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The sound of alarm clock rang throughout her room. Mari finally woke up after a long day of rest. Her head was ringing in pain as rubbed the temple of her head. With a sigh she slowly got up from her bed before walking over to where her alarm clock was. Beeping loudly by her computer she slammed on the snooze button before ultimately checking the date.
“The 31st huh.” She thought before sighing. At least it was her day off. As she slowly brought herself back to consciousness she felt a strange shift in the room. Something felt off. The challenge was what however. She shook her head believing it to be nothing more than the morning rustle she walked over to the bathroom door.
By the first crack of sight from the door nothing seemed apparent at first. It was when she fully swung open did she realize what was truly off.
A deep, hole appeared right next to her bathroom mirror. “What” she said shocked before falling down on her rear. She shook her head before getting up to make note of the crevice.
The hole appeared as if someone had drilled straight into her bathroom as cracks had surrounded it almost like it had penetrated through here. Mari immediately looked into the hole to find nothing but a black pit and the sounds of people talking, children playing and trains roaring. It was almost overwhelming. The hole itself wasn’t all that wide nor that small. It was just right to fit her small, frail body. She wondered what was at the other end as she touched one of the edges of hole. She sighed looking onward; something about this hole was tempting her in. She wondered if she should even try.
She walked out deciding the best course of action was to try and talk to someone. Only for the door to the outside world to be locked. She jangled the door handle hoping the door itself just wasn’t functional. It got to the point where she even tried kicking it but nothing budged. This was the first time the door even broke like this in at least two years she was in this complex. She ultimately decided the outdoor patio but unfortunately the smog outside was just too thick. No one could even ponder to look up at the smog ridden sky lest be considerate towards a random stranger waving their arms.
“What the hell” she looked back ultimately stuck with one choice. The hole, still present and openly conversing with itself, had become her only choice. Mari squeezed her fist before taking a deep breath.
===
Crawling into the hole itself wasn’t too much of an issue. It was the tunnel itself that had made the journey that much more uncomfortable. The tunnel was cramped and narrow. She could barely crawl her way through by mere inches as the tunnel continued to lengthen. Mari wondered how long this would take.
She could feel water from unknown places dripping down her face. She wondered how it even got there. Hell, how did this tunnel go so deep? In brighter news, the tunnel looked like it was finally reaching a point as a full-blown light had become apparent. The light at the end of the tunnel she thought humorously. The light itself became brighter and wider as she got closer to its presence soon, she could feel a whole new smell whisk into her nostrils. 5 minutes had gone by before she finally got to a point where the light had succumbed her. She reached her hand out to the bright world ahead.
Finally, her hand had touched beyond the light, holding the frame of the other end of the hole itself before slowly freeing herself from its tight grasp. She rested as she gained her freedom sitting down on the floor. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking up. The tiled walls gave her a slight hint of where she was. A thick green line was painted through the top of the tiled wall. In the middle of that wall, right in front of Mari were two signs pointing to streets she could not recognize.
<== Mueller St.
Narrow Ct. ==>
Mueller St. was the one painted green while Narrow Ct. was red. Both legible but both showing signs of wear. In fact, the whole tunnel seemed rather aged. Like it had decayed for a century of unuse. Mari pondered this before getting up and brushing herself off.
“How did I get all the way to a train station?”
She looked around. Both ends seem to lead to a pair of stairs. Either way they lead to the same area it seems. Mari ultimately decided that Mueller St. was probably the better option.
Going down the steps revealed a deep hallway. The green pathway still lead on but there were two doors. Both leading to a bathroom of the respective gender.
Ironic
As she was about to walk past the bathrooms, a sudden loud bang could be heard from within one of the rooms. More specifically the male stall. Mari stared and watched, preparing to run upon the first sign of trouble. A couple more bangs could be heard the door slammed open revealing two coughing victims and thick cloud of smoke. It slowly started to fade as two of the bathroom’s victims were revealed.
“Laura, are you ok?” the man said as a young girl was practically wheezing out on the floor before her coughing fit had calmed down. “I’m fine.” She said before slowly coming up. “Are you ok?” Mari asked as she tried to help the man up.
“I’m fine. We just had to deal with this monster that showed up.”
“It got away though. Shot at us with this nasty gas bomb.”
“We’re lucky though Laura. That thing could’ve cut us apart if it hadn’t decided we weren’t a threat.” The man sighed before bending down to rest.
“What creature? There are creatures here?” Mari asked
“Oh yeah a big ugly one.” The little girl said before spreading her arms to reveal its size. Though not accurate it was determinant of its size.
The man who seemed to be close to the girl stood straight. “We were scrounging for goods. Finding anything that could work to either get us out of here or survive.”
“You guys seem to have been here for awhile.”
“Yeah.” The man looked down. She could tell by his eyes that he was longing to see the sky again. She wondered if he will. “Anyways we’ve never seen anyone else around here. Just tunnels and sounds. Heh. How about we both stick together? Find supplies or maybe a way out wouldn’t mind having a new pair of eyes.”
Mari didn’t even hesitate. “No thanks. I’m just going to figure things out. Bye.” She said before walking off. The little girl suddenly had stopped her. “Now hold up a minute. You can’t just waltz out like that! What if you get stuck and can’t find anyone else like us? Heck, what if you get eaten?”
“Laura, language!” the man said back. He rubbed his temple before saying “She got a point though. You wouldn’t want to face whatever we saw. Especially on your own. Besides.” He reached into his pocket before revealing 9mm pistol of some kind. “The reason that thing ran off was because it was scared of this thing. Guess it didn’t want t a few bullets running through its brain” The man laughed before reaching over to Mari’s shoulder. “Come on. If anything, like I said we won’t waste your time. We’re not too bothersome.” Mari sighed.
“Fine.”
“YAY!” the little girl shouted before hugging Mari. “I got a new sister.”
“Woah woah now chillout there Laura.” He laughed “She’s not your sister. Besides once we get out of here we’ll be on our separate ways.”
“That’s if” Laura said.
Mari only looked on at the young girl.
Sister. That’s something I haven’t heard in a long time.
====
The hallway itself revealed to be quite a way as the three survivors wondered how long this perpetual hallway would last. Blackness covered both ends as they walked from one barely lit light to the next.
In front of them was Laura who seemed happy to have found a sister as she played and jumped around the empty hallways. Meanwhile the only two adults were walking right next to each other. The bearded man turned his head looking at the desolate Mari.
“Hey, I never asked your name actually.” This made Laura perk up. “Oh. Yeah.” She said looking away. Hoping he’d forget the question a long silence was prolonged before Laura perked up. “Well aren’t you gonna say anything sis”
“My name is Mari. Mari Suzuki”
“Ah Japanese. Well my name’s James. Uh… Minnesota.”
“Minnesota?”
“Yeah. Where you from?”
Mari still looked on at the wall. “Boston”
“Boston, Massachusetts? What? That’s a long ways from Minnesota.”
“Wow and we’re all in the same place. Wait does that mean we can teleport?” Laura said excitedly. “I wish but I don’t it’s the teleportation we’re thinking. Anyways, how did you get here, Ms. Suzuki?”
“There was a hole in my apartment’s bathroom.”
“Oh.” James said bewildered. “So, you decided, of all the damn things to do, you decided to ultimately jump into that hole and see what’s at the other side.”
“Well I didn’t really have much of a choice now. My door was locked and the patio was covered in smog.”
“Oh, so you too huh.” James said before looking away.
“Yeah.”
The conversation went still.
It had taken what seemed like an hour before ultimately the three came across a staircase. Laura seemed to be the most excited as she went down the steps with a “FINALLY” being aired out. “Laura slow down. Ahh dammit. Kids huh” he turned to Mari. Only for Mari to ignore her and go down the steps with Laura. “Women” he shrugged before going down the steps himself.
When they came out, it seemed like it was finally living up to the train station look. Trains were everywhere going through all sorts of directions. “This doesn’t just lead to Mueller doesn’t it.”
“Mueller?” Laura asked curiously.
“Some street I don’t know the name of. There was a sign when I got out of the hole pointing to Mueller St. so I went there.”
“So that’s what the green path was. Daddy said it was where there might be a leprechaun”
“A leprechaun huh”
“Actually, since we’re here. Let’s find him! Come on” she grabbed onto Mari’s hand. Mari could hear James’ voice in the distance. “Girls where you going?”
“We’re gonna find a leprechaun dad!” Mari could literally see through the vague darkness the man shaking his head. “Fine. Just don’t go too far. This place gives me the creeps.”
===
It had been about 15 minutes since they left James and Laura still couldn’t find the leprechaun.
“Ugh. Where is he?” Laura said as she checked under one of the seats in the train.
Meanwhile, Mari just watched as the little girl was trying to hunt for a fantasy. She wondered if she’ll ever realize that Leprechauns aren’t real. The same way that a way out wasn’t real.
“So?” Mari perked at the sudden tonal change. “Sorry. I tend to be sudden when I-“ she looked down slightly embarrassed. “talk to people. I struggle with that sometimes.”
“What makes me different?”
“I don’t know. You’re like… the sister I never had.” She quietly laughed, her eyes looking longingly at the floor. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to change the subject uh.. how was your life like? You know outside of that hole?”
“My life?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Eh. Just… studying. Not much. I mean a girl’s gotta study you know” she smirked. Her mask finally popping on. She wondered if Laura could notice a fake mask being slipped on.
“You sure? If I needed to study for a test, I wouldn’t really jump into a hole. Well I guess maybe you’re right on that.” She smiled realizing that she probably doesn’t have to do homework. Mari wondered if she would prefer homework or hunting for dead rats in a empty train station or rather… leprechauns.
Laura began to notice Mari drifting. “HEY!” she shouted loudly into the train. “What?!” Mari shouted.
“Gotcha.” The girl giggled mischievously. “You keep zoning out. You kinda remind me of my dad when-” Laura suddenly remembered something she probably shouldn’t have. “Nevermind.” She went back to looking for leprechauns soon after.
Mari looked out the window again as she saw James looking into the booths. She wondered if there was a point to all this. She wondered if she could just leave. Leave when Laura walks into the other car.
Just before Laura could even try she grabbed Mari’s hand. Surprisingly with some strength or rather Mari’s thin, frail frame was just light enough to carry, the little girl yanked Mari out of her seat and straight to the next train car.
“You know. I kind of lied when I said we were looking for leprechauns.”
“What?”
“Mari… I see you. You’re like my dad. When… mom died. When…” she looked away.
“I feel like… I feel like you should know what happened to her. I feel like you need to know. Daddy can’t know I told you though ok? Pinky promise?”
“Uh” she was bewildered before the girl grabbed her hand and forced her into a pinky promise.
“There.” She sighed “Mom… she didn’t die…” She took a deep breath. “We killed her.” Mari didn’t even blink. She wondered why she was here. “We.. didn’t have a choice. It was her or us.” Why was she listening to this? “She was going to kill us both. She wanted James to join her. I don’t know why. I didn’t want daddy to go. Mommy said that I could join her too. To meet my sister… the sister I never had. My sister is in a small grave Mari. She said I would meet her.”
Mari wondered how she could shut this stupid girl up. She didn’t want to hear this anymore. “I begged daddy. I begged and begged. He wouldn’t listen. I still remember. He pointed the gun first at me. Mommy said the little ones can go first.. I didn’t wanna. I cried and cried and begged. He still wouldn’t listen. Then..”
Tears streaming down her face.
“Then he shot mommy. 7 times. I asked him why… he said.. he told me. He told me my eyes.. my eyes called him to stop. He saw an angel there…. HE SAW AN ANGEL.”
“He must’ve seen you… I know he did. I know Jesus or someone sent someone good. To protect me.” Mari looked careless. Empty. Some angel she was.
She sniffled. “When we dumped her body. We couldn’t get her out the house. We had to dump her at the basement. Bury her there. When we did. We thought we were freed. Freed to do what we want.” She stifled her tears.
“But we still felt sad and the house stank. It smelled like her body. We didn’t know why. Daddy said her body probably rotted onto the pipes. So when got down there… to the basement…. We both fell. I almost broke my leg… That’s how we got here. To this stupid train station… we’re never going to get out of here. I just know it. We’re in hell. We’re all in hell.”
Laura moved her head upwards as she stared into Mari. Laura looked into Mari’s eyes as she had seen the lack of expression. The lack of care for even her story. The most concerning to her of all though. Her eyes had been longing for death.
Just before Laura could even ask Mari. A loud bang was sounded. “Huh” Laura looked up to the sound of scraping on the train’s ceiling. “Oh my god. Mari run!” Laura said before grabbing Mari’s hand. Mari didn’t bother to look back as she was dragged by Laura. She didn’t have to for long however as a blade was shot down, nearly hitting Mari’s arm. “COME ON!” she shouted running off and attempted to open the train car door. “I can’t open it” she shouted as she tugged and pulled. Mari soon joined her as they both tried to pull open the door.
Glass shattering could be heard as Mari turned to see what it was.
A wobbly shaky creature soon came crawling towards them. With the body of a rat, the creature’s legs were just blades from a pair of scissors as the head itself was defined by a baby doll’s face. It face Mari and spoke “mama” and then turned to Laura said “WHY LAURA? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? I THOUGHT WE WERE A FAMILY”. It crawled slowly towards them. Struggling to get to their targets. The blades itself were penetrating the rat’s body leaving it bleed profusely. The sound it would consistently make were the sounds of heavy breathing. Mari stood and watched as it got closer. Laura screamed “GET IT AWAY FROM ME. SIS PLEASE”. Mari stared onward before coming across one of the railings that had been split from the ceiling. She grabbed hold of it. The creature seeing as one of it’s targets retrieved a weapon, cowered in fear. Soon however, it reeled back before attempting to pounce onto Mari. Mari responded to the attempt by swinging directly at it.
It screamed. Mari then swung down at it striking it at the body. Blood spewing onto the rail and Mari’s hands. The creature soon responded by swinging one of its blades at her, slicing her chest. Mari screamed as Laura looked on in horror. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep, only a laceration as Mari went back to swinging downward again, hitting it in the head. It wailed in agony as it knocked down with all legs being plopped down. It could not stand. Not like Mari cared. In a rush of adrenaline, she continued to pummel at the creature. “STOP” it said. Mari didn’t. The sound of flesh being wacked upon by metal being echoed all throughout the car. “LAURA LAURA STOP PLEASE NO STOP STOPP LAURA PLEASE STOP” it screamed. Mari screamed, swinging over and over again and again. Mari could hear the pleas. “Stop”
“please”
“James no”
A scream a shout. She could even hear his voice. Their voice. They laughed. It wasn’t just a monster. It was a recorder. She swung the last time, she could hear it crackle. Gurgle for just one more shout. One more scream. Mari didn’t care.
The air calmed. The creature was dead. Simple.
The door suddenly swung open. James appearing at the other side. “Girls, are you ok?” he asked. Mari turned to look at the man. That man. The man it was calling for. “What happened”
“We’re… fine…” Laura said looking horrifically at Mari. She dropped the bent rail as she looked at James. “I can see… thanks… Mari.”
“Yeah.”
She walked away and pushed James out of the way.
“Hey where are you going”
“Leaving”
“Where exactly?”
“Somewhere. Not with you.”
“What? How exactly are you going to-“
“Daddy… she knows..”
“Huh. She knows we did it. She knows exactly why too..”
“Oh..”
Mari soon rushed away finding the closest door she could find. Conveniently enough, a door with strange markings was there. When she opened it, all there was left was an empty red room with a ginormous hole.
The two of them watched as the door closed in front of them. Possibly containing the only escape from this hell.
Mari could hear bangs on the door. Shouts and screams. She tried to open. Maybe she could free them. She jangled the door knob but when she looked, there was no door knob. In fact, there was no door. There was no train station, tiled walls. Just a plain blackness… and a glowing red hole. She looked on as the symbols around the hole burned her corneas.
She blinked and wondered if it even all mattered. She crawled into the hole and started going into it. She hoped that this dream could end and nothing more.