+ • DOORS • + The Series

+ 👁 C H A P T E R : F I V E 👁 +

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I just realized Eyes is actually made up of 36 separate entities (an eye is one entity in itself), and should be called they/them. I'll fix that!

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The Problem

      | R O O M     F I F T Y |

Figure sat alone, despondent, in its usual corner in the library. Although it wasn't really that hungry for once, something felt... wrong. Like something was going on outside of the Library. It felt around for a bookcase and used it to pull itself onto its feet. Although Figure could not speak or see, what it lacked in sight, it made up for in hearing. Figure, unlike most of entities, had senses that could far surpass many other entities. It could hear a mouse chittering in a wall from two rooms away. And now it was experiencing something new; it felt... in danger? That was impossible, Figure had nothing to be threatened by!

...Right?

Figure shook out its arms and started stomping over to the door. Halfway there, its foot came into contact with something. Could it be Ambush? Screech? Halt perhaps?

"Figure, have you seen The Eyes anywhere?" asked a voice in front of Figure. It pat the entity on the head, trying to figure out who it was. If it touched smoke, it would have to guess between Rush and Ambush... and if it brushed tentacles, it would be Screech... unless, of course, it was the Eyes asking? Wait, why would the Eyes be asking where they were?

"It's Seek," sighed the entity, obviously noticing Figure's confusion, "It's just that we haven't managed to see the Eyes for a while now and I've been looking from the walls, and they're gone."

 Figure began to wonder if this was related to its fear earlier. Figure was about to tramp off looking for the Eyes when Figure heard a husky voice coming from the Library doorway. "Seek! Figure!" hissed Jack, "It's important." Seek's footsteps padded a few paces away from Figure, and Figure followed close behind. "Shouldn't we bring the others?" asked Seek, but Jack cut in. 

"Nope. I wouldn't say they'd want to know."

They all went out of the library as Jack guided them. Seek held onto Figure's arm as Figure blindly walked through the rooms. It felt like they were getting further from the Library and closer to whatever important thing Jack wanted them to see. Whenever Figure left the Library, someone was always with him. Sometimes it was irritating, since Rush and Ambush went too fast, and Halt was too slow (Figure preferred Seek because Seek was more careful). Seek would occasionally say "Door," and "Table," whenever Figure was getting close to running into something. 

     |  R O O M    O N E  |

Eventually, they reached a smaller room, with a low ceiling and something like a fireplace crackling in the corner. 

"Oh my word," Seek left Figure's side and took a few slow steps forward, and Figure followed the vibrations until its foot bumped into a large mass on the floor. Jack, from the nearest closet, sighed. "I think the Eyes did it."

Seek's voice went quieter. "It makes sense. The Eyes must have panicked and ran off."

Figure let out a low roar and nudged the mass with its hands. It felt limp and sort of flimsy, and when Figure picked it up it felt like a person. 

|   R O O M    F O R T Y    O N E   |

"I think we shouldn't tell everyone yet," Seek said, dragging the bodies along the floor while Jack followed by closets and doors, "The younger entities will panic." The room was one of the four-way rooms, which tended to be Screech's favorite. To distract him, Seek had given him the task of guiding Figure back to the Library. Of course, he tactfully left out the part of the dead humans.

Timothy came spiraling down from its newly made web and landed on Seek's head. Seek dumped the bodies out of a window and wiped the blood on a towel, shoving it into a bin. "That should do it."

Jack shook his head. "They'll find out eventually, Seek."

Timothy hopped off Seek's head and landed on the floor, crawling up the wall and into a drawer. 

      |   R O O M   T H I R T Y    F I V E   |

Seek sat on the floor of his hallway, thinking about what he should do. He had to find the Eyes, but what if Figure gave it away that there'd been humans in the hotel? Those two's disappearances weren't going to remain unnoticed forever. 

There wasn't much noise in the room, if anything it was deathly quiet. There was no way to avoid any more humans coming in, and if they did Seek would be risking humans coming and destroying everyone in the Hotel. Unless he stood in front of the elevator and killed them himself...

No, he couldn't do that. The humans were dangerous. They had turned Finder against them, making her Glitch, and breaking her apart, causing her to leave the Hotel. She wasn't meant for that. She was meant to stay there and protect everyone... and now that pressure had been shoved at Seek. Sure, Figure was the strongest and the fastest, but it was blind and humans would find some way to trick it, maybe even kill it. 

"Psst."

Screech appeared in front of Seek, mischievous smile gone. "Hey Seek, why is Figure so upset?" Seek shook his head. "Doesn't matter, Screech. I'm going to check on Rush and Ambush if you need me," and he got up, leaving Screech behind.

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And now, a short message from the Guiding Light:

👁v👁