Heartbeat - Seek x Figure

Chapter 12

Seek POV

As I wandered the hotel, the first entity I found was Ambush. He was waiting beyond door 51 in case anything went wrong in the library. When confronted about the line of books in Figure's way, he said he didn't know anything about it.

Next, I found Glitch, who said the same thing Ambush did. I searched the hotel and ran into Rush, Screech, and Timothy. None of them knew anything, either.

I found Jack hiding in a closet. He explained that Hide had been weirdly quiet all day, but other than that, he hadn't seen any abnormalities.

"But Hide is always quiet," I had reasoned.

Jack gravely replied, "Not like this. I'm trying to see if I can help him with whatever's wrong."

The last entities I talked to were Eyes and Halt. When I entered the room, Halt was trying to make an argument about Eyes being lazy. The glowing entity was standing there nodding the whole time.

When I shared Figure's experience in the library with them, Halt was at a loss for words. While he stayed silent the whole time, Eyes explained, "If there was something weird going on, me of all people would know."

"I know, I know, because of all of the eyes," I said, "but can you please give me a serious answer?"

"We haven't seen anything," Halt spoke over Eyes. "You can return to your hallway now."

After a long day of running and walking, all of our shifts were finally over. I got to return to the library and share with Figure. As I walked in, he greeted me, "Hey Shorty."

"Is that really what you're going to call me? I'm taller than most of the entities here!" I argued.

Figure listed, "I'm taller, Ambush is taller, and Glitch is tied with you. You're in third place."

"Come on! Why don't you call Screech or Timothy the short one?" I joked.

Changing the subject, Figure asked, "Did you find out anything about the books?"

"No," I replied, "but I'll tell everyone about it when we get back to the main room."

Figure nodded, "Okay. Did you think of a nickname for me?"

"Not yet," I admitted. I had been so caught up in finding out more about the mysterious pile of books that I nearly forgot about it. "I'll think of one soon," I promised, beginning to walk across the library.

As I arrived by the closet in the corner of the room, I shoved it, revealing the entrance to the main room. I grabbed Figure's hand, guiding him through the tunnel but making sure to let go of him as we arrived.

In the main room, many of the entities were piled around the table in the center. Screech, Timothy, Jack, Rush, and Ambush were playing Uno again, but this time, Glitch and Eyes had joined them. I was sure you were only meant to play with four people, but they seemed to be having fun.

"Where is Halt?" I asked as I approached the crowded table. I got about five indistinguishable answers at once.

"Everyone, be quiet for a second!" I instructed. Facing Eyes, I repeated, "Where is Halt?"

"He's still working. I could fetch him," Eyes offered."

Screech lifted his gaze to glare at Eyes. "No," he retorted, "I think Seek should go get Halt. He's the one who brought it up. You need to stay and play the game."

"Fine," I said, annoyed by the floating entity. Passing Figure on my way out, I asked, "Can you make sure they don't go too crazy while I'm gone?"

"It's in my best interest," Figure responded.

With that, I ran down the tunnel to the library, pushing the wardrobe out of the way and then moving it back into place. I opened the doors of the library, going towards where I had last seen Halt near my hallway.

I continued looking in each room for Halt until I found him standing near a closet. He was whispering something to Hide. "Hey Halt, listen," I started. I turned to the closet. "You too, Hide. We need you to come back to the main room. The day is over."

"If I must," Halt sighed sarcastically and began making his way towards the library. I knew Hide could get to the main room on his own, so I stayed with Halt as he walked through each room.

When Halt and I arrived in the library, we used the tunnel to the main room and gathered around the table. I noticed the door to my room was open, but thought nothing of it as I started, "Guys, we wanted to know if any of you have seen anything. Earlier I saw a shadow while I was running, and it blocked my view of the humans. Have any of you seen anything like that?"

Jack's face lit up. "Oh, you mean Shadow?"

The room went silent, and everyone turned to Jack. At the same time, we all yelled, "Who the heck is Shadow?"

"Don't you know him?" Jack asked as if we were all crazy. "He's been around for a few days. I assumed you were all seeing him too."

"How do you know his name?" I asked, exasperated.

"He told me!" Jack answered.

The table broke out into an argument. Most voices were yelling at Jack, but everyone was just as confused as I was. Raising my voice, I shouted, "Quiet, everyone!" To my surprise, the entities actually listened and went silent, facing me. "We can talk about this in the morning. For now, let's get some rest to clear our heads."

Slowly, everyone around the table diffused, each having small conversations before returning to their respective rooms. I passed the table and arrived beside my room. Entering, I saw that my bed had no blankets or pillows. It was just an elevated mattress at that point.

I was too tired to try to find out whole stole my blankets. Thinking of my next best option, I crossed the room and knocked on the door opposite of mine. Knocking, I waited for Figure to open the door. When he did, I hurriedly entered the room and awkwardly asked, "Can I stay with you for tonight? Someone took my blankets, and I'd rather not freeze to death."

"Sure," Figure grinned, "I just finished some reading and was about to go to bed anyways.

There was enough room on Figure's bed for us to share it comfortably. I had enjoyed cuddling with the taller entity, but that didn't mean I wanted to be squished against him all night. Resting my head on the pillow, I tried to ignore the feeling of my heart beating out of my chest. I still wasn't entirely used to being so close to Figure, and each interaction we had felt magical. After another minute of lying in bed, I quickly fell asleep, dreaming about actually enjoying my job in the morning.

I awoke feeling energized as if I had slept for multiple days. Sitting up, I glanced down to see Figure was still sleeping. Though it was early, I was ready to start my job. Carefully opening the door as to not make a sound, I left the room and shut it behind me.

Turning around, I saw Screech staring at me. He was floating close to my face, making me flinch. Glancing at Figure's door and then back at the black entity, I slowly explained, "This isn't what it looks like."

Word Count: 1254