Find Me a Cure

Chapter 16: Not so Silent Night

Everything was off.

No, literally – all the lights in the hallways were turned off, engulfing us in absolute darkness.

"I can't see!" I hissed, desperately caressing the walls for a sense of surrounding. It simply astounded me how he – judging by his footsteps – seemed to be walking as though one were taking a morning stroll in the park! I guess, for someone so dark on the inside, actual darkness must have practically been daylight, right?

"Not that I'm fond of the art of appreciation, or have practiced the gesture myself, but it would be appreciated if you stopped stating the obvious," he spoke in his signature cold voice, which only seemed more chilling in the dark.

"Hey, do you think you can speak in a nicer tone?" I requested. "It's not the best feeling, thinking there's a serial killer walking beside you."

Silence overwhelmed the hallways. This felt even worse.

Finally, as I was about to break, a light shone at end of the hallway. It was the kind of light that briefly casts itself on the opposite wall when someone opens a door. Someone was opening their door! As soon as the door shut, there was a moment of darkness once again, until another source of eye prickling light lit the narrow hallway in a single streak of luminous glow.

Great! Now we had a person with a torch in the hallway.

It was a man, and he was getting closer.

Perhaps, he just wanted to use the toilet.

Closer.

Or not. I'd come to know that every room in this goddamn building already had its own bathroom.

Maybe, he just wouldn't care about us.

But then again, I had also come to know that everyone in this goddamn building did care about the extraordinary 202. Too much.

If he'd come any closer, he would have easily recognised who we were. And woefully for us, the only way we could prevent that from happening, was if we somehow camouflaged into those stainless white walls. Unachievable.

Now he was alarmingly close to us.

Ever heard of the saying 'a deer in headlights'? Yes, well, that was us at this point. We were the deer – or rather deers – and that torch was the headlights – or rather headlight. And then, I was panicking—

In a flash, – no pun intended – Everest pressed me to the wall. And had it not been for the escapade we were pulling off, or the faint ache in my shoulder due to the vigorousness of that push, this would have been one of those highly overrated, steamy scenes that every teenage girl craves between her and her crush.

However, I hardly understood the point of vigorously striking me against the wall; the stranger was still obviously able to see that there were two people in the hallway. That was, until I was enveloped by darkness. Utter darkness.

Before I could question what was happening, I felt hands. Strong, hard hands that that clasped my face. They declared power.

And then... and then, I was feeling something on my lips. It felt less strong and less hard; powerless, but only deliberately.

I hate to sound like the damsel in distress who feebly utters nonsense like: it happened so fast. But, that's exactly how it happened.