Thank you for waiting.

Chapter Ten

She was somber, thinking back to that morning. "How did I die?"

"You came in here."

A pit started forming in her stomach. "We might have been here before. We might have been in this exact same elevator having this exact same conversation a million times, is that what you're saying?"

Eloise started legitimately crying, hugging Beryl. "I-I'm so sorry, I d-don't want to be so mean all the time..."

Beryl sighed, hugging her back. "It's okay. Stop it. Don't worry about it. Think about it all this way. You have a pen on you?"

She let go, pulling a pen out of her boot. "Uh-huh."

"Just write some stuff on the wall about this. If worst comes to worst, we just come back eventually and read our writing on the wall."

"Our writing?"

"I was just thinking we'd give the second floor a go. If we die, then we don't have a follow-up message and know it's a bad idea. If we don't, well... we don't need the message."

Nodding, Eloise obediently started writing on the wall. "Eloise and Beryl were here. We were attacked by a monster. Chad didn't make it. We're going to see if the second floor is safe. I'll mark this checkbox if it's safe." Right next to the message, she drew a small box.

Beryl took on the responsibility of pushing the button. Just like everything over the past ten minutes, it took a lot of patience and a lot of nerve to push the button.

"Just push it for crying out loud!" said Eloise, crossing her arms and frowning.

There was the Eloise she remembered.

After pushing the button, the elevator made its way upwards. Eloise went over and held Beryl's hand, and both stared ahead at the door. Anything could be on the other side of those doors, they knew, but if they were going to die, it was going to be with dignity.

DING!

The doors opened. On the other side was an area like the bottom floor with its ripped-out carpets, scuffed tiles, and removed ceiling tiles. However, it was completely illuminated, littered with trash, and not... quite... completely quiet.

The two stepped out. Beryl noticed that it was in much better shape, glass display cases in perfect condition. There were no windows, but the lights seemed healthy enough to be trustworthy. However, it felt lived in. There were wrappers, bottles, and containers near one area of the floor, as well as a clothes rack, portable bed, and other assorted pieces of furniture. Upon further inspection, Beryl discovered that the bed was occupied.

Eloise went back to the elevator and put a small question mark in the box. "I don't know about this place," she whispered.

Beryl nodded, slowly sneaking up towards the figure. On the ground was a clothes hanger, and she snatched it up like a weapon. She didn't know how to use a hanger as a weapon, but she was sure she'd rise to the occasional if need be.

When she finally arrived, she used the clothes hanger to slowly pull the quilt from over the body. She saw the head of a girl with grey skin and long, black hair, her eyes intentionally shut.

"Not now, Commodore," she grumbled, "I don't need anything right now."

"Uh," said Beryl, unsure what to say in response.

Her eyes flew open and she spun around. Her face began to slowly light up. "Beryl?"

"That's m'name!" she chuckled anxiously.