Heartbeat - Seek x Figure

Chapter 3

Seek POV

I stumbled out of the library, still unable to take my mind off of the events that occurred inside. Why had he held onto my hand for so long? I recalled how warm and soft Figure's hand was, the memory bringing an unrecognizable feeling with it.

Trying to take my mind off of it, I walked down the hallway, passing through each door and soon arriving at door 38. I would wait here until any humans arrived. If none came, that would make my day much easier.

But even after I settled down and waited, I found my mind wandering to Figure. The tall entity was always so kind, and I was mesmerized by how he could make my day better. Spending time with him was never boring, unlike doing my job.

Just then, I heard talking behind me. Realizing it was a group of humans, I ducked down, sinking into the ground. They opened the door, speaking to one another. Then, as they neared the end of the hallway, I decided it was time to strike.

Emerging from the ground, I ran towards them, sprinting as fast as I could. I saw three humans all shrieking and sprinting through the next door. My excitement grew as I finally got to move instead of sitting around and waiting. Keeping my eye on the humans, I saw one veer to the left while the others used the door on the right.

Looping around the room, I cut off the lone human who went the wrong way. Before they could scream, they were dead. One down, two to go.

Turning, I resumed the chase, gaining speed as I navigated the winding rooms. Passing through the next door, I entered the open hallway filled with fire and hands. The protruding hands reached out from the wall and snatched up one of the humans, dragging them away from their friend and through the fire. Only one left.

However, this last human was quick. They swiftly sprinted to the exit and ran through the door, slamming it behind them. As always, I was tired by now, so I didn't try to break through and catch them. After all, I knew I could rely on Figure to stop them.

Figure. Unless I got lucky, I would have to sit in this hallway all day, catching humans without the other entity. I sighed at the thought of not seeing him until after my job was finished.

"What are you sighing for?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I lifted my eye, staring at Rush as he approached me.

"I just don't want to spend all day doing this," I complained.

Rush only laughed. "Nobody else can take your shift. You have to do your job! Try to have some fun while you're at it."

I was annoyed with the gray entity. Staring at him, I declared, "You should be doing your job." With a loud, obnoxious sigh, Rush exited the room, leaving me by myself in the long hallway.

Now it was just me and my thoughts. I couldn't help but think about Figure and what had happened earlier. It was confusing.

"Seek," a voice whispered from the wall near me. I turned to see a closet, realizing the entity speaking was Hide. He was quiet, and usually used closets to send messages when the other entities couldn't do it themselves.

Then, Hide whispered again. It was a much longer sentence, and I couldn't fully hear it. Leaning towards him, I asked, "Can you speak up?"

Stumbling, Hide said, "Oh, okay. Figure wants you to know he caught the human who got past you. It was really exciting, actually. The human thought it would be a good idea to sprint around the library."

I was filled with appreciation. My reliance on Figure prevailed, and the hotel was safe. However, I knew more humans would be coming soon. "Has anyone else caught anyone?"

"Yes," Hide confirmed. "Rush got a human who lagged behind the others, and so did Screech."

"Five in one group?" I remarked, "That's unusual." Normally, humans only entered the hotel in groups of four or less, with the largest group they had seen being twelve.

Hide agreed, "Yes, it is strange. But I need to get going now. Ambush had a message for Rush."

"Goodbye," I lifted my hand to wave to the entity. He was likely peering at me through the doors of the closet. He was able to travel between each one, making his job of sending messages easier. For now, though, I had to focus on my job.

Much time had passed since I spoke with Hide earlier. Only one other human got to room 38, meaning my job was easy. But that didn't mean it was fun. It meant I had to sit and wait for a human all day.

Now that the day had ended, humans would no longer enter the hotel. This meant it was time for my break. Finally. I stood and ran, passing through each of the rooms and arriving at the library. Knocking, I alerted Figure that I was there and waited.

It took the tall entity a long moment to reach the door, but he opened it with a smile. "I knew it was you," he commented as I entered.

"You're getting better at that," I complimented, going towards the desk where Figure normally sat. He followed, taking his place in his chair. The chair I had dragged across the room earlier was still there, so I sat down.

Figure mentioned, "Timothy was listening to us earlier. For a while, I think."

"That's odd." I brushed it off though. Surely, he was just looking for something, or maybe returning a book. Now, I was interested in what the other entities were doing. "I'm going to the main room." I invited Figure to join me.

I was pleased to hear the tall entity's loud footsteps behind me. He followed me to the closet in the corner of the room. I pushed it out of the way and backed up, allowing Figure to go first. He ducked down, entering the tunnel and leaving me to close the entrance behind him.

After pushing the closet back into place, I followed the walls of the tunnel. The main room opened up ahead, allowing me to see some of the other entities playing uno again. This time, however, they were only just starting, dealing out the cards.

As I entered the room, Rush turned to me. "Hey! Wanna join us?" He offered.

I was tired after the long day and getting my extra energy out may help me sleep better. "Fine." I went to the middle of the room and sat in a chair. Rush handed cards to me, Ambush, Jack, Timothy, and Screech.

"Do you have cards in braille?" A voice from behind me asked.

Rush lifted the box the cards came in, examining it closely. "I don't think so," he stated, still scrutinizing the box.

I felt sympathy for my friend. Turning to Figure, I suggested, "You can be on my team."

Smiling, Figure stepped closer to me. "Okay!" He rested one of his arms on my chair. I could feel his arm against my shoulders and neck as I began to look at the cards I had in my hands.

"I can go first," I offered, placing a basic card onto the one in the center of the table. Rush went next, and then Screech, who placed a draw two card.

Ambush groaned, reaching for the deck and pulling two cards off of the top. Then, it was Timothy's turn, and then mine again. Looking at my cards, I realized I didn't have anything to play but a wild card and a draw four. Saving the latter for later in the game, I placed the wild card and announced, "I pick red."

"Nice!" Figure encouraged me, his mouth shining light onto the table. I tried to smile at the encouragement, moving my eye into a shape that resembled a happy expression.

The rest of the game was quick. I got rid of all of my cards, meaning Figure and I won. We celebrated for a moment and then returned to our bedrooms.

My room was much more basic than Figure's, housing only a bed, a desk, and a few interesting things I had collected from humans. I flopped down onto my blanket, shifting and pulling it over myself. I closed my eye and fell asleep, dreaming of the next day.

Word Count: 1395