I shrugged, somewhat unsure. "I... guess?"
"Great! I take that as a 'no', so I'm not gonna - " Xavier was rushing through his sentences way too much not to be suspicious.
"Nope, nope. Tell me."
"Aw man, you're no fun to joke with!" Xavier complained, but I wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"Just tell me."
Xavier exhaled, his features shifting back to that of reluctance. "Fine," he finally sighed, looking me in the eye. "But it's not exactly a happily-ever-after story." His words were also exercising my heart too much. Not a happily-ever-after story? He looked too serious to be joking around with me. What had happened, exactly?
"Well..." Those few moments of suspense were killing me. "Oh, never mind, no -"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what did we say just now? No delaying anymore." I interrupted, shooting Xavier a look.
"Gosh, fine. You're so domineering!" I rolled my eyes to Xavier's complaint. "Actually... I think it would be easier if - I just show it to you." I raised my eyebrows so high I was sure they flew right off my face.
"Yeah, and you're going to introduce a machine that you made to go back into the past and show me everything, right?" I scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Uhh - not exactly. But it is concerning a machine." Instead of the pride that usually radiated off Xavier's face whenever he spoke about his creations, anger, disappointment, and hesitation splashed across his face. My heart was palpitating hard within my chest - what was it that could make him look so... sad?
"I'm gonna bring you somewhere..." Xavier's every step seemed to scream "RELUCTANCE" as he led me out of the manufacturing area.
"Wait, how about Aura and - " I caught myself just before I could say Olivia. "How about Aura? Shouldn't we wait for her to be back?" Hesitation was written clear as day on Xavier's face as he turned to look at me.
"Can we just... do this ourselves? I don't really want too many people watching this." The uncertainty and the fear on his face touched me. At least I could help him by agreeing to his request. So I nodded my head, watching a tidal wave of relief wash over his face as he led me forward.
However, I still had to tell Aura about this change of place. I lingered behind for a while, whispering to her through the earpiece, "We're going somewhere else... I'll tell you where it is later. But Xavier - he doesn't want you coming for some reason... You're not done planning yet, right? I'll tell you what it is later when you get back."
"Got it," Aura replied. I hastened my footsteps and caught up with Xavier, who came to a long, winding staircase.
"Up here," his voice echoed down to me as I walked up the spiral stairs, and with my bad stamina, I was heaving and panting by the way I was less than half of the way there.
"How... much... more...?" I wheezed, breathless.
"Almost..." Xavier's voice seemed very strained, though I wondered whether that was from climbing the stairs or from the fact that I was going to see whatever sad thing that he so desperately didn't want me to see.
Suddenly, I stumbled forward, my foot expecting another step but instead stepping on air. I landed on the floor with a loud "thump!" My clumsiness sure was trouble with a capital 'T'. "You okay?" Xavier asked, offering me a hand that I took gratefully. I dusted off my skirt, knowing that my face was undoubtedly glowing beetroot red even in the dim lights.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Though I am glad that at least you are as clumsy as me," I teased him. He rolled his eyes before leading me forward, into a small, dark room lit with only candles. The walls were damp and soggy while the table - the only piece of furniture in the room - was rotting and wet, with a weird contraption seated on it.
"I think we're there," I muttered through the earpiece to Aura. "It's just up a staircase - though I don't think you need to know where it is since you're not coming."
At that moment, Xavier walked towards me, refusing to meet my eyes as he said, quietly, "I really don't know how you got me to show this to you, and I don't think you need to know, but... you've gotta promise me. Don't tell anyone about this. Please?"
Aura's name started bouncing about in my mind. How could I break Xavier's promise just like that, especially since, I had just realised, I was forcing him to tell me what was rightfully his? But again, I needed to tell Aura about whatever it was, since it would definitely help us work through the net of tricks and lies in this company and... find our friends. Those three words echoed in my mind, and I closed out all emotions. This was the logical thing to do. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I whispered hoarsely, "I promise."
Xavier's face lit up with relief, his eyes silently thanking me. My heart throbbed in the tiny enclosure I had placed it in, but I was determined not to let it out. "I guess... nothing much to tell you about. You just watch." He walked towards the contraption and spun its upper ring like a spinning top. Slowly, a screen - a hologram, I realised - poured out from the device and filled the air in front of me.
I watched intently as images flickered across the hologram. A crackle reverberated through the room, just as the images on the hologram formed a picture. The words of a book. The flipping of a page. All of a sudden, someone screamed, "Xavier!" I was viewing the world... through Xavier's eyes? Was this... Xavier's memory? The world shifted upwards, from the book, and showed a blonde, slim woman entering the room. But her eyes were the ones that caught me. The caramel brown. It was the exact same colour as... Xavier's.
"Mum?" the voice came from the hologram itself, a younger, brighter voice. The real Xavier turned away.
"Xavier, dear," the woman - Xavier's mum - said, coming to sit with Xavier on the sofa, "The Winter Festival is in an hour. Time to dress up!" Xavier groaned, and I couldn't help laughing as I pictured him, younger and happier.
"Don't make him look like a monster again!" Xavier's father peeked in. I saw who Xavier got his smile from. Impishness danced across his father's face as his smile illuminated it to a glow.
"No promises!" Xavier's mother squealed back, to which both father and son gave a sigh. Xavier's father sat on the sofa next to Xavier, softly caressing his hair. As I looked closer at his father, though, I thought I found... something familiar, but I just couldn't quite place a finger on it. A sigh echoed, and I tried to find the source of it - but then I realised the real life Xavier was the one who had sighed.
"Dude, you okay?" I tapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, completely and totally wonderful," he replied back, refusing to turn around. I sure detected a lot of sarcasm, but what could I do? I turned back to the memory.
During that cute, happy and carefree moment, though, something had to break it. I heard something very, very familiar. A howl that came from no wolf. Instinctively, the world shifted to show a window - and I covered my eyes. My heart sank to the pits of my stomach as something started brewing inside. This time, Xavier was the one to shake my shoulders.
"Hey, you okay?"
"No - I mean, yes. I'm fine." I drew a few shaky breaths before I forced my eyes open - and looked anywhere but the hologram. Finally, though, I pushed my eyes back to the hologram as I watched the tornado brewing. The windows were swept open easily by the wind and it blew at them. A shiver ran down my spine, although the hologram didn't show any feelings. I could feel echoes from my very own memories drift back, haunting me like a ghost as I seemed to relive the experience. I seemed to feel the terror that ripped through my body, the ice-coldness of the wind, the sharp bite as it swept over. At that moment, though, the part of my mind that was still functioning was heavily burdened by a question that had spawned: Did Xavier somehow... go through the same thing I had went through?
The wind howled even louder, drowning out all the previous screams and shouts. The view shifted up even higher as I watched the wind curl, monstrous and menacing, with grey 'smoke' billowing out around them. All of a sudden, the wind leapt forward with what seemed like a snarl and enclosed them. From the hologram, all I could see was grey. It remained like that for minutes on end as tension built up in the air. What was happening outside? All of a sudden, though, the wind unwrapped itself from them, and I heaved a sigh of relief for Xavier's family. However, that came too early. As the world emerged from the haze of grey, azure blue shone through the screen. Weren't they in their house just a few moments ago? But then I realised - they had been carried away by the tornado, and now... they were going to fall.
"Mummy!" The terror-stricken scream made my eyes (that I didn't even realise I had closed) bulge open. I saw a hand outstretched in front of the hologram - Xavier's hand. And in front of that... was Xavier's mother. The wind coiled around her menacingly, pulling her further and further away as Xavier, and his father beside him, dropped down.
"Xavier." Although she seemed to have shouted, the voice came across as nothing but a mere, raspy whisper from the wind. "Don't shed tears over me; don't mourn for me. Pretend I never existed. Because my last wish... is for you to be happy. I will always be by your side, in whatever you do." The hologram started blurring with Xavier's tears as his mother said, "Goodbye, son." The answer to my earlier question came. No, Xavier didn't go through what I went through. He had gone through much worse. Empathy pumped through my veins. I had always pitied myself for what had happened to me, but how about the example right in front of my face?
Don't judge a book by its cover. The lesson struck me in the heart, leaving a fine mark, ingrained in my heart forever. There are many layers to the life of even the simplest person, and we must never ignore them. The hole my parents had left was aching. The emotions that were pumping into my heart was too strong. All of a sudden, every single emotion I had kept inside that tiny enclosure around my heart burst out, and hot tears welled up in my eye. I didn't stop them from leaking out, each tear making its way to the corners of my mouth, some splashing onto the rim of my glasses.
At that moment, the screen crackled, then changed. "Argh, Dad, how long are we gonna be staying here?" Xavier sounded closer to his voice now. The screen showed his father - who looked eerily familiar again - with his face full of scratches and his hair completely ruffled up. His business suit that he had worn at the start was replaced by torn rags.
"I don't know, son. I don't know." Through those few words, his father's voice had conveyed fear, apprehension and... sadness. "But all I do know is... we'll be okay - as long as we stick together." Xavier sighed, looking up at the sky. The sun had clearly risen, splashing the day with its magnificence and glory. However, from Xavier's point of view, it looked like the sun was duller, and clouds were surrounding it from all angles - clearly replicating his feelings from deep down. Pain rang through my body as my memories stirred.
Sitting with my legs curled into my chest on the bed, rocking back and forth aimlessly. Staring intently at the floor. Crying into the blankets for nobody but the room to hear, with anguish strewn across my face. Every single year after The Accident had dragged by slower than a snail, occupied with moments like this.
"Dad? Look at that!" Xavier's voice was packed to the brim with excitement. His sudden change of emotion nearly gave me a heart attack. Abruptly, I looked up at the hologram, and saw... a signboard. I squinted at the white, bolded words imprinted on it.
"WE ARE PROVIDING FOOD, DRINK AND A LIVING AREA FOR ONE YEAR! JOIN OUR EXCITING EXPERIMENT NOW! REPORT TO #364586 TO SIGN UP." I jolted upwards, as if a lightning bolt had just zapped me. Two words caught my attention in particular. 'Exciting experiment'. Although I didn't completely know what it was, I just had a gut feeling that it couldn't be anything good. I could feel the trouble brewing right from the pits of my stomach. And then, realisation struck me on the head, just as Xavier's father spoke.
"Son... This is exactly what we needed." The same excitement was present in his voice, as Xavier nodded vigorously.
"DON'T!" I wanted to scream at them, for I realised who had posted that sign - the company. Was this how Xavier wound up inside here? But if he had realised how horrible this company was, couldn't he have just left? Or was he held here... against his will? That last thought plagued my mind as I continued watching, drastically increasing my heart rate.
"Let's go!" That exhilaration present in both son and father's voice was so strong that I didn't know how I would break it to them even if I could. As they stood up, the images on the hologram shifted, and changed again. During this brief interval, thoughts swirled in my mind as I tried to make sense of it all. Although more pieces started fitting in, two things didn't. If Xavier really was 'taken hostage' for the experiment, why would the company allow him to have an entire room of his achievements? And secondly, why couldn't he just use his element of technology to create someplace to live? Why sign up for obviously very suspicious 'experiments' like that?
As the next scene focused, I saw them in a blue-themed room, with windows tinted a pale, calming blue and the walls painted ocean blue. The beds, however, were white as snow. To be fair, their living conditions didn't look too bad - but that didn't mean the food would be good. "I just can't believe our luck," Xavier commented. "I mean, I thought the experiment was gonna be something way worse than that - that's why they'd be willing to give us this much. "
"We're truly very lucky, son." Xavier's father looked much better than when the hologram had last shown him. He had lost his scrawny appearance: his cheeks had regained its ruddy complexion and a healthy glow seemed to radiate off his body. Okay, maybe the food was fine - but that didn't mean it wasn't just a trick to hide the company's malicious intent. "Even the experiment is gonna end up helping us - with a tiny risk, of course," Xavier's father continued.
Xavier's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, wait, wait, what? How? I thought all they wanted us to do was drink some sort of new medicine and monitor it!"
"Yes, but there's more to it. They told me the medicine was a prototype that they had invented, to trigger an element." Xavier covered his mouth and his eyes bulged.
"Are you serious?" he gasped, as his father nodded. "Daddy... This. Is. So. Cool!" I gasped as something hit me harder than a sledgehammer. Xavier didn't have an element yet. So did that mean... the experiment worked? He got his element of technology from... this? I couldn't find any excuse this time. All the evidence was pointing to that one way. But... that couldn't be possible. After all, we had solid proof of what they had done to the girls - Olivia's hacking skills were unparalleled.
The scene shifted again, showing Xavier and his father in a different room, with people crowding around them. "Try it!" someone shouted eagerly, and Xavier took a deep breath. "Try what?" I wanted to scream at the crowd around him - but of course I couldn't. I just hated the hologram skipping so many parts that there was literally no context at all.
Xavier took off and the screen mixed into a blur as he dashed forward. A few moments later, he came back with a few metal pieces and a plastic wrapping. His hands flew across the materials he had brought back, and I found it... eerily familiar. Like I had watched the exact same thing happen before. And that was when it hit me: Olivia. She had done something very similar when she made the earpieces for Aura and I. So did that mean... Xavier was trying out... his element of technology? Everything fit, except for one thing: the experiment couldn't have been successful. Could it? There was no other choice. But, I managed to convince myself, no matter whether the experiment was successful or not, the company still had the girls, which was enough proof of how horrible it was.
I watched as Xavier pieced them together, but a bit slower than Olivia - definitely his first time. But I could sense his excitement even through the hologram. Finally, he clicked the last piece in. Recognition immediately flooded through my body. And the hologram faded away, into the muted background of the room.
"Xavier, I - " I froze. I hadn't thought this through. I took a deep breath, then said, voice quivering, "The device that you created in there. It's this one, isn't it?" I pointed at the device that sat in front of me, almost identical to the one shown in the hologram, except that in the many years that had passed, it looked less new. But they resembled each other nonetheless.
He sighed. "I hadn't intended for it to be like that. But while I was making it... I guess I was just thinking about my past. And this just... happened."
"Xavier... Did you know that both my parents died?" I blurted out, words mixing and colliding with each other. When Xavier's eyebrows lifted clean off his forehead, I could feel my cheeks burning as I resisted the urge to smack myself on my head. Why did I just tell him that? There was certainly a lot of embarrassing conversations waiting for me ahead. I sighed.
"Your parents - what?"
"In a tornado." I closed my eyes, but the sight of Xavier with his eyes bulging wide was imprinted in my head. "Same as you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you sure you're not joking or something?" Xavier narrowed his eyes when I nodded. "I think it's about time we heard about this... mysterious past of yours." Although I knew Xavier was still the funny and easygoing guy he was, his voice sounded... off. Darker than usual. Or maybe it was just because I would be telling him about the part of my life that, until then, nobody knew.
When I finished, I sure wished I had a device like Xavier's that I could just show to him, instead of recounting, reliving that terrifying memory I myself had gone out of my way to ignore. After many tears, Xavier finally said, jokingly, "You know, I'm obviously the stronger one. I was literally blown out of my house, but you're the one that's melting down on my shoulder." I immediately bolted up, making sure to keep my back ramrod straight as a red hue grazed my cheeks. But I reacted fast enough.
Pretending to pout, I smacked his arm gently, saying, "But at least you had your father with you! You still do." Both my parents were lost. The sentence remained hanging in the air, unsaid but felt by both of us.
"Well, hey, at least you didn't have to go hungry like my dad and I, and scavenge for food in other people's dustbins!" Xavier managed to stop my thoughts about my parents, but something else filled my mind. I cringed as my mind, against my will, formed pictures of dustbins filled with an unpleasant odour and a rotten apple on top of a pile of trash.
"But you didn't need to change entire dimensions and find out that science - well, at least the science we used to learn in school - is wrong with these freakish elements." It turned into an epic I-should-be-pitied-more-than-you fest and we kept going on and on about everything from disgusting to funny that had ever happened to us, until what had happened just moments ago - the awkward retellings of our past - were all but forgotten. Laughter reverberated throughout the room as we conversed. For once, my mind was not swamped with messages screaming, "THIS GUY IS INVOLVED IN THAT COMPANY. YOU CANNOT BECOME FRIENDS WITH HIM."
After just a few minutes - okay, fine, maybe longer - of us talking, the door behind us creaked open. The two of us immediately recoiled from each other, and looked at the figure standing at the door. It was none other than Aura.
"Uhh... what's happening here?" My cheeks were turning crimson as I felt a red hue creep up my nape, warming everything in my body. At the same time, though, my mind froze as all the excuses I had thought of slipped away, just out of my grasp. I had no idea why this was happening: I mean, I didn't do anything bad, right? But the warnings in my mind returned about Xavier, and Aura's sudden appearance had brought the girls back to mind.
"How did you find this place?" Xavier asked, his voice as normal as ever. I looked at his face, and realised there were no signs of anything that had just happened. I envied him for his acting skills, but then I started wondering how Aura was going to wedge her way out of this one. I mean, I did tell her not to come.
"Well... I just came back from the washroom, then found that you two weren't in the area with all those machines. So I looked around for you, and I saw this weird spiralling staircase, then I came up and just... found you two," Aura explained, with a shrug. Xavier narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. "Okay, now back to you. What are you two doing here?" I looked at Xavier, but he shook his head slightly. The pleading gaze in his eyes touched my heart.
My mind started working again as I searched my memories for the perfect excuse. Then, I remembered. Snatching up the device from the table, I told Aura, "He wanted to show me this. Apparently it's the first device he's ever made, so it doesn't have any function. But it still looks quite cool." Aura raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything either. An internal storm started tearing through my mind again, ravaging every corner. Aura would need this information about the weird experiment for elements, but... Xavier. I would be breaking his trust. After the times we had shared just now... Our striking similarities in our pasts... Was it worth it? I tried to remind myself of the girls - they needed our help! But this time... it seemed like Xavier did too. I couldn't make up my mind; no fiery determination rushed in to save me from this terrifying dilemma. All I felt was cold emptiness and pity.
"Pearl? Are you listening?" Aura jolted me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah... no. Whatcha talking about?" Aura rolled her eyes at me.
"We were just saying that we should go back," she informed me. "And," she added through the earpiece, "I'll tell you the plan on the way there." I didn't say yes, or nod. My mind was telling me to stop caring about Xavier - he was a fake friend after all, just for us to use to our advantage - but my heart was saying otherwise. And deep inside, a small voice rang, saying, Are you sure you don't consider him as a real friend? I pushed it to the back of my mind.
"Okay, so Olivia coded a virus into the device. We're gonna ask Xavier about it, and he's probably gonna attach it to some other machine. When he does so, Olivia will transfer the virus from the device into the machine, and basically hijack the whole system. I will bring Xavier and any other people who have the element of technology away, since they might be able to fix the system back. You, on the other hand, explore some places in the company, and don't worry about alarms since Olivia will disable all of them. Find out where the girls are, and keep us updated on your location. I'll join you as soon as I manage to bring Xavier far enough. Got it?" Aura explained the plan as we descended the spiral staircase. It sounded simple enough, but now... I was almost hesitant to do it.
"Uhh... Pearl?" Aura asked through the earpiece, poking my arm. "Do you understand the plan?" I understood it, but I didn't want to carry it out now. But how was I supposed to explain that to Aura, especially since I was the one who had insisted on helping our friends in the first place? But now, the mention of the girls couldn't do anything to me. My heart was aching to tell Aura, firmly, "No. We can't take advantage of Xavier like that. He's our... friend." But all of a sudden, something struck me. Yes, Xavier was undeniably our friend. But that didn't mean that the company he was involved in was good. And we would help him see that. The plan was in action. I nodded to Aura.
"Hey, Xavier?" Aura asked, sounding curious - but I knew better. "Remember the device we showed you before you brought us here? Can you identify it?" She fished the device out from her pocket and showed it to Xavier.
With a shrug, he replied, "It looks similar to one of the devices we have on sale, but... I don't think it's exactly the same. Let's check it out." Xavier led us forward, out from the spiral staircase, and into another compartment, with a machine sitting in the centre. It was huge, rectangular, and kinda resembled a printer with a small slot in the middle. "This is the Identifier," Xavier announced, but without that same pride - and I soon knew why. "I tried to make one, but failed, so my dad was the one who made this." I stifled a giggle. Why was he so competitive - even with his very own father? But Aura noticed something more important.
"His father has the element of technology too? Well... Looks like I'm gonna have to ask him about who else has the element of technology later, since I've gotta bring them away," Aura whispered through the earpiece. I nodded. Xavier, on the other hand, was busy fitting the device into the small slot, where a green light shone from above - presumably a scanner of some sort.
"Get ready, Olivia," Aura whispered into the earpiece, as a small beep resonated from the Identifier.
"Yep, I'm sending it in..." Olivia replied, from the other side. Just as the second beep rang a minute later, she shouted into the earpiece (a bit too loud, making both of Aura and I cringe), "Done!"
At the same time, Xavier announced, "It's done scanning! Let's check!" A screen lit up on the Identifier, but, instead of showing the name of the device, it said, "AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER." Xavier groaned. "Ugh, another bug?! I've had enough of debugging this thing!" I looked around for insects, but found none, when I recalled that coders call errors 'bugs'. What a weird name.
But anyway, I seized the opportunity to ask Xavier, "Are there any other people with the element of technology that could fix this?"
"Nah, just my dad and I. But I doubt he'd be willing to fix this either. Just before I saw you guys, my dad and I were busy fixing another bug on a more important machine - and the bug was quite big," Xavier replied. "Sorry I can't help you with this one. I can't work on gadgets all day long - even when it's my element."
"Great. It's just the two of them," Aura murmured into the earpiece, but I mostly ignored her.
"Oof. I get that it's tiring. Actually, just now, Aura told me that she wanted to explore the places around here, since we came from quite far away. Maybe, to take your mind off this, you could bring her around?" I took over Aura's role.
Sending me a grateful look, Aura added, "Yeah, and can you bring your dad along too? If he's not busy, of course," she stated quickly. "I wanna meet him and say hi."
"Okay! Wait, how about you, Pearl? Are you coming too?" Xavier asked.
"Umm... Actually, I just wanna check out this company further. It seems super cool, especially all the awesome machines." Xavier glowed with pride.
"Well, you can check out the building area," he told me, pointing a finger to the right, "It's where my father and I usually build the machines. There are a few half-finished ones, and you can look at them. And I guess you can also work on it, if you want to, but just don't spoil it!" He gave me a brilliant smile.
"Okay, thanks!" I agreed, trying to give him the same smile as I started off in the direction of his finger. Might as well start looking for anything suspicious there. The plan was going well, but suddenly, I realised something - and it made me freeze in my tracks. It would be much easier for both Aura and I to work together if I told her what I had seen - or at least the important parts. Especially since Aura could probably deduct more from it than me.
With a deep breath, and trying to put my promise to Xavier out of my mind, I whispered to Aura through the earpiece, "Hey. Pearl here. You know just now, in the room up the staircase. Well, Xavier didn't bring me there just to show off his device."
"Okay," Aura replied, her tone sounding like she had suspected just as much.
"I asked him about his past, and he decided to show it to me through a hologram. It was quite sad and stuff, but there was one important part: Xavier and his father saw a notice about an 'exciting experiment' from this very company, and they attended it. The experiment was apparently to help them get elements, and it worked on both Xavier and his father. That was basically how they manifested, and ended up with this company here. I'm just telling you this in case you somehow need it later."
"Got it," Aura replied, "but I have one question. Did the hologram show why the company wanted to experiment with elements? It sounds kinda suspicious, especially since we know it's not simply to help more people manifest - a company that kidnaps people wouldn't do that."
"Well... not really. But they apparently developed a weird medicine of some sort, to trigger the element."
"Okay, thanks. I'll see what I can do with this later." I reached the coding area, but my mind was still on my promise to Xavier. It refused to be pushed away as a pang of guilt struck me. But I tried to justify it with "we need that to help the girls", but it never seemed enough now. I sighed. But I made another promise to myself, a promise I swore never to break. When we're done with all this, I will not only bring the girls back, I will show Xavier what this company is doing, and he will understand why I had to tell Aura.
With my thoughts finally at rest, I looked at the coding area. Robots and spare pieces were lying everywhere on the ground, and, to be honest, it looked quite cool. But I wasn't there to admire half-finished robots. Swiftly, I scanned the area for anything questionable, but found nothing. I stepped out from the coding area, and went to my next destination - an unmarked door right beside the area.
I pushed the door open, and I found - another washroom. I sighed. Another false lead. Closing the door, I went on to the next one, and the next, and the next. After what seemed like an eternity of opening and closing doors to the weirdest locations (there was even a garage-like area with a few small cars parked inside), I looked around and realised that I had searched the entire room, but to no avail.
"Hey, how's it going?" At that moment, Aura spoke through the earpiece.
"Bad," I sighed. "I searched the entire place, but I can't find anything."
"Don't give up," Aura encouraged, "Have you checked all the doors?"
"Yep," I replied miserably.
"Have you touched all the walls?" Aura asked further.
"Huh? Why would I do that?"
"There might be doors blended into the walls, of course! You've gotta press on every wall to make sure they aren't secret doors!"
"Ohhhh! I'm so stupid, thanks!" Aura was definitely way smarter than me.
"Welcome," she replied, before disconnecting. I then proceeded to the daunting task of - sigh - touching every single wall I could find. I was very sure that I wouldn't find it, but... I had to keep hoping. I pushed hard on the smooth, white surface, praying that Aura wasn't wrong about the hidden doors.
Abruptly, I froze. I felt something move under my hand, followed by a slow, eerie 'creak!' I recoiled my hand in fear, but at the same time, my heart was palpitating vigorously against my ribcages. I was quite certain that this was the door. But what would I find within?