"U-under the corpse." The color drained from Tim's already pale face, making his features look more sunken in. He had half-followed Rhiannon into the washroom, choosing to stay closer to the door. He tried very hard to not look at the thing laying facedown on the floor, pipe still sticking out of it.

It's a corpse, not a thing, chided the dark corners of his mind, making him all the more anxious to leave it. "Maybe we should just leave the supplies for now. If there are other people, there must be more supplies." Tim wiped his clammy hands against his work pants. "I don't want to touch the-the.." ,he gestured vaguely to the dead body.

At least the smell was better. If Rhiannon insisted he supposed he could help lift the body or something, as long as he could look away while he did it. And what of the others? He was sure he had faintly heard a shout or two, so there had to be other people besides himself and Rhiannon. Speaking of which, while his first instinct had been to trust Rhiannon, how much could he actually trust her? What if she knew more than she was giving away?

But then again, the girl seemed serious, so tense. Someone who knew what was going on wouldn't be that tense, right? Also what about the messages he had received. Welcome back. Make this unhappy man beside you happy. Did that mean he had to make the dead body happy? No, that made no sense. The phone was now in his front pants pocket, tucked away until the next time it might ring.

"Hey, uh, by the way. When you woke up was there, uh, was there a phone anywhere near you?"

One person’s phone went off, and Austin glanced over at Justin’s phone with a morbid curiosity. The same cheeky-looking text told him to go to a “drop-off point”? If Austin was being honest, he really didn’t like the idea of them splitting off for any reason. Especially with the dead bodies that were lying scattered about.

The truth was that Austin expected there were still others out there, and keeping everyone close would be safer for everyone. Justin’s vials were just as concerning as his revolver, but the signals were all mixed.
Who trapped them here and what were they getting out of this? It was like the tasks they were given wanted them to cooperate, but everything else was suggesting that this was going to end violently.

If they put everything away, Austin could breathe easier without fear of someone stabbing him in the neck at a moment’s notice. The weapons could be put away, the food and water could be distributed properly, and maybe they could turn it into a sentry point against whatever force they decided to put out there. There was still the case of his missing soulmate, but he was hoping that finding them would be a simple task.
“Okay, here’s what I think,” Austin announced to the crowd around him. It was a decent force, but his mental score sheets for each person were inconclusive.

“I was in room seven… it’s in this hallway. We should all bring our stuff back to this room so that we know where to find it later. The less we all have to split up, the better. That being said, now would be the best time for us to go and find our stuff and bring it back. Is there anyone not comfortable coming back in the direction they came from?”

This could work. This is what Austin’s brain was wired for. He could handle using all of the skills that he’d gained in life to keep everyone sane and satisfied. As long as all his brain cells were dedicated to the people, he himself could avoid losing his mind.

He can handle the people part if the others could solve the puzzle. It would be simple, right?
But the overlying sense of dread was something he hadn’t predicted. This was more than case studies of those with suicidal urges or long streaks of depression. This was… doom. Despair hung on the air clouding all of his senses. Darker than black, fouler than rotting, grimier than sewage… it prickled at the edge of his sense and at the threads of his clothes.

He was swimming in it, but focusing on the other’s mentality could keep him afloat. Hopefully that could keep him from doing anything stupid.

So, he took a step back, reached out for the wall and leaned against it to make his body positioning as casual as possible, and gave a bright smile.

Pretend that you’re doing fine. Remember that your scales are still there.

Mental Risk: 7
Emotional Risk: 3
Physical Risk: 1

For some reason, keeping track wasn’t as comforting as he was used too.

In fact, this new event seemed to be shaking the basic tracking of his scales.

Irina jolted. She glanced at the new comer and thought about what she said. Sad girl she thought once more of the girl that was in front of her room. The way her head hung down to her chest, her arms splayed out, and the smell… Irina didn’t want to think of the smell. With one more glance up at Gray, Irina nodded. “Maybe I can help. The sad girl might be the girl in front of my room. You’ll have to plug your nose.. and it’s really not a pretty sight.” Irina looked Gray up and down for a moment. The girl looked like she could handle her own just fine, but even so, Irina wasn’t sure it would be best to make her go through that alone. “I can go with you to find whatever you need to find, if you want. And then meet back with the rest of you guys with our things.”

@drewccapp North Hallway above Room 16

As you struck the metal, it resounded and echoed within the wall. Whatever it was, it appeared to be hollow. As you attempted to turn on the phone, it turned on normally. However, the texting app seemed to be removed. Whatever was behind the phone turning off seemed to be a bit upset at how many questions you asked them. The light given off by the screen of the phone was barely enough to see anything, but it was still enough. Upon sifting through the trash, nothing of interest was found. Mostly just discarded cans and water bottles, with a few bits of cardboard mixed in, alongside a few plastic bags. What little bits of food you found inside of the trash were absurdly small. They were also rotting, so it would probably be a bad idea to eat it.

Cleo tried hard to keep track of what was said, but her head was spinning and she couldn't concentrate. It seemed that she was finally getting some panic in her veins. Not enough to freak out, but enough to feel a little dizzy. She resisted sitting down and instead decided to tell what little information was on her mind right now.

"I... I have a little sad man hanging from my phone and my text says that I slept over my birthday and that I could gather a present by a dropoff point." She looked at the one, who just mentioned the same dropoff thing and whose phone had gone off. "I am with you, I guess. I wanna know what this dropoff point is and what we'll find there." It may be risky and dangerous though, she thought.

She decided to share the rest bit of information she had with them too. "My room was.... I think 14. I didn't really look at the number to be honest. In my box was this phone with the sad man and a hatchet. It's dull though. Beside that I've got water and some food." She then pointed behind herself into the darkness from where she came. "Also that way there's a wall kinda thing made out of debris. I don't know if that means anything, but thought I'd mention it."

Cleo took a deep breath and slowly her mind went clear again. "I am sure those little things hanging from the phones have a meaning. And I am not really positive about mine."

Gray nodded at Irina nearly happily. It was nice to know that not everything around here was insane. These people seemed nice, hopefully they could all get out of here, working together perhaps. “That’d be great, I think for the time being we should follow the orders on the phone, especially while they’re not too difficult or out of the way.” Gray said nodding at the girl and taking her hand. “You guys go deal with what you need to, we’re going to go deal with this.” Gray plugged her nose as Irina and instructed her to and had her lead the way towards the sad girl. It wouldn’t be long before the smell of decomposition would refill the air around the two.

It was a disgusting thing to have to put up with, and completely and fully demoralizing. When Gray saw the girl she stopped dead in her tracks, gasping. She turned to Irina feeling her nose tighten and her eyes begin to well up. “Jesus,” Gray began “shit” she finished eloquently as always. “So I have to find a key, any idea where that would be?” Gray said quietly looking at Irina, the girl had known where the corpse was, and thusly she was the intelligence on this one. From Gray’s analysis – the girl had been dead for some time, but that was more of an educated guess than anything else.

Gray slowly approached the dead body and decided she’d check the pockets for any keys. She slipped her hands in while doing her best to control her gag reflex. She started with the pockets of the girls pants and continued over her shirt if there was anything concealed. Gray found herself staring at Irina instead of watching what she was doing for a multitude of reasons. She was cute, that was the smallest and least important reason. To control her gag reflex, that was a strong one, she couldn’t bear the sight of what she was currently doing. Finally there was the fact that she had just met Irina, she had also forced herself to be weary of the fact that Irina knew where a dead body was. She wanted to believe that they could help each other but god forbid if Gray had to look at what she was doing. Finally she’d check around the girl’s neck. In case she was wearing a key like a necklace or something else like that.

Rhiannon shot Tim a wary glance, deciding what she risked by answering, before fishing the phone from her back pocket for him to see.

"Yep. It was in my box of supplies. No dead body in my room to cover them up." She put the phone back and took another look at the corpse. What concerned her was that the corpse wasn't that old. Little sign of decay and the blood was still fresh enough to be washed away by this foul-smelling water. As time went out she was finding herself less and less trusting of the nervous accountant she'd discovered. She breathed in shallowly, controlling her nerves with rhythmic breathing she'd learned from anxiety therapy, before trudging across the water-logged floor of the restroom.

"It's fine, you can stay there. I work with animals so I'm pretty used to blood and guts." There was a note of irritation in her voice; this man was clearly older than her, albeit not by much, but wasn't coping well with the situation. Privately, she found that the corpse did disturb her more than any animal would have but she put it down to the cause of death; some things would put anyone off their breakfast and she was pretty sure this was one of them. Still, for some reason she found herself calmer now that she'd run into another person here. If he was an enemy then at least she knew what he looked like and she could keep her eyes on him. If he was a friend then at least she wasn't alone in this place.

Turning her attention back to the corpse she noticed its eyes were still open so she reached out and gently closed the eyelids before sliding her hands under the body to get some purchase. With its clothes now sodden the body was even heavier than it should have been but she managed to heave it over rather than lift so that they could get the supplies underneath.

"Come on, get your stuff and let's go find out if someone else is here. You heard shouting before, right?"

Aedin smiled at the metal on the wall as he heard the hollow echo. That was good to know, and definitely something he'd have to investigate with the proper tools if he could find them. He could care less about the lack of messaging program as the only purpose of the phone right now was to be a source of light, albeit a poor one. The light, however, was enough to work by. He could get some decent scavenging done right now which put a grin on his face.

He picked up an empty can of food and looked it over. The label had worn off completely, but cans made for a great alarm when put together. There were about a dozen of the things in the pile. Food scraps were here and there all of which were totally inedible. He couldn't use the cardboard for much, but the empty bottles and cans could at least be somewhat useful. He picked up every single one of the bags, of the seven he counted four of them didn't have wholes too big to make them useful. He split the dozen cans between two bags and then filled the rest with the empty bottles.

"I'll figure something out to do with you guys." His tone was smug. "Maybe I'll invent a new art form or something."

Aedin quickly paced back to Room 16 and put the bags inside right next to the door. He then looked over at the body and frowned. "I can't have you as a doormat. You'd just stink up the place." It took him some effort, but he started dragging the body back towards the sheet metal wall. As soon as he got there he'd leave it in the remains of the pile of garbage and start searching for actual living people.

"Hey! Make sure to be careful!" Justin called after the two girls as they decided to split off and head towards the cadaver that Irina had mentioned. Although he knew the only way to get answers was to move forward and follow these 'mission' of theirs, he still felt uneasy at the whole ordeal. Everything seemed to be moving way too fast, and he just hope that they were all able to meet up again with their heads intact. Sighing, he turned to face the other two, Austin and Cleo.

"So it's the three musketeers then, at least for now." Justin gave a small pause as he eyed them both, before shifting his body and straightening his posture. He made his way past Austin, and opened the door to room 7. "I guess I should stash my stuff in here too." As the space became available to him, Justin took the time to analyze the room. It wasn't much different than his, with the bed and useless trash scattered about. His eyes made their way to the box that belonged to Austin, and it was there that Justin decided to place his. Then, a thought occurred to him. Standing up, Justin made his way back to his acquaintances.

"We need to set up rules," Justin said suddenly as he leaned against the entry way, resting his limber body against the door frame as he dusted off his hands. "And keep track of whoever enters this room. Look, I don't want to sound like an ass right now, but we have no reason to trust each other whatsoever. I mean, I'm grateful that I'm not suffering in Hell alone, but at the same time, I would never know if one of you guys want a knife in my back. What if one of us is the actual culprit for this whole mess? It's a shitty thought, I know, but you can't deny the possibility. So that means we'll need to keep an eye out for any potential threats that would want to harm any of us by using our...stuff." He glanced at Austin, indicating the man's revolver and his own syringe kit. He then glances at Cleo's hatchet - dull as it may be, it could still bust someone's brains out. "If we need to distribute food, then we'll need to do so when all of us are together. This room should be prohibited at all times, unless the group deems it necessary to access the tools."

Justin licked his lips nervously, though his eyes held strong. "Do you guys agree? I didn't want to sound like a tyrant, but I wouldn't feel safe leaving potential weapons unguarded unless we have some understanding between all of us." He then turned to Cleo. "And we'll have to keep that wall of debris in mind. Question is...was it purposely collapsed? With everything going on so far, I feel it may be more than meets the eye. But more importantly, you and I still need to go pick up our prizes. I'm wondering if we should wait for the other two, or if we should go check it out really quick..." The young man eyed the end of the hallway hesitantly. "We'll need to find it first, though."

He took a deep breath, then said "Your call, Austin. Would you like me and Cleo to go find the drop-off by ourselves first? If so, then I suggest that you wait here with our stuff, as well as waiting for the two girls to come back. Chances are, maybe some other people might show up since you and I have become pretty popular within the last ten minutes or so." Justin gave a small smile. "Or you can come with us. But we'll need to do something about this door." He tested the door frame with a solid fist as if trying to make a point. "Or we can just wait for them to come back, but honestly, I feel like we're wasting precious time just sitting around. We only have so much food and water, you know."

Justin looked at the other man expectantly. Though they have only been together for a short amount of time after waking up, Justin can already see that Austin was the most rational and level-headed out of the rest of them, which, in Justin's eyes, qualifies him as a potential leader to all of the difficult decision that may come. If they all wanted to get through this alive, then some sort of initiative must keep them united.

Austin stood attentive as Irina and Gray took off in search of their goals, and as he was left behind with Justin and Cleo. The room from which he emerged stood behind him: with his goods and some others already being stored inside. Justin was putting him on the spot, but if he was being honest that was almost a little more reassuring.

Heck, the way he took charge like that was pretty impressive. With the girls gone, Austin needed to step into some kind of role, and if that meant taking a leadership position then by all means he was going to take it. Priority number one was still surviving this situation through any means necessary. Staying in a group seemed like the best way to accomplish that goal at this time.

Even so, there were personal goals that needed to be accomplished. Based on how Justin’s goal was achieved by “making friends”; he doubted that any of the challenges were impossible.

This meant there was one or more people still in this building they hadn’t located. To be fair, there was still a large portion of this place that had yet to have been explored. Already they were an eclectic group. Austin knew his priorities but was also aware that keeping track of people’s personalities was a little neurotic and strange, and Justin didn’t seem to like surprises. But with that passed, he seemed to have fallen calmly into his own skin, but he was quick to shirk the leadership role.

Did he really think that Austin was the most reliable person for that position? Or did he simply want to avoid stepping into a role that was guaranteed to be stressful?

Austin read too many novels featuring similar situations to believe that they’d make it out of this unscathed. The problem was that Austin spent so much time trying to be more open and emotional that it might have made him vulnerable.

Or would it be easy to become as cold as his bones once again?

Then there was Irina, who seemed nervous and timid, but likely not a threat as of yet, nor an obvious victim. Typically, horror novels liked to eradicate the most reliable and self-confident person first.

Based on who he’d met, that was probably either Gray or Cleo.

He ignored the voice in his head that told him this wasn’t a novel.

But if they needed a leader at the moment, he could fulfill this role. He could keep the group comfortable in their own skin and find ways to divvy things up and organize their forces so they could all make it out alive. He’d spent his life trying to create perfect relationships. That should help, right?

Or had it just made him better at manipulating people to suit his own purposes. If he could keep it going, he could probably make it out of this with minimal damage.

The others… well. Austin couldn’t control everything.

He placed his hand on the doorknob and looked around the door on both sides, searching for some locking mechanism. Once he discovered the answer, he turned back to Justin.

“You two need to figure out what kind of ‘gift’ this voice is talking about. You guys go find the place and I’ll stick around here. That way when the others get back or others show up maybe we can find a way to get things organized. I’ll just stick around in this hallway, and we can organize everything else once we’re all here to talk about it.”

With that, he took a breath and leaned against the doorway, manipulating his body language once more to try and appear as casual as possible.

So be it. He’ll take the role in stride.

Something about the warm hand holding her own made Irina feel more comfortable. Reassured. She gripped tightly onto Gray’s hand, waved goodbye to the trio once more and headed back towards the direction in which she had come. Keeping one hand against the wall next to her, Irina led the girl to the sickening sight she had had to deal with on her own earlier. She kept her mouth shut the entire time, her lips making a scowl as she prepared herself for what was in front of them. Irina could already see the outline of the girl, laying not too far off on the floor. Taking her hand off of the wall, she plugged her nose and trekked on, although it didn’t provide much help. The stench was thick, it filled the halls and surrounded them. Irina could have sworn that she felt the decay hanging off of her skin. Nodding forward at Gray, she indicated at the dead girl and stepped to the side.

Irina stood and watched Gray for a while, not wanting to get near the body again. This time, her stomach was handling the sight much better than before. Mixed with the smell of decay, the smell of her vomit from earlier still lingered in the staleness of the room. “I’ll go grab my things, I’ll be quick,” Irina told Gray before ducking into ‘her’ room. Taking a moment for one last look around, Irina was struck with disbelief. Her brain couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that this was real, this fucked up, crazy, situation was actually happening to her. It still all felt like a dream. In fact, Irina was pretty sure she had seen a movie like this a few years back; 13 Game of Death, the movie was about a person getting cryptic challenges that got harder and harder to complete as the movie progressed. She shook her head. No, it couldn’t be the same. Could it?

In a moment, Irina snapped out of her thoughts and carried the box out towards the hallway. Gray was still searching the body. “Did you find anything?” Irina thought to herself that it would be unlikely the key would be out in the open. Or somewhere easy to find, for that matter. It could easily be hiding somewhere underneath the girl, or maybe even inside of her, seeing how she was ripped open. Irina shook her head, she didn’t want to think of having to poke around in there at all. She knew her stomach wouldn’t be able to handle that at all. She crouched on the floor and searched, maybe the key had fallen and been kicked out of the way somewhere. “After this, we can go get your stuff, and then meet back up with the rest of them. I don’t like being separated, it leaves me with a weird feeling. Ya know?”

@Write Outside Room 9

As you looked closely at the corpse, you noticed something completely unnerving. The body showed very little signs of external decay. The organs were the ones rotting the most, but those were still intact. It was as if the person was still alive, but, the entire intestines-bursting-out-of-the-stomach defeated that. As you checked the pockets, you felt nothing but the gross and cool crustiness of blood. Luckily, it was dry enough so that most of the blood stayed inside of the pockets instead of sticking to your hands.

As you checked the bloody black t-shirt, it revealed nothing but the sick intestines that tore out of the bottom of the shirt. Though, it did have a Pearl Jam logo on it. Well, what was left of the shirt had a Pearl Jam logo on it. It was a total mess. You couldn't find anything. But, out of the corner of your eye, you saw the hand of the dead woman. A piece of paper, held on by a literal death grip. Protected from the blood. It seemed like it was important enough to give a life to protect. Or, it might have just been something that they happened to be holding. Either way, it seemed important.

Gray Cièl - Outside of Room 9

As Gray examined the corpse Irina mentioned that she was going to duck into her own room in order to grab her things. Gray nodded absent mindedly – she was attempting as best she could to keep her mind completely blank void of all thought as what she was doing left her perturbed enough. However she found as soon as she was alone she felt a deep and unsettling fear grow into her. There was something behind her or rather she knew there wasn’t anything behind her but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was. In odd surroundings such as these she found this to be common place, though she wasn’t used to being kidnapped – it was a feeling she had whenever she was at odds with her setting. But in the same moment that Gray almost had to look back Irina returned. The sweet girl couldn’t have been sweeter in that moment as she was company. In a place like this company was worth more than gold.

“I haven’t found anything yet.” Gray sighed wiping her brow with her sleeve careful as to avoid anything her hands may have had on them. "But that sounds like a good plan, there's not much left in my room." She glanced over to the right of the corpse and noticed that she was holding a piece of paper. Immediately a chill was sent up her spine, it could mean anything, say anything. But it was the fact that there was a single piece of paper left from this girl who looked so… Fresh. Irina knew that her grip wouldn’t budge – she knew this from watching movies. She took the claw hammer from her belt loop and pointed out the girl’s hand to Irina.

“It’s a note.” Was all Gray managed to release from her mouth. Her voice was raspy, gasping for air, light, hope, water, food – anything. It was when Gray thought about what she was about to do that her situation truly struck her. But she did it regardless. She took the claw of the hammer and pried the girl’s fingers open, wouldn’t be too difficult with leverage. She then immediately grabbed the piece of paper and got in beside Irina so that the girls could read it.

@Write

The stiff hand opened without much difficulty. The note, despite the now-deceased girl's efforts, wasn't completely saved from the blood. Still, the most important sections of the note was saved.



It seemed like the girl's last message was a map, along with some obscure images.

@drewccapp

As you reached the intersection, there were only two ways that you could go. Up north or to west. Both of the ways were empty and dark. Both would require a brave step forward, into the unknown.

Though, there was a creeping feeling of being watched by some entity. Well, that feeling had been there for a while, but it felt as though something was near.

@tatszico

As you struck the door frame, you felt pain surge from your hand to your arm. What you struck was pure concrete; coarsely sharp and tough. It wasn't quite the best idea to hit something like that, but there was no real damage to your fist.

Gray Cièl - Outside of Room 9

Gray looked down at the map quietly, fear plummeting in on her psyche. The blood, the words, the x's. The fatal line that shot the hope out of Gray's heart. "It's inside of me."Gray quickly retook her new friends grip tightly. She held onto Irina's hand and silently lead her over to her room - where the girls had been planning on going next. She wanted to let go, apologize for being so weird - clear the air. But for some imperfect reason that she couldn't quite put her thumb on she absolutely would not. She turned to Irina and instead offered a small apology with a weak grin. They walked into Gray's room and she sat down with her back against the door beside Irina and showed her the map - highlighting the most important parts.

It was around now that she realized she was sweating bullets. "Sorry, I swear I'm not stripping but I haven't been able to stop sweating since I woke up here." Gray said quietly taking off her tank top - feeling the cool air touch her stomach and dabbing her forehead with it. She pulled her newly acquired cell phone out of her pocket, the cup bauble gleefully fluttering as she maneuvered it. She showed Irina the screen and felt her eyes begin to produce some tears, but she didn't cry. "I have to find the sad girl, I have to find her and get her key. That d-" Gray stopped and caught her breath, dabbing once more with her tank top. "The dead girl didn't have any key on her, do you know where I can find a sad girls key?" Gray said swallowing hard - relying more than she wanted to on Irina."

Aedin wrinkled his face with a frustrated expression. Everything here looked the same. Intersection here. Garbage there. Hallways everywhere. He stretched his hurting arm a bit as he looked down each hallway. He pulled out the hatchet he recovered from the dead person and used the blade to scratch in a horizontal line at eye level. If nobody was looking for it, there was no way that they'd see the line without a good light.

Aedin definitely didn't want to get lost here, so he wanted to have clear markers to help him get back to his bed. He especially didn't care for the feeling that he was being watched, but at the moment there was little he could do about that. He muttered to himself. "You know, I don't know what's better. Living on the street or living here. For all I know this might be a step up." Especially if he could figure out some system that kept him alive.

Once he finished putting in the line in the wall, he took the west corridor without a second thought. He knew he'd figure out how the place was laid out, he just needed the time to get used to the area.

If Irina could describe what a heart stopping feeling was, it would be the instant she read the letter. Or part of it anyways. The scribbles were almost illegible, and English being her second language both made it very hard for her to read quickly. She had only gotten to the “Don’t trust the wind part” before the letter was pulled away from her. Her mouth ran dry, and for whatever reason her tongue became very uncomfortable in her mouth. Her palms were clammy and suddenly Irina got that tight feeling in the back of her throat, the one you get right before throwing up. Irina let out a hard, shaky breath and closed her eyes for a moment. She leaned her head back and rubbed her arms up and down, they were covered in goosebumps. In a moment, she felt Gray grab her hand and begin to pull her away. Away from the smell, away from the girl, away from the only room that she knew. Irina held onto the box tightly, not wanting to drop any of her precious items. They were all she had.

As Gray gathered her things, Irina sat down on the concrete bed. She was still in a state of shock, her eyes were wide, looking at the ground, but not truly seeing anything. With one hand, she nervously played with her hair, not really hearing a word of what the other girl was telling her. A phone screen flashed before her eyes and snapped Irina back into attention. In a second she realized the girl was about to cry. Irina was not good at dealing with crying. She quickly rubbed the girl’s shoulders and let out a small smile, “I’m sure we’ll find it soon alright? Can I just see that note please?” Her thickly accented voice was strong, despite her shaking hands, and she hoped it was somewhat comforting.

Taking the note into her hands, Irina tried to understand the writing. “It… It’s.. It’s in.. Dammit I can’t read this shit… It’s inside.. of me. It’s inside of me!” Irina managed to read the remaining sentence of the letter out loud. She thought about the dead girl, and about the text that Gray got. It specifically told her to hold her breath, right? They had to have missed something. It’s inside of me… It’s inside of me… Suddenly, Irina grew very pale. She glanced up at Gray once more, “I’m pretty sure that body is still the sad girl. Because it talks about her… her smell. But.. the letter says ‘It’s inside of me’… Do you think.. Do you think that the key could be somewhere inside of her? That’s the only place we never checked. I don’t know.. I could be wrong.” Irina desperately wanted an excuse to keep her from going near that body again.

Gray Cièl - Inside Room 13

Gray nodded at Irina and sighed deeply. She dabbed her forehead one last time, feeling cooled down she put it back on. She suddenly felt aware of every single part of her body. Her hands felt uncomfortable no matter where she put them. She was completely uncomfortable in her current position. She felt like she was annoying Irina with her presence. It was awful. Gray nodded at what the girl said and slumped forward, raising herself lazily up off the cold cement and into a standing position.

What Irina had told her made perfect sense. What else could be inside her? Her thumb absentmindedly grazed over the three holes in her arm as she thought about what kind of position the girl lying on the cold floor – dead must’ve been in. Was it the exact same as their own? There were so many questions that Gray had flying around her head. She found herself constantly thinking that she wanted Irina to interrupt her. Stop her from thinking, from leaving alone, from being in this place anymore. She was pretty, enough that she could be the host of some game show – maybe it was all a prank. Yet, it wasn’t. Gray knew it wasn’t. She wasn’t sure why.

“You don’t have to come with me, I know you’ve already seen more than what you’d probably want to.” Gray said quietly with a weak smile. Irina had discovered the body after all. Gray was pretty sure the girl wasn't holding on to a corpse for hope - at least, not yet. “I’ll see if there are any keys inside the corpse. People do this for a living so how hard could it be right?” Gray said – once more with that weak smile of hers. She turned to leave the room, pausing with her hand on the door handle. “If you wanted to come with me – so that you’re not alone out here, I would be fine with that.” She said waiting to see what Irina’s reaction would be.

Justin glanced at Austin for a moment, noticing the nervous determination within the other man's answer. It was kind of selfish of him to place a burden on someone else's shoulder, he knew, but at the same time, Justin felt like he could rely on his new acquaintance in the near future. But would it come back to bite him in the butt later? He didn't know. Placing trust into someone you just met seemed like the riskiest idea, but at this point, there was no other choice. He knew deep down that he did not have the potential and collectiveness to lead, even if he did want to.

No, for the time being, Austin is a much better candidate to keep the group united. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to let the man carry all of them on his poor back. Justin vowed to carry his own weight, and more, if he had to. And so finalizing his decision, he gave Austin an approving nod.

"Alright, then," he sighed, turning to Cleo. "How about you and I hang out a bit? Wanna take a stroll down these black, disturbing hallways?" He gave her a half smile. He then proceeded to lead, taking his first steps towards what could be their impending doom.

Cleo looked at all the people around her. She dearly hoped they were gonna turn out to be helpful and nice and not a trap or something like that.

She looked at Justin and nodded. "Okay. I really just wanna get forward. If you ask me, this is a way bigger thing than we know. Considering that this whole place must have taken some time to get ready for this 'game' and the fact that we are a quiet a big group plus having those phones with quests... It seems there's a lot more to it than we know. And I don't think we will get out of here easily. There's way too much planning behind it all to give away an escape. We should try to stay on good terms with whoever did this and at the same time always be aware that we don't know anything. So whatever we assume, better be ready to accept it's all wrong." She knew that it was hard to say that they'd be stuck here for a while and that they didn't know anything. But she rather had them be aware of the situation and accept that there's probably way too much they didn't know. "This things..." She took her phone out and pointed to the sad man hanging from it. "They have a meaning. Any ideas?" She wanted to collect as much information as possible.