Dressed for Despair

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

My legs seem to carry me faster than they ever have before as I follow Jamie and Bianca, running down different hallways and making turns at random. Left. Right. Left. Right. The laughs, laughs that sounded like Erika's, eventually fade away, and after a while the lights stop flickering too. It's only then that we stop running, stopping in the middle of another random hallway.

"What... what was that?" Jamie gasps, bending over and placing his hands on his knees. I do the same, doing my best to catch my breath. I don't even want to think about what I just saw. What happened to Erika? Was that really her?

"No, guys. You're stopping now? We have to get out of here." I glare up at Bianca.

"That's what I've been saying this entire time." She glares back at me, clicking her tongue.

"I've noticed, and I wonder why. Did you plan this? I bet you knew something, at least. Everything is always your fault anyway..." she drifts off, watching me as I straighten up. Before I can do anything Jamie steps in between us, lightly pushing me away.

"Coral, calm down."

"Calm down? She's been coming at me ever since we got here, ever since," I pause, inhaling sharply when I remember what I was trying to ask him earlier.

"What?" Bianca peeks around Jamie's shoulder but I ignore her, making sure that Jamie holds my gaze.

"Do you know what happened that day?" I whisper, grabbing at my hair. "Do you know why I didn't come...?" He stays silent but shakes his head, squinting his eyes at me. I don't have to clarify what day I'm talking about for him to understand, but I'm surprised. I know there are other problems at hand right now, but I thought he knew. I thought he knew what they did to me. My eyes drift over to Bianca, who's still standing behind Jamie, and my shock deepens when I see how pale she's turned.

"So you didn't know..."

"Know what?"

"What they said about me." My voice cracks but I manage to speak. Bianca lowers her head, and I notice deep furrows in her brow as she turns away from Jamie, backing away from him. "Bianca." She flinches. "Erika. Austin. They... they despise me." For some reason I hear a laugh coming out of my mouth when I observe Jamie's blank face. "All this time. That's why I didn't come. I found out, and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't..."

"Months have gone by." Jamie's quiet voice startles me, especially when he turns and directs his words to Bianca. "You lied to me." He tears a hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling with a sad smile on his face. "You lied to me. Ha... it makes sense now. Everything." With a shake of his head he glances back at me, placing his hand on my head. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "I should've known."

"So... you saw?" Bianca finally lifts her head again, her platinum hair forming curtains around the sides of her face. She nods, opening her mouth to say something when laughs start to echo down the hallway. Despite the conversation we just had the three of us grab at each other, bolting down the hallway in the direction we were heading as the lights start to flicker. Not again.

"Here!" There's a branch at the end of the hallway but Bianca sprints to the right, Jamie and I following her. Relief washes over me. There's a door. I don't know where it leads, but there's a door. I push Jamie forward with my hands on his back, yelping at the sound of Erika's laughs coming closer. Bianca is already at the door, but it's not open yet. It won't open. I move past Jamie and place myself next to Bianca, watching as she struggles with the doorknob. I pull at it too, shaking it violently as the lights flicker even faster. This can't be happening.

"Wait for me..." A gut wrenching scream from Bianca pierces my ears when we spot Erika at the end of the hallway, her words floating over to us from her disfigured body. I can barely stand to look at her because of the wide smile still on her face, and my own screams are added to the mix of disorienting noises as Bianca and I yank the door open. Jamie lets out a few curses as Erika scurries forward, laughing as she comes towards us. He and Bianca are already moving, dashing up the spiral staircase that lays behind the door. I want to follow them, but I can't. I can't, I can't move. Please, no. Someone, somebody, let me move.

"Coral!" I gasp when Bianca comes back for me, skidding behind me and pushing me up the stairs. "Go!" Her shrieks seem to awaken me and I scramble up the stairs, bumping against the walls with Bianca right behind me.

"Guys, hurry!" I suck in a sharp breath when I see a light. We're close. I take two steps at a time until I'm near Jamie. He's reaching out for me. I grab at his hands, practically jumping into him. We both fall onto the ground but I turn around, facing the door we exited. Bianca's screams still follow us, and I can see her. She's coming. She scampers up the final stairs and reaches out, throwing out her hands. I reach out to her too, leaning forward until I see Erika's face right behind her. I scream. The door slams.

What...?

The door...

Through my heavy breaths I swivel back to focus on Jamie, my chest heaving up and down as I try to catch my breath. He lets out what sounds like a whimper, staring up at the ceiling as I get to my feet. I pull at the door, but it won't open. It won't open. I shake it back and forth as hard as I can, eventually giving it a kick when it won't move. Why...? I run a hand through my hair, squeezing my eyes shut to hold back my tears.

"Bianca?" I let out a yell, pounding a fist against the door. She really went back for me. Sad laughs escape my lips, the sound emitting from the deepest parts of my throat and swirling around in the air. The sound takes up my thoughts, takes up the space in my head. Bianca... Austin... Erika... the same people who have tortured my soul are gone. But where did they go? Why did this happen? And now... he knows too. Jamie knows why I didn't keep my promise to Deja and Tyler.

"Coral..." I circle around to face Jamie, surprised when I see his face. His face is wet. There are tears streaming down his face, but what shocks me even more is that he wraps his arms around me. He hugs me. I hug him back, tears sliding down my own face as I study where we are. We're back. We're back to where we started, in the same identical and ancient hallways that we couldn't seem to escape. We're back. I shut my eyes, burying my face into Jamie's shoulder. It's over.

It's over.

"Excuse me." Both Jamie and I push away from each other when we hear an unknown voice, but I calm down when I see a woman at the end of the hallway. She's walking towards us, a stern look on her face. She's the guide we had earlier, the one we left behind to explore. "Excuse me, but you two aren't supp-"

"Please! Please help us," I rush towards her, motioning her forward so that she'll follow me. "My... um, my friends. They're trapped behind that door." She shakes her head at me, raising an eyebrow when she sees the door I'm talking about. With a sigh she pushes it open, and my mouth drops when I see what's behind it.

"I'm afraid that's impossible." I ignore the way the guide is looking at me. There's... there's nothing. The door leads outside, and if I were to take a step forward, I would drop down to the pavement far below at the entrance to the manor.

"How...?" Jamie clears his throat when the guide and I look at him. "Do you happen to know where our friends might be, then? We-"

"Look, I don't know what you two are trying to do, but I'm not going to play games. I was told to look after you kids, and there were only two of you in the first place along with the rest of our group-"

"Two?" I exclaim, backing away from her when she shuts the door.

"Yes. Two. You and him. And now that I've found you, let's head back. Don't run away from me this time." She nods at us, walking back down the hallway. Two... what does she mean there were only two people? I remember when she was told to specifically look over our group, all five of us. Me, Jamie... I frown when I try to remember the other three. What happened?

"Coral. Let's go." I nod at Jamie, following both him and the guide down the hallway. We're leaving. I take one last look back at the door, watching it grow smaller the more we walk. We're... leaving. But I can't help but feel as if we're leaving something behind. As we walk even farther I start to feel lighter than I did before, the thoughts that had been piercing my mind suddenly lessening. I almost stop walking when we pass a mirror, when I spot my reflection. 

It's me.

But just the shell of me. The same shell I saw earlier.

It waves at me as I pass, and I find myself waving back. I'm leaving.