We All Lie Sometimes

A Deadly Mistake

Jasmine came out shaking, but this time not from the cold. Lydia followed her closely holding a ball of scrunched up paper in her fist. Obviously the paper had caused Jasmines meltdown. I was tempted to look at it. Lydia throws it on the ground and leads Zara after Ethan and Sam.

I quickly scooped it up and took a look at it. The first sentence read, How To Save A Life.

Poor Jasmine, but it wasn't her fault  James drowned. 

I rush after the others, hoping half-heartedly they did realise the reason of my delay.

The scent of disinfectant hit as soon as the door opened, it was overpowering. Ethan was frozen in the doorway. His olive complexion paled. This must be the room designed to break him. 

I didn't want Ethan to break, I hated him but  I never really want to fell sorry for him. Sam, Jasmine and I had already been through that, each reacting relatively badly. 

To escape here we all had to break. Was Lydia the psycho who put us here, I mean she hasn't had a room yet. She looked so calm, surely by now she realized the next room would be hers, unless she knew what lay behind the next door and she wasn't scared of it.

 Sticking close to Sam I surveyed the room. I appeared to be in some kind of waiting room, a hospital or dentist maybe. The walls were the classic yellow and covered in peeling posters with silly health slogans across them. The flickering bar lights made me feel uneasy. Why was Ethan scared of this place, did someone die? 

Suddenly I felt guilty for judging Ethan so quickly. I made a mental note to apologize later.

Ethan seemed to be stuck in a daze of horror and agony till Sam spoke up.

"You alright Ethan?" He asked, with a lot more kindness than Ethan deserved but I guess Sam wasn't much of a grudge holder. I turn my face away from Ethan's subtly.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine" His voice thick and his original poker face had worry lines drawn all over it..

Definitely his room.

"Alright then." Sam said dropping the subject.

 Another great quality, he didn't pry.

Ethan was still quiet and staring listless at our surroundings.

"You sure you're okay Ethan?" Sam said concerned.

I turn back to look at Ethan, his fists squeezed into tight balls. Ethan had suddenly gone violent... Shocking. I roll my eyes. A pained grimace crossed Ethans face.

"Yeah, just a weird sense of déjà vu, you know?" He said attempting to straighten out his feelings.

Jasmine's brow sunk into a look of intense concentration. Taking a hesitant step toward one of the peeling posters, her fingers lightly tracing the aged paper. "I can't explain it, but I've definitely been in a place like this before." Lydia nodded in agreement, her eyes darting around as if trying to solve a puzzle "It's like a haunting memory from the past, but it's weirdly hazy, like trying to recall a long-forgotten dream."

I roll my eyes again, so dramatic. I watch the others speak for a bit, not really taking any of it in. I haven't spoken to most of these people alone, but yet I felt like I knew them. I walked over to Lydia, If we really did get out of here I wanted to have talked to them. Lydia was quiet and she was the only one whose room we hadn't been in so she seemed like a good place to start.

"Hey Lydia" I said, my voice breaking at the end. Great.. Now I look like an idiot.

"Hey.." She says, her voice as smooth as her face. Her stony expression changed a bit.

"How are you.." I ask quietly. "Are you worried about the next room?" I left the 'your room' that was bouncing around in my head unspoken.

The corners of her lips rose into a small smile. 

"Of course not... how about you? Did you like your room? Yours in particular was very difficult indeed. Very time consuming." Her voice tinkled like windchimes as she spoke.

The way she said it left me with an uncomfortable feeling, like she knew something I didn't.

I mumbled a pitiful reply as I tried to figure out what she meant.

"Lydia, how did you know James?" I asked, she never really mentioned it.

She looked at the ceiling for a moment and nodded to herself, as if she were deciding something. When she brought her eyes back to mine they were filled with cold hard anger.

"He was my brother." She practically hisse. "And you idiots  are the reason he's dead. If he stayed with me like he used to he would still be alive!"

She was the reason we were here no doubt, and she just decide I was disposable.