Into The Depths Of The Hotel

An ugly lie

Tilting it's head towards the source of the noise, Figure almost directly faced the Screech. In doing so, it caused Screech to sink into (Y/n)'s pocket.

Seeing how it was anxious, (Y/n) pushed it deeper into their pocket, putting no pressure on it,"I think I'll keep in it here for now."

"(Y/n), if you get bitten, know it was your choice." Seek warned, wagging a finger.

"It seems passive, and I don't think it'll bite me-" (Y/n) stopped the moment they heard a curious sound being emitted from their pocket, only to discover it was asleep,"Well, I don't think it will bite me in its sleep."

Rush eyed the sleeping Screech in wonder,"Can they even talk, or can't it?"

Figure shook it's head,"I'm not sure, but we'll have to ask when it wakes up."

Tucking their phone into their other pocket, (Y/n) walked cautiously, as to not wake it. Screech was really cute when it was not trying to bite their face off.

Navigating through door 75, they found door 76, which opened to  beautiful scenery; a large walkway, illuminated by lanterns which hung high above, sat before them. To each side was an entrance to a section of grass and trees. To the right was a marvellous marble statue, with wings outstretched and a blade so huge it touched the base. There was no plaque to tell who it was or what it represented, but (Y/n) admired the craftsmanship nonetheless.

The rain pattered down from above, gifting the earth a pleasant shower. Figure was gob smacked when it felt the rain,"What's going on? Where are we?"

Seeing Figure distress, (Y/n) took it's hand and guided it back under the sheltered walkway,"It's okay, we're in door 76. It's a garden area, and what you felt was rain."

"Rain?" Figure echoed, voice softened,"Never felt it before."

Lightly entertained by the entity's obliviousness, (Y/n) said,"You've probably heard it outside your window. That's what it is, it's the water that runs down it."

Figure's grip on (Y/n)'s hand tightened a little, but not too tightly,"So it won't hurt me to go out in it?"

"No, silly! It's just water, and the worst is you'll get a bit dampened by it." (Y/n) giggled,"Do you want to go back out in the rain?"

"I think I'll stay put here." Figure sighed, resting its arms on the banister,"You go, because you seemed to be having fun in it."

Petting Figure's hand a final time, (Y/n) went back out into the rain and admired the statue a final time.

Lowering it's head, Figure drowned itself in thoughts. What if it was asking too much from (Y/n)? It always heard it's boss talking about expenses and finances; what if (Y/n) wasn't capable of keeping the hotel open? What if there was something else standing in their way?

Or, what if, someone is standing in your way?

Figure's skin went cold the second it heard the voice,"Don't you come and ruin something so good with your meaningless pestering."

You're meant to be the strongest, most resilient of all the entities, and here you are; you've fallen to the clutches of greed and now you're being promised things you'll never receive. Are you happy now?

"You say greed, but aren't you the one letting your hatred of humans swallow you whole? You're using us as your pawns to kill innocent people." Figure hissed, enraged at its presence.

Glitch manifested, hiding itself behind one of the support beams,"You thinking I'm the villain is rich; I didn't force you to kill that little girl."

Figure could feel goosebumps,"No.."

"When you tore her apart, limb by limb, as she was screaming out in the purest of agonies, letting the parts go after each pull. How she screamed, splitting your ears and making them ache, and how your response was to kill her slower. I won't forget that, ever. That was all your doing, unprompted if you will. She pleaded many a time for you to let her go, as you held her above the floor by the throat. You savoured the feeling of having control, and you abused it." Glitch snickered,"Just as I knew you would."

"I only did that because you were forcing me to." Figure retorted,"Every night you haunt us with chilling nightmares and tug at our sympathy with your apathy. Your hatred is our drive, because you force your beliefs onto us."

"Still." Glitch absentmindedly hummed,"Was I the one to kill that little girl?"

Glitch evaporated, becoming no more than a distant memory. Figure, worn down by the encounter, lowered it's head in its hands.

"Figure?" (Y/n) prodded it.

Jolting awake, Figure almost fell over,"I'm sorry!"

Seek, Rush and (Y/n) exchanged confused glances. (Y/n) drew closer, wrapping an arm around it's shoulder,"What are you apologising for? You've done nothing wrong."

"I-I, I just nodded off, sorry." It stuttered, struggling to form words and spitting the ones it could out hastily.

(Y/n) rubbed a hand on its shoulder reassuringly,"Well, were going to be out of here soon, and we'll restore the hotel to its former glory!"

"Yeah.." Figure muttered, hearing Glitch's distant voice.

"Will 'we' really?

How can we be sure I don't kill anyone?"

Figure spoke the words Glitch did, arousing confusion.

"Figure, do you want to kill anyone?" (Y/n) asked, hoping for a sincere answer.

"I don't know anymore.." figure responded, clasping its hands over its head,"What if we weren't made for human emotions?"

(Y/n) didn't have an answer to its inquiry, but Seek did,"If Glitch has really got into your head with everything, remember what we're doing."

"If I'm really not a monster, why did I kill that girl?" Figure whispered in a shaky voice.

(Y/n) was shoved away from Figure, and landed against Seek, who was still fighting the mindset Figure had gotten locked in,"You cared about our boss, he was like a parent to us, and I know how much he meant to you."

"Which is why we killed him. We killed him, Seek, because we were so afraid he was going to come after us too."

(Y/n) froze; they knew how much their former boss meant to them, and to knew they killed him in presumably cold blood set their mind at unease.

Sensing (Y/n)'s distrust, Figure cried out,"That's right, I killed the only person who cared about us because I thought he was against us. I didn't think about how much he meant to me or the others; I killed him because I couldn't trust him after he'd left."

Seek's body was as stiff as (Y/n)'s, and it expressed disgust,"For months, you had me believing he'd killed himself; you killed him and didn't have the decency to tell us the truth? And you thought the pain would ease faster? Because it definitely didn't!"

There was a distinctive hurt in Seek's voice, the same sorrow Figure had when reading the note.

"Well, sorry for stringing you along for so long." Figure made a turn for the door,"I wish you the best of luck on your journey, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) scurried after Figure, to be grabbed by Seek and held back,"Let Figure go, it's clear it's not interested in anything but itself."

"O-okay.." (Y/n) stammered, shakily.