Drizzling Mood
Ja'khi packed up his materials as the bell rang to dismiss the final class of the day. This class happened to be English for him and Anthony, who had walked up to him.
"Yes! Day's finally over!" Anthony said enthused.
"Just to do it all over again tomorrow." Ja'khi replied.
"What the hell man." Anthony uttered. The two walked out the classroom, followed by their English teacher, Mr. Frazier, shutting and locking the door behind them.
"See ya tomorrow, boys?" Mr. Frazier questioned, raising a brow.
"Yea, see ya." Anthony answered. Ja'khi only responded by glaring at the teacher. He didn't like Frazier much, no reason he could put his finger on- it could be the way he ranted in class about things that weren't related to the subject or the way he simply graded things that no one understood. Frazier waved the two goodbye as he made his way to the parking lot.
"I don't get why you dislike Frazier so much." Anthony spoke, "He's a pretty chill guy."
"He's annoying." Ja'khi said bluntly.
"Whatever, we walking back to the dorm?" Anthony asked. Ja'khi thought back to the note that was in his pocket. Surprisingly, he didn't want to let Anthony know about it, since the two usually shared everything with each other.
"Not today, gotta handle something. I'll meet you there later though?" He replied. Anthony nodded before the two part ways. Ja'khi arrived at the campus fountain. He made sure that there was no one around before taking out the note and reading it. There was an address marked on the paper along with a riddle.
'You are in a room that is completely bricked in on all four sides, including the ceiling and floor. You have nothing but a mirror and a wooden table in the room with you. How do you get out?'
'143 Alabama Street, SW'
The address was familiar to Ja'khi, it was somewhere in downtown Atlanta. The riddle however, he pondered over what it could possibly mean.
"Hey," A sudden voice from behind startled Ja'khi as he quickly stuffed the note back into his pocket. The voice belonged to Aaron. "What are you up to lil' bro?" He smiled. Aaron's green-blue eyes glistened in what little sunlight there was outside. Along with the same eye color, the brothers also shared the same hairstyle, a fringe, although Ja'khi's was fluffy while Aaron's was more wavy.
"Nothin' much, just on my way into town." Ja'khi answered. Aaron bit his lip while raising a brow in curiosity.
"Well, I'm on my way to work. Want to walk together?" Aaron suggested. Ja'khi knew there was no way he could let Aaron know about the note. Not only would he ask too many questions because he's a slightly overprotective brother, but he's also a junior detective.
"Nah, where I'm going I gotta catch the bus." Ja'khi explained. It wasn't a lie. The address was an 18 minute bus drive and compared to an hour walk he'd like to get there quicker than that. "We'll hang out later though?"
Aaron nodded in response as he fixed his leather jacket over his white button up shirt. The brothers said their goodbyes before parting ways. Ja'khi hopped on the bus and took a seat in the back. He focused his sights outside the bus window, admiring the city he'd grown up in. Suddenly, Ja'khi felt that he was being stared at by a fellow bus rider, but when he looked up for a quick glance he didn't see anyone look at him nor any familiar faces.
Ja'khi arrived at his stop quicker than he'd expected and sure enough the building was right down the street as he had anticipated. He slowly approached the building which looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. The front door was covered in chain locks that were a dark shade of orange due to rust.
'There's gotta be another way in'
Ja'khi made his way around the back of the building where he was met with another door that looked like it could be opened with enough force. He braced himself for impact before ramming his entire body into the door causing it to fall in.
"Damn Bro! I didn't know you were that strong!" Ja'khi jumped at the familiar voice talking loudly. Anthony revealed himself from the side of the building. "Seriously, you need to join a sports club or somethin'. All that brute strength is going to waste."
"Yeah no thanks." Ja'khi replied, scratching the top of his head. "What are you doing anyway?"
"I could ask you the same thing. But if you must know, I followed you here."
"Figures." Ja'khi sighs as he enters the building.
"Dude, you're just gonna go in there?" Anthony asked. Ja'khi gave him no response so Anthony followed after him. There were newspaper letters scattered all over the floor and water dripping from the ceilings. The atmosphere sent chills down Anthony's spine, Ja'khi didn't mind it as much. After a while the two had approached a barricaded door.
"This is beginning to get tedious." Ja'khi sighed.
"Can't you just break this door down like the other one?" Anthony suggested as he inspected the door.
"Don't know and I don't feel like trying right now anyway." Ja'khi replied bluntly. He wasted no time in moving onto the next floor, Anthony following after. The next floor was barely any different other than floors that creaked under the two boy's footsteps as they traversed the place. Ja'khi paused in place for a moment, inspecting his surroundings.
Anthony looked at him with clear concern. "Somethin' wrong?"
Ja'khi continued to look around in all directions. "I feel as if we're not the only ones here... someone else is-"
"Bro come on. Who else could possibly be here other than us." Anthony raised a brow at Ja'khi. "Whatever, let's finish up quickly. This place is giving me the creeps anyway." The two teens explored the second floor in and out and were in the final room of the floor. The creeks in the floor roared loudly as they were stepped on. "Nothing here," Anthony threw his hands up, "Come on, let's get outta her-"
Suddenly the floor under the two gave out causing them to fall into the previous floor. Anthony fell onto his back while Ja'khi managed to break his fall by barely landing on all fours. There was nothing in the room other than a mirror and a table. Ja'khi thought back to the note that he had received.
'But that's not a wooden table'
The two boys then heard voices from the opposite side of the wall than them.
"Upstairs! Check the upstairs area!" A voice boomed. Anthony began to panic, pacing quickly around the room.
"Shit dude what the hell are we gonna do?! We're toast!"
"The riddle..." Ja'khi murmured.
"Now's NOT the time for riddles! What're we gonna do!"
'Mirror and a wooden table'
"You look in the mirror and see what you saw." Ja'khi said to himself as he walked up to the mirror. "You grab the saw-" Ja'khi put his arm out to the mirror and, to his surprise, it was absorbed by the mirror. Anthony turned to Ja'khi, petrified at the sight. Their attention was quickly redirected to the approaching footsteps. "Anthony! Come on!"
"We don't know where that thing leads to!" Anthony whisper yelled.
"It can't get any worse than this, right?" Ja'khi retorted. Anthony gulped and took a deep breath. The teens ran and entered through the mirror, managing to escape the previous disaster and were quickly spat out onto the floor in another room. However, this room was in pristine shape compared to the old building.
"Where are we?" Ja'khi muttered.
