As we searched the east corridor, we spent the time talking while searching, I learned that the girl I was with before isRosvinaArniasand she worked asastylistpart-time while attending school. She lives with her family of five, her parents and two older brothers, one working the other in college. We spent all our time walking and searching each room for any sort of exit or information about this place. Of course, all our search up till now was of no fruition, we didn''t find much that could be useful in the least.
"No luck huh? I already guessed so," saidRosvina, slumping her head squatting on the floor.
"Let''s try further in, there might actually be something useful."
"Mhmm, let''s go then, maybe Edgar and his group already foundsomethin." With that, she got up and walked out the room we searched just now.
We went and checked each room ahead, we entered another room but this rooms seems out of place in thisentireplace with walls made of steel. A styling room, the kind where actors or famous peoplegettheir makeup done before they go on TV, but why is this room here in thefirstplace? This is a prison, right?
"Uooh, these areprofessionalhairtrimmer, and this an extremely expensive foundation and this and entire box of fake eyelashes!OhMy God, is that theluxuriousmakeup box from Venus!?"Rosvinawent on for a few minutes before she remembered our situation.
"Sorry, I always get excited about things like makeup and hairpins, it''s in my blood you see, my family is a family of stylist, my parents were makeup artists, and my brother is now working as a hair stylist." She explained to me, I listened intently about it and thoughtso,it''sa family business.She kept talking about how her family members taught her all the thingsa stylistshould know, but I half-heartedly listened to what she said partway. I was still trying to see if there''s anything useful here, but the few things that came up were just basic makeups and a few leaflets and girls'' magazines. Wait, magazines? I saidout loudwhen the thought occurred to me. I flippedthroughoutthe pages to see if there''s any article, even the slightest hint about this damned place, but as such to no avail. I notice that one particular article when nearing theend:envious stylist kills competition. The nameRosvinaArniaswas bolded under the title, with a portrait of her glamorous face at the side. I-it''snot true, right? This got to be another article those people made to fool us, I thought to myself, but deep inside somewhere, I began to doubt even my own thoughts.
"Did you find anything useful?"Rosvina''svoice sounded from behind, I panicked and quicklytucked themagainesbehind my back. "N-nothingusefuloverhere."
"Guess so, well I''ll do one more round of search before we go the next room. Is that okay with you?
"Sure, I''ll help, maybe we missed some stuff under all these cosmetics." I quickly hid the magazines underthecreakedfloor of thelocked table I found earlier.
After a round of scouring the room, we went to another room.But there''s no doubt the mood between us has changed, especially from my side, but I want to believe, I want to believe that magazine isn''t true. I kept holding to that thought as we wentthroughroom by room.
After a long time searching the rooms, nothing useful turned up. Looks like they took out all the important info and sealed off all signs of exit. "Urgh,it''sno use, there''s nothing here or exit anywhere. We''re trapped here and no one isgonnahelp criminals like us."She sat on the floor and sulked. "What do you mean criminal? Do you seriously b-believe that bullshit they spouted?"
"But if I''m not a criminal, then there should be no reason for me to be in this place! But if I really am a criminal, then staying here should be just fit for me." I said nothing, more like I could not conjure the words I wanted to say.
I get where she''s coming frombut unlike her, I don''t wish to give up so easily, even now I still desperately believe that she''s not a bad person, there''s no way she would do something as low as killing of the competition.
"HeyAsh, do you know what kind of crime did I do to get myself landed in this place?" She asked me, the light in her eyes fadingquiclky.
"N-no idea, but I think you''re no criminal, at least not to me." I lied, I hesitated to tell her about the magazines, about the articles I found, about the grave sin shecommittedherself, if she was really theone who did it. In theend,I didn''t tell her about it.
"Come on cheer up, we''re still not done yet. Don''twannaget our ears chewed on by Edgar now do you? I bet he''s the mean kind that gives his all to a good scolding."
"Haha, you''re right, I shouldn''t be thinking about stuff like that. Work comes first, I can sulk all I want later." She got up and patted down her skirt. We walked back to the corridor and went on to the next room.Rosvinaturned her head before we entered and whispered to me, "Thanks, Ash." And then went back to searching.
Partway in our search, the bracelet rang and Edgar''s face popped up. "Uaaarghh!!!" The sudden appearance made me jumped back and screamed. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts and listened to what Edgar said, "It''s just a hologram you idiot, don''t give me a heart attack from over a screen!"
"Anyway," he continued on, "Did you find anything useful at your side?" I gave him my honest answer. "I see, same here. Some doors areinaccessible, and the ones that are have nothing useful at all."
"Huh? But isn''t the library at your side?" I asked, but I have a feeling I already got my answer. "Sigh, that''s the one. Apparently, the library is one of the doors that''s locked. I wanted to break the door down but as the rulebook stated: do not break down any doors, windows orcurtains unless you plan to commit a murder."
I tapped the button on thebraceletand the map appeared besides Edgar''s holographic face, below it is the stated rules in this place. I scrollthroughthem and found it: No. 17, do notbreak down any doors, windows orcurtains unless you plan to commit a murder."
"Now that you know we can''t enter, we''ll regroup back at the front of the start of the corridor. If you still haven''t finished your checking please do so fast. Edgar out." With that, the hologram disappeared, the map showing thattwo spots at the east corridor started moving again.
"Let''s finish our rounds and go back, ok?"
"Yeah, let''s do this." We continued to search the rest of the rooms, only to come across nothing useful. We decided to head back to the main entrance of the east corridor, there we saw the other four waiting by the entrance.
"Hheeyy!!! What took you guys so long? Was your side interesting?" The cheerful girl yelled, making her already loud voice unimaginably louder.
"Ohfor heaven''s sake, pipe down your voice, you''re going to give me a heart attack!" The scrawny girl snapped.
"But my voice is the only thing I''m confidentin. .." She sulked her head and sat at the door.
We approached them only to hear a good scolding from Edgar, "What took you so long? I hope you were not doing anything suspicious behind our backs."
"No-no way! We''d never do that right?" I looked toRosvina,and shenoddedinagrement. "Yeah, we wouldn''t do something like that nor do we plan on in the future."
"Sigh, fine. Any useful findings fromyoursidesince you took your time?"Rosvinatold him the rest ofurfruitless search. "And here I thought there''d be something useful from your side. Guess they don''t plan on making this an escape game any time soon." He hit the door with his fist.
"Well now let''s all just calm down, why don''t we go check in on the others now that we''re finished?" The big guy proposed. "Sure, that sounds fine.Notlike we cando much here."
"Do you think there''s going to be any hints or clues from their side? I for one doubt that." The scrawny girl said.
"Information or not we promised to meet up atthe dininghall once we finished, let''s just head there for now then we can continue our chatter." Everyone agreed and walked to the main plaza and then to the dining hall.
On thewayI kept talking to the loud girl (by loud I mean speaker-volume loud), though she''s the one who does most of the talking. "GwenlynSonica, 19, hobby is singing whenever bored, currently work as a full-time singer at Jezz Music Production Company, or I like to call itJizzM. You know,jizz''em? Get it?Wahahahahaha!!!" This might the first time I see someone laughing at their own jokes by themselves.
"Um,Gwenlynyou say you work as asinger,right? I know that company of yours isn''t a big-shot, but it''s still high up in the ratings, but I''ve never seen your name up in thechartboard."
"Just call me Gwen like my friends do," she insisted. "Anyway, back to yourquestion:of courseyou''ve never seen myrealname on the chart, I use an alias to hide myself. I heard this from a friend but she says that once you get famous and let the world know who you are,You''llbe crowded with fans till you can''t do anything."
"I guess that''s true, but at least it means that you gotlotsof people who appreciateyousongs."
"Yeah, that might be true but it''s a pain to deal with fans." She continued, "I mean, just because I''m Fuzzy Wuzzy, that doesn''t change how I like singing solo, and I absolutely hate it when my fans call for a duet with someone else."
"WAITWAITWAIT,Yo''reFuzzy Wuzzy!? All your songs are always up in the charts, every new album has high sales than its previous ones, and the empty booth for the hand-shake and autographs events? That was YOU!?" Now it was my turn toyell.A superstar was standing beside me the whole time!? No, that''s not the point, one of myfavouritesinger was beside me? It''s like a fan''s dream come true.
"Um, Gwen- I mean Fuzzy Wuzzy, can I getyourautograph later?" I clapped my hands together and begged.
"Sure, why not? But only at the condition that you call me Gwen, ok?" She said, as if she really doesn''t want her name to be known to the public. Regardless I promised her anyway. "Thank you so much! I''mgonnahangyourautograph in a frame when I get back!"
"Uh, you don''t need to overreact like that, it''s a bit creepy that you can get so hyped just talking to me."
"How can I not be!? You are THE Fuzzy Wuzzy! Your songs are so good it reaches the heart of many."
"Anyway, if it''s an autograph you want, come swing by my room tomorrow and I''ll have it done for you."
"Hey you two back there, keep itdowna notch, your voices are like running through a speaker." Edgar snapped at us. "Soooorrrry, I can''t help it with my naturally loud voice."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"Sorry, I got you scolded along as well." Iapologizedto Gwen. "Ahahaha, don''t worry about it, I''m used tobeingscolded." The way she said that statement sounded a bit off, but I didn''t have enough time to think it through before she yanked me into another conversation.
"Hey what about you? You don''t plan on keeping yourself fromlil''olmenow would you?" OH yeah, we didn''t even introduce ourselves to each other, or more accurately saying, I didn''t.
"Uh sorry about that. The name''s Ash Norton. Unlike you, I''m just a regular college student with nothing to show."
"Uoh, college life! Did you have plenty to drink? Hot babes to bang? Projects to cuss for hours and hours?" She sounded like an oldmanwhen she said it. "No, no and yes. I''m a virgin who can''t really handle his alcohol, not that I need to anyway."I said it without a shed of dignity. Was it wrong not being able to handle alcohol? I think not.
"Aww, how sad. If you were good with alcohol we could go over my life story with a few bottles of whiskey. . . Oh well, not that you need to anyway."She said, slightly pouting her cheeks
"Oh yeah, got any dirty jokes to tell? I make learning dirty jokes as another form of hobby." Um, now that''s a seriously weird hobby to have. I told her a few that I learnt from my friends, she took out a small notebook and wrote it all down.
"To be honest, the first reason I got into music was actually because of dirty jokes. I mean, myfavouriteband from when I was a kid wasSthap, the ne that sings all those stuffs, since then I tried to make my own lyrics and sang along with it. In theendI made my own debut and here I am now, in the middle of a prison. Cool life huh?"
"I-" Before I could say anything, a loud thump echoed through thecorridor of the dining hall. "What was that?" The scrawny girl asked, trembling behind the big guy.
"Sounds like it came from the dining hall."
"One way to find out," Edgar said and walked with an increased pace towards the dining hall.
Once we reached the hall we pushed the door open and saw a bizarre scene ahead: Two guys were on adining table punching the lights out ofeach other; a few people were at the side cheering them on; Roderick spinning around trying to calm the chaotic atmosphere; the rest are either eating at the corner or haven''t showed up yet.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Edgar grabbed the nearest girl and demanded an answer.
"Hiiii!" The girl shrieked when Edgar grabbed her, causing a few eyes to turn over this side. "It''s um, well, they''re fighting for whoever um,gets thenext dish." She said, stuttering between words.
"Huh? All this commotion only for food?" Edgar replied with an irritated expression. "Sigh, this is why commoners stay commoners," he sighed.
"Then what about the thumping sound we heard just now? Was it from them fighting?"Rosvinaasked.
"Yeah,they were thrashing here and there, um, but it seems like they, umcooedldown a little."
"Oh, one more question: besides us which groups have finished their exploring?"
"Um, I think it waserr. . . North and west, south side hasn''t shown up yet." She answered honestly.
"Thank you, you may go on with whatever you were doing." Shespirntedto the other end of the dining hall the moment Edgar let go of her wrist.
"Now that we know what''s causing the ruckus, let''s just proceed with eating. No use worrying about two monkeys fighting over something trivial." He walked up to the platters of food lined neatly at the left corner.
"Well guys let''s just go eat, I guess." We followed suit and took a dish we find satisfying and ate in at another table. We spectated the two of them fight until they ran out of energy, so did Roderick.
"Are we really heinous criminals? Looking ata grouplikethat, youwouldn''t think of them capable ofmurder,do you?" The big guy beside me asked. "Of before I forget, my name is LeeHyoukJu, aprofessionaltailor, or at least self-proclaimed I guess."
"Huh? You''re a tailor!? I thought you''re somerugby playerof some sorts!" I really did not expect that.
"Haha, I get that a lot. Despite my looks I''mactuallyharmless. In fact, I never had any intentions of playing stuffs as violent as that."I guess he''s the kind people call a sensitive and gentle giant.
"Anywayback to my first question, do you think they''re people who are capable of committing dangerous or heinous crimes?" I looked at the group that was still fighting on the tables. I gave the question some thoughts before I answered."I guess they look violent as a bunch of wild monkey right now, but in thefuture,I''m not sure. Theenvironmentchanges people, especially insituationsdire as this. One day they might be normal, the same as you know them;then next they might snap suddenly and you wouldn''t know who''s that anymore."
"Hmm, you make it sounds like you had experience with this kind of situation." He said. "ButI have to agree. People are flexible, but not always ina goodway."
"Yeah I know. I gotfirst-handexperience on that. You know, people snapped and they change their personality entirely. It''s kind of scary, even now just remembering it sends a shiver down my spine." Crap! I said too much!
Did something similar happen to you before?" Thetone of his question lingers with suspicion.
"I guess you can say that, though it''s nothing as bizarre as this one. But the fact that something of sort happened to me before might be the reason I am who I am right now."
"Oh? Could you please elaborate on that? I''m interested in what kindof person you are."
"I-I don''t want to talk about it right now. Not in this cheerful mood," I declined, I don''t want to rain on their momentary happiness, because if what they saidbefore is true then it''s only a matter of time. . . and the people.
"Hmm, that''s too bad. Then how ''boutif I ever got the chance, would you care to tell me during your free time?" Lee said with anexpectatingtone.
"Sure, I guess." He gave a gleeful smile, like he''s really expecting a good story out of me."Buthere''s a little advice first: fix your habit of sounding like an open book. Your emotions show on your words."
"Hm? What''s wrong with that? It just goes to show I''ve got nothing to hide." I was taken aback by that honest reply.
"Even if it means that someone might take advantage of it? Someone like me could, you know."
"I don''t mind. Though it''s only been a few minutes talking to you, I feel like I can trust you to take good advantage of it for the sake of good." He said it with a confident smile.
Ismirked, "Maybe that''s all just a farce to make you think I'' an easygoing person?"
"No, that is not possible. If you truly are someone poisonous to the heart, you wouldn''t react like that when you heard that Gwen was Fuzzy Wuzzy."
"You heard that?" He nodded. "I might not be someone who can tell what lies beyond their heart, but at least I can tell the basics of a good person.Believe in yourself Ash, doubt will get you nowhere in life, especially not here."
"What do you meanb-"
"Well, thanks for the food." He got up and left before I finished my question. I am a little speechless, to think such a simple man still existed. I continued eating until I was full then got up from my seat and washedmydishes in the sink in the kitchen. When I got out, it seems the situation on the table mellowed down and they''re eating at the table now, withfootprintsall over it. Guess they''ve exhausted all their remaining energy in that useless hackle.
I let out a yawn, seems like I also exhausted most of my energy, especially on trying to cope with the current situation. I said my farewell to the others and left for my room. I checked the map to see where my room was located---South corridor sixth door to the right. I headed there and crashed on the bed once I got there.I didn''t care one bit, or more like I didn''t have any spare energy left to care. I fell asleep almost as soon as hit the bed.
I didn''t know how long I slept, but I woke up when I heard someone ringing on the doorbell. I got up sloppily and pulledmyself over to the door. I rubbed my eyes before checking who the visitor was. A girl in black skintight jumpsuit was standing outside with her arms crossed. I opened the door a little and asked, "What is it? Do you have business with me?"
''Hm? Oh yeah, they told us to round upeveryonewilling and able to go to the dining hall. We''re about to start sharing the information gathered yesterday." She explained. "By the way, the name''s SophieStryke, remember that. And you are?"
"Um, Ash Clarent. Nice to meet you I guess."
"Yeah same here. Can you do me a favor and get the others up? Only a handful of people showed up."
"Sure, just give me a few minutes," I said opening up the cupboard. Most of the clotheslooks like the ones I''m wearing right now. I grabbed the neatest one and changed into it and put the old ones into a bin next to the cupboard. I then walked to the washroom to get myself freshened up a little. To my surprise, there''s run water, there''s even toothbrush and paste in a cup. I hastily brushed my teeth and washed my face and left my room. The door automatically locked up the moment I shut it. I didn''t give it much thought and went to the next few doors and give them a wake-up call. Most of them didn''t respond, those that did gave the same reply I did.
After I think I finished going through all the rooms here, I left for the dining hall to gather with the rest. When I entered the aroma of food surroundedme, I gulp down amouthfulof my own saliva. Priorities first: I checked who was in the hall. Sophie was right, only a handful of people came compared to last night. I took a seat at the furthermost back of the main table where thirty seats were prepared. Edgar waved to me and signaled me to come over to his side. Once I got there he told me that there were names embedded to the back of each seat so it''s best to follow the givenseatings. I complied and sat at the chair with my name on it,seventh onthe left.
It took some time for all 29people to gather at the dining hall, once the last person took his seat, the wall behind me rang with an electronical sound. I turned my head to see that the wall itself opened up and well-prepared food were emerged on a table. "Seems like today they intend to serve us instead of wasting our time cooking."
"Cooking isn''t a waste of time," someone muttered.
"Anyway, let''s discuss about our findings. I''m sure some of us have some sort of useful clue to where we might escape from?" No one responded. "W-well even if it''s not useful it would be helpful to share any sorts of information." Edgar tried to inch everyone to give some info.
"Like I said, I don''t care about joining your small lump of na?ve group. If you still think you can escape you are dead wrong. I''m out of here, and I don''t need the food, not now anyway."Hegot up from his seat and began to leave before the mature-looking girl asked, "Whatmakesyou so sure that we won''t be able to leave?"
"Because I said so! Got a problem with that?"
"Then prove it. Prove that we cannot leave this place."
"Iain''tgotnothin'' to prove to you lot! If you still want to waste your time searching around for empty hope, I''d rather suggest you prepare to plan a perfect kill instead." After he said that, it felt like everything stopped.
Empty hope? Plan a kill? Those things struck a nerve in everyone, simply because it''s the truth. Maybe we didn''t want to admit it, maybe wewejust shying away from the truth, maybe we deliberately not thinkthat way. But what if we did? Would someone get out? Will the rest of us die? Will the killer die in a futile struggle? At these thoughts, all the methods to kill started to pour into my mind with these words as the base of it: I want to get out, I want to get out, I want to get the fuck out of wherever here is!!!
Iheard a sound that brought me back to reality- someoneslammed her hand on the table. She looked like a model, or perhaps a diva, but what''s more important is right now she looks absolutely furious. Her teeth are gnashing, her nostrils are flaring, her eyes are glaring daggers, even her veins have popped out. "Outrageous!!! Outrageous I say! I might admit our actions may be empty hope, but what gives you the right to say so!? You''re notdoinganything, if anything you seemed like you submitted to defeat."
"Huh? Try saying that again, bitch! I''ll make sure your pretty little face isgonnabe messed up so bad it''s not evengonnabe considered human!!!"
"You are just a big dog that''s only has size going for you. You''re all bark and no bite, you''re just basically admitting your resignation and stay here."
"Okay that''s itbitch! Say one more word and you''ll lose all your teeth!!!"
"Try me then," she challenged him and he charged straight for her. I didn''t dare look what happened then. But even after I shut my eyes I didn''t hear any physical contacts, I gradually opened my eyes and saw Lee grabbed the guy''s hand.
"Let go you fucker!" He shouted, but he couldn''t get free. I underestimated Lee----I thought he''s just a gentle giant, but in actuality he''s buffto the core. He gripped the guy''s arm with a vice grip. "Now, now, let''s calm down. I prefer if violence isn''t the method used here."
"Wanda, stop provoking him! You''re just going to get into trouble with him," the girl beside her warned her.
"Hmph, I suppose I could do with preventing a killing happening here, but the things he said left a horrible aftertaste in my mouth."
"I get what you''re saying but please for all of our sake just stand down."
She satthere for a moment and then crossed her legs, "Fine, I won''t go further with that but I think I cannot harmonize with thatmaneven in the future." She took a deep breath and sighed.
"You done holding my hand fucker!?" The guy shouted at Lee. "Oops, my bad," Lee let go of his arm, he rubbed his wrist and glared at Lee.
"I''m out of here, good luck with your little fun group. Hope you guys drop dead without me doing anything." He said that and walked out of the dining hall.
"It seems the nuisance has left but the atmosphere now is. . . um, a little tense now," Roderick remarked.
"We can deal with him at a later time but don''t you think we should begin sharing our information?"
"Well then, since I provoked him from the start, why don''t I startfirst?" Themature-looking girl volunteered to go first.
"Well then, you may begin tell us your side''s information."
"Very well then." She took a deep breath before she spoke. Once I heard her speak, itmade my searches feel meaningless.