The glow of the rooftop lights reflects on the shard of glass Sid is holding in her right hand. It is a 6 inches long and 3 inches wide diamond-shaped glass that sparkles in this dark night like a crystal so beautiful we can forget that it can take our lives away. Silence has enveloped us as we hear the car honking from meters away in the real world. But it might be true. That the easiest way out of here... is to die.
But why do we strive to live even if we know that we all lead in that same direction?
“But what if we don’t?” the unnamed girl gently reaches out to Sid with her voice cracking. She holds Sid in both of her arms and tries to take the shard of glass away from her. “Let’s go to our rooms, okay? We’ll wake up that way.” She looks at me. “Let’s trust her,” she pertains to me, “then we can leave this place safely.”
Hi, Readers!
I'm really sorry for the late upload. I have been sick that is why I have not been able to do upload a lot of chapters last week. Do feel free to comment me about your thoughts. I really appreciate your support.
Enjoy reading!
-AJ
Silence has engulfed us and the only thing heard across the room are our footsteps and Stacey’s sobs. I am walking behind the siblings. I am surprised to see that the lobby of The Passion House hotel stays well lit and it seems oblivious about what has happened inside the Iodestone. I look at the door to it and remember what has just happened. From hundreds of people, we who are 7 are the few who can leave the room. From 7 survivors, we have now gone to become only three. From 5 friends, 2 are now dead and no one knows if Harris is still alive. We also do not know if there are survivors aside from us, too."We're almost there," Steven tells us breaking the solemn silence. Stacey’s head which has been hiding on his brother’s neck lifts and observes our surroundings until her eyes settle on the door of the Iodestone. She stays silent though. I do not know what she is thinking.Indeed, we are almost there. I feel so empty with having us three being the s
It turns out that Stacey’s room is on 3059, Yohanne’s is on 3060, Steven’s is on 3068 and Melvin’s is on 3067. Harris is now carrying Stacey on his back as Steven and I walk beside them. She is the one who told the Harris about what had happened as I walk on their right with my head bowed. I feel like I don’t deserve to be with this group of radiant people. I look at them and feel a soft pang in my heart.Why am I reacting like this? Stacey is hugging Harris on a piggyback ride and she rests her chin on Harris's left shoulder. She is beautiful. She is also kind, and quite bubbly. I know that she would even win the Miss Universe Pageant if she joins it. Her body is great. Her attitude is great. She is everything I am not. I look at Harris, he maintains his straight face that I can’t seem to read
Where did that gunshot come from?We are all so shocked about what just happened we can not move. I have to admit that we didn’t see this coming. “What the F*CK?!” Steven cusses beneath his breath after the situation has dawned on him. His Twin, his oh so lovely sister is now lifeless at his feet. He looks at the consumed black part of the hallway. It has now seemed like endless space. It is so near us that it has already reached Stacey’s feet it looks like it is slowly eating her body and turning it black. “What the f*fuck do you want?! Do you think I am afraid of you?!” He is about to lounge on the black matter when Harris stops him and signals me to help him take Steven away. However, Steven still resists us. Who wouldn’t? He just lost his boyfriend and his sister on the same night.I don&rsqu
“What makes you think that you’re great, huh? You must just be tweaking your stories to make you a victim! Your works are not even that great anyway! You are nothing now but a passe! You should have been the one who is dead!” I see all the pain in his eyes as my body begs for air while his hands' grip on my throat grows stronger. “I wonder why my sister even likes your books. I wonder why Yohanne did her best to line up for you when you did not even show up a month ago. You don’t deserve all the love of your fans when you could not even save them now!” “We shouldn’t have listed to you and just died there inside the Iodestone! Everyone is just dying anyway. No one even knows if we die in reality or not! But this pain is so real! My sister died in my arms feels so real! I do not deserve this nightmare you have put us in!” My tears are streaming like waterfalls on my face as Steven lets out all his ang
What surprises me most is not how there are three ghosts of strangers standing in front of us, but how we are not freaking out right now. I have always thought that I will be running away or I will be shouting strange noises when I will see one in my life. However, I am rather calm right now, just like these 2 men with me.“Earth to Amy, Steven, and Harris?” They call us out.The souls’ reflections are just hovering in the mirror. Their skin is as pale as snow. Their eyes have no irises and quite have a darkened under eye, too. The two women’s hair is on their sides unkept like a wave of the ocean while the man is cut clean. The women are wearing white dresses while the man is in a white polo and black pants. They all look decent except for the blood from their heads down to their bodies and stains on their clothes. They t
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.