Chapter Text
Sara woke up in total darkness, with her mind so hazy, that for a good minute after regaining consciousness she wasn't able to form any coherent thought.
All she knew was, that she was now laying on her back and her body rested on a quite comfortable mattress. A warm quilt covered her legs and torso.
Was this another part of the game? It must've been. Was she in danger?
Where was this?
There weren't any beds on fourth and fifth floor, at least not in the rooms she and her companions had found so far. What if they'd missed a location? It couldn't have been ruled out for sure. After all, the kidnappers could have kept something hidden until the end of the Russian Roulette on purpose.
Maybe it was just one of those bedrooms for participants, like the ones from the third floor. Nothing to worry about.
"If so, then why is it so dark in here?" Sara thought right away, recalling the previous room she'd slept in and its eerie and dim glow of the lamps, which were already on when she woke up there for the first time.
The longer she laid still, the more noises started to reach her ears. A familiar mechanical humming was coming from - as it sounded like - all around her. Some kind of fan perhaps. Although, the air she was inhaling shouldn't have felt so heavy if this room had a working ventilation.
Something strange was going on. Sara took a deeper breath. In an instant, a sharp pain pierced through her chest, stealing all the air from her lungs. At the same time, a high pitched beeping filled the room, causing her eardrums to nearly explode.
A trap.
This wasn't another place to unwind. It was another part of the game, a trial.
And it was about to kill her.
Sara had to figure out something fast.
She managed to quickly conclude that hearing was fine, but she wasn't able to get up or see anything. Her body apparently refused to cooperate at the moment and...
Wait, why couldn't she see? Her eyes should've adjusted to the darkness at least a little by now.
Sara squinted. Or at least tried to.
....
Her eyes have been closed all this time.
A n d s h e c o u l d n o t o p e n t h e m.
It was as if her eyelids were glued shut.
This was unbelievable. Had she been poisoned or something? And for what reason? What kind of game would have the participant immobilised like that?
Think Sara, think. You are going to die otherwise. There had to be a way. There was always some sort of answer. A key to the riddle.
"How in the world am I supposed to find it?"
Panic rose in her chest. It reached the throat and began to fill it. She was suffocating.
"...-ara!, Miss Sara!"
Someone was speaking loudly, but their voice was muffled by all that blaring humming and beeping. How long had they been here?
"Miss Chidouin, can you hear me?!" they've had to approach her closer as the words became clearer. Then, cold fingers pressed against her wrist. Adrenaline rushed in her veins.
"Miss Chidouin," Sara didn't recognise the voice. It was feminine, calm and soft. The tone of it didn't indicate any ill will, but Sara had already learnt her lesson. Floormasters were adept decievers.
"If you can hear me, please try moving one of your fingers to let me know."
Sara wondered whether she should pretend to be unconscious. She would do that probably if it wasn't for the fact, that she literally couldn't do anything on her own right now. Her body was stiff and unmoving, eyelids too heavy on her eyes. Being uncooperative wasn't in her favor. She must've been purposefully drugged and if that was the case, there was no other way out of this situation than to play along.
Having no better choice, Sara risked taking another deep breath. Fortunately, this time the pain wasn't as intense and Sara could calm herself down just a little bit.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
She focused all her attention on her right hand's thumb. Nothing was happening for an excruciatingly long while before her finger finally curled up.
Sara heard the woman on her side call out to someone in elated tone. She would have paid attention to what the woman said if it weren't for the sudden intense sting that jolted her whole body.
Just as abruptly, the darkness she had been surrounded by switched into blinding white light. A soft groan escaped her lips. Her throat felt so painfully dry.
Could she move now?
Not bothering to wait for her vision to adjust, Sara used her elbows to prop herself and sat up despite black spots flickering before her eyes.
"Miss Sara" the woman's face was filled with concern. Now that Sara could get a better look, she noted that this person's appearance was far from what she was used to from other dolls in this place. The woman wore only a plain, typical japanese nurse uniform which lacked the usual eccentric adornments and flashy colors.
"Y-you are going to hurt yourself like that, ...please lay back down" the "nurse" looked stupefied. Why? Did something happen? When?
Sara opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden wave of nausea hit her instead, immediately making her bend forward. Next thing Sara knew, she was puking straight onto white tiles right next to her bed.
The "nurse" huffed something irratably, but reached to hold Sara's long hair away from her face (she hadn't even noticed they were untied until now). Sara wanted to move away from that touch, but her body stopped listening to her once again. She felt weak like never before. Absolutely miserable. What have they done to her? Where were the others?
The room they put her in was a creepily accurate imitation of a normal hospital room. Mostly empty white walls, one metal chair next to a simple coffe table, small sink in the right corner. On top of that, on both sides of her bed were set various devices, pretty standard for what you would see in the rooms of intense care patients.
"W-what..." that pathetic whimper was far from what her voice should've sounded like. "...what kind of g-game is this now...?"
The woman stared at her with wide eyes. Sara shot her a glare.
"Where... are my friends...?" she hissed weakly. "Are you... the next Floormaster?"
"The next Floormaster?" the "nurse" repeated slowly. "I'm-, miss Chidouin, your body is severely weakened, you were unconscious for weeks. I assure you, this is a real hospital. You are safe now, so please-"
"What?!" Sara meant to shout, but her strained throat only allowed something barely above a loud whisper.
She needed to get out of here. Obviously, their captors proved to be ruthless multiple times before, but now? This was the new level of cruelty.
Did this woman really think Sara would fall for this? Belive that she had been magically saved?
How laughable.
A quiet, wheezy chuckle escaped her lips.
"How naive do you think I am?"
The woman didn't respond. Instead, her gaze focused on something behind Sara. The expression on her face morphed from concerned into alarmed.
Something in the room started beeping again.
And then everything went dark once more.