Part 1


Of course, I can't have a fucking second to myself. Nor have I had a second with Espie that wasn't in some way, shape, or form business related. Well, not entirely true, this was more personal. Definitely not in the way I would prefer, though. Wait a minute; I'm monologuing when I should be like, I dunno, reacting to the unfolding situation that's currently surrounding me.

"Um, Kea..." She whispers, waving her hand in front of my face. I shake my head, trying to snap myself out of that uncharacteristic bit of self pity. Fuck, is Jessie molding with me or something? My hand closes tightly on the handle of the revolver that's shoved in the pocket of my hoodie, and then opens again, resting over it. That cycle repeats a few times, causing a few more seconds of awkward silence, before finally, I summon enough courage to slash through it.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? It looks like something's wrong..."

"It's just a shock, I-I'm fine."

"No you aren't."

I cover my ears, the movement of my hand forces the handle of the gun to hang out of the pocket, pointed toward the ground. As was the case the last time the voice showed up, the room begins to shake, leaving me on uneven footing. God fucking dammit. I stumble, trying to keep steady but ultimately failing and falling back first onto the ground. The gun fires, hitting me in the stomach.

Fuck!

I lay on the ground, in too much goddamned pain to get up, or to even move and the fuckin' voice just laughs, filling the room with the awful sound.

"Oh, let's see how you react when the stakes are raised!"

The rumbling of the ground snaps the supports of the building and the roof falls in. Rubble, damned rubble falls from the sky, hitting the ground, crushing my body and everything in the room. Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

Everything went black, for how long I couldn't even say. Laying there, buried underneath pounds upon pounds of debris, I could barely even breath. I remained in this position until whatever that voice was decided to take pity on me, and let me fade into sweet unconsciousness.

Or, am I?

I lay in darkness still, the weight no longer down on me but stuck in a state of suspended animation, unable to move anything in the slightest.

No, for fuck's sake no!

The air runs thin, and I choke down every last gasp of oxygen, trying my hardest to move something.

No...

"Oh, is this frightening to you? Better question yet; do you think I care?"

If I could speak, I'd beg and plead for mercy. Instead I still lay here, weightless and yet weighed down, stuck.

I'm, trapped.

"Wake up. Come on, Kea. Wake up!"

Poof.

Here I am, back again. The room, the lobby no longer smashed to bits, but I'm still on the ground when I fade back here once more. Looking around the room, I see that Espie is nowhere to be found. The bullet wound is gone too, and the revolver lays on the ground feet away from my body. Turning my body onto one side, I slam my hand on the gun and pick it up, then push myself off the ground.

Once I get to my feet, I hold the gun close and close can get to my side, and trudge through the empty lobby, scanning the room for any hint of movement. Nope. Good. Hopefully it stays that way. On the walls however, a twisted black web of vines hang down from the ceiling, contorted to match the floral pattern that the wallpaper behind it had shown.

With a breath, I turn right, into the hallway that Espie and I had just exited before everything happened. The vines ran across the floor on both sides of the hallway, never branching outward, running parallel to the walls.

The first door. Fuck. I reach out, gripping the handle with my free hand. This isn't going to be good, is it?

I turn the handle and push it open...



Oh fuck! I shakily aim the gun at whatever the fuck that thing is, and fire it, caring not about accuracy. I keep pulling the trigger until all I hear is a click.

Click.

Click.

Okay, maybe I fired it a couple more times.

The thing, whatever the hell it is, lays on the ground, bullets riddling its body. It twitches a few times, before growing motionless. I sit down on the ground, the smoking barrel of the gun pointed up in the air. Oh my God, what the fuck?

"And that's only the beginning!"