It is so weird, the playground that Apphia has told us is actually located underneath the hotel. Honestly, I don’t expect much of that place. I wonder what awaits us there.
The lights are out when we we have walked through the hallway as Harris flips every switches we see along the way. It is fine though, the light from the moon outside illuminates the glass top to bottom windows on every corner of the building.
“Why are you turning the lights off?” I once asks him in whispers.
“I realized that there must be someone else who has survived the tragedies we have gone to.”
“Huh?” I ask confuse
It is so weird, the playground that Apphia has told us is actually located underneath the hotel. I mean, if you ever heard of a playground, then it is usually like a park, right? A place where there would be trees and grass, somewhere there are lots of sunlight and an area where people can freely do picnics and ot
This mass grave is enormous that I believe the pool lit part is as big as a professional soccer field. I cannot see the ends of it, though, as the unlit part gives an impression that its land area is as huge as a stadium. However, I can see silhouettes of gravel piles and backhoes in the corners of the huge room.There must be thousands of dead bodies lying down here now.Imagine, this hotel has been going on for 64 years already. Steven comes to us, and I notice that Stacey is no longer hanging on his back. He sits next to Harris and me. “Where is Stacey?” “I found Stacey’s grave, so I decided to lay her body there. It will be useless for me to continue bringing her everywhere when she can properly
Harris is just kneeling there, crying while he’s looking at the grave of his childhood best friend. He’s silent but his shoulders are shaking. He reaches down as if he’s hugging Melvin, but only, the earth separates them two.I keep my mouth shut while I let Harris cry to the realization of him losing his best friend. No one else knows but him the frustration of actually losing an important person from his life. I feel the side of my chest tighten on what I am witnessing. The denial, the frustration, the unbelief that he must be feeling is slowly eating him right now. He must be repressing all this skepticism during our quest to freedom earlier. Holding on to the hope that Steven, Stacey, and I have been lying all along. But alas! We can no longer deny it. The proof of Melvin’s death lies in front of us now. His childhood best friend is really dead.
I have already seen this coming, this scenario of her, being dead. I know that I have been preparing myself for this since that moment I stand inside the black and empty-like casino yet...It feels so different experiencing it in actual reality. It feels too different if it lies in front of your eyes.I have thought that I am ready, this scenario has been playing in my head during the whole night. I have been holding on to that tiny rope of hope of a possibility that my beloved mother is still alive but I realize...No one is actually ready when he or she witnesses a sudden loss of a loved one. Her life has been my driving force. It is what keeps me running towards my safety. It is what keeps me alive until this moment but... It has been crushed now... big time.
Where is Steven? “Steve! Where are you?” Harris calls him out in this poorly lit room. His voice echoes in the entire room but no one responds to him. Not even Steven. Silence starts to engulf us as worry start to appear in my gut. Where can he be? Did we take too long to come back? I can’t see properly and I see no silhouettes of alive human beings around here. I help call Steven out, too. “Steven! Where are you?!” I shout with my hands circling the sides of my mouth in an attempt to louder my voice. We already lost too many people tonight. I don’t think we will be able to let go of another one, too. We have to find him. “Harris, what if he jumped insid
I feel so anxious. My sight is turning blurry as my heart feels like it's been ripped into pieces. I can’t bear to lose another friend. I do not know what to do anymore and it feels like we are running out of options. At this point, I understand that it is easier to just die but... I am still hoping that the real world is waiting for us out there. That we can still get out of here. And this includes the fact that I don’t want to see us dying although tomorrow is no longer promised for us. Gosh, I feel so pathetic. I let out an air as I feel that I am losing all the hope that’s left of me. Steven must have felt like that is why he did that, too. Harris is running and I try so hard to match his pace. I know that he is so worried about his best friend. And we have to go there. We have to move fast. I try to ignore the sharp pain that is forming on my side as I put my hand on it i
“HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO US!” I shout when I reach her. I can no longer stop myself. I need to release all this pent-up anger inside of me. I tried to nab her face but my hands fall short when two of the white-robed people holds both of my arms. Their grip is strong like well-trained men and they are now carrying me up in the air in no time.“HOW CAN YOU DO THIS PEOPLE?!” I am still shouting and being hysterical.I lost everyone I lost my mom. I lost my friends. And there is no assurance of me waking up anymore.“How can you do this?” I cry and I feel the two men put me on the ground. I kneel in front of them, “Please get me back my mom.”I beg.“Please find a way for me to wake up.”“Please tell me that this is not real.”“Please tell me that the ghosts are lying.&rdq
“Jane! We need to burn the hotel!” I tell her with my voice ringing in the air. I can also tell a sign of relief from Jane’s face as her eyes brighten and a genuine smile gently forms on her lips.That’s it. Maybe this is the way out.I start to feel giddy as I feel a slight ray of hope brim in my heart once again.This could be it, right?“We should create a plan now! Where can we find fire hazards?” I go to Harris, “Harris, we can finally leave this place!” I hug him in delight. “We can finally escape this nightmare.”“Yeah,” I hear him say as his eyes gleam under the moonlight.Finally, we can now go.I go back to Jane to ask more questions.I hold her hands while I look at her eyes, “Jane. We can finally wake up! Tell me, what should we do? What’s the plan? You guys know how this place works. Tell me so we ca
My heart is throbbing inside my chest as I gasp for air.What just happened? I slightly push myself away from Harris. I meet his eyes, “What is going-” he cuts me off as he put one of his hands to cover my mouth while the other signals me to-shh. He then moves his fingers to point in a direction behind me. I turn my head around and see a huge man walking around the kitchen floor. It turns out that we are not the only people here. Is he a survivor, too? Or a mere employee? And also, why does it seem like although he has thrown a knife at us earlier, he does not appear to be aware of other people in the kitchen right now? “He must be the head chef,” I hear Harris whisper. The man is indeed wearing a chef’s uniform with a black apron. He is short and quite fat with a mustache just above his mouth. He turns around while tapping on the tables as if he is looking for something. I look back at us and notice