class, and the other was just his trombone case. Compared to the rest of us, he was pretty short and he reminded us of 8th grade.

“Hello to you too, Sullivan.” Finn said, turning around to the source of the noise. Hearing the junior, Sullivan turned over to him and nodded before taking a seat as well. All of us started to wait for the rest of the party to arrive, and we just took out a speaker from Gwen’s bag and started playing elevator-like music that was composed by the freshman.

One by one, people started to come in to get the campaign started at 6.

Amos came in soon after.

Then Esmirah.

Jack and Timothy arrived together.

And Gary came in last.

I started to cheer as the door opened with Gary coming in.

“Welp, let’s get this sta-rted!” I emphasized the last work with joy as I pulled out the bagged cereal and dice from my bag, like everyone else in the room.

“Spencer, why the fuck did you bring bagged cereal and bagged milk to our session?” Reyes asked, facepalming behind their dungeon master screen.

I just made eye contact with him as I opened the bag of milk and poured it into the larger ziploc bag, which already had the dry cereal in it. All throughout the time I made my cursed breakfast, Reyes stared at me and I stared back at him. The feeling to blink grew greater by the second, but I didn’t care. The plastic straw went into the bag and I took a sip of the cereal in the bag. It was only then when Reyes broke eye contact with me to get his papers sorted out, and I finally blinked.

Gwen looked back and forth between us, sighing.

“Let’s just start this.”

Reyes nods at Gwen then looks down at what are probably his notes for this session.

“There you were, face to face with Sylvester Wyvern, and he looks nothing like how the posters depicted him. He’s missing an arm, and the entirety of the left side of his face is ridiculed with freshly opened wounds. He doesn't seem to care about his injuries, however, as he turns over to you and grins. Roll initiative.”

That session was packed with combat and the capturing of Wisterion’s most wanted thief.

It ended off on a cliffhanger again. Reyes really likes to do that to us.

“Marionette’s distorted voice calls out from the back, but as you turned around, there was finally a face to their name.”

-------------------------------------------

“Flashlight?”

“Check.”

“Portable charger?”

“Check.”

“Umbrella?”

“I got it!”

“Any extra bottles of water?”

“Check.”

“Please tell me we have a first-aid kit.”

“Didn’t forget it!”

“I ‘aint waiting any longer!” I jokingly said as I took a step forward into the forest and away from the group. My grip was tight on my backpack and excitement rushed through my body as I turned around and beckoned with the group following soon after.

As we wandered through the woods together, we talked about the usual stuff. The teachers we hate, what happened this morning, books, or anything broad enough to have a discussion about. Before we knew it, the sun started to set and the warmly colored skies couldn’t light our path anymore.

“Finn-” Gwen was about to ask, only to be cut off when Finn handed her the flashlight. “-Oh. Thanks!”

The path in front of us was illuminated with white light, which we followed. The light constantly moved in front of us with every step we took, guiding us along a path that we made as we walked. Eventually, the sky got darker and darker before fading into pitch black. The moon and stars offered a tiny bit of light, but I still liked the flashlight more. It’s 2022! We don’t need any stars to mark our location!

I looked behind us for reasons that I don’t know and took a few steps to the side, which became a few more steps and then-

“Spencer!”

“Spen! Dumbass!”

“Harlon found something!”

I was tugged by the hood and was face to face with a brick wall. It looked muddier and had vines growing on it, and it stretched far beyond my sight. Some parts of the wall were littered with cracks and wounds that fit nicely on some sort of battleground, and not some mysterious wall in the middle of the woods. This place was a strange sight to see, and it was even weirder when I looked at the wall and saw one singular dark oak door plated with gold. It was just like any other ordinary door other than what was written on the front of it in golden plating. Just three numbers. 000.

“DOOR!!” I call out, making a run for the strange door on the wall. Everyone else started chasing after me, but I was able to swing open the door before they reached me. The single door opened with ease.

“Holy…” Harlon said.

“Shit.” We all muttered in unison.

We were faced with a dimly lit hotel lobby. The area smelt of dust and old books, but the place looked brand new. It might have looked old fashioned, but it seemed like it had just been cleaned a few hours ago. A sound of loud buzzing came from above, which I saw came from a lightbulb in the center of the ceiling. Tucked in the corner of the lobby was an empty reception desk with nothing on it except for a bell.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I rang the bell?” I asked before Finn made his way to the bell, poking it.

Ding!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

“It feels like some sort of ghost has been summoned.” Harlon says, rolling their eyes.

The room looked nice all and all, but there was a door much like the one that we came in through that was beside the desk. It was labeled with 001, but there was a lock on it. I took a glance around the room and saw a key tagged with the same number. Grabbing it, I unlocked the door and beckoned for everyone to come through to the next room.

Then the next.

And the next.

And until we ended up at door number 10. It was a T-shaped room with a locked door, but there were finally beds in this room. When I saw it, it just dawned on me that we needed to sleep at some time.

Gwen must’ve had the same thought as me, because I heard her voice call out from the other side of the room.

“Guys! It’s 1 AM!”

Finn responds to her voice.

“We should probably crash here.”

“And we should turn this into a haunted hotel when we can.” I jokingly add on.

“Not a bad idea at all.” Harlon responds as they walk into one of the 4 bedrooms.

A few minutes later, I was sound asleep in the hotel as Harlon’s words filled my head.

This would make for a killer prank.

Chapter Text

“Holy shit!” Was the first thing I heard as I woke up.

Obviously, waking up to one of your friends shouting “holy shit” at I don’t know when in the morning(?) means that something’s wrong. I was too tired to know who said what, but I’m not dumb enough to ignore such a warning signal!

I shot up out of the hotel bed, getting my legs tangled in the sheets in the process, and got out of the room and into the t-shaped room barefoot. Gwen was in the center, looking at her watch.

“Yeah?” I asked, sounding more tired than I felt.

“School has already started.” She frantically said, pacing in circles.

“OH- HOLY SHIT!” I instinctively shouted. It was Wednesday. A school day. And school had already star-

“WE GET TO SKIP SCHOOL!!” Gwen and I cheered at the same time, lightening the mood for both of us.

It seemed like history had repeated itself as Finn slammed open the door that led to his hotel room. He looked exhausted, but he still ran to us, probably having woken up when he heard us say “holy shit.”

“Wait- we what?” Finn asked despite us having just said what he was asking for. This definitely confirmed the fact that Finn had just woken up, and I don’t blame him. Shit can get weird when you’re awake. I run up to my friend and wrap an arm around his neck in a way that’s like a joking headlock, grinning. Finn might’ve been 4 inches taller than me, but it didn't stop me from doing classic bestie things like this.

“Yeah, man! No school today!” Every word came out with sheer enthusiasm. I mean, who wouldn’t be delighted over the fact that not only you get to skip school but also the fact that you get the excuse of finding an abandoned hotel!

I looked over at Finn’s face and saw a small smile on his face. What I didn’t expect was for him to erupt into a full fledged cheer. Like, that’s a little overkill even if he is a theater major.

It was like we were in our own little bubble for a split second where time didn’t exist. We chuckled together with both of our eyes closed and faces facing each other. Both of us were grinning widely at each other, and we might’ve been a little more close together than before. Physically.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, the one further away from Finn, and I swear I heard Gwen say “Get a room, you two” although it was more like a voice in the back of my head. Our dumb giggles died down, and I turn around and in fact see Gwen behind us.

“Harlon is still asleep.” She says, ushering us into one of our bedrooms where there was a dusty board game box on one of the chairs. I run over and grab it.

“Jamestown.. Now… With.. The… Racist Parts That Nobody Asked For?” I said, looking at the board game. The box looked to be around the same size as an average game of Monopoly, but it looked to be more historical. That, and it obviously said “JAMESTOWN” on it with big, bold letters with the subtext down below in a smaller font.

“Rather not.” Finn chirps. “I dunno if it requires seeing.”

I hear shuffling, which leads to Gwen pulling out a pack of Uno cards. Ah yes, a classic staple for whenever we had sleepovers.

Shuffling…

We all had 7 cards in our hands, and Finn was feeling each card for what it was since we took the time to carve out what each and every card was.

I pull out a card from the top of the deck. Red 4. The order always went alphabetically, with the order being Finn then Gwen then Me.

Finn places a green 4, followed by Gwen smiling and giggling to herself.

Wild draw 4.

“Blue!!” She calls out, trying not to be too loud.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!” I shouted carelessly. Man, I was pissed. At least bring out the draw 4s later on in the game!

I drew 4 cards.

Blue draw 2. Finn was a homie. I could count on him at least.

Gwen places a red draw 2.

I put down a green draw 2 with a twinge of regret on my face. One turn later, Gwen had 8 more cards in her hand than before. Around half an hour passed by of chaotic uno without Harlon aro-

“You guys are loud, you know that?” The tealnette says as they open the door to the room that we were playing in. All of our eyes turned to the oldest out of us as they continued. “Anyways, wanna uh… explore? So we know where to put traps to ‘haunt’ this place?”

A wave of euphoria washed over me. They’re actually settled on making this a haunted house!

I chime in.

“Sure, but I’ll make a whiteboard so everyone else can make monsters for this.” Harlon nods at this along with everyone else.

“Mind if my monster rarely comes in? Maybe in like.. 2 rooms in total? And have the rooms
easier to maneuver around?” Finn asks.

“Yeah, sure.” Harlon says, shrugging.

-------------------------------------------

“Numero 50!” Gwen cheers, throwing open the set of large metallic double doors neatly plated with ‘050.’

“Large library, balcony on top, desk, and a few closets.” Harlon says as they scan the room for major key details that define the area.

“Dibs.” Finn immediately says, running into the book-filled labyrinth. I look back towards room 49 before looking forwards again and start sprinting a full lap around the library. Perhaps I was being a bit too reckless, because there was a huge crash heard from behind me.

“Oooooooh, Spencer Augustus Seeker broke a lamp~” Gwen teased from behind me, making her sound more like a gossiping 12 year old rather than a perfectly mature sophomore.

Other than that small.. incident, the rest of the self-tour was silent, only being signaled that it came to an end when I pushed open the set of double doors at the top of the stairs that was identical to the one that marked the entrance to the library. I pop a piece of beef jerky in my mouth and wait at the next door for everyone else to arrive.

Sometimes this place feels like a video game. Weirdly designed hotel, and now there’s waiting. I felt like repeatedly squatting up and down for comedic effect, so I obviously did just that.

Door 65 was quite nice.

Right as Finn opened the door, there was a metal black door in front of him.

“Gate in front of you, large garden, another gate, next door.” Gwen chirps from behind Finn right as he was about to run into what was probably cold metal.

He opens the door and… wow.

The garden is gorgeous.

It’s a large square cut in half with the mossy brick path that we were standing on. There was white marble railing lining most of the walkway other than 2 entrances to the garden in the middle of both. Large trees marked segments of the garden in a grid-like pattern, and the bright sun showed some of the white flowers growing on the walls and over the windows. Most importantly, there was grass.

“Guys. We can finally touch grass.” I said in a serious tone, but I’m pretty sure that they got the message that I was joking.

Harlon hops the fence and looks up at the wall. It towered above them.

“Note to remove the vines later, people can climb up them to escape.” At that moment, they sounded like a serial killer, which was hilarious.

“Noted, Mx. Layne!” Finn said, saluting with straight posture. I knew that he was joking too. We all do that a bit too often. Gwen rolls her eyes and goes on to the next room.

Thankfully, door 73 was just like the room we crashed in last night. I made a mental note, and the end of the hotel was the storage closet and electrical box at door 100. We didn’t find an exit though, so it’s another night at the soon to be haunted hotel.

Right as I wanted to fall asleep, I started to get notifications in the DnD group chat of weird looking monsters for the hotel. Reyes just edited an emoji and sent it. Esmirah drew eyes in the shape of an eye. Timothy- that was just a spider.

@seeking.your.mom: smh yall get creative with this

@hey.get.out: Okay. Mine has no physical form.

@rays.stein: HEI ALERT! HEI IS ONLINE GUYS!

[@hey.get.out left the chat]

[@HaltLayne added @hey.get.out to the chat]

@hey.get.out: I hate you guys.

@ammo.man: show up to the next session :)

@hey.get.out: Never.

Buzz, buzz, buzz. Shit was getting heated in the group chat. I don’t have the time for this.

Click.

Silence.

Chapter Text

I couldn’t even get a good hour of sleep when I was awoken by an annoying vibrating noise coming from my bedside. It buzzes once, twice, and my eyes are still open.

Reaching over, I grab my phone and scroll through it. All of it was just messages from the group chat about the monsters for our prank. I know that I’ll forget about this tomorrow.

Scrolling further and further up, I saved every image that was related to the hotel, and in the end, there were a total of 7 concepts since our group already had everything planned out. I’m pretty sure that we’re just going to use our sonas for this anyway. They already had the vibes to fit a haunted hotel and I could come up with some sort of way for us to “kill” our victims.

Since I’m awake, then- what’s that on the chair in the corner?

I mean, it kind of looks like a notebook, but the room is too dark to know. It’s probably a good idea to get it. I get out of bed and stumble over to the chair and snatch the thing, and it is, in fact, a notebook. Taking it back over to the bed, I turn my phone flashlight on.

The light illuminates the cover of the notebook. Some spots on it are covered with dust, but I can clearly see that it’s a velvety red cover. I open the notebook to the first page, and it’s empty. I turn the page again. Nothing.

I start flipping through the book. Not a single piece of graphite or splotch of ink. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head.

Fake survivor or victims' journal!

Why not! It’d add so much mystery to this prank and possibly make it a lot more believable. Plus, if I find more empty books, then maybe I could tell a story with them…

One encountering journal for every monster, I decide.

I reach down into my backpack and start shuffling through it. My hand grazes a few plastic bags and water bottles before finally touching a pen. I don’t know if it’s full or empty until I click it and scribble a small line in the corner.

It has ink, but not a lot.

Immediately, I started writing a journal for my character, which is obviously named Seek. For the character… I’ll just wing it.

-------------------------------------------

Hey, book.

The forest is cold. And wet. I hate it here. I wish that I was assigned a different case, but there’s no going back now. Apparently there’s supposed to be a hotel here? Somewhere? I haven't seen it yet, but I’ll write back when I find it.

--

The first part of the journal is done. I set the pen aside on the dresser and think about the next part. So my victim is going to be a detective investigating this hotel because multiple people have gone missing when they entered it, but the hotel needs a name.

I was never really good with naming things, but since this hotel layout is really weird, I could just go with “The Doors Hotel” or something like that. Just something that mentions doors.

On the next page, I just write fake directions so that my character doesn’t get too lost. Right after they walked a mile or so, I felt my eyes get heavy.

I fell asleep sitting up.

--

When I woke up, I definitely felt refreshed. Checking my phone, I woke up at 8, which was surprising. I only got around 5 hours of sleep, which is sometimes a nap, but my rest felt like some sort of weekend logic. Stepping out of my bed, I saw something on the same exact chair that I found the book on. On top of that there were… short stilts?

It was some sort of bodysuit with a full face mask on it. I walk up to it and lift it up to eye level. The clothing was black and looked like leather, but it felt softer and was probably stretchier than actual leather. The mask looked like it was made out of a similar material to the suit and there was a single eye on it, just like how I always illustrated Seek to be.

Out of pure curiosity, I slip the bodysuit on with the mask. The legs were a little too long, but fit perfectly after putting the stilts on. All of my features were hidden, and after a quick photo was taken, I looked more like a humanoid creature than a human. Hell, all of my hair is hidden too! This is amazing!

I dart out of my room, hoping that everyone else is asleep, but instead I see everyone in outfits that also look like humanoid creatures that were identical to our sonas.

The tallest one, Finn, looked like the Walmart version of a Demogorgon. He was probably the only one wearing stilts as well because he was still a few inches taller than me. Harlon and Gwen looked like tiny five year olds from where we were.

Speaking of them both, the siblings looked like they had matching halloween costumes on.

Harlon stood at their normal height with a large teal bowler hat with some light blue marble prints on it. They wore a tuxedo and bowtie with a matching teal and light blue marble on it. Their shirt was white and they had black dress pants on. On their face was a mask that clung to it with what looked like glow in the dark paint over it. The rest of their face was pitch black and they also had black silk gloves on.

Gwen also didn’t gain any height advantage. Her usually messy hair was neatly tied up into a high ponytail, except it was… black? Well, there were bits of light blue showing through. She wore a black trench coat and dark blue clothing with a bit of glitter every here and there on her clothes, which included the thin black gloves and black mask that covered most of her face. There was a cutout to where her mouth was, and if I remember correctly, there would have to be some glowing mouth paint in there.

Looks like the entities are finally coming to life…

“Aight, you’re awake.” Harlon blatantly states as they start pacing. “I’m just gonna say this, all of the other entities have been made and sounds have been recorded for each one of them. Some may not work as well, but I tried my best, especially after making all of these.”

Immediately, I got concerned for Harlon since they probably stayed up all night making all of this.

“Did you sleep, dumbass?” I ask, probably knowing that the answer is a solid-

“Nope.” Harlon says.

Looking over to Gwen and Finn, I nod at Gwen and pat Finn on the back.

“Of course they didn’t.” We all say in unison. Man, I love the perks of sharing a single brain cell with people.

Harlon sighs and facepalms. They look at the space on the ground next to us and chuckle.

“...And I rigged all of the traps. And set up Spencer’s chase. Along with having Sullivan compose some music for us. Also, Finn’s library has been set up as well. Oh, and I topped it up with a half empty Red Bull that I found in one of the rooms.”

This wasn’t the first time that Harlon pulled an all-nighter for us. We already knew what that meant, but there’s no coffee nearby and there might not be any coffee beans for us to grind.

A few minutes pass with us goof around, but we all hear a blaring alarm coming from each of our rooms. We split from each other and checked.

I whip my head around, hearing the sound. My phone’s screen is on and as I went closer to it, the sound got louder and louder. At first the sound was just annoying. Repeated beeping that rang through what felt like every inch of the hotel that was so loud that I could feel it from where I was standing. With stilts on.

My phone was bright. Really bright. The light stung my eyes, but I didn’t care. It was flooded with notifications, but there was one that stood out to me.

It was terrifying.

Immediately, I scrolled down in hopes of having the message be a small blur in my memory, but the damage had already been done.

From the core of my body, an emotion that could only be described as dread seeped out and through me, eventually reaching my mind.

Time seemed to stop around me. My surroundings blurred into an empty gray void with a watery ground. There was just me and my phone. I tapped on the notification that caused all of this fear and scrolled through it. There were images scattered throughout an article with text that snapped something within me. Words from familiar people, and even a short video. It felt like the weight of the world was immediately placed on my shoulders, and after a few seconds, I let out a breath that I didn’t know that I held in.

Deep breaths, Spencer. Deep breaths.

I walked out of the room. Upon seeing Harlon, I could tell that he had the same reaction that I had.

The news lingers within a part of me that remained.

Why did the headlines say that we went missing?

Chapter Text

“Okay, what the fuck happened?!”

“Guys? Are we taking this too far?”

“WHAT’S GOING ON?”

Chaos spread throughout the t-shaped room. The sound of doors slamming shut threw me off balance, and loud footsteps that sounded like everyone was running. They grew further and further away until it faded into the sound of old lights flickering and the pattering, seemingly endless, thunderstorm outside.

Sighing, I take the mask off of myself and look in the dusty mirror hanging on the wall. The edges of it have been eaten away with rust, but I could still see my face in it. Messy black hair that was just cut short of my shoulders, tanned skin, dark brown eyes, I was still me. Spencer Seeker. I look over at my phone and pull up the article regarding our disappearance and scroll over to the image of us. The photo was a group picture that I quickly took right after one of Finn’s plays. We were squeezed together, cheek to cheek, grinning widely with Finn falling in the background.

I was smiling in the photo.

I smile at it and look in the mirror. It didn’t show much joy, but it was still somewhat light and goofy.

Taking a deep breath, I slip the mask back on and walk over to the open door where everyone else probably went. My slow steps turned into a fast walk, then into a jog, until I was running all the way to door 100. Pulling the lever, I watch the thick metal barrier rise up, revealing a staircase that I never really cared to deeply inspect. A thin white light came from the bottom.

“Spencer’s here.” I hear Finn say. His voice echoed through the room from the bottom, but never made it to door 99. I walk down the stairs, following the source of Finn’s statement to a room with several monitored on the walls.

It looked exactly like a security room except for the fact that multiple levers and buttons were arranged on the left and right walls, which were both made out of old concrete that hasn’t turned to dust. The monitors showed the rooms in the hotel in chronological order that switched every 10 rooms with the click of a button. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the fact that some bookshelves had fallen over.

Harlon pressed another button on the wall and the monitors showed the lobby in the center and the other 9 screens were just shots of outside the hotel. Little sunlight peeked out from behind the grey clouds that filled every inch of the sky that I could see, and rain was still pouring down. Once the storm played out in front of us, the familiar sound of falling raindrops filled my ears.

Finn points towards one of the screens that had audio playing out of it. “Is there someone there?”

Gwen looks over at the screen that Finn pointed at. “Oh my god. Oh... Uh… yes? There’s someone there?”

I couldn’t see Harlon break out into a panic, but I heard what they felt through their voice.

“Yes, there’s someone there. I didn’t set up this entire thing for nothing. We have to play this out at least once, then the shits and giggles can end.”

Well, they were right about one thing, plus I feel like pulling this off could take our mind off of the fact that we’re missing. What’s a few extra hours in the hotel anyways?

The person on camera walks towards the door and opens it.

“It’s showtime.” Harlon mutters under their breath.

-------------------------------------------

Harlon, Gwen, and I lean forward towards the screens to watch everything unfold. Fiin stood closer to the speakers, and we could all feel the excitement in the air. The sound of white noise filled our

Ding!

The person rang the bell. They looked around the lobby, probably searching for an employee of sorts.

“Pfft-” I stifled a laugh, preparing for what was going to happen next. The next few minutes were pretty boring though with the person looking through the drawers in front of the counter then sitting down.

“Should I?” Gwen whispered to us. I didn’t know what the fuck she was thinking about, but I nod anyways before she scurries around to grab a piece of paper and a pencil.

‘get the key nerd -GL’ She quickly wrote it down and handed it to Harlon, who pressed a button and slid the paper down a slot in the wall. We watched as the paper fell in the center of the lobby, and the rest went by smoothly.

Until door 5.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if like… Ambush or something appeared at the next door?” I chirped out of pure curiosity as I leaned up and faced Harlon. A grin spread across their face. That chaotic grin that appears once every blue moon.

As the person entered the next room, Harlon pulled a lever. We saw and heard the lights flicker as distorted screaming was heard from the distance.

Finn gasped then wheezed. “You did not!”

“I JUST DID!” Harlon cheers as a green light flashes through the past few rooms that were entered with the screaming coming from the light. The person looks behind them and runs into a closet just as the light, which was Amos’ creation and dubbed ‘Ambush’ by us, flies through the room and opens the next door only to circle back to take another lap through the hotel. The lights in the room go out.

“Door 6 Ambush! Door 6 Ambush!” We chaotically shout as the person gets out only to go back into hiding as Ambush comes back a few more times. Eventually, the green lights and distorted screaming fades away.

I watched with all of the attention I could muster at the time as the person went through the next through doors, constantly looking behind them to see if anything was coming for them.

Oh, if only they knew.

At door 7, there was nothing. As was the next few doors after until door 12. Harlon pulls another lever, and the lights flicker again. This time, it was the simpler Walmart version of Ambush, Rush. The gray face zooms by and then disappears when entering the next room. The person hid again, leaving us to watch the next few minutes of key finding in the t-shaped room that was door 13.

Everything was the same through the next 10 or so doors, but towards door 30, I got told something.

“Spen, get ready.” Harlon said, nudging me in the side.

“What the fuck? For what?”

“Chase them down.” Harlon says as they point towards a black curtain in the back. I walk through and are met with a conveyor belt in a dimly lit hallway.

As I went forward, the sounds of voices drowned out.

“Hey! Spencer’s eyes!”

“Shit’s going DOWN!”

“YOU GOT THIS BRO!” I could hear the hype in Finn’s voice, and my heart started to beat faster.

My heart started to race and my head felt both empty and filled to the brim with thoughts at the same time. Will we continue this after the person leaves? What will happen when we go back? Is everything going to stay the same?

“Shut up, shut up, shut up..” I muttered to myself, and the thoughts drowned away.

There was still an empty pit in my stomach, a racing heart, and a fuzzy brain.

The conveyor belt comes to a stop

There’s a ladder and a trapdoor at the top of it.

I climb it and see a stretched out hallway, hearing the entrance theme to some sort of energetic music.

The trapdoor closes up to me as I stand.

As the person ran away from my single-eyed body, I knew what I had to do.

Seek.

Chapter Text

Autopilot.

That’s what I would’ve called the past few minutes.

The moment that the guest slammed the door shut, it was like my body had everything planned out. By that time, the faint music’s melody had already started. It was fast, energetic, upbeat, and eerie all at the same time. It brought a sense of danger to the area, but it wasn’t me who felt afraid.

My heightened legs burst off towards the door and I slouched so that I wouldn’t hit my head into the next room. I could feel the floor practically vibrating as if an earthquake had hit the hotel, which prompted the sliding of multiple pieces of furniture. Couches and chairs toppled over without hesitation. Books hastily slid off of bookshelves and landed on the ground with a thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I could hear the guest run further and further away, which prompted my legs to move faster. Well, as fast as they could go. While they had me swaying from side to side as I tried to balance myself again, my body still knew what to do. Even indoors, I could hear the air whizz behind me as I broke out into a run.

The music provided a steady beat for me to run at as I ducked into the next room, a dimly lit small circular corridor. The lights may have been red, but there was a small beam of blue light pointed at the right hand door, which was already open for me after I noticed it. It let me into a long hallway filled with shattered glass and broken chandeliers. The flames had slowly spread around the rug, leaving only the sides of the room available for safe travel. On top of that were large mechanical hands that burst out from the window and quickly swayed as if hoping that something or someone would wander into its grasp.

The guest was already halfway through the room. They were moving at a slower pace than me, but they were still able to traverse the obstacles that laid ahead of them. As soon as I saw them, I started to sprint. My elevation had let me easily step over the fire and avoid the hands on the side, and as I sped up, my victim did too.

At the end, there was a single wooden door inches away from being engulfed in flames with the doorknob looking fiery hot. They faced it and quickly opened it with a small hiss that I could barely hear, but I knew that it was from the heat.

I dashed to the door with the remaining amount of stamina I had left, but it slammed in my face. Heavily breathing, I knew that the guest was also tired from the way the door released a faint thud followed by a sigh and deep breaths.

The eyes were still on the wall, acting as cameras. As if to ask “Hey, is this done,” I stared into one of the eyes and pointed at the door. While I was running, I still noticed the eyes, but it was only now that I was truly able to grasp Harlon’s handiwork that made the cameras look eerily realistic and similar to that of an enlarged human eye. I was caught off guard when I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening behind me.

Quickly, I turned around to see a square shaped hole in the ground. It was probably another trap door, like the one I had emerged from earlier. I cautiously walked over to it, careful to not step in the fire, and hopped in. My legs felt numb for a split second, still elevated by the stilts, and I almost lost balance, being saved by the wall which held my weight. There was another conveyer belt, which led me back to the security room.

“Spencer! My man!” Harlon cheered as they rose from their seat to give me a pat on what would’ve been my back if it wasn’t for the giant height gap between us. “You did great, the guy was scared shitless after that.”

I took off my mask and a smile beamed onto my face at the thought of me succeeding to aid the entire structure of our prank.

“Can I take this off for now? I feel like I’m in the middle of hell.” I ask between deep breaths as I try to cool myself down for now.

“Yeah, go ahead. They’ll probably be stuck with Finn for a while, so that should give you some time to rest before you come back.” Harlon says, walking back to their chair surrounded by various buttons and levers.

“Hell yeah,” I mutter to myself as I quickly rid myself of the heavy costume and stilts. My feet immediately felt a wave of pleasure as they hit the ground, finally free of balancing my entire body for a few hours straight.

When I went back to where the monitors hung, I saw the guest bolting through the remainder of doors before door 50.

It was only then when I remembered something.

“Where’s Finn?!” I frantically looked around the room, but only saw Harlon in their tuxedo and bowler hat and Gwen with her eyes hidden behind her hair. As if it were an answer, I heard monstrous growls from the monitors. I hastily looked over and there he was.

Finn, in all of his tall glory, steps out from behind a bookshelf in the form of a terrifying creature. A roar erupts from the speakers as he trudges away from the entryway to door 50.

I could barely see the guest’s face, which was made up out of a few dull brown pixels, but I could hear the muffled screams that they made with what I could guess was their hand over their mouth. We all leaned forward in interest as we watched the guest stumble their way through the library as Finn tried to pinpoint the location of the guest. They didn’t know what to do, even with colorful books that slightly peeked out of the shelves and even played a slight glimmering sound when they were near.

All that they did was walk around and run whenever Finn was near them, and eventually this repetitive process came to an end when a loud clattering sound came from the bottom right corner of the library, where a wooden plank had fallen and snapped in two.

“Oooooooh! They’re fucked!” I enthusiastically commentated as Finn started to rush over to the guest, who was frozen out of shock and fear.

When the red figure was only a few feet away from the guest, the unfortunate victim dashed to the left and broke out into a sprint again. They ran over to the desk and hid in the closet behind it as Finn followed behind them and wandered around the area of the closet. He bumped around for a few minutes, trying to navigate his way to the closet, but when he did, we were hooked.

“Psst, do you think that they’ll be quiet enough?” Harlon asked us with a smile evident in their eyes.

“Probably not. Like Spencer said, they’re already fucked now.” Gwen replied, shrugging yet still focusing on the screen.

For a few seconds, everything was silent except for the hushed breaths and muffled heartbeat that was probably exploding from the inside of our victim.

Then, Finn swung open the doors to the closet and grabbed the guest by the neck. The terrified person in Finn’s grasp went limp after a few seconds, and at that moment I was pretty concerned.

“Hey, are they dead?” I quickly asked a second after the guest flopped in Finn’s hand.

Gwen paused for a few moments. “Probably not. They’ve most likely fainted.”

I sighed in relief, leaning back into the chair.

“Wait- I have to do my thing! Gwen exclaimed, standing up from her chair and opening another surrounding door that led to a room painted black with a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and a chair right under it. The room was lit with a teal light.

Finn walked over to the center of the library before opening a small door hidden behind one of the closets by the closed off stairs. He placed the body of the guest inside then closed the door.

“Is that even sa-” I was about to ask.

“Trust me, it just leads to Gwen’s room.” Harlon assured me as they typed something. The cameras switched from the library to the barely lit teal room that I had just seen a minute ago. Gwen was placing the guest onto the chair and stood behind them, waiting for them to wake up.

Harlon quickly muted the speakers as they saw the guest’s head perk up from the chair. Gwen also noticed this and quickly cleared her throat.

“You died to the Figure while hiding,” She started, slowly circling to the front of the guest who was heavily breathing from stress and was too confused to get up. I could hear her voice from the other side of the door. “You have to control your breathing.” She simply stated before opening another door in the room, which led to a long hallway. Gwen beckoned for the guest to enter, which they hesitantly did, and she closed the door behind them, locking it as well. I couldn’t catch a good enough glimpse to tell where it led or what was in it.

Harlon turned the speakers back on again, switched the cameras to the library and spoke into a built-in microphone.

“Finn, they’re gone. You can come back down.” They said as Finn slowly made his way back to the door that the guest had unwillingly gone into. After a few minutes, I saw Finn come in from Gwen’s room with the dark-haired girl following behind him.

I broke out into a cheer and ran over to swoop Gwen and Finn into an awkward hug followed by some pats on the back. “That was awesome!” I almost shouted from excitement.

“I-Wha-Thanks-” Finn stuttered as he took off his mask as well, very much grinning as wide as I was, and took a step back. He crouched down, reached out an arm, and I took in a familiar rhythm. Swing the arms in, pull each other close, extend the arms back, grasp hands with our other pair of arms, tangle ourselves together, and then we spend the next 2 minutes trying to untangle ourselves. Normally, this would’ve been shorter, but with the additional 2 feet of height that Finn gained in his legs, there were some unpredictable factors that we had.

We all erupted into a fit of laughter as Finn took off his costume as well and shook his head around to let his fluffy hair return to its usual position with his bangs in front of his eyes.

Everything was fine. Maybe even good, but I had a nagging feeling that everything was going to go downhill. While everyone else was visibly relaxed, there was just something in the back of my head telling me to prepare myself for something to come to us. Specifically, something dangerous.

I pushed aside the feeling and joined my closest friends in the feeling of success. We cheered, gave each other high fives, and were overall having as much as a party that we could’ve had given our circumstances.

The thing was, we completely ignored the fact that the entryway to the lobby had just been opened. I was goofing off and enjoying the time of my life until I heard the sound of a shotgun being loaded.

“GUYS!” I shouted as everyone’s attention was focused on me. I couldn’t make out a single word, but I pointed at the monitors.

There was someone there holding a shotgun close to them, ready to shoot at any time. They had gray hair that swooped right over parts of their face and wore a black beanie. Their eyes were careful and calculating, inspecting the room for something. The doors were opened since there was no time to prepare for someone else, but they didn’t bother going any deeper into the hotel.

Their steps were quick and precise as they looked around the room for something that we didn’t know. At times, they pulled out a notepad from their front pocket and jotted something down. I couldn’t see who this person specifically was, but it was their behaviors that made me just realize who it was.

“Reyes?!”

Chapter Text

“Reyes?!” My mouth hung wide open. A wave of confusion washed over me as soon as I knew who the intruder was.

“Reyes?” Harlon echoed back to me. They also seemed confused, as they cocked their head to the side and looked at me.

“..He has a gun..?” Gwen stated the obvious, although she was hesitant to say that.

“Wait, what?!” Finn was in utter disbelief as he leaned towards the speakers in the room to hear what was going on better.

“Oh my…” I sighed. My heart pounded in my chest and I took a deep breath. “Reyes is here. Right now. With a gun that can kill us…” I felt my stomach clench and twist with anxiety.

The room was filled with the static noise of speakers barely picking up any sound. While the faint humming would’ve been soothing for me any other day, the white noise only added to how anxious I was. Dozens of less preferable scenarios danced out in my head with each being even worse than the last.

It started with Harlon getting shot. The image was so vivid in my mind to the point that I could imagine them yelping out in pain. I could imagine them weeks later in the hospital, still unconscious, with their light blue hair dye fading out. I thought of them having to return to school after the injury without any of us with them and they’d feel uncomfortable and-

“I’m nervous too, Spenc.” Finn replied to my body language as he broke the silence.

After that, I could see Harlon messing around with the cameras. With nothing else to do, I watched the tuxedo-wearing engineering major click around and type out things that were foreign to me.

The camera angles flickered around. At first, I saw plain upward views, but then it quickly jumped around. It gave me a pretty good glimpse of Reyes.

I was pretty sure that they were dead serious about this. From what I had seen, they were taking notes that could lead towards… us? I couldn’t tell too well though since I had just seen stick figure doodles that represented us. At least, that’s all I could think of.

Every ten seconds or so, the camera angles would switch. I leaned closer to the static screens, trying to decipher whatever the fuck our friend was doing, but I only thought of what I had already thought of.

“We can figure this out! Yep! We definitely can! Just… tell Reyes that this was all just a little prank, a misunderstanding…” I heard Gwen mutter to herself as she paced back and forth around the room. Her voice was shaky, yet she still tried to give us hope.

“Mhm. They’ll understand.” Finn agreed as he leaned back onto the wall. He sighed, letting out what he really meant. `We’re fucked.`

Honestly, I couldn’t have agreed more. We were fucked. No matter what, things would’ve ended up terribly after Reyes either leaves the hotel or finds us.

-------------------------------------------

Why?

Why couldn't I find anything? Not even the tiniest speck of information on where they were. I don't even know why I'm taking notes on the most mundane things in this dimly lit hotel. Maybe I'm doing it in hopes that I would stumble across something, anything, that could lead me closer to my friends.

They could've been kidnapped or dead by now. I need to act fast for their sake, and so I trudge forward into room 19.

There's still nothing. It's just the same smell of dust and sound of old lights that need to be repaired. I swear that every second I'm in here I'm slowly going insane. My brain is filled with the muddy thoughts of them-

"Another day, another slay! Spencer said one day a few months ago as he walked into the D&D club room. I can still remember him marching in without a care in the world about what others thought. I can still remember his goofy smile and the organized chaos he was able to stir up at any time. Sometimes he'd be dragging Finn in as they both belted Beyonce at the top of their lungs, and at other times he'd be followed by his own closely knit group, the "Entities of the Doors" as they called themselves.

I always thought that the four of them would be dragged down to hell together jokingly, but maybe it was true. Maybe my friends were actually dead.

No, no, no, focus, Reyes. Stay optimistic like Gwen. There's at least some chance that they're alive.

I look around the hotel room. It's a thin L-shaped corridor with most of its other doors leading to other rooms boarded shut. There were a few medium shaped windows to the side and I could see cobwebs growing on the side of them. There were a few drawers scattered about, which meant there were a few possible pieces of evidence that I could find. One was a set of 3 stacked on top of each other and then there was one single wide drawer.

Slowly, I make my way towards the closest drawer to me, which is the set of 3. I'm narrowly able to squeeze through, but I still manage to open them all. The top and middle one had nothing in it, but there was something different in the bottom drawer.

It was a water bottle. A crushed up plastic water bottle devoid of any wrapping or anything. Maybe I'm actually going insane because I nearly squealed in excitement at the sight. I hastily drew out my notepad and scribbled down the new piece of evidence, muttering the words to myself as I wrote.

"Crushed... water bottle, seems new. Room 19... corridor." My voice was shaking with glee. It wasn't too much, but it was the biggest clue I found here.

They could be staying here. Wait, someone else could be as well. This place seems pretty shady after all.

For the time being, I'll keep the gun with me.
-------------------------------------------
While there might've been no words between us, we all knew something between the shared white noise of monitors picking up nothing.

Reyes knew something was up.

Personally, I didn't know when it started, but the moment I heard them mutter something about a water bottle at door 19, it all clicked together. The water bottle probably hinted at someone being here, and Reyes was investigating. Then, it all clicked.
They were looking for us. Reyes was. Armed with a gun. They were diligently looking about, searching for any clues about us. The way they snooped around the hotel both carefully and carelessly baffled me. Were they willing to kill in order for us to know what happened to us?

"...Reyes is looking around. They're at door 20." Gwen's hesitant voice broke the silence. We all knew that she was talking to Finn.

The tall ginger gave her a small nod. "There's something else, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. They... might've... well..." Harlon stumbled over their words as they leaned in towards the wall of monitors. From the side, I could see them glancing about as they tried to piece together everything in a visual way.

"They found something related to us being here." I blurted out.

Finn turned his head around to look at me. "What?" He quickly replied.

"Yeah." I nodded at Finn. It just felt right even if he couldn't see it. "Found a water bottle that I crushed up a few days ago. I think they're making it a bigger deal than it already is." At least, that's what I tried to think. Sure, Reyes might be an overthinker, but when they're solving problems, they're fast. I can still remember then quickly piecing together a session for our campaign when I made things go askew. I sighed at the thought, vividly picturing the times we spent together.

"Another day, another slay!" I said as I entered the club room a few months ago. I marched in without any fucks to give and looked Reyes right in the eye. "We're ready to commit ge-no-cide!" Sometimes, I sang some of the most goofy things right at Reyes' face. The facts might've not lined up, but who even cared? I didn't!

My eyes trailed off to the side, staring at the ever so slightly illuminated door knob painted to look like it was made out of gold or copper. I couldn't tell. I could barely see my reflection there. I looked... different. Terrified. I couldn't see my previous self there. I couldn't see the Spencer I am. There was no curious glint to my eyes, no lopsided smile that brought shenanigans wherever I went. There was just Spencer now.

It was the Spencer Seeker that has been reported missing for a few days now. Spencer with a frightened light in his eyes, terrified about whatever might come in the future. I didn't want to think of the man staring back at me as myself, but it was me.
I changed.

I didn't like it, but maybe, just maybe, I'm becoming the monster I've written myself to be.

-------------------------------------------
Energy rushed throughout my body. There was a possibility that they were alive.

Oh, how I just want things to be normal again. Esmirah would be there, bonking Spencer and scolding him about his latest antics. I'd glance down at my phone and see the latest excuse that Hei has made to not be there. For a few moments, I'd contemplate how we even let Hei stay a part of the club, but I'd know the answer.

It was because of Spencer.

The Spencer. Spencer Seeker. The life of the party, the other side of the coin, the creative genius who always managed to light up the room around him, and so many other wonderful things.

But Spencer's probably gone now.

If someone was staying here, then it should only be a singular person. Judging how the water looked rather recent, I think that if the 4 of them were staying here, there would've been some more clues pointing towards it. Possibly some sort of carved in message or doodles of sorts. Possibly some poetry or code if Harlon was there. Gwen would've probably left behind some sappy yet meaningful life advice, and Finn would probably make some marks somewhere.
...Yet there's still a possibility that the four of them were alive. Alive and maybe not so well, but still alive.

I looked around the room. Door 20. It's a long and wide hallway with narrow and tall windows. Just like before, they were covered with cobwebs and probably housed more than a few spiders. There is one closet on the wall in the middle to my right. It was covered with a thin layer of dust, which means that it'd been untouched for a while.

Still, I quickly walked towards it and threw the doors to open it. I was faced with nothing but a thicker layer of dust. Upon closer inspection, there was a thinner layer of dust that looked like somebody had swiped their finger along the surface.

I whipped out my notepad and took another quick note. Maybe it meant nothing, but it also could've meant something huge. All of my notes pointed towards one thing though.

Someone was here.

Someone was here and I need to find them. I can inspect these rooms later, but I have to find this person as soon as possible.

I rushed towards door 21 and aggressively swung it open. There was no time to waste.

-------------------------------------------

I was brought out of my daze after a minute.

"Reyes is- oh god. Oh god. They're running." Harlon almost shouted out of the blue. I flinched and looked back up at the monitors and indeed saw Reyes running through the doors. They blazed past the next 20 doors, barely breaking a sweat, until they made it to door 40.

-------------------------------------------

My legs felt like hell. They felt like a thousand flaming infernos stuffed to the brim with the souls of the damned. I could feel my feet giving up on me, but I could hear my thoughts screaming out for me.
Do it for them. Do it for your friends. Do it Reyes. You can do it. You've been able to create acids that burn through bones. What's one more challenge?
Why should I give up now? I'm not even close to finding whoever's in here, so I need to go further. Venture deeper into the hotel. Find whoever the fuck is in there, and depending on who they are, shoot their asses off or bring them back in order to let things become normal again.

Right, Reyes Neil Stein. Normal. The closest thing to normal you can think of. Whatever your players think is normal. Hell, if you can get Spencer, Finn, Gwen, and Harlon back, will things even be normal? What if they're not who they used to be? What if they've lost a few limbs or are incapacitated for the rest of their lives yet are still alive?

Wait. No. Think positively. If they were in this gloomy old hotel at some point in time, they wouldn't have gotten too hurt. The safety risks here are quite minimal.

Things will be fine. Just keep moving forward.

Forward.

And so I trudge past bizarre eyes watching me, roundabout rooms, and a hallway on fire.

It's door 50.

I enter it and am met with an absolute abomination of a monster that I couldn't even call a human. There's no way.

No.

It's not...

That thing better not be what took my friends.

Chapter Text

The thing was a horror beyond what I could imagine. It stood about double my height with no face at all, only a gaping wide mouth lined with pristine razor sharp teeth. It didn't even have skin for god's sake. Red muscles lined almost every inch of it and its ribcage stuck out of its body. I was in a state of shock, confusion, and fear. I knew that the thing meant trouble.

There was something about it that made me freeze. Maybe it was because it felt like it was staring straight at me or maybe I was worried that it could devour me in an entire bite. On top of that, this opened a wide range of possibilities. What if there were other creatures much like this one with a terrifying appearance and easily capable of killing me? What if there were those much larger and stronger than it that would come after it if I shot it in order to save myself?

I took a deep breath through my nose so as to not make a sound. Any wrong move and I could be killed. I knew that I couldn't die. Not right here. Not without knowing that my friends were safe and sound and back home.

By then, I just realized something.

Could... it not see?

I quietly raised my hand and waved at the creature. It wasn't the wisest decision, but since I know that I could move now, I now had the option to run and shoot. However, the figure didn't even come close to me. Instead, it roamed to the side. Taking this as an opportunity, I sneak off to the side opposite to where the creature had wandered off to. If I can get a vantage point, then I can probably fire a shot where it's heart could be.

Right.

That would be the plan. I didn't hesitate to break out into a tiptoe run as I headed towards the stairs.

A floorboard creaked under my foot. The next thing I knew was that I had enraged the monster in a way. I could hear it let out a furious and mighty roar that sounded like that of a frog croaking. Normally, it wouldn't have scared me, but it just made me even more terrified.

Loud footsteps made its way towards me. It sounded like stomping.

That wasn't good at all.

I broke out into a run, not caring about the noise I made, and whizzed up the stairs. The monster continued to head in my direction, and I prepared to shoot, letting out a loud and intimidating click. I closed one eye and tilted my head to the side to take aim for the creature rapidly approaching me. Its vital spots are most likely around its torso area, as it seems to have more protection over it.

As soon as it reached the stairs, I shot.

The creature never made it up.

It fell up the stairs a second after I shot it. I could see blood slowly trickle out of the gunshot wound. I tried to smile at the sight of victory, but I couldn't .

That was because I heard another roar from above. Quickly, I whip out my phone and take a photo of the most likely dead thing in front of me.

Then, I ran for my life. I jumped off of the balcony and ran towards the large window behind the desk. In a rush, I fired another shot at the window, leaving behind a major crack, and I jumped out. My body weight shattered the glass before me into pieces before leaving me on all 4's and on my knees.

I could feel razor sharp shards of glass break my flesh and seep into my hands and knees, stimulating my nerves in a more than painful way. Sharply, I inhale from the sudden feeling. My teeth were clenched together, which let out a loud whistling sound.

Slowly, I propped myself up against the overgrown brick walls. The cooling sensation of the plants made everything feel just a tad bit better.

I looked down at my palms, which had shards of glass sticking out of them. Each crystal clear shard reflected the sea of blood that pooled up beneath it. With my right hand, I began to take out the shards from my left hand. Each and every movement that I made felt agonizing, but I had to make it out of here alive, and surviving started with making sure I could at least shoot properly.

Now, it was just me, a monstrous creature on its way, and my gun.

-------------------------------------------

I don't know what just happened.

It couldn't have.

Finn wasn't dead, right? He couldn't have been! He's just... asleep. Yeah. Finn's just tired from the past few exhausting days..

He's not dead.

Finn's not dead.

He's alive.

Finn is alive and well and wasn't shot by Reyes. Nope! Definitely not! Reyes just so happened to shoot something that Harlon made that just resembles Finn and that wasn't Finn!

Oh, who the fuck am I kidding?

Finn's dead.

He's fucking dead and I could've prevented it. I could've said something to Reyes but I didn't. I could've butted in, explained everything, and we could all be happy and laughing and messing around but we aren't.

Everything isn't well because it's all my fault.

It was my fault that we went into this stupid hotel and started this stupid prank. It was my fault that we all went missing, which caused Reyes to come in here and murder Finn in cold blood.

I'm truly becoming a monster, aren't I?

It's quite hilarious, isn't it! Spencer Seeker, lover of all things mystery and horror, becoming the abomination that he's created! The one who loved his friends with all of his heart yet caused the death of one of them! It's ironic, wonderful, and a masterpiece of writing!

Something's happened to him- no, me. Was it still me?

Something inside of me has snapped. I don't know why, but I felt a twinge of euphoria rise within me and swell in my chest. My brain felt like smiling and laughing, yet I could only feel a single hot tear train down my face and land on my hand.

Finn has died today and I'm a monster because of it.

One tear became two, and before I knew it, I was sobbing a river. The thought of Finn, somebody that I knew too well, dying still hurt me. I was a mess of confusion and emotions just letting it out.

A warm hand was placed on my back. I felt some weight placed down on my shoulder, and as I rubbed my eyes to see what it was, I could see Harlon. They took off their mask and were leaning on me, clearly holding back the urge to bawl out at the display of what was clearly Finn's dead body on the cameras. The dull red pixels laid out the shape of an uncannily tall human body without any skin. It perfectly displayed the creature that we designed for Finn. The amalgamation of our thoughts in the shape of a person had died.

Another creative voice that was clearly a part of us had been silenced.

It would never be heard again.

We would never be able to talk with Finn again. I could never tell him to his living face that I was sorry for dragging him into this hellhole. Gwen could never share her bizarre music with him again. Harlon could never shine any spotlight on the theater nerd ever again.

Finn's death will drastically shape us as a group. Not only because our numbers have dropped, but also because our minds would've shifted. Hell, I'm probably already going crazy and it hasn't been an hour.

"I know. I already miss him too," Harlon whispered to me shakily. They knew exactly how part of me felt the moment the bullet was fired straight through Finn's head.

I was terrified. Grieving. Depressed, even.

Yet they didn't know the guilt I felt. They didn't know that it was all my fault and that at one point or another I'd have to tell them that I was the reason why Finn died.

I wasn't going to do it right now though. I could wait to tell them the truth.

All that I did was nod, sharing the silence between 3 of us that was heavy with loss.

It fucking sucked.

In the span of an hour or so, everything went downhill. Reyes ran away, Finn was dead, and the police were going to come here at any minute.

I knew exactly what we probably had to do in order to try and make things get better.

We had to get the everloving fuck out of this hotel. Now.

-------------------------------------------

Everything felt like hell. It was just like how you'd picture the pits of the underworld to feel like. Painful. Agonizing. A whole bunch on negative feelings compressed into a single area of my body.

That's exactly what I felt.

It hasn't even been 10 minutes and I already feel like I'm going to pass out at any moment. Streams of blood trickled down my hand as I picked out each and every shard of glass from my palm, and the hand that was doing said picking also had glass in it.

I could feel some of the other glass shards lodge themselves under my skin from how much I had moved my other hand, and it fucking sucked. Also, some more glass was able to break through my skin after it was able to get under my skin, letting me bleed out more than I already needed to. With every time my fingers pinched to grasp a shard of glass and my hand compressed so that my fingers had more space to move closer to each other, more and more blood oozed out of my wounds. Tears were silently streaking down my face, and I was practically screaming from the pain.

In fact, it hurt so bad that I had to stuff my hat in my mouth in order to muffle my screams. The taste of the brim made me feel mildly uncomfortable, but I had to manage with it. After all, being quiet would probably mean life or death.

Wait.

I could probably move further away from the library, right? Yeah, I can. That's probably the safest thing to do.

With hesitation, I took a step away from the window. My back remained propped up against the old brick wall overgrown with flora, and I underestimated the amount of energy it would take in order to move away. Most of my body's focus was on my bleeding hands and not my legs, and I would've fallen over if not for the fact that I was propped up against the horrifying hotel.

Maybe, for right now, keeping some glass in my hands would clog up the blood flow. I'm not any medical student or whatever, that's Timothy, but I could tell that focusing on moving for right now would be better than foolishly picking on glass inside of my hands so that I could bleed myself to unconsciousness later on.

So, I put my palms up to the sky so that all of the blood would stay inside my body, and took another step away from the broken window that led inside of the library. I could painfully hear the sound of dry leaves cracking under my shoes, but I had to move on. I took one more step. Then another.

And then another.

By the 5th step, I could feel my body giving up. My arms were up, and the push of gravity made them feel like heavy pillars made out of lead. My legs were weak and wobbly, with the wall being the only reason I could stand right now. My gun was strapped on my back, and I could also hear the sound of it scratching against bricks and leaves in an awful and painful way.

It fucking sucked. That's the least I can say about it.

I couldn't give up though. I couldn't just let my body cave in on me and leave me for dead in this place, cold dark and alone. I couldn't end up being missing like the others.

Sharply, I inhaled, and I realized that most of my breaths were tremulous and unstable. Every part of my body was screaming at me, asking me to just take a break, and to just... calm down.

But I couldn't calm down. Not when my heart was beating so fast that it could launch itself out of my chest. Not when I had to fear another one of those tall things chasing me down on grounds it probably knew better than I did. And especially not when I'm almost certain that if I give up, I'll just succumb to the same fate as my friends or even worse.

I wouldn't die and become part of this goddamn tragedy. 4 missing teenagers won't become 5. I won't go ahead and just... stop now.

I've come so far, right?

-------------------------------------------

Immediately, at my realization, I jumped up out of my seat and bolted to the door that Gwen went in earlier. Adrenaline filled my muscles as I aggressively swung the door open and ran. The hallway was dark and dim, but I continued to dash across the hallway. The sound of my lone footsteps soon became 2, and then I realized that Gwen and Harlon were chasing after me.

I was caught off guard when Gwen yanked my hair, causing me to be pulled back to where she was. We all stopped, and I could see her stare into my eyes through her bangs.

"Spencer. What the fuck are you thinking?" Gwen asked, her tone of voice dead serious.

"Well, it's just- I- we're fucked... and there's no other... Finn's- he- and Reyes, they'll- the... we'll be ques..." My voice cracked under pressure. My vocal cords seemed like they were flipping on and off. It sounded so much like I was holding back another river's worth of tears, but I didn't feel... sad. I felt so many things at once as I tried to explain.

Explain how the police were probably going to come here any time soon, how we'll be questioned if Finn's body is found and we're still in here, why I'm guilty of everything we've been through, and so, so many more horrid things.

"I know Spence, but just... wait a minute..." Harlon started then stopped, their fading voice barely echoing through the hallway. "...Oh. That's- shit..."

We all stayed silent for a minute or so as Gwen pieced everything together.

"The police are gonna come after us..?" She asked, letting go of me. I nodded at her.

"That's why I..." I didn't even have the ability to finish what I was going to say. God, this was fucking pathetic.

Now it was Harlon dragging both of us to the exit. I pushed myself to get the hell out of the hotel, and when I did, it was like a brief moment of peace.

The night winds gently pushed my hair back as I was met with the sight of the forest. Tall trees with dark brown wood and deep green leaves spread across the horizons, stretching far beyond where my eyes could see. The moon provided ample lighting for me to see the nature around me. Stars were scattered across the night sky like in a painting or something straight out of some fancy space photography book. It was as if I was seeing what I could call a break.

Man, a break would be nice. Especially after all of this. Just... 5 minutes to myself where I could grieve in peace. Finn meant so much to me as a person, and the devastating weight of losing him was just too much for me to take now.

I could swear when I looked up in the clouds that I could see his face again. Curly hair covering his eyes as he gave a toothy grin, possibly pulling me closer... I loved him. I don't know if it was platonically or romantically, but there was something about how he treated his friends that made me want to punch myself in the face over and over again.

I might've taken advantage of the time that he was around. I had squeezed so many creative and outlandish ideas out of Finn, and now I don't even know what to do without him. I had asked him too many dumb questions and didn't cherish the time I had with him. I just... exploited him for my own entertainment and now he's dead.

Fucking dead.

I can't bring him back anymore either. Finn's just... gone. Finn is dead and gone all because I wanted someone to talk to, and sure, maybe I did care about his feelings at times, but it didn't changed the fact that over all of these years, ever since middle school, I had worked so hard to build a friendship with Finn just to lure him to his death out of the blue.

There wasn't any huge buildup leading to his death either. It was just Finn going into the library and getting shot. There were no feelings about his death other than dread and fear.
When he died, there was no goodbye. There was no holding Finn in my arms, hugging him tight as I whispered meaningless promises in his ear. It was nothing like how we wrote deaths between friends to be.

It was just... He was alive for one moment and dead the next.

I thought of all of this as I stared at the area around me. I kept on seeing... him. The leaves are shaped in just the right way that I swear I could've seen his face when he saw the cast list for the school play. That pinecone was at the exact angle to the point where I saw his room at one point, except in greyscale.

Tiny, minuscule details that reminded me about Finn. They were everywhere. He was everywhere, like Finn was telling me that he was mad at me for killing him.
I couldn't blame him though. It had to be me to blame for his death.

I was the one that killed Finn. I lured him out to be slaughtered in the dead of night and nobody but his friends were around to watch it.

I'm actually the worst person in the world, aren't I?

"I'm going to go take a few minutes to myself," I heard myself say as I wandered off into the distance.

Right.

A few minutes to myself, alone, with nobody else to care.

Chapter Text

Right now, a few minutes would count as an hour. Maybe even more.

As I wandered off into the distance, the internal clock inside of me seemed to shut down. Instead, the ticking that represented seconds was replaced with slow footsteps filled with dread.

Nothing could’ve stopped me from crying. It was all too much for today. Tears streamed down my face, first starting in slow lines but soon cascading off of my chin and onto the ground. They made a small trail of grief as I did nothing but sluggishly walk around.

I looked down at the ground, and I could practically hear the sound of my beating heart. I could feel the blood rushing to my head, making every part of me feel nauseous. I could feel my heavy legs walking nowhere in particular like a zombie, and it felt like if I walked on, I'd pass out from exhaustion.

The night was quiet. Depressingly quiet. I didn’t know if it was just me, but it seemed as if everyone else had vanished. It was just me, my overloaded mind, the sounds of grass being crushed as I trudged along, and gunshots.

I knew that the sounds of gunshots was just my mind playing tricks on me, but every time I heard it, I couldn’t help but flinch and look behind me.
Nobody was there, like always.

As I went back to wandering aimlessly, I saw a rather large tree. With nothing better to do, I walked up to it and put my back against it.

“I wish this never happened,” said a voice, quiet and quivering, from the other side of the tree. I knew it was Gwen. It was too distinguishable to be anybody else.

I jumped at the sound of her voice. I didn’t expect anybody else to be here, nonetheless sit against the same tree.

“...Me too,” I agreed. I didn’t want to tell Gwen that this was all my fault. Not yet, at least. There still wasn’t any hope for now though. There was us, Harlon, and Reyes with a gun. A recipe for disaster. Reyes was always on our tail for our antics, and the more out of hand we were, the more strict they got.

“I think we went a little too far this time,” was the smartest thing I could say.

“Mhm.” I could hear the sound of clothes softly being ruffled, which I was pretty sure signified a nod.

I didn’t know what to say. I gazed back out into the distance. The night was too eerie for my liking. Fog stretched across the forest, heavily concealing any fine details. I could barely make out the sight of branches swaying, yet I could hear it too clearly.

Even those that came from the canopy above that sounded like a voice, yet also didn’t at the same time. It called out in long, low pitched waves and didn’t say anything in particular.
Sighing, I tried my best to wipe the tears off my face. I pulled my tear ducts together with my thumb and index finger, wiped away the large amounts of dried tears and flicked it to the side.

My eyes just felt dry. Empty. As if there was something that was supposed to be there, yet there was nothing. In fact, everything felt that way. Something- no, someone was supposed to be there by my side, yet they weren’t.

Because they were dead.

He was dead.

He was dead and there was nothing anybody could do about it.

I relaxed my entire body, letting myself become completely focused on everything around me. The heavily textured wood that scratched my back in an unpleasant way. The sharp, itchy blades of grass poking my ankles. The sound of footsteps slowly making their way towards us.

…The footsteps making their way towards us.

And it definitely wasn’t Harlon.

They grew louder and louder. I glanced around, trying to see where the source of it was coming from, yet the fog was too dense to see anything.

It seemed like Gwen noticed it too. I heard her quickly jump up from her spot and bolted away. Hesitating for a moment, I did the exact same thing. I didn't know which direction she went in specifically, but I tried to follow the source of the sound.

I could hear the footsteps breaking out into a run, getting faster by the second.

I followed the sound’s lead. With each of the thuds, I also heard heavy panting and something clunky. A gun. Reyes’ gun.

-------------------------------------------

I don’t know who or what the fuck was in the forest, but it definitely wasn’t human. The skinless figure made that obvious.

There was a way about how it walked. Slow. Sluggish. Deafeningly loud.

Yet those words perfectly described what I heard.

I stopped in my tracks, a shiver running down my spine. There was another one of those things here. I couldn’t see it through the thick fog either. There was a possibility that the thing I shot was blind and the rest of them weren’t, but I hoped that wasn’t the case.

My grip tightened on my gun, the only thing that could protect me. I closed my eyes and listened closely to my surroundings, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the creature. Wind whistled past my face with a whizzing sound as if it was trying to distract me. The steps seemed to grow closer and closer before coming to a sudden halt.

Immediately, I took a step forward towards the sound. I sharply inhaled through clenched teeth as my foot hit the ground. I didn’t know why I did that, but my body did.

Slowly, I started walking towards where the sound once was. Hopefully, it’d lead me closer to the creature. I killed one. I can probably take down another. My gun made a deafening clicking noise in the dead of night with each step I took, and as some form of safe measure, I held it tight to my chest in hopes that it would muffle the noise I made.

I wouldn’t deny the fact that I was being noisy. My clothes seemed to ruffle a little more than they should’ve. I was walking louder despite being on the tips of my toes. My firearm was just as loud as when I shot the figure in the library.

As if it was a reflex, I started to break out into a run. Each of my loud and hurried steps reverberated into the woods and far, far beyond the fog.

After a few minutes, I started to see… something. It was a tall humanoid figure, albeit a little shorter than the monster that I shot. It had a slouched posture and I could see the rise and fall of its body as it presumably made deep breaths although I couldn’t hear it.

I quickly got back into a shooting position and aimed as best as I could.

Then, I shot without a moment’s notice.

-------------------------------------------

The ball really started to roll downhill the moment I got shot. Well, I might not have counted it as really being shot. I was able to dash away rather quickly, yet I felt something graze my cheek. The feeling was cold and left a sting after it whizzed past me and put a hole in a nearby tree.

I sprinted behind a nearby tree and glanced into the fog. While the silhouette was vague, that of a medium height person carrying something that was most likely a shotgun with baggy clothes and a loose hat, it took me less than a second to realize that it was Reyes.

My hands nervously pressed into the rough wood as I saw them cock their head at the gun again, which meant that they were going to shoot at me again.

I felt a crevice in the tree and immediately latched onto it. A small idea whispered to me in my mind to try and climb the tree for better coverage, and I listened to it. The idea was much better than stalling for time by running away.

Quickly, I started to scale the tree as I used random branches and fissures on the truck to keep my grip on it. As soon as I saw a large enough branch, I reached for it and pulled myself up. I looked down at the ground. It was filled with fog, yet I could still barely make out the shape of Reyes.

I heard another click followed by a gunshot. I stayed as silent as I could, gripping onto the branch that I kneeled on for dear life. My eyes squeezed closed as I hoped that I wouldn’t get shot.

My hopes were futile.

Something painfully cold penetrated my finger. The impact was agonizing, and the feeling after crept through the entirety of my body. Out of instinct, I quickly stopped holding the branch with my injured hand and looked at what damage had been done.

It was much, much worse than what I had initially felt.

Half of my pinky was gone.

The flesh was ripped right off the bone, which was also brutally shot off. There was a large patch of my skin missing that started at the open wound and trailed down the side of my hand, ending at my wrist. I could see blood oozing out of my partially amputated finger in a vain attempt to patch up the stub, and with each wave of dark red liquid seeping out, I felt the anguishing feeling wash over me even more.

I wanted to scream. I needed to scream.

Yet I couldn’t.

I opened my mouth to let out a howl of pain, yet nothing came out. The back of my throat felt dry, and I could barely croak out a syllable.

I looked back down at the ground. I was pretty sure that Reyes was going to shoot me again, but this time, in the same place that he shot Finn. Hesitantly, I began to walk towards the end of the branch and looked at the branch in front of it. There was another crevice in the tree that the branch was on that looked large enough for me to sit in for now, and it sure as hell looked much more stable than what I had now.

I sipped in some thin air and held my breath before grabbing onto the branch and wiggling myself on. The exposed bone on my pinky stub scraped against the wood that pricked my exposed flesh, but I just continued to hold my breath and climbed into the large nook in the tree. I pulled my legs up to my chest and hoped to wait out the night.

-------------------------------------------

I shot it.

I knew I shot it. The impact that I heard made was the identical to when I shot the creature in the library, even down to the crack that sounded like shooting through cardboard.
Cocking my head to the side in order to get a better aim, I put the gun back to my face and prepared to shoot again. Only this time, it began to scurry off, I couldn’t see where it was limping or if there was a hole in it because of the dense fog surrounding us.

I ran to the other side of the tree and looked up, hoping to see the creature camping out on another branch, yet there was nothing there.

Still, I scanned the nearby trees to see if the creature was in any of those. There was still nothing there.

Sighing, I went off to find the hotel. I was exhausted from the day, and if I wanted to face whatever the hell was in this forest, I’d need to be well-rested.
I wanted to run, yet my legs were too heavy to do so. I whipped my head around, trying to find where I came from, but there were only trees and fog. It was like I was trapped inside of a living labyrinth with something hunting me down.

However, instead of an overgrown hotel littered with thorny vines and shards of glass, I saw a large tree with a small hole in the bottom. It was large enough for me to curl up and rest in for the night. With the other option being to wander around for what might be hours on end, I made my way towards it.
With every step, I felt more and more drowsy, and the moment I got comfortable in the tree, I fell into a deep, dark slumber.