The house was burning and her bed is floating in the middle of a lake.
Lauren bolted up, waking up from her weird dream. She glanced around the room, looking for non-existent smoke to make sure the house isn't really on fire. She let out a contented sigh seeing her bed is still in the dry, very much in the middle of the room.
Lauren went straight to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth lazily and fixed her hair. She splashed water in her face, completely waking her up. She was heading outside but she stopped in her tracks.
The door was locked.
She shook the handle again.
Still locked.
"Camila!" She yelled, wishing the girl can hear her from the outside. She doubted though, knowing the other girl's room was on the other side of the house. She glanced back around the room and tried to look for a key. She sighed in relief finding a key neatly placed above a book sitting on the table beside the bed.
She picked up the key and headed back to the door. Her eyes bulged out, realizing there isn't a hole to put the key in.
What the fuck?
She pounded on the door loudly again. "Camila!" She placed her ear at the door, trying to hear if someone is outside.
After five minutes of restless pounding, she gave up. The door was locked from the outside, there is a key, but there is no hole.
Lauren glanced back at the book sitting beside her bed. She tried to remember if the book was there before she fell asleep.
No, the book wasn't there.
-
Camila smiled as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. She heard Lauren pounding on the door, but she didn't make a move to unlock the door. She stood up and looked for some eggs and pancake mix. She heard Lauren shaking the door knob, and she wondered if Lauren saw the key. Lauren screamed Camila's name once again, making her chuckle as she placed the pan at the heated stove.
This is going to be fun.
Camila wished Lauren would be able to join her for breakfast.
-
Lauren eyed the book curiously. She traced the embossed title The Way Out, tracing the O that looks like a keyhole. She laughed at the irony of it. She's looking for a key hole, and there's one staring back at her, mockingly. The book looks old, so she flipped it to check if there is a date printed at the back. A blue piece of paper fell caught her attention.
2 raised to the power of 7 --it says.
-
Camila just finished cooking bacon and eggs. She stared at the door of the guest room, wondering how long Lauren will be able to let herself out. She picked up the pan cake mix and started pouring it at the pan cake maker.
-
What the fuck am I supposed to do to get out? Lauren clutched her stomach, grumbling in hunger. She remembered how thunder sounded, because her tummy is probably experiencing a storm.
She flipped the pages of the book carefully, afraid to tear a page. She noticed that the book contains 128 chapters.
128. 2 raised to the power of 7 is 128.
Where did I saw that number again?
Her eyes darted automatically at the door. She felt her heart beating frantically. She picked up the blue piece of paper again. She stared back at the door and counted. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128.
Lauren jumped around the room, forgetting her hunger. She frantically searched for a pen.
2 raised to 0 is 1. She started.
I'm looking for an 8 letter word or number. She thought. She flipped the pages of the book.
Chapter one: Tell me a lie.
She proceeded in gathering the chapter titles corresponding to the numbers on the door.
Chapter two: Over the green fields.
Chapter four: Mundane.
Chapter eight: Obnoxious banging on my door.
Chapter sixteen: Reaching through the window.
Chapter thirty-two: Recalcitrant attitude.
Chapter sixty-four: Obsessions.
Chapter one hundred twenty eight: Way out.
What the fuck am I supposed to do with this? Lauren is getting frustrated. She felt like she's there but she's not.
She stared at the paper again.
T.
O.
M.
O-R-R-O-W.
TOMORROW. The first letters of the chapter titles spelled tomorrow.
Am I supposed to get out here tomorrow?
Lauren sighed.
-
Camila stared at the kitchen clock. Ten more minutes. Her bet was that Lauren will be out before eight. She continued to arrange the table, waiting for Lauren to-
"WHAT THE FUCK CAMILA?!" Lauren barged in. Ah, that's what I'm waiting for.
"Good morning, Laur." Camila greeted sweetly.
"You. Fucking. Locked. Me. In!" Lauren said, punctuating every word with a slap at Camila's arm.
"Stop hitting me. You're here now, aren't you?"
"Well that's because I'm smarter than you think!"
"Laur, that was a simple puzzle. You should have figured that one out faster than you did."
Lauren stared unamused. She can't deny that she enjoyed the little game she played.
-
Lauren just looked at Camila in disbelief. She lost hope when she saw the word tomorrow. She already accepted the fact that the door will definitely open, but tomorrow. She sighed and placed the book back at her nightstand, placing the key just above it.
Coincidentally, the key was placed at the O of The Way Out. It looked like a key was being pushed to a keyhole. Lauren stared at it, wondering if that's the keyhole she needs.
O.
There are three O's in tomorrow.
2. 8. 64.
Lauren ran towards the door and ran her hands through the embossed carvings. She tried to push the numbers, hoping it's some kind of button.
She reached for the number 2 and pushed it, successfully hearing a click. Lauren looked like a Cheshire cat in her wide smile.
She pushed 8 and 64, taking a deep breath as she turned the handle.
It opened. It fucking opened.
-
"I could get used to this." Lauren said, patting her belly.
"You could. Should I lock you more often?" Camila joked.
"There are other ways to lock me there?" Lauren said, amused.
"Wouldn't you want to know?" Camila winked.
-
Lauren roamed around the house, taking in everything. She wants to know things that are there, wondering if there's some secret hidden like the room she's currently staying at. She stared at a lamp standing beside the window at the living room. She eyed it suspiciously, as if it's something alive that's keeping something from her.
"Lo, stop eyeing that innocent lamp." Camila chuckled, settling at one of the bean bags.
"I don't believe you. This could be a fucking sword for all I know."
"I don't keep my swords in the living room."
"You have a sword?"
"Swords."
"You have swords?" Lauren pried, making her way to sit at the bean bag across Camila.
Camila whistled, then called out. "Byrd!"
Lauren looked confused. Why is Camila shouting bird?
A fluffy fur of white run towards the living room, wagging its tail. Lauren cooed at the dog, now licking Camila's face.
"Hey Byrd, where have you been?"
"You named your dog Bird?" Lauren asked.
"It's Byrd. She's a Spitz."
"I didn't see her before."
"Yeah, she's been roaming freely around the house. Don't you have school?"
"I-uh, I don't go to school. I have work, though."
"How old are you?" Camila asked.
"I'm twenty-one. You?"
"I had been twenty for a while now." Camila smirked at her, still patting Byrd's back.
Lauren eyed Camila's side profile. Her jawline can cut diamonds, her nose can be used as arrow in archery. Lauren eyed her. Camila looks dreamy.
"Lauren." Camila called her, taking her away from her thoughts.
Lauren's cheeks turned pink, and Camila smiled, knowing her effect on her.
"What?"
"I asked if you need someone to drive you to work?" Camila asked, standing up.
"I-uh, I think I can take the bus or maybe, uh, subway?"
"And try to jump again? Let me drive you." Camila offered, smiling charmingly at Lauren.
Lauren held the hem of her panties, afraid it'll fall because of Camila's charm. She scolded herself internally for having such inappropriate thoughts in front of the other girl.
"You, I-uh, well. Thanks? I'll go take a shower then you can drop me off."
"And don't lock the door! I can't afford to be late!" Lauren shouted from the room.
Camila smiled as she guided Byrd outside.
-
"Lauren! Who the fuck was that?" Dinah exclaimed as she entered the coffee shop.
"Uh, Camila?"
"Camila who? She's marvelous." Dinah stared at Camila who is now entering her car.
"Aw! What?" Dinah exclaimed, soothing her arm that just got slapped by Lauren.
"Don't look at her like that!" Lauren reprimanded.
"Why? Possessive much?"
"She-uh, I just-, she feels uncomfortable! She doesn't like being stared at." Lauren said a little too enthusiastically for Dinah's liking.
"Girl, you just want her for yourself." Dinah flipped her hair and went to get some cups.
-
Camila felt restless. Something is not right. She recalled her last kill, thinking where she went wrong. She sat at her car reliving what happened the day before.
"Three things cannot long be hidden." Camila said, eyeing Chris who is handcuffed at a steel chair.
Chris just smiled at her. Spitting blood in front of her. He is coated with sweat and blood, shirtless. Camila's voice echoed the empty warehouse, and Chris wondered how many people have died in there.
"Three things cannot long be hidden." Camila repeated, tracing the half moon mark at the back of the guy. She pressed her nail at the mark, earning a slight groan from him. She grabbed him by his hair, tilting his head backwards.
"Chris. Tell me. What are those three things." Camila asked again, forcefully this time.
She had been following Chris for months now. She doesn't really have a specific proof that he's her soulmate. She only trusts her instinct. Her instincts are telling her that she's close. That Chris is the one she's looking for. She just needs to confirm two things: the birthmark, and the passage. Their passage.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?" Chris asked, but not pleadingly. It's as if he's bargaining with the devil.
"Three things cannot long be hidden." Camila repeated, starting to lose her cool.
If Chris isn't the right person, she'll still have to kill him for seeing her face. She already had a hard time proving that Chris has the birth mark she's looking for, and now, she's not even sure if Chris knows what she's talking about.
Camila pulled out a cutter and pointed it at the guy's throat.
"The sun." Camila gulped as Chris started answering.
"The moon." He continued, and Camila's gripped at the cutter tightened.
"And the truth." They both said at the same time, earning a smile from Camila as she slit the guy's throat.
Blood splattered at her arms and body. She's wearing jeans and a black sports bra, causing the blood to scatter in her arms and stomach. She looked at Chris who is now convulsing, blood gushing from his slit throat.
Camila pulled her white handkerchief and picked her phone using it.
"Dave. Clean my mess." Camila said and the person on the other line just replied with 'Okay.'
Camila took the hoodie hanging near the steel table and pulled it towards her head.
Camila is shaking. She stared at the cutter in her right hand, glancing over the blood in her left arm. She let out a stifled laugh. She cleared her vision from the tears trying to escape her eyes as she whispered an almost prayer.
Visions of her dying, writhing to the ground crossed her mind for the umpteenth time. Her life slowly leaving her body. When is this going to end?
Soon. She thought.