A.S.H

Alyssa

When I said I expected there to be some rundown tunnel when the doors opened, I fully meant it, so when they opened the hum of soft music voicing along the walls of a refurbished lounge filled with champagne pink and white with gold linings, my jaw nearly unhinged in shock. The last thing I'd expected for there to be was a chandelier hanging, and a bar facing sofas and coffee tables. Not only that, but a bartender was busy making drinks for a couple customers and a few of the sofas were occupied.

No one looked in my direction as I thought they would the moment I stepped out of the lift, besides one or two, though they appeared uninterested and turned back to their drinks. I noticed the ID cards that hung around their necks much like mine, but not all were the same colour, meaning that they weren't all from the same Department. Maybe that's why they didn't care about my presence.

Further into the lounge, there was a set of double glass doors that slid automatically as someone came from behind them and into this room, towards the lift. A lady, one I hadn't been acquainted with and didn't recognise, set a nod my way in greeting as she pressed the arrow on the side of the lift to head back up. There were five of them -the lifts- that faced the seating area, that beside the one the woman had just gone in, were not in use.

I knew no one in the room, none had familiar faces, so sitting down wasn't really a choice to go through with. For a single panicked second, I thought one of the people in the room would point out that I wasn't meant to be here or ask why I was standing aimlessly in front of the elevator. At the rate that I was going, simply stood in the room like the outsider I was, someone was bound to question me and because I never knew where I was or what this place was, that would give evidence that I wasn't allowed to be here.

Whilst I was here accidentally, the unbothered faces showed that each of these people were here with said intention. Wouldn't that mean they all had keys like the one I did? Someone looked up and without processing, I strided to the glass doors and walked through as they unfastened.

A large grey and white passageway stood before me, and with no other way to go, I moved forward. Red lighting filled the otherwise darkened hallway, portaying a scene from a horror movie that leaked with a fierce abundance of trepidation. Chills crawled the length of my spine, settling like thw goosebumps that flickered over my limbs, what a time to think about a horror movie.

At the end, there was a flight of stairs that lead to something upstairs and another door straight in front, made of heavy steel with a number nine painted in white over it. Nine? The moment I lifted my hand to twist the handle, it opened, giving me under a second to jump out the way to avoid a broken nose. Two men stepped out, talking amongst themselves until they saw me standing. One of them looked between the door and me and as realisation puddled his eyes, he went to open the door, "you didn't get hit by it did you?"

I shook my head, "managed to jump away just in time." He looked relieved, "would've been a real pain in the-" the other man interrupted, "Ben, let her in so we can get going." Harsh much. Ben sighed as he held the door, "always in a hurry. Anyways, my- no, our -apologies for almost slamming the door in your face." "It's alright." I smiled, taking that as my cue to go through, and Ben shut the door behind me.

There weren't many people present, but all were as engrossed as the other as they engaged in what looked to be stressful work. I could drop a glass and let it shatter, and even then they wouldn't be aware that I was here, in fact they probably thought they were the only ones in the room. It wasn't quiet; each person mumbled their findings to themselves, or whispered what sounded suspiciously like profanities. There was a rack of lab coats right next to the door, and I ran my hands my hands over them in mild fascination.

You could hardly blame me, these were the real deal in movies, and I was going to be given my own on my second week. Each were personalised with names, I thought, beginning to read some of them: Elliot, Alyssa, August, Winston, and so on.