A.S.H

Him

Not sick, not doing another job, not late to her shift today, dead. Alyssa was dead, and only recently like that according to both Mai's reaction, and what Turner had said. Now here I was, about to enter what might've passed off as my own death sentence because from all that Mai had said, it sounded as though it was a living nightmare to walk into the chamber.

Maybe she's exaggerating? A part of me believed that, solely because it eased the tension that was tightening my muscles, but I knew deep down she was doing anything but that. How stupid was I to even think about using that key in the elevator? I could've been peacefully watching something, eating a snack, reading, messaging or phoning Mum, but no, curiosity had fought its way to the front of my mind and now I was stuck here with two very limiting choices: go in the room and deliver whoever, or whatever, it's food, or risk being exposed as a fraud and fired on my first day of work.

I took in several deep breaths, calming the antsy feeling that built up, and with steady hands, I pushed against the door so that it was opened wide enough for entry. Shutting it behind me, my breath halted as the familiar setting greeted me. By familiar, I meant the room interior I had seen in the dream although there were slight tweaks in this version.

A mini wardrobe beside the desk was one, along with two doorless archways placed side by side, through which narrowed passages twisted and led to some place else. The rest was unmistakably alike to what my dream had depicted: the blue and grey wall, the single bed against the wall that had the thin strip of glass I saw from the outside, the desk with draws, the notebook on the desk, and a large tinted screen peering over everything within the space.

No one was in the room which I suspected was more good than bad, so I set the tray on the desk and lifted the notebook to see whether it would contain the same drawings my dream showed. Unnerving was an understatement for what I felt as I recognised the maple leaf, acorn, rose, petal, and twig. My breath became slightly shaky as I brushed my fingertips over each perfect drawing that replicated the ones from my dream so accurately- this was impossible, it didn't make sense whatsoever.

I put my palm against my forehead, thinking I was ill and halluncinating the dream, or that I fainted before entering the room, and yes- I fainted and was dreaming again. The only logical explanation was that I was dreaming, but what happens if I wasn't? I pinched my arm, and feeling the sting it left behind, I knew that what I was seeing was very much real. I lowered my mask, attempting to take in more air so I could breathe better but it didn't work as well as I hoped.

Close to lightheadedness, I pulled the card out of my pocket and ambled towards the door in a bit of a daze, somehow banging into it without even having reached it. I swore I was still a metre away from the door or perhaps I walked faster than anticipated, either way, it hurt my head and now I was more than keen to exit. Maybe this was why Mai didn't like doing these shifts, they have her the same pounding headache that now tortured me with it's presence.

I lifted my palm again to my forehead knowing now it would feel warmer than normal; tingles sparked in my elbow as it made contact with the door as I raised my hand, though it wasn't from pain. My headache was making me a tad bit delusional now, no door would make someone feel tingly unless they had banged into it with hard contact, but that would cause pain and pain was the exact opposite of what I felt.

I peered at my elbow in distrust, then froze when I saw that it wasn't the door it had banged into, but rather a body. A male body, I thought, examining the black t-shirt that stretched a little taut over a muscled abdomen. I didn't dare look up, embarrassed that not only had I walked into this man, but I'd also elbowed him. Where had he even come from?

His arms folded leisurely behind his back, though it was hard to miss the veins that stuck out against the toned muscles of lightly tanned skin. He obviously wasn't a security guard, because they all wore formal attire and had a gun at the ready, so who else could he be? Mai was the one waiting in the first room, and there was no way she'd let anyone in with coming along, otherwise it would make it look exactly as it was: I was doing her work for her.